He smiled. “He said we should keep talking.”
Bobby’s eyes fluttered shut. She could have sworn that almost-smile was still there, though.
“So, who are you taking where tomorrow?” she asked.
As Danny rattled on about his plans for the next day, she half listened.
And half worried.
*
“Everyone looks pretty normal to me,” Mike said.
Craig lowered his head, grinning. His partner looked anything but normal himself, with his neatly trimmed beard and mustache, and green contact lenses.
“They are normal,” Craig said. He was watching Krakowsky. The older man had stayed at his table by the bar all day, and he didn’t seem about to leave.
Then again, he and Mike were still there, too.
It had taken just about all his resolve not to get up and leave when Kieran did. He was afraid, he realized, of her even being on the street alone.
Which was unreasonable, he knew.
He and Mike had watched customers come and go—or come and stay—throughout the day, many of them people they’d seen on previous visits.
He’d overheard snatches of Kieran’s conversation with Mr. Krakowsky, and he was more convinced than ever that both sets of thieves had been here, either to share information or pilfer it.
As the afternoon wore on into evening, they saw many if not most of the pub’s regulars. The man who had been with Gary Benton—he heard Declan greet him as Jimmy McManus—was there with friends, luckily not including Gary. They sat where they could see one of the screens and watched a college baseball game.
“I thought your girlfriend had us pegged there for a moment,” Mike said.
“My what?”
“Kieran. When she walked by, I thought she was about to ask us what the hell we thought we were doing. She would have figured it out if she hadn’t left.”
“Maybe.”
“What was that accent you were doing, anyway? Slavic-Hispanic?” Mike teased.
“My best Romanian,” Craig said. Then he went still.
“Krakowsky has company,” he said.
“Oh?” Mike murmured, turning his head surreptitiously.
It was Harry Belvedere.
The two men hugged in greeting. Then Belvedere sat down, and the two talked quietly, leaning in head to head.
“Probably commiserating,” Mike said.
Craig nodded. “Comparing notes on being robbed?”
“Not much to compare. Krakowsky got back his jewels and no one was hurt. Belvedere lost his best pieces, and worse, a woman was killed.”
“The point is,” Craig said quietly, “they’re here together now, so the odds are they’ve been here together before. And I’m betting both groups of thieves have been here, too.”
“Awfully coincidental that they were apparently all here at the same time. Think our bad guys could have been tipped off by someone near and dear to the pub?” Mike asked.
Craig shot him an unreadable look, then started to rise.
“We’re leaving?” Mike asked.
“I think we’ve found out everything we can here, at least for now. And I’m more and more convinced that Maria Antonescu, intentionally or otherwise, abetted the robbery that led to her own murder. We have to ID the guy she was dating, her secret lover.”
“And we’re going to find him by...?”
“Actually, I think he’s here. Maybe not here right now, but I think he’s someone we’ve seen in here before. We need to change clothes and head back to Clean Cut Office Services.”
Mike groaned. “It’s Saturday. You really think Ms. Mannerly is going to be there?”
Craig nodded. “I do, because I’m going to call her and tell her to meet us there. Though there’s another stop I want to make first.” He signaled for their check. Julie handed it to him with a smile and not even a whiff of suspicion.
Not bad, Craig thought, for a guy who hadn’t gone undercover in years.
“Hey,” Mike said, just as Craig was laying down money for their bill. He nodded toward the door.
They both stood there as assistant director Richard Eagan walked in and headed straight past them to the bar.
Craig and Mike stared at each other in surprise, but they managed to contain their laughter until they were out on the sidewalk.
*
Toward midnight, Kieran made Danny leave.
After all, he had a tour to lead in the morning.
He protested at first, but she finally convinced him that she was just fine. She was in a busy hospital, and a cop was sitting right outside Bobby’s door.
Once he was gone, she watched Bobby hopefully, looking for signs of returning consciousness. She hadn’t understood everything Dr. Huang had said, but the overall prognosis was good. There was no water building up on Bobby’s brain, and the swelling was going down.
It was about thirty minutes after Danny left that Bobby opened his eyes, looked at Kieran and smiled.
“Angel,” he said.
She flushed. “Oh, Bobby. Please. You know me well enough to know I’m no angel.”
He started to say something, but she could see it was an effort for him.