Sleuth or Dare by Robin Benway

Author:Robin Benway [Benway, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471116773
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

After I left Roux’s, I walked along the edge of Central Park for a while, scuffing the toe of my boot along the bricks as I thought about the egg and the missing coins. Was Dominic really that much of an evil genius mastermind to create an entirely fake egg? I knew Angelo was checking his contacts, seeing if anyone had forged a counterfeit egg recently, but the fact that he hadn’t called me told me that he was coming up short.

I walked through the melee of Columbus Circle, then went south along the park, patting a few carriage horses along the way. I had only meant to wander around for a while, but I soon realized that I ended up back in the place where it all began: at the Sherman Monument, just under the winged statue of Victory, her arms spread wide as if to say, “How do you like me now?”

“Show-off,” I muttered, but then leaned against the statue anyway, resting under the safety of her figure as I tried to work things out.

If I broke one of the most valuable creations of the twentieth century, I was fairly sure that my reputation as an expert spy and safecracker would be ruined. If I broke the egg and found the coins, though, I’d save my parents and their reputations. I wasn’t used to making these sorts of decisions on my own. Usually the Collective told me where to go and what to crack and that’s exactly what I did. I did whatever they told me to do, whenever they told me to do it, and I never questioned it. Roux would have asked so many questions that they probably would have kicked her out of the Collective before her first job, but I didn’t.

And I was starting to realize what a monumentally stupid mistake that had been.

I sat there for a long time, people-watching as the sun began to finally sink behind the buildings. There were a lot of couples walking hand in hand, which made me feel so lonely inside. I missed Jesse’s hand in mine, how it felt when our fingers touched. I remembered the coldness between our palms last night, the tears smearing his fingerprints, and I shook my head, trying to will myself to focus on work.

When it finally got so dark that I couldn’t see across the park anymore, I glanced up at Victory. “Any tips?” I asked her. “Because now would be a great time to offer some advice.”

She just stared straight ahead, pointing south in the direction of our loft, so that’s where I decided to go.

I was just coming up from the R train on Spring Street when my phone (brand-new SIM card in place) started to buzz. I checked it: four missed calls from Angelo.

That was not good. Not good at all.

“Hey,” I said, going to stand in front of the Dean & Deluca on the corner so I could get out of the way of the Saturday crowds.

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