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“I think you meant that just as much as you believe Kodra is one of the kidnappers,” Gabriel said, his lips twitching upward at the corners. “Family is complicated at the best of times.”
“You have no idea,” she muttered. “Mikel has already sent a surveillance team to Italy. He doesn’t want Kodra to disappear again.”
“Mikel is always five steps ahead.”
Quinn beamed with pride. “He’s awesome, isn’t he?”
In truth, Gabriel found Mikel a little terrifying. The man knew everyone on both sides of the law, remembered everything, and feared nothing. Gabriel suspected that Mikel could kill with his bare hands. The man’s only vulnerability was his daughter. Yet Quinn viewed her boss with admiration rather than fear.
This woman was beginning to intrigue him.
“How long does Mikel plan to observe Kodra?”
“I guess it depends on whether it looks like he’ll lead us to someone useful.” She shrugged. “If he’s just living a normal life with normal associates, Mikel will have him brought back here.” Then her eyes widened as though she’d remembered something. “Of course, the decision about that is yours, Don Gabriel.”
“If you call me ‘don’ one more time, I’ll have you thrown in the dungeon.” He smiled.
She choked on a laugh. “But I didn’t curtsy, so I have to make up for that.”
“Americans make a mess of curtsying. I was relieved that you didn’t make both of us uncomfortable.”
“I took ballet when I was a kid, so I am perfectly competent at curtsying.” Her brown eyes sparked with challenge.
“Well, save it for el rey.” He raised his eyebrows. “I would recommend that you curtsy to him.”
“Yeah, I want to keep my job…and my head.”
“No one has ever been beheaded in Caleva. That is considered barbaric. Those who disrespected the king in the past were tossed off Acantilado Alto, the high cliff.”
“Much more civilized to have your bones broken when you hit the rocks a hundred feet below and then drown in the crashing surf.”
“Two people survived.”
“Seriously?” She leaned forward. “What happened to them afterward?”
“They were captured and tossed off the cliff again. The second time neither lived.”
She frowned. “Shouldn’t they have been pardoned because God had shown them mercy or something? Or maybe conscripted as soldiers since they were so tough?”
“You are more merciful than our early kings. And more practical.” He liked her skewed perspective.
“Do you want to see the rest of the information about Kodra?” she asked in a sudden return to business.
Pain stabbed at his forehead. “Can you email it to me?”
“I don’t know how secure that would be.” She shifted in the leather chair that dwarfed her small-boned body. “I could put it on an encrypted flash drive.”
“Perfecto,” he said.
“I’ll be right back.” She shot up and bolted out of the room.
He slouched back in his chair and massaged his temples. He hated not being able to control the fear even a year later.
The door swung open, and Quinn trotted back into the room. Sliding into her chair, she plugged a small silver thumb drive into her laptop and tapped a few keys before she looked up. “I’m copying the files for you now.”
“Thank you.” He pulled his lips into a smile that he hoped looked like gratitude and not a grimace.
“Would you like some more water?” she asked, gesturing to his empty glass.
