Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

will be up for discussion later, not now. Fortunately, they agreed
     to a substitution. Instead of the prototype, they’ll take the man who made it.”
    Cullen barked out a laugh. “First you steal from me, then you want me to exchange
     myself for your lover? With balls that big, I don’t see how you get your jeans zipped
     in the morning.”
    “It’s a wonder,” Machek said agreeably. “But I thought…I may be all wrong about this,
     but I thought this wasn’t entirely up to you. If Rule orders you to do something,
     you have to do it, don’t you?”
    Rule’s eyebrows lifted. “And you thought I’d exchange Cullen for what you insist is
     an object, not a person?”
    “Well…” He spread his hands. “I thought you’d come up with a way to make the exchange,
     then reclaim him. I leave it to you to figure out how to do that. As to why you’d
     go to all that trouble—”
    “And a certain amount of risk,” Rule said dryly.
    “And risk,” Machek agreed. “Judging by your actions in Washington in October, I’d
     say you’re willing to risk quite a lot to protect others. But perhaps there has to
     be some self-interest involved, too. Something of importance to you or your people,
     such as the man you claim was behind the attacks in October. You’d want to find him
     if you could.”
    “Robert Friar?” Lily said sharply. “You know where he is?’
    “Not precisely. Not his exact location. But he’s in California, and I have information
     that may lead you to him.”
    “Is he behind all this? Did he hire you?”
    Machek slid her a glance as opaque as Rule at his most closed down. “I won’t answer
     questions until I have my property back.”
    He meant it. Lily was convinced of that. How much of the rest did he mean? He’d stepped
     around certain statements meticulously, as a man might who preferred to speak truth,
     but was constrained from real honesty. Or as a clever and expert liar might. He didn’t
     claim to know where Friar was. He didn’t say Friar was behind this. He implied the
     possibility, but he wouldn’t say who had kidnapped his partner. He wouldn’t admit
     King had been taken.
    If Lily weren’t here, he might have told Rule that much of the truth, instead of talking
     about “property.” Even with Lily here he might have taken that risk if they’d brought
     Cynna along, hoping she could find King before his captors realized the FBI was involved.
     Instead, they’d brought Cullen.
How convenient,
he’d said. “How is the exchange—” Her phone chimed the opening to “Boy” by Ra Ra
     Riot…Beth’s ring tone. Lily grimaced and reached into her purse to turn the ringer
     off. “How will the exchange be handled?”
    “I don’t know. I’ll get a call sometime today or tonight with the details.”
    Rule spoke. “You had us meet you here at your home. I take it this mysterious
they
know you’re talking to us. What do they think you’re telling us?”
    His eyes flashed with what might be amusement. “Why, right now I’m telling you that
     I’m acting as a go-between for the real thief, who is now willing to sell it back
     to you in order to avoid those violent types who attacked him and tried—unsuccessfully—to
     steal it from him last night.”
    Lily’s eyebrows lifted. “They assumed I wouldn’t see through that and arrest you?”
    “They expressed confidence in my ability to talk you out of that until you had the
     prototype back. To keep you busy, I’m to feed you misinformation about the attempted
     snatch so you’ll look in the wrong places until it’s time for the exchange. Then I
     lure Seabourne to the place named.”
    “Just Cullen?” Lily asked.
    He shrugged. “I’m to bring him alone if I can, but they accept that you might not
     agree to that. Once we’re all inplace, ah…” He cast Cullen an apologetic look. “Seabourne will be incapacitated with
     wolfbane.”
    Rule said, “Do you know how, exactly, they plan to do that? It’s not as easy to do
     as it might seem, given your success with the stuff on Big Sister.”
    “They didn’t say. I assumed they’d burn it, but assumptions aren’t the best guide.
     Should I try to find out when they call?”
    Rule shook his head. “Too easy to make them suspicious. They’ll expect you to be focused
     on getting King…on getting your property back, not on what they do with Cullen.”
    “They know I’ve some concern about his welfare. That’s how I pried out of them