Page 44

She giggled. “Good night, Magnet.”
After donning a pair of jeans, I opened the bedroom door at the same time Schön opened hers.
Her wide-eyed deer-in-the-headlights expression mirrored the one on my face. “Just, err, getting the lights.”
“Right, um, showering.”
“There are fresh towels in your room. I can get them if you’d like.”
“I can manage, but thank you.”
I shuffled to the front of the cottage. “Good God, I’m a horse’s arse,” I muttered, returning to the bedroom when all the lights were out. So much for the commander who made everything possible. Now, I just looked like a blithering idiot.
What was it about this girl—woman—that had me so tied up in knots? Maybe I should suggest she return to St. Moritz without me. Not alone, of course. I’d see to it Rogue went with her. I felt sure such an arrangement would allow both of us time to focus solely on the op and quit stumbling over our shared attraction.
Just so I couldn’t talk myself out of it in the morning, I sent Nemesis a message, letting her know what I’d decided.
When I wokeand checked the time, I saw I’d overslept. I’d planned to get out of bed at zero seven hundred and make sure Schön had everything she needed for her briefing.
After putting on the same pair of jeans I’d had last night and a pullover, I glanced in the direction of her open door, then went into the kitchen.
“Schön?” I called when I didn’t find her out there. I said her name a second time, returning to the hallway. Like her room, the bathroom door was also open, so I could see she wasn’t in there. I looked around and didn’t spot her computer, bag, or jacket.
I returned to my bedroom, stunned that she’d already left, but more that I hadn’t heard her. Foregoing another shower, I brushed my teeth, changed into a different attire, and set off for the command center.
When I arrived, Schön was facing my direction but was in a conversation with Oleander and Flick. I waved, but she must’ve looked away before seeing me do so.
I wondered if Magnolia had arrived at the same time Grey did, but I looked around the room and didn’t see her.
“This must be some kind of record,” said Zeppelin, who walked up beside me.
“For?”
“Getting yourself in the doghouse.”
“I need coffee before we have this conversation.”
Zeppelin followed me into the kitchen, where Verity sat studying something on her laptop. While she said good morning, it wasn’t in her usual effusive way.
“What am I missing?”
“Magnet. Good, you’re here. A word?”
I turned around and followed Nemesis into the library.
“I’m afraid I put my foot in it,” she said after closing the door.
“In what?” I asked.
“I had no idea you hadn’t informed Schön of your decision not to travel to St. Moritz.”
“I planned to discuss it with her this morning, but when I woke, she’d already left. I’ll do it now. By the way, what did she say?”
“Nothing. She didn’t need to.”
14
SCHÖN