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VALERIE’S LIFELESS BODY lay slumped on her back on the pavement, her left leg bent at an unnatural angle beneath her. Slightly off center, the small, dark gunshot wound marred her otherwise perfect forehead. Her open eyes stared unseeing at the sky.
Mind racing, Leine shifted her position and looked past the concrete steps to see who she was up against.
“Leine—Ava. It’s all right. You can come out.”
Spencer? What the hell? Standing next to the lamppost halfway down the block, he unscrewed the suppressor on his pistol and pocketed it before holstering his gun. Then he raised both hands in the air. “I’m not here to kill you.”
“Do I look stupid to you?” A pistol wasn’t the only way to kill someone.
Hands still in the air, Spencer walked slowly toward her.
Leine stood, keeping the concrete steps between them, and monitored his progress through her gun sights. “Remove your sidearm and place it on the sidewalk in front of you, then kick it away.” She glanced at the banks of windows nearby for curious onlookers. All were dark.
Slowly, Spencer removed the gun with one hand before leaning over to do as she asked.
“Kick it away.”
He kicked, and the gun slid across the walkway, landing several feet from him.
“Satisfied?” he asked.
“Now the knife.” She gestured at his ankle with her gun.
An annoyed look crossed his face as he bent over and pulled up the leg of his jeans, revealing a sheath attached to his ankle. He slid the tactical knife free.
“Throw it next to your gun.”
“She was going to shoot you.” He lobbed the knife toward the pistol, where it landed with a clatter.
“And you know this how?”
Spencer winced as though she’d hit him. “Ouch. I may be working as a glorified bodyguard, but I haven’t lost that much of my edge.” When Leine narrowed her eyes he sighed. “She was aiming at the back of your head, for starters. She had focus, I’ll give her that.”
Leine tensed. Was this Henri’s doing? It had to be. Valerie wouldn’t attempt my murder on her own.
Would she?
Leine thought back to the would-be assassin’s actions and attitude. The younger woman had seemed genuinely grateful for the instruction Leine gave her. She’d asked pertinent questions and showed real promise. But it had all been an act and Leine fell for it, flattered by the empty words Valerie used to gain her trust.
Never again.
“Do you know her?” She nodded toward Valerie’s lifeless body.
“Not personally, no. But apparently she knows you.”
“How long have you been following me?”
“Since you left the bar.”
“Why?”
Spencer lowered his hands, a sheepish smile on his face. “Because I thought you were going to meet someone and I wanted to see who you liked better than me.”
“Shit,” Leine muttered.
He grinned. “You didn’t see me, did you?” He threw his head back and laughed. “Holy shit. The Leopard didn’t see me coming.”
“Oh, I knew someone was there, all right. I just didn’t know it was your sorry ass.” Irritated, Leine scowled at him. “Pull up your shirt and spin.”
Still grinning, Spencer did as she instructed. “See? No more weapons.”
“Except for the garrote you wear attached to the inside of your belt.”
“Yeah, well, a little thank you might be in order here. I did save your sorry ass.”
Leine walked over to retrieve his weapons and pocketed them before holstering her own. Then she returned to where Valerie lay.
“Help me move her. We can’t just leave her on the sidewalk.”
Spencer helped carry the dead would-be assassin into the shadows of a nearby doorstep and propped her against the building. Leine wiped Valerie’s weapon clean before pocketing it. She’d drop it in the Seine later. She scanned the darkened windows above them, searching for witnesses. She detected no movement behind any of the blinds or curtains.
“So who was she?” he asked as they walked away from the scene.
“An assassin-in-training. One of Henri’s protégés.”
Spencer didn’t say anything. Leine stopped and crossed her arms.
“What?”
He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered her one. She shook her head. He found his lighter and lit the end, expelling a cloud of blue smoke between them. “If she was an ‘assassin-in-training’ as you say, then who sent her to assassinate you?”
“Yeah. I get it. It’s Henri’s doing.” A nearby streetlight pulsed and went out, enveloping them in darkness. “I can’t let this go.”
“His place is a fucking fortress, Leine. How do you think you’re going to get inside?”
She looked through him, lost in thought. “There’s no way he just decided to sic Valerie on me for practice. If I know Henri, there’s money involved. A lot of money.”
“You mean there’s a contract out on you.”
“Yeah.”