“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he said. “Ever seen one of these before?” He reached into his breast pocket and took out a small black box, no bigger than a lighter. “It’s one of those GSM ultraminiature transmitters. You can stick them practically anywhere.”

Patel gave the thing a cursory glance. “Yeah?” she said. Her discomfort, and her attempt to hide it, were absolutely delicious.

“Let’s just say I made the meeting between you and Cross after all.”

Again, her energy shifted. Now she was pissed off and a little embarrassed — too much to be scared anymore.

“You bugged our meeting? Jesus, Max, why the hell would you do something like that?”

“That’s your first good question,” he said. “How much time do you have for an answer?” But before she could say a word, he put a hand to her lips. “Wait, I’ll tell you myself. You have no time at all.”

The ice pick, his old favorite, was up and through her larynx before Patel could even scream. Still, her jaw dropped silently open with the effort.

He was on her now, his mouth covering hers, his hand over her nose — a literal kiss of death, but just an ordinary kiss between two lovers in a car to anyone who might have glanced out his window. Her strength, her desire to live, were nothing compared to his. Even the blood loss was minimal — Patel had been too polite to ask about the plastic seat covers in the car.

Or the raincoat Max Siegel was wearing on this dry night.

Once she’d stopped moving altogether, his excitement only grew. He would have loved to climb into the backseat with her while her lips were still warm and her belly still so soft to the touch. He wanted to be inside her right now. Hell, he owned her.

But it would have been a foolish risk, and an unnecessary one at that. He had decided hours ago that tonight was going to be an exception to the usual rules. He’d earned it after all, and this game was his to change. In fact, there were a lot of changes just around the corner.

But first, Anjali Patel was coming home with him — for a sleepover.

Book Three

MULTIPLICITY

Chapter 56

SAMPSON KNEW I was usually awake by five, or even earlier, but it wouldn’t have made a difference today. I could tell he was already at work from the street sounds in the background and the tension in his voice.

“I need a favor, Alex. Maybe a big one.”

Instinctively, I started eating my eggs a little faster while Nana gave me the hairy eyeball. Very early and very late calls in our house are never a good thing.

“Go ahead,” I said. “I’m listening. Nana is watching me listen. I can’t tell if her evil eye is for you, me, or both of us.”