The Warp in the Weave by Jane Thornley

Author:Jane Thornley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: suspense action empowerment women, archaeology thriller, suspense action mystery, archaeology mystery suspense, black market suspense, international crime turkey, istanbul mystery and suspense, knitting textiles suspense, suspense knitting mystery, suspense textiles
Publisher: Jane Thornley

***19***

Maggie swept into the room in a long pink robe, hair wrapped in a towel. With her cheeks flushed and makeup-free, she seemed both older and more vulnerable than I had ever seen her before. She plucked her phone from the bed, jabbed her thumb at the screen as if checking for messages, and then tossed it back on the silken spread.

I squeezed the gun handle beneath the couture. “Isn’t it aggravating when people don’t do what you expect?”

“Holy shit!” She backed up against the bureau, knocking a jar to the floor. Her eyes widened. “You!”

“Me,” I agreed.

“How did you get here?”

“It wasn’t all that difficult.”

She crossed her arms. “How did you find me?”

“Also not difficult. You leave a Chanel trail wherever you go."

"So, what do you want?"

"What do you want? You sent that goon after me, remember. If you wanted to talk so badly, I’m sure we could have arranged something. Anyway, here I am.”

She looked me over as if inspecting a cockroach infestation. I pulled the pistol out from under the dress and wiggled it, thinking that might increase the intimidation factor.

Her eyes flicked from the gun to my face and smiled. “Put that down before you hurt yourself.”

My grip tightened. “I appreciate your concern but I’ll just hang on to it for now.”

She shrugged. “You’d never pull the trigger even if you knew how.”

“Are you sure about that? Noel taught me the basics of gun usage in Bermuda. I particularly recall the release-the-catch- and-pull-the-trigger part. Oh, wait—I forgot. You didn’t stick around long enough to see me fire those shots. You’d already scuttled off.”

“Yeah, but I heard all about it. You nailed lover boy in the shoulder while aiming for Hector. That showed real expertise.”

I remembered that moment too clearly. “He wasn’t my lover." I stopped myself from launching into another diatribe. "Thing is, I’m bound to hit something at point-blank range and chances are it will be you."

"You'd likely just hit a wall and ding my security deposit."

"Want to risk it? Sit down and let’s talk. I repeat, why did you send that goon after me?” It felt damn good to be in control for once, even though I sensed I was only fooling myself.

“I knew you were in town and just wanted to talk.”

“So we’ll talk now. I'd like answers and, since I've got the gun, you can give them to me.”

“Think so? What kind of answers?”

“Like where are Toby and Noel?”

She pushed a damp tendril from her forehead. “Boggles me how you can be so smart yet do so many dumb-assed things. Must run in the family.”

Walking across the room, wafting the scent of some exotic bath oil, she sat down in the chair opposite mine, crossed her legs, and proceeded to study me. “That napkin on your head suits you. Keeps that Raggedy Anne hair of yours in place. Couldn’t have found a better style solution myself.”

“It’s called a hijab.” I tried to appear cool and relaxed, desperately hoping she couldn’t see my gun hand shaking.

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