Kiss or Kill

Martine’s smile slipped at that. She probably worried about the eventual discovery of an errant body mucking up this new meeting place, but she said nothing more about it. “I meant the phone calls you were to make regarding Alexander. Results?”

Sonnegut brushed his hands together and nodded vigorously. “He’s solid. Brugel said he does good work, so did Hamish. Best they know of for providing surreptitious entry. Both vouched.”

Martine reached inside her pocket and retrieved a cell phone that must have been set on vibrate. She clicked it on, listened, nodded and answered briefly and affirmatively in Italian. It was the third language Renee had heard her speak fluently.

They all conversed in French, of course, except when Martine encouraged her to use English. That was Martine’s native tongue, though she was as proficient in French as anyone born to it. Apparently she was pretty good in Italian as well. She was speaking with the man called Brugel, whom Sonnegut had just mentioned.

After she put the phone away, Martine promptly handed over a nine-millimeter pistol to Mark. “Here’s your toy back, darling. You’re hired. Same rate as Brugel gave you, agreed?”

He nodded, pulled a wry face as if disappointed that he wasn’t offered more and stuck the weapon beneath his black leather jacket. His intense gaze captured Renee’s again. His dark eyes told her nothing regarding his true affiliation. But they did reveal his continued interest in her as a woman. Not helpful at all.

Then Deborah turned to Renee. “Tonight we firm up some of the details. Also, if you have any doubt about your ability to do what we need done, you must tell me now. Failure is not an option.”

Renee shrugged one shoulder and tried to look nonchalant. “I can handle anything but boredom,” she declared lazily, leaning backward as Mark pulled a lighter from his pocket and offered to light the cigarette she held.

She lowered her lashes, then raised them in shameless flirtation. Had to keep up the act. “Thank you for the thought, but I don’t smoke anymore. This,” she said, wiggling the cigarette between her fingers playfully, “reassures me of my ability to resist temptation.”

He raised one dark brow, his expression deadpan as he drawled. “All temptation?”

Renee smiled, trying for coy. She caressed his well-honed body with a slumberous appraisal, fully aware of everyone’s eyes now riveted on them. “Well, only what I have sworn off of as not being good for me.”

Deborah cleared her throat. “Not to interfere with your charming little tête-à-tête, my dears, but I believe I have the floor. And we are on a tight schedule with this lovely conference room.”

The men, except for Mark, laughed at Martine’s sarcasm, nudging one another playfully like naughty little boys. Their deadlier forms of naughtiness, especially Sonnegut’s, made her sick. The memory of the bullet-riddled bodies of two Secret Service agents reared its ugly head.

She could wind up exactly like them if she put a foot wrong. That was another reason she never allowed personal relationships to develop. The more people you worried about leaving behind, the less effective you were when faced with a deadly situation. And loved ones could be at constant risk just by association.

Renee carefully concealed her thoughts and smiled along with the thugs. “Please, continue,” she said to Deborah with another casual lift of her shoulder.

Martine looked from one to the other of the group, then concentrated her full attention on Renee. “You have examined the blueprints I gave you?”

“I have.”

“Good. I will identify the target now.”

She pulled a wrinkled map from her coat pocket. “Here. It is marked and the address is written along the margin. It is to be totally demolished, as if clearing the area for future construction. Spare all surrounding structures. The destruction must be isolated.”

“Implosion.” Renee took the folded map and tucked it inside her jacket. “So you want the adjacent buildings undamaged. Why?”

“It is to be very clear what our target was when it is finished.” Her smile grew hard. “That’s enough information. Yours is not to question why.”

“Ah, mine is but to do or die,” Renee said lightly. “I got it.” She squinted at Deborah. “How critical is it that the target collapse directly into its own footprint? It could take months and a very large crew to give you any sort of guarantee on that. And even then…”

The woman huffed and rolled her eyes. “Just do the best you can with the time you have, girl. You said you were the expert. And if you need a crew—” she gestured around the table “—here they are.”

“The hour’s late,” Sonnegut said with an impatient gesture. “I have other things to do. Could we get on with this?” He shot Deborah a heated look that indicated these things had little to do with the business at hand.

“Of course, darling. You’re right as usual.” Deborah gifted Sonnegut with a salacious look.

Renee listened as Martine instructed the others in their respective tasks, each of which was to assist Renee in her assignment in a particular way. Apparently Mark was to circumvent any security systems and get them inside the building to wire it.

“You will be notified of the next meeting,” Deborah said, indicating the meeting was over. She glanced at the newcomer. “Take Mark in hand, will you, Renee?”

Renee bit back a protest. “I suppose he will provide good cover during our planning foray. We can be lovers discovering Paris in the cold November rain. What do you think of that, Mark?” she asked, drawing out his name suggestively.

“I’ll try to be of more use than the cigarette,” he replied with a sardonic smile before getting up to follow the others out of the room.

Renee was the last to leave and Deborah stopped her at the door. “A word before you go.” She leaned out onto the landing. “Sonny, give Mark his instructions, won’t you? Tell him what to watch for? I’ll be along in a moment.” Apparently satisfied by the answering nod, she closed the door on the men.

“Now then, Renee, you have everything you need?”

“For now. I’ll give you a list of the matériel I require once I have it?” Renee said. “Do you think you’ll have any problems acquiring it? Dynamite’s easy enough, but RDX might prove difficult.”

Deborah patted her shoulder, an almost motherly gesture. “Send me a complete list. The supplies will be available when we are ready to put things in place. Anything you require. I’ll have the elevations delivered to you as soon as I have them so that you and Mark can study the exterior.”

She held up a finger, shaking it like a school-teacher admonishing a pupil. “Keep a close eye on Alexander,” she ordered, then added with a leer, “I’m sure you know exactly how to insure his loyalty. He is well vetted, but we both know how tenuous a man’s fealty can be, don’t we?”

Renee laughed, injecting a scoff. “I’ve had more experience learning that than I have time to tell you. Any man can be bought, but you and I know the currency they favor most, eh?”

“I sensed you were savvy in that regard. You remind me of me,” Deborah said with a satisfied bob of her head. “Let me know immediately if you have any problem with him and I’ll find you a replacement.”

Renee promised and said good-night, knowing full well what Sonnegut had been instructing Mark to do while Deborah gave her orders. He would be set to watch her even as she watched him. That was probably another of the reasons he had been hired.

The irony of their keeping tabs on each other struck her as funny, especially if Mark was still an operative for his government.

However, if he had turned she might just die laughing.

Chapter 2

Once they had left the building, Renee turned to Mark. “Do you know anything about demolition?”

“Do you?” he countered, one dark eyebrow raised.

“Do you have a place to stay?” she asked, ignoring his question.

“No, I only arrived this afternoon.” He walked beside her, hands tucked in his pockets against the bitter cold, obviously willing to follow wherever she led.

“I have rooms in the Latin Quarter. You’ll stay with me.”

Better to keep him close, as Deborah had ordered, and find out what he was all about than to wonder where the hell he was and what he was up to. She didn’t expect to get much sleep, if any, in either case.

“Are you giving me a choice?”

“Sure.” Renee headed for her rental car, a puke-green Peugeot with a balky transmission. “You could go back and bunk with Deborah and Sonny. How do you feel about threesomes?”

He laughed, a brief, bitter sound. “I don’t see that happening.”

“Who are you working for?” She hoped to catch him off guard with the question, but he replied immediately.