My eyebrow lifted. “I thought after today, the idea was to lighten my wide load?”
“Your words, not mine. I think the view is just fine. I meant spy-training camp. I want to teach you some basics for protecting yourself.”
My cheeks grew hot from his compliment, so I looked back at the endless list of work to be completed. “Okay, so care to explain the Italian marble countertops? Is that really necessary?”
“What, pray tell, do you have against Italian marble?”
“It’s a ridiculous expense, Win.”
“And you have a ridiculous amount of money. Enough for—”
“Five lifetimes. I know, I know. You know, I betcha you died bleeding to death from a paper cut while making it rain money.” I swiped my fingers over my palm to show him what I meant.
He barked a laugh and again avoided the subject of his death. “We were talking Italian marble.”
“Okay, if marble’s your wish, so be it. I promised not to argue if you promised to let me pick the color of my bathroom. A deal’s a deal. Now, I need to grab a shower, order a pizza, and talk out what we found today at MZ’s. You up for that, Spy Guy? Because now more than ever, I want to know what happened to MZ.”
“I’ll meet you in the parlor. Let’s hope Enzo got the water turned on and someone to sandblast the tub.”
I glanced at the microwave clock and Enzo’s back as he took swing after swing at the wall with his sledgehammer. “Isn’t it time for him to knock off?”
“Enzo’s an arteest, Stevie. You can’t rush, or for that matter, halt the magic. It happens when it happens.”
“What was I thinking? Of course sixty grand in kitchen renovations requires nothing short of an expensive magician.”
I hauled the ream of paper under the crook of my arm and waved to Enzo, heading back to the parlor to get my purse and Belfry. “Meet you back here in an hour.”
Plodding up the creaking, rotting stairs, I was almost afraid to see what I’d encounter on the landing, but true to Win’s words, Enzo had come through.
If there’d been debris up here, it was gone now. It wasn’t the Four Seasons, or even a Motel 6, but it was clean and there were lights. The wide landing spanning the second floor at the top of the stairs would be beautiful when done.
More tall windows overlooking the Sound lined the far wall, taking up almost the entire space, and though the paint was peeling and the floor had holes and were covered in dust, I knew it would be a space nothing short of spectacular.
There were two halls, one to my left and one to my right, where Win had generously told me to choose any room I liked. So I went to investigate to find the only one in the house that had a bathroom connected to it.
“Hey, Bel, you awake?”
“Are you kidding me? The dead are tossing and turning with all that racket coming from the kitchen.”
“How are you feeling, pal? Warmer now?”
Belfry climbed out of my purse and flapped his wings, bringing him to my shoulder, where he nestled against my neck. “Yep, like brand new. So what’s our next move, Boss?”
I crept down the hallway to the right, passing each room for a total of three. “I don’t know, bud. I can’t think until I take a shower. But I told Win we’d meet him back down in the parlor to reassess what we have so far.”
Belfry grunted.
“What am I sensing here, Belfry? What’s going on with you? You’ve been out of sorts all day.”
“Gas. It’s gas.”
I stopped at the last bedroom, pushing the door open and smiling when I flipped on the light, which was nothing more than a stray bulb in the middle of the water-stained ceiling. Then I smiled harder.
Oh yeah, this was my room. Not only did it have a crumbling fireplace and another gorgeous view of the Sound from the front of the house, but it had that tub Win mentioned. I saw it from the corner of my eye, sitting smack in the middle of a bathroom the size of my old apartment back in Paris.
As promised, my suitcases and boxes had been delivered from the hotel room. I found them all sitting in a neat pile by the closet door.
Setting the ream of paper on the floor along with my purse, I scooped Belfry off my shoulder and plopped him in the palm of my hand. “Talk to me, old friend. What’s the problem?”
“Is Winterbutt going to be your new sidekick? Do I need to start looking for another gig?”
I wrinkled my nose and tweaked his tiny yellow ear. “Are you kidding me? Who, in the history of all bird calls, could ever replace your crow squawk? You saved our hides back there.”