Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(21)

I recognised the photo immediately. It was taken not long after I’d joined him. Both of us were beaming into the camera; both of us looked so young. ‘You didn’t need to steal this,’ I said softly. ‘I’d have given it to you if you’d asked.’

He looked away. ‘I didn’t want to come across all soppy.’

I tutted. ‘Taylor, come on. I think after all we’ve been through…’ I paused and my eyes narrowed. Hold on a second. ‘Smart. Real smart. Use an old diversionary tactic. What are you really hiding?’

His eyebrow twitched. Tell-tale giveaway. Sometimes he forgot that I knew him almost as well as I knew myself.

‘What have you really got hiding there?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s all your junk, today’s newspaper and some daft knife.’

Was this more trouble to deal with? ‘It’s a letter opener.’ I met his eyes. ‘And? What else are you covering up?’ I demanded.

‘And nothing. How did it go at my house? You were quite a while.’

‘I bumped into your friend.’ Or rather his fist bumped into my head. Whatever. The Wild Man was the least of our problems. ‘It didn’t go very well.’

Taylor’s eyes widened. ‘Are you alright?’

‘I’m fine.’ This wasn’t the time to skirt around the truth. My gaze hardened. The only thing that I hadn’t seen was the newspaper. That must be what he was trying to conceal. ‘Hand over the paper.’

He shook his head vehemently. ‘There’s nothing there. I was just reading the horoscopes. You don’t want to know what mine said.’

The day that Taylor was superstitious and believed the bumph the newspapers printed was the day I stopped liking hot pink. I lunged towards him, feinting right then grabbing the newspaper with my left hand.

‘Integrity!’ he howled.

I backed away and smoothed it out ‒ and saw the headline.

‘I could leave the country,’ Taylor started. ‘I’ve heard Belize is nice at this time of year.’

I ignored him, scanning the story. And I’d thought things couldn’t get any worse. I should have known better.

‘You’d have somewhere nice to come and visit on holiday,’ he continued.

‘And what about Brochan and Speck?’ I sighed. There was no choice. ‘No,’ I said, pointing to the huge picture on the front of the paper. ‘I’ve got a far, far better idea.’

Taylor squinted. ‘You can’t.’

I nodded to myself. ‘I can. It’s the Lia Saifir. And look who’s got it.’

He stared at the smooth good looks of the man in the photo. ‘Oh.’ He sank down, deflated, into the nearest chair. ‘I didn’t see that,’ he mumbled in a blatant lie.

‘He’s staying at the Astor Hotel. He’s in town, Taylor. We can still get the jewel.’

‘No, Tegs. You can’t do it. It’s not fair.’

I touched his arm. ‘We steal from the Sidhe all the time, Taylor.’

‘Not like this. Not when there’s a chance you’ll be recognised.’

‘Every time I step outside I might be recognised! It’s been sixteen years. If they cared where I was, they’d have found me by now.’ I refrained from mentioning the letter I’d received summoning me back to the Sidhe court. Taylor had tried to hide the newspaper because he didn’t want me to get that up close and personal with a Sidhe who knew my real background. He’d go nuts if he discovered I’d been summoned back ‘home’.

‘I think I can handle one Sidhe,’ I said decisively, although I had no idea whether that was true or not. But how hard could it really be? ‘What choice do we have? I get the jewel and you get the money to get us out of this messed-up hole.’

‘But him? He knows you, Tegs.’

I smiled grimly at Byron Moncrieffe’s photo. ‘He’s a playboy with nothing more on his mind than wine and women. It’ll be a piece of cake.’

Taylor regarded me soberly. ‘You’re supposed to be leaving.’

‘Next week.’ I shrugged. ‘I can’t leave now, can I? Besides, I steal the Lia Saifire from Byron in the next seventy-two…’ I checked my watch, ‘make that sixty-eight hours, and I’ll still have plenty of time to pack and say my goodbyes. Whoever the bastard is who’s pulling the strings of this loan and screwing with our crew, they can’t argue if we actually pay up. You just need to make sure the buyer is still in place. And see if you can find out who the money lender is. We need to know so we can stop this happening again.’