Three Fates

them.”
    “I’m sure we’ll think of something. According to my contact, the woman is even now combing Athens in search of a certain silver lady and a brunette.” He came over, sat across from Cleo. “She bought a gun. It was the first thing she did. It’s clear she’s hoping to track you down, and when she does, she plans to play for keeps.”
    “She’s going to be disappointed, isn’t she?”
    “And we’re going to keep her that way.” Gideon came in, Malachi behind him. And there was fury in his eyes. “Whatever plans are from this point, we’re keeping you well away from her.”
    “Hey, listen, Slick—”
    “The hell I will. She’s not planning on having a chat with you. She’s planning on getting what she’s after, then killing you. Did you tell her where she got the gun?”
    “Black market,” Jack provided. “Unregistered Glock. She was careful. She didn’t try to get a weapon through customs. Odds are she’s not planning on bringing it back through either. She hopes to get her money’s worth out of it, then ditch it.”
    “Like I said, she’s going to be disappointed.”
    “And you’re on background duty from here out,” Gideon told her. “You help Rebecca with tech, Tia with research. And you stay in this flat or Tia’s. You don’t go out alone for any reason. And if you argue with me, I’ll lock you in a closet until it’s done.”
    “Cleo, before you cosh my son, which I’m sure he deserves for any number of reasons, I’d like to say something.” Eileen sat comfortably, as she often did at her own kitchen table. “I’ve had a different view of things, as I haven’t been in the center of it. There’s a weak spot—an Achilles’ heel, you could say. That’d be apt, wouldn’t it,” Eileen said to Tia. “This woman knows your face, Cleo. She believes you’re holding something she’s already killed for. She’s focused on you now. That’ll change and shift a bit after she comes back here. But you’re the one thing she’s sure of. If she manages to get to you, she gets to all. Would that be the case, Mal?”
    “It would, in a nutshell. We won’t risk losing you, Cleo, for your own sake. And I don’t think you’ll risk the whole of the matter just for the chance to thumb your nose in her face.”
    “Okay, point taken. I’m a risk, so I stay covered.”
    “And next time, Gideon,” Eileen said, “you might ask reasonably instead of tossing orders about. You make a fine cup of tea for a Yank, Tia.”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Sullivan.”
    “Let’s just make it Eileen, why don’t we? From what I gather here you’re a clever girl in other areas.”
    “Not really. I’m just good at following directions.”
    “Modesty’s very becoming.” Eileen poured another half cup of tea from the pot. “But when it’s misplaced or untrue, then it’s just foolishness. You found a way to get this woman’s financial information.”
    “Actually, it was my friend who . . . Yes,” Tia amended at Eileen’s lifted eyebrows. “I found a way.”
    “And so you know how much to demand from her for the Fates.”
    “We haven’t decided, exactly, but I thought . . .”
    “Does the girl always worry about speaking her mind?” Eileen asked Malachi.
    “Not as much as she did. You’re making her nervous.”
    Though color rose into her cheeks, Tia straightened her shoulders. “She can liquidate up to fifteen million. Twenty, really, but that adds considerable time and complications, so fifteen’s better. So I thought we should ask for ten and give her a buffer. The Fates are worth a great deal more. She’ll know that with a little work and research she can sell them to the right collector for at least double her investment. My father verified that he, as a dealer, would offer ten. As a businesswoman, she’d think the same way.”
    “Very sensible,” Eileen said with a nod. “Now all you have to do is figure out how to have her turn over that kind of money without giving her the Fates. Have her charged with the insurance fraud and end it all with her being arrested for murder. With that done, we can get down to planning a wedding and get back to running Sullivan Tours. Your cousins are doing a fine job with the day-today of it,” she told Malachi, “but we need to have our hands back in it again.”
    “It’ll hold a bit longer, Ma,” Malachi assured her.
    “If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be here. Just as I believe the lot of you will come up with