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Dupont slid his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out something that caught a glint of sunlight. He held up his hand to show a key chain dangling from his index finger.
Quinn did her best to keep her expression impassive as Dupont extended his hand to her. “I thought you might want this.”
She glanced at the key chain from which a coin encased in plastic hung. It was her father’s lucky talisman, an Irish twenty-pence coin he had won in a penny-ante poker game years before. The man who’d tossed it in the pot hadn’t know it was worth thousands of dollars, but Brendan somehow had. Her father always carried it with him, calling it his mad money.
Dupont moved it closer to her.
“Why would I want that?” Quinn asked, but she heard the catch in her voice.
He flipped the coin up and closed his hand around it. “Ah, I was mistaken. I thought it belonged to a close family member of yours.”
“Quit fucking around,” Mikel said, his tone harsh. “Give her the key chain and get out of my country.”
“Your country?” Dupont raised his eyebrows. “You’re not Calevan born or even Calevan bred.”
“It’s my country now.” Mikel’s claim was fierce.
“As long as you’re useful to Luis.” Dupont abruptly tossed the key chain at Quinn with a malicious smile. “Your father sends his love.”
Her heart clenched as she barely caught the coin. Her father wouldn’t have parted with it willingly. Had it been stolen from him…or worse? She shoved it in her pocket without taking her eyes off Dupont.
“Au revoir, mes amis,” Dupont said with a flick of his fingers. “May our paths never cross again.”
He turned on his heel and sauntered toward the car.
“Our paths will cross again,” Mikel murmured under his breath. “When I put you in prison for life.”
Quinn waited beside Mikel as Dupont climbed into the SUV, and it reversed down the lane at high speed, leaving a billow of dust behind it.
“We have our missing piece,” Mikel said. “The instigator wasn’t Dupont, and the kidnapping wasn’t just about the ransom. There’s another motive at play here.”
“Also, the instigator brought in Ricci for the ear mutilation,” Quinn said, the thrill of the hunt zinging through her.
Mikel nodded as he pivoted to stride back up the hill. “That means the kidnapping was personal.”
“Because the instigator wanted Raul’s ear cut off,” Quinn agreed. “But who hates the prince that much?”
“The prince or the king,” Mikel said. “Mutilating the king’s only child is an act of cruelty against both of them.”
Quinn winced at the horror of that. She slipped her hand into her jeans pocket to grip the key chain. Was her father all right? “I’ll start looking at what happened around the king five months before the abduction. Could the kidnapping be related to the nobles who want the lily fields back?”
Mikel considered for a moment. “You should speak with Raul to see if he has any history with the members of the Lily Cabal.”
Quinn quelled her immediate response of why me? Her boss was entrusting her with this job, so she would accept it like the professional she wanted him to believe she was.
“I’m going to have the police pick up Kodra for extradition to Caleva,” Mikel continued. “That will protect him from Dupont. He’s going to need it.”
They reached the car.
“I’ll drive this time,” Mikel said, walking to the driver’s side and pulling the door open.
Quinn settled herself into the passenger seat.
“What’s the significance of the key chain Dupont gave you?” Mikel asked as he hit the ignition button.
She pulled it out and handed it to him. “It’s my father’s lucky piece. He always carries it with him.”
Mikel studied the coin in its plastic shroud before he handed it back to her with a concerned look. “Get in touch with him. Find out how Dupont got his hands on it.”
