“There isn’t enough money in the world to make Leo want to hurt someone,” Winter snapped.
“Blackmail, then. I’ve no doubt he didn’t want to do it—no one confesses their crime directly to their victim like that, warns you like that, puts himself at risk, and actuallywantsto hurt you. His hand was forced, one way or the other. Surely there’s someone in the world he loves more than you, who could be used against him. Did you notice anything strange about Leo recently?”
Blackmail. Winter thought about Leo’s sisters and his parents, his aunts, his house that was always full of festive, loving, laughing relatives.
“He was fine during warm-ups,” he said slowly.
But hadn’t Leo seemed uncharacteristically quiet when the concert finished? No. That was just because he couldn’t come to the after-party. Wasn’t it?
“After the concert,” he whispered to Sydney. “He didn’t say a word.”
Sydney looked carefully at him. “And when was he alone, without us all, before that?”
“The elevator,” they both said at the same time.
Winter’s hands began to tremble. Hadn’t he, Leo, and Dameon each taken the tiny elevator up to the backstage area? What if Leo’s handler had said something to him then?
Blackmail.
If Morrison’s people had threatened Leo’s family, Leo would have done as they asked. Winter could feel it in his gut, could sense his instinct pointing him in the right direction, as Sydney had told him it would. And even then, Leo must have been tortured enough about it not to be able to go through with everything, had been afraid enough for Winter to risk putting his family in danger just to warn him about the drinks.
The realization felt like a tide of nausea in his stomach. The room suddenly seemed like it was tilting.
Sydney must have seen the look change on his face, because she nodded. Each minute brought with it more clarity.
“We don’t know if any of that is true,” he whispered.
“It’s possible, though,” she said. “Isn’t it?”
“That would mean someone knows what we’re doing here,” Winter replied quietly. “And they’ll know soon that Leo failed to deliver on his end of the bargain.”
“Leo’s going to be on a plane back to America in an hour,” she said. “But we have to getyouout of London.”
Winter frowned. “What? You’re the one that got poisoned.”
“This is my job. Not yours.”
“You said where I go, you go.”
“Well, that was before someone smeared a bunch of nerve agent on your glass and tried to kill you.”
He sighed. “No.”
“I’m not asking you, Winter.”
“I can’t leave you here.”
“Can’t you?”
“You’re not even operating with Panacea’s support behind you. You’ll be in London alone.”
“What did you think an agent’s job involved?” A slant of light had begun to creep across Sydney’s face, casting her deep blue eyes in gold. “I work better that way.”
“What about the massive diversion you needed from me? What about—”
“A diversion was a good idea when I didn’t think anyone was hunting you down.” She snapped her fingers. “No one needs your big distraction to be you getting killed. I can get into the museum by myself just fine. Better, actually.”
“Why are you like this?” he said.
