"Laura Anne Gilman - Retrievers 03 - Bring It On" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gilman Laura Anne)

moment the nibble came in? This was his job, his part of the partnership, to deal with the prejob details.

But the call had come directly to her, and she had taken it on directly. So there wasnтАЩt any Sergei here
to fall back on. Her choice, so hers to deal with.Grow up, she heard P.B. say again.

тАЬMy father was killed last year. His will entered probate.тАЭ Rosen spoke without emotion in that lovely
voice, as though all that had happened to someone else. тАЬNow his widow is claiming that a particular
piece of jewelry is hers, not mine. It belonged to my mother, andshe has no claim to it.тАЭ

There was more emotion in the last sentence than the girl had shown, total, up until then. Whatever the
piece was, it meant a lot to her. And she really, really didnтАЩt like her stepmother. Did she suspect the
woman in her fatherтАЩs murder?Not your problem, Valere.

Not WrenтАЩs business, who felt what about who, except as it impacted what she was hired to do. Her
business was the job, and only the job. тАЬShe has it in her possession?тАЭ

Rosen nodded. Apparently, the widow did.

A straight-ahead break-and-grab. Nice, Wren thought to herself. Just what the doctor might have
ordered, to keep her mind busy while she waited for the Talent-storm forming overhead to either break
or disperse.

тАЬI want to keep this low-key,тАЭ the girl went on. тАЬSheтАЩs going to know itтАЩs meтАФthereтАЩs no way she canтАЩt
know. But without proof, without a way to trace it back to me, she wonтАЩt be able to do anything about it.
ThatтАЩs why I came to you.тАЭ

тАЬBecause IтАЩm a Retriever?тАЭ

тАЬBecause youтАЩre the best.тАЭ

All right, that was a fact Wren wasnтАЩt going to argue; although she could name half a dozen non-Cosa
thieves who were at least as good at lifting things, they werenтАЩt always as careful about giving the
merchandise back over to the client. It was a highest-bidder market out there, for items without clear
ownership and no binding contract.

That was the difference between a Retriever and a thief. Not just current, but good work ethics. A
Retriever, once bought, stayed bought.

тАЬI need the best. I also need someone with a connection to magic. Can you, I donтАЩt know, do something
so that she knows magic is used? To throw her off my trail?тАЭ

Covering her ass. Wren could approve. But she hated having anyone tell her how to do a job. Not even
Sergei ever did that. If it called for current, she used it. If it called for the more pragmatic, practical skills
she had picked up over the yearsтАФlock picking and door-jimmyingтАФthen she used those. That was
what made her the best, not just an accident of Talent.

Wren didnтАЩt say any of that, however. She avoided sitting in the other chair, feeling more comfortable on
her feet. At just over five feet tall and otherwise unmemorable, one of the best ways to keep someone
focused on you was to present a moving target. Make them just nervous enough to pay attention.