Enemy Mine

Chapter 44

We landed at Laguardia before sunset, and Colin arrived in the Escalade with Sylvie riding shotgun. She kept me busy answering questions about my grandmother, the gollum nun, and the showdown with Deidra in the Thai restaurant. Sylvie's only disappointed sigh came when I told her Deidra left with her face intact.

Since everyone needed to play catch-up, we walked to a pizza joint for dinner. On the way, I dragged them into Trinity Church to see if any hardcore employees had worked over the long weekend, in particular, a pair of artists who were lovingly restoring the fresco, but it turned out they hadn't disrupted their holiday. During our brief visit, I picked up Christoph's scent, although he didn't appear to be among the ten or so bodies inside the church. None of them had his build. 

"So, where's this hidden door?" Colin asked as we meandered past the fresco.

"I don't think now is a good time for show and tell," I said. "We're being tailed."

"What?" Both Vincent and Colin blurted as they glanced around.

"By whom?" Vincent asked incredulously.

"Christoph." The slight drop in my voice made it sound like I wasn't sure, but I had no doubt it was him. "I'm hungry. Let's get that pizza."

I tugged on Sylvie's arm, leading us out of the church and away from Vincent's incredulous face, but he easily caught up to us.

"How do you know it's Christoph? Did you see him?" he said.

"No."

"So, you know him from his scent?" Vincent growled the words, but I ignored his testosterone.

"Yes."

With the pungent smell of jealousy polluting the air, lips remained locked until we arrived at our dinner destination. As soon as the hostess showed us to our seats, I popped off a text to Christoph.

I'm back from Chicago, but you already knew that, right?

We perused our menus, and when the waitress left with our drink orders, a call rang through from Christoph, which meant Mr. Testosterone wasn't going to be happy. Why couldn't Christoph just text like a normal person?

"I'll call him back later," I said, sliding my phone toward Vincent so he could see the name.

Vincent pushed the phone back. "Answer it. Let's hear what he has to say."

I shrugged my apologies to my dinner companions and answered the call. "Hi, Christoph."

"Hi, Reese. How was the trip?"

"Enlightening and exhausting."

"Why are you exhausted? Wait... You don't have to answer that."

I snorted a chuckle. "Exhausting because I met nearly every gollum in the city."

"Including your grandmother?"

"Petula was the highlight. Have you ever met her?"

"No, but Willem talks about her like she's a saint."

"Well, a nun is close. She showed me a picture of my mother. It was surreal to see her in the flesh, so to speak."

"I bet. Did your visit bring back any memories?"

"Nothing specific, but the convent felt a little like home. I guess I was a rambunctious child, according to my grandmother."

"I don't doubt that. You still are. So... did Petula tell you anything about the amulet? Does she know where it is?"

"No. She said my mom had it when she escaped the convent that night. I took it to mean she never saw it again, just like her daughter."

"Oh, okay. That was probably an awkward conversation, huh?"