Total pages in book: 172
Estimated words: 157460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 630(@250wpm)___ 525(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 630(@250wpm)___ 525(@300wpm)
“You’re not going to tell her, are you?” Maestro asked Zyah as Ink studied the drawing. “Does she have to know? She loves her husband. She talks about him all the time.”
“Yes, I have to,” Zyah said, her voice gentle. “We don’t keep things from each other. I would never be able to face her again if I didn’t tell her about this.”
“Was she suspicious when you asked to borrow the picture?” Mechanic inquired, taking the device from Ink so he could study the plans for the bomb.
“No, we’d talked about showing the drawing to Czar when we were at the Floating Hat with Blythe,” Zyah said. “I told her I’d take good care of it. She’s very good at hearing lies, and I didn’t tell her one. I borrowed the picture yesterday. I wrapped it up so carefully. Player and I brought it out here to the shed. I didn’t tell her that.”
She was watching Mechanic. Player moved closer to her, and she immediately put her hand on his leg. Her touch was light, but he knew she needed comfort. He covered her hand, applying pressure until her palm pressed into his muscle.
The two people who had studied the drawing the longest had been Savage and now Mechanic. Both had quite a lot of knowledge when it came to bombs. Mechanic looked at the drawing from every angle just as Savage had done. Player was interested in what they thought. This was no ordinary bomb, and the strange thing was, Player hadn’t come across anything like it before.
“The device is definitely for a specific purpose,” Mechanic murmured aloud. “Very detailed and different. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Savage joined him, taking the monocle. “I agree. The bomb looks like it would work, there’s no question about that, but . . .” He trailed off and passed the device back to Mechanic.
Maestro was the only one who hadn’t looked at the drawing. He heaved a sigh. “I don’t know how you can do this, Zyah. Have you seen the proof yet?”
She shook her head. Player felt her press her hand deeper into the muscle of his leg. He knew she was torn.
“Your grandmother is one of the most amazing women I’ve ever encountered.” Maestro was utterly sincere. “If she’d have me, I’d marry her myself. That hound dog Dwayne River keeps sending her flowers and drops by the house to have tea with her. He doesn’t even like tea.”
Player could see that Maestro was trying to keep Zyah’s attention on him rather than on the speculating the others were doing about the bomb. He knew it wouldn’t work for long, even if she was distracted for a moment. Zyah was determined to get to the truth.
“Maestro,” Savage said, without turning his head. “You don’t like tea, and you’ve been deceiving Anat and drinking it with her by the gallon just to impress her.”
A roar of laughter went up. Even Zyah had to laugh. “You do know it’s impossible to deceive Mama Anat, Maestro. If you don’t like tea, she would know it.”
Maestro frowned. “How could she know?”
Zyah shrugged. “She just does. Same as I do. Player’s never going to get away with anything because I’ll always know when he’s up to no good. Just remember that, honey, if you decide to run off with a hot little blonde. I’m very good with a gun.”
Her fingers suddenly dug into Player’s leg muscle very hard. His gut tightened into hard little knots. He looked down into her upturned face. Her dark eyes had gone liquid.
Gedeon. She whispered his name in his mind. Brushing him with trepidation. With sorrow. Swamping him with fear. Mama Anat. Her voice dripped with tears at the dawning realization.
He didn’t dare look at the members of his club. Like him, they had probably considered that Anat, having been married to Horus as long as she had, would have suspected, if not known. For certain, Czar would have considered it. And Savage had spent enough time with Anat to realize that she was too intelligent not to suspect.
Player sank onto the narrow wooden bench beside Zyah, locking his arms around her, uncaring what the others thought. He sent waves of soothing comfort into her mind. Don’t panic on me, Zyah. We don’t know anything at this point. Anything at all. Everything is speculation. Until we know something as fact, we don’t act on it or get upset over it.
Czar had drilled that into them when they were children. It did no good to try to look ahead and fear what they didn’t know for certain. They could only deal with their reality. That was what they needed to do right then. He stroked a hand down the back of her head. Czar looked at him sharply.
“I just owned right up to hating that poisonous brew,” Savage declared, covering the silence. “Told Blythe. Then told Anat.” He handed the monocle to Maestro. “This is a thing of beauty. Anat’s man was a fucking genius, but I’m still not certain what part of the contents were designed for. Player, you must have figured that out when you were putting it together.”