Freeze (The Jewel Project #4)

20.2|| Love and Hate

Snitch Gravel looked at the map he had pinned on the wall, a frown on his face, trying to hold on to the feeble hope. But it was useless. With an annoyed sigh, he picked up a black pin and stuck it in a white circle with the inscription Chambord.

His men hadn't returned from Chambord yet, but he was sure they'd found nothing. Everything had been empty so far and he had a nagging feeling the Grants were to blame. After Clermont-Ferrand, they had vanished and their accounts hadn't been accessed since. It was amazing they'd made such a rookie mistake to begin with.

Even if they'd covered their tracks pretty well by leaving no indication of their direction, he was sure they had headed for Loire Valley. His men in Paris would have said otherwise. But he still didn't know where they'd started searching and how meticulous they were being about it.

He turned away from the map and sat back at his desk, looking at the ceiling. Ever since conducting the research, he'd thought the stone had to be in the Louvre, very well hidden, but there. Yet, after three nights of fruitless searching, they'd come out empty handed.

Then he had assumed, just as the Grants obviously had, that the jewel might be found in some of the castles. He had started with Versailles and his men were now searching Loire Valley with Von Crooken in charge.

What had started as a sure thing had once again become a race. And for once, he'd miscalculated his resources and ended up leaving most of his men in Paris. The ones raiding the castles were hardly competent enough to search more than one at a time.

And even the Paris situation was bothersome and inconclusive. There were no news of Sam beyond the fact that the car wiring had been effective. No news of a body or if he was actually still alive and he wasn't sure how to feel about that. Disappointment was the most prominent one, but he wasn't sure if it was directed at Sam's death or Von Crooken's incompetent men.

Then there was Christine. He'd called her out of Paris after they'd finished with Versaille, but honestly, he'd expected Sam to come for her by now. Maybe he really was dead. Which made Christine completely useless.

His thoughts were interrupted by his door bursting open and banging against the wall. Von Crooken stepped inside, but lingered in the doorway. Snitch Gravel trained his gaze on it, daring him to take another step. This powerplay was useless, but he liked to see the fear in Nicholas' eyes. It balanced out the betrayal cooking right beneath the surface.

Finally, Von Crooken lifted his pudgy fist and knocked twice.

"There, was it so hard?" Snitch Gravel turned his back at him and settled behind his desk.

"News boss. The boys from Paris and the boys from Chambord are all here."

He frowned. "Why are the boys from Chambord here? They were supposed to head for Cheverny."

"They ran into the Grant brats. We found them half frozen on the side of the road."

This was new. And slightly worrying. "Call them in. And the boys from Paris as well."

Von Crooken took one step out of the room, whistled and waved his hand. It took a few seconds for six men to join him inside. The gang from Paris was lead by Cannon, his left shoulder bandaged and his arm in a sling, while the other three shook with no leader. Snitch Gravel could already tell the news wasn't good, but at this point, any bit of information was welcomed.

"Who wants to go first?" he asked, already tired with the whole thing.

"I do!" Cannon spat out. "That damn brat is alive. And he wasn't alone either." He drew in a shaky breath then winced. "He came with his twin and with his twin's little girlfriend."