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“Was any of it good, Schön?” I said in the deepest, sexiest voice I could. “Or was itbad?”
Her reaction wasn’t exactly what I was going for, but I had to admit I got a certain thrill when she started to giggle. I’d heard her laugh and even chuckle, but there were only a couple of other times when I remembered her making that particular sound. Once was when I’d tickled her feet the night we fell asleep on the sofa at the resort on Gozo.
Perhaps I’d ruin the moment, but I had to say something. “I love that sound.”
She giggled a couple more times and then her laughter faded away, her expression darkened, and she looked off in the distance.
“What just happened?”
Her eyes scrunched. “Sorry. I was thinking about the woman with Godwin in St. Moritz. As hard as Macht and I tried, we couldn’t get a good look at her. When she came out of the restaurant, her hat was pulled down, a scarf covered most of her face, and she was wearing sunglasses and a heavy coat.”
“Verity got a shot of her, but it wasn’t clear enough for her to be identified. From what I understand, even Decker Ashford, who seems to be able to track down everyone, didn’t have any luck.”
She nodded. “I remember reading that in the brief.” Her eyes darted around.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I know it isn’t my call to make, but I want to go back. There have to be images of her in St. Moritz. Maybe even at the resort. We followed her and Godwin there, but no one reported seeing her leave.”
“I’m sure we can request surveillance footage.”
Her eyes met mine. “I know, but I think we’d have more luck returning to St. Moritz. I grew up there. I mean, I went to boarding school in Leysin and university in Geneva, but then I returned when I went to work for the Swiss intelligence field office there. Macht grew up there too, although we didn’t know each other.”
“Okay. I’m willing to make that happen.”
She put her head in her hands. “But…Ehren’s there. In fact, she and Macht are assigned to the op together.”
“We’ll talk it over with Nemesis.”
“What about Zeppelin? He owns it, right?”
She made a good point. “Tomorrow, we’ll send a request to meet with both of them.”
Her eyes bored into mine. Her expression didn’t change, and she didn’t say anything.
“Or…I’ll send a request tonight?”
“That would be preferable.”
“Would you like to meet with them before or after your briefing?”
“If it’s before, I have to get to work. Which means I can’t do any circling.”
I smiled. “Understood.”
While she worked on her notes, I sent the promised message, outlining her request along with her concern about Ehren.
Within a few seconds, Zeppelin rang. “I’m all for Schön replacing Ehren in St. Moritz.”
“Just so you know; if we make this happen, I’ll go with her.”
“What about Macht?” he asked.
“No reason for him to leave the op. In fact, it makes sense for him to stay on, given he and Schön were seen together there previously. First, though, we need to figure out what can be done about Agent Richter.”
“I don’t know why we’d pussyfoot around this. We represent the UN coalition. Yes, we gave her and Macht an assignment, but we all agreed that, when it ended, she wouldn’t return to Shere. She’d stay in Switzerland, where she’d return to her job with Swiss intelligence. Who, by the way, none of us answers to.”
“That’s essentially what Nem said.” I looked down and saw I received an alert. “Hey, it’s our commander ringing now.”