Midnight Jewels

look at Gladstone's collection doesn't answer your questions?"
    "I'll try to get a look at his private papers. Do some research. Get a feel for the way he's making his money these days, that kind of thing," Croft said casually.
    "Oh, my God. Is that all?"
    "That's all. We'll leave on schedule. If I've confirmed any of my suspicions, I'll return later, on my own, to pursue them. Relax, Mercy. I won't carve him up at the dining room table with a dull bread knife."
    Mercy went pale and choked on her last sip of coffee. She seized the water glass, her eyes tearing. Croft was startled. He got up and moved around the table to whack her lightly between the shoulder blades.
    "Are you okay?"
    She nodded furiously, still unable to speak. Slowly her throat relaxed. She tried another sip of water.
    "That was a joke, Mercy." Croft sat down again, his eyes concerned. "I would never expose you to violence."
    "You have a weird sense of humor, Croft," she gasped. "Kindly remember it's my future you're talking about when you make such horrible jokes."
    "Your future," he said thoughtfully. "That's an interesting subject." v "I agree. I think about it a lot. But at the moment I have no intention of discussing it with you. Now, about this Gladstone visit. There is just one other point I'd like to settle." She leaned forward to pin him with narrowed eyes. "We have to decide on the nature of our relationship."
    "I really don't like that word. I've given it a lot of thought and I've decided it's a useless word."
    "Relationship? I find it very useful."
    "Only because you don't have any problem with a certain amount of vagueness in your life."
    "I keep telling you, Croft, it's important to be flexible. I think we're getting off the main subject here. About our relationship—"
    "What about it?"
    "I've been thinking. We can present ourselves to Gladstone as professional acquaintances who also happen to be friends. We'll let him think you're also a book dealer and that you accompanied me on this trip purely out of professional curiosity and because you hoped to interest him in buying through you as well as me."
    "It won't work."
    Mercy was offended. "Why not?"
    "First, because business people do not pay calls on then-clients accompanied by competitors. Also, if he's the suspicious type, all he has to do is pick up the phone and find out whether I've actually got a bookshop. Once he discovers I don't, he'll be very curious."
    "He'd only go through all that trouble if he's really Graves or connected to Graves in some fashion." Mercy chewed on her lower Up, thinking quickly.
    "Not necessarily," Croft surprised her by saying. "He's obviously something of an eccentric and he has a valuable collection. He could be perfectly innocent and still be well within his rights checking up on an uninvited guest. I'd do the same thing in his place. No, Mercy, I'm afraid we're going to have to pose as lovers. You'll be the rare book expert. I'll just be along for the ride. I decided to accompany you on this little jaunt because it meant we'd have a vacation together. The Gladstone visit is just a short detour in the midst of a passionate romp in the Colorado mountains."
    Mercy glared at him. "I don't like it."
    "You're stuck with it unless you can come up with something better and convince me it will work."
    "How can I convince you of any idea I dream up? You're bound to be prejudiced against it right from the start."
    He shook his head firmly. "I'm always willing to be reasonable and logical about strategy. I'm always reasonable and logical about everything."
    Mercy stabbed a finger at him. "You're the most unreasonable, illogical man I've ever met."
    "One of these days, Mercy, I'll have to give you a few lessons in logic and philosophy. You've spent too many years operating on instinct and emotion."
    "If I
operated
only on instinct and emotion, I wouldn't have survived running my own business for the past two years," she tossed back triumphantly. "Are you ready to go? According to the map we should be at Gladstone's place in another hour or so."
    His hand shot across the table in the blink of an eye, capturing her wrist and stilling her just as she was about to rise. Croft's eyes were suddenly very intent. The command in them was almost as powerful as it had been during the night when he had ordered her to let him handle the authorities. Mercy didn't move.
    "It's understood that we will pose as lovers while we're at Gladstone's? I don't want any surprises from