A Dangerous Duet by Karen Odden

Author:Karen Odden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-09-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The next morning at breakfast, I must have run my eyes twenty times over the same story in the Record—something about the ongoing strife between Christian peasants and Bosnian chieftains in a little-known region of the Ottoman Empire. But I was thinking about Jack and trying to keep my happiness—a live, sparkling thing—from showing all over my face. The last thing I wanted was Matthew questioning me.

Jack and I had made plans to go to the museum in the afternoon, but first I had to go to the Falcon offices. It was Sunday, and I hoped that Jeremy had some good news for Marceline.

“Dr. Everett told me I could see Marceline this afternoon,” Matthew said.

The echo of her name from my own thoughts startled me. “Really? Already?”

“He says she’s able to talk, and he’s not concerned about disturbing her memory any longer, so I can take her statement.” He folded his newspaper back into order. “He also said she’s wary of police but seems to trust you. He thought it might be best if you were to introduce me.”

“Of course.” I could easily imagine Marceline feeling more at ease if I were there to vouch for him.

“Could you meet me at the hospital around one?”

I nodded. The newspaper offices, the hospital, and then the museum. I flexed my foot under the table and said a silent thank-you that my ankle was healed.

WHEN I PUSHED OPEN THE DOOR OF THE FALCON, Jeremy jumped up off a chair as if he’d been waiting for me for hours. “There you are! Thought you might’a forgot.”

“Of course not.” I frowned. “I’m early, you know. It’s not even noon.”

He sniffed and jerked his head toward the stairs. “Come on, then.”

I handed him my umbrella to carry, drew my skirts out of the way of my feet, and followed him up. “Were you able to find Sebastian?”

“Yah. ’Ow’s Marceline?”

“Much better.”

We reached the top of the second flight of stairs and headed down the hallway into the warren of ill-lit rooms. He directed me into one of them and stood with his feet planted and his chin lowered doggedly. “Now, you got to tell me where she is.”

I sighed. “No, Jeremy. She doesn’t want Sebastian or anyone to find her. She thinks it’s dangerous, and so long as she asks me not to, I’m not going to tell you.”

“It’s all right. I don’t need to know,” said a voice behind me.

I spun and saw Sebastian in the doorway. The breath came out of me in a rush. “Sebastian! Oh, thank goodness, you’re all right!”

At the Octavian, I had only ever seen him in the full-length black leotard he wore for the trapeze act. Now, he was dressed in ordinary clothes that partially concealed his lean, muscular frame. His long dark curls had been cut very short, which altered his appearance a good deal. But there was no camouflaging the grace and deliberation in his movements. As he entered the room, I was reminded of a panther I’d once seen on exhibition at the zoo in Regent’s Park.

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