The Tree of Light and Flowers by Thomas Perry

Author:Thomas Perry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Mysterious Press
Published: 2026-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

20

“Take the next turn and circle back to those old brick buildings,” Magda said. “And turn your headlights off.”

Daniil looked at her as though he were giving her a quick sanity check.

“Staring at me won’t help find her. Just do as I say,” she said. She was not only eager to succeed in the hunt for this Jane woman. She wanted the other one too, Brian Finlay. Maybe she wanted him more at this moment. She had helped to pass the time over the past two days by researching his former employer Bart Stillivant on the internet, and getting a sense of his wealth and power. He could easily pay millions for his former assistant. Right at the start, before she even found the woman who made people disappear, her expedition had been headed for success.

She had been feeling amused and excited about the game she was playing with Brian Finlay. She had immediately fooled him into assuming she was Jane, the one person he thought could save his life, but she was just holding on to him to help her catch Jane. Magda had been constructing a great irony—he would help destroy his own last hope, and then she would sell him to Bart Stillivant. She had begun to imagine the sight of his face when he realized what he had done to himself. He had those earnest blue eyes, and she imagined them opening wide to show his dismay when he would find out, and the strong mouth going slack-jawed in shock. She had begun to relish the power and control she had over him.

A night ago, she had ordered a change in the sleeping arrangements. She moved Maxim down into the den to watch the front door, had Brian Finlay go upstairs to one of the bedrooms, and put Dmitri in the bigger bedroom with Daniil and Mikhail. Two would sleep in the twin beds while the third stayed awake and watched through the back window. When it was night and all were situated, she went to lie on the couch in the living room. As soon as Maxim was asleep, she got up and climbed the stairs to the bedroom where Brian Finlay was. She opened the door, stepped inside, and locked it. Then she began to take off her clothes, draping them over the only chair in the room.

She walked to the bed. She explained nothing, said nothing, simply lifted the sheet, slid in beside him, took his hand, and put it on her waist. The next morning, she was out of the bed and dressed before the darkness was dispelled. She had accomplished exactly what she had wanted. She had sensed some hesitancy, maybe timidity, in him at first, but before long she was sure she owned him, and sure he knew it. She thought he would do anything for her. And she had even managed to hide her tattoos from him in the darkness.

The next night—tonight—she had repeated her visit, and she had been even more certain.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.