She glared at him.
"Ouch," he said. "If looks could kill."
"If only that's all it took. But we can do it the hard way if you'd prefer."
"That sounds interesting, too."
"I don't have time for this, Quinn. Please get out of my way."
His grin vanished and was replaced by the strained expression lying just underneath the surface. He wasn't enjoying himself. He was just as stressed out as she was. They had reached an impasse, and somebody was going to lose.
She was out of options and getting very close to being out of time. Maybe if she got the Eye to the Boss,
that would be enough. He'd forget about his orders for her to kill Quinn. It wasn't much, but it was all she had as a plan to keep him alive.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I'm sorry, Quinn."
He frowned and met her eyes. "You are?"
"If there was another way… then maybe we could work something out. But I have to get this to my
Boss as soon as he contacts me."
"So he can use it."
She nodded. "I suppose so."
"What if it doesn't work for him?"
Her stomach turned over at the suggestion. "It will. Of course it will. Why wouldn't it?"
He rubbed his chin and suddenly wouldn't meet her eyes.
She frowned deeply and closed the distance between them to grab his arm. "Why wouldn't it work?"
He didn't say anything for a moment. "Have you looked at the drawing recently?"
She fumbled in her handbag and pulled out the drawing of the Eye the Boss had given her when first giving her the assignment. It looked exactly like the one she had in her possession.
Almostexactly.
The Eye she had was missing something. A red stone, like a ruby, that sat just beneath the enclosed crystal globe top. Why the hell hadn't she noticed that before?
If the Eye didn't work when she brought it to the Boss, he wouldn't take it well. He'd most likely take his disappointment out by killing everybody within a three-mile radius.
She swore and pushed Quinn up against the door. "You knew? All this time and you didn't say anything?"
"Hey, take it easy. It's the stone that Malcolm had buried in his back yard. The one he said was useless after it revealed the true map."
"He was lying to us?"
"You think?"
"That son of a bitch. Why didn't you let me stake him?" She punched the wall for lack of a better thing to punch. Her hand immediately screamed in pain. "Dammit! That bastard still has it, and I have no idea where he is now."
"Why do you assume he still has it?" Quinn asked.
"Well, of course he has it. Who else would—" She stopped talking and looked at him. He didn't look cocky, but he sure looked relaxed. "Youhave it."
"Maybe."
"Where is it?" Her gaze raked down the front of him.
"Feel free to search me again. That was kind of enjoyable this morning when you were looking for the map."
"Damn you, Quinn!" She punched him in the stomach.
He hissed out a breath and grimaced. "Okay.Not enjoyable." After a moment, he straightened up and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. "I have a proposition for you, Janie. Are you going to listen to me or not?"
Her arms were crossed so tightly that her hands started to feel numb. "I'm listening."
"I have the stone. You have the Eye. One won't work without the other."
Her face had become extremely hot, and it wasn't just because of the huge fireplace. "Understood."
"You want the Eye so your Boss won't hurt your sister, right?"
"Correct."Among other reasons , she thought.
"If she's safe, it wouldn't matter if he got the Eye or not."
She thought about that for a moment. "Maybe."
"I'm going to help you find her. Tonight."
"There's not enough time."
He shook his head. "If she's in Vegas, then we'll find her. When we find her, we'll take her somewhere where your Boss can't touch her."
"And then?"
"And then you'll let me have the Eye."
She shook her head. "No, that won't work. He'll be furious if I don't bring it to him."
"After I'm finished with it, you can have it back. He doesn't have to know it's been used."