“Here are your drinks,” a familiar voice interrupted the standoff. The female server returned with a tray full of beverages and began setting them on the table. She noticed the man dressed like one of the restaurant workers. At the sound of her voice, he’d concealed the weapon once more.
“Would you like a menu?” the girl asked the gunman.
“No,” he replied in German. “I was just leaving.”
“That’s right,” Sean said. “Our friend here was just leaving. Although he might be interested in filling out a job application. He’s already dressing the part. Isn’t that right?”
The gunman’s nostrils flared, and his jaw tightened.
He spun around and marched away without looking back.
“Guess he wasn’t interested,” Tommy said.
“Guess not,” Sean said as he watched the gunman disappear into the pedestrian traffic. “But, I doubt we’ve seen the last of him.”
Chapter 8
“Who was that guy?” June asked with a tremor in her voice.
“I don’t know,” Tommy answered. “But we’ll find out.”
“He had a gun, Tommy.”
“I realize that.”
June gasped. “You say that as if you deal with this sort of thing all the time.”
Sean raised an eyebrow at his friend but didn’t need to say anything.
“It happens from time to time,” Tommy said. “That’s the risk involved with recovering artifacts of this nature.”
“Risk? He had a gun, Tommy. He pointed it right at us.”
“I know,” Tommy said, putting his arm around her.
She slid to the side to get out from under his attempt at soothing. “I’m sorry, I need to go. I don’t know what you all are involved with, but I’d prefer to not have guns aimed at me.”
She stood up and collected her things.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Sean said.
“Sean, it’s been nice to meet you. Adriana, you as well.”
“He’s still watching us,” Sean added.
June’s eyes widened. She glanced around the pedestrian street to see if she could find the man’s face. He was nowhere to be seen.
“Look,” she said. “Whatever that guy wants, he wants from you two… three. I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Tommy stood up and tried to put his hand on her shoulder again. She shrugged it off.
“When you decide to get into a career that doesn’t involve deadly weapons, feel free to give me a call.”
She started to walk toward the cafe’s entrance.
“Second floor. Red building across the street,” Sean said.
His words froze June in place. “What? What did you say?” She looked back over her shoulder at him.
“It’s not the guy we just met. He’s waiting for us around the corner. Doesn’t need to be in sight because he’s got a pair of eyes watching us from that red building over there.”
She started to divert her gaze to the building he was referring to, but he stopped her.
“Don’t make it obvious you’re looking,” Sean said. “Be casual. Second-story window, second one over from the white door below it.”
June twisted her head slowly. Tommy and Adriana waited a moment before they stole a quick look. All three saw the same thing. A dark silhouette standing in the window moved suddenly, causing the cream-colored curtains to ripple in the window.
“He ducked out of sight, didn’t he?” Sean said, staring into his cup.
June nodded absently.
“These guys rarely work alone,” Sean said. “Come back over here, and have a seat. They’re not going to hurt us. If they were, they’d have done it by now.”
“Or they would have waited,” Tommy said.
“Right. Which means these guys wanted us to know they’re here.”
“Why would they want that?” June asked, still held in place by fear.
“Who knows? Typically, they’ll do that to make a statement. In this case, it’s probably a warning.”
“A warning?”
Adriana jumped in. “To get off the trail we’re following.”
Sean nodded in agreement. “That’s a good thing. Means we’re heading in the right direction.”
“A good thing?” June blurted. “It’s a good thing to have a gun pointed at you?” Her voice rose with her level of anger.
“That’s not what he meant,” Tommy said.
Before she could protest further, Sean urged her to return to her seat. “Please. Sit down, June. You’re much safer with us than on your own.”
“No. I don’t think so. I think I was safer before I met you three. I’m going back to the lab. Please don’t call me or follow me or whatever it is you do.”
She walked toward the entrance to the outdoor eating area. Tommy stood up to stop her, but Sean kept him in place. “Hold on, buddy.”
“Hold on?” Tommy said. “She’s in danger if she leaves here alone.”
“I know. Just give her a head start.”
“A head start? I’m not using her as bait, Sean. She’s a woman, a woman I happen to have feelings for. So I’m sorry if I don’t agree with the whole give-her-a-head-start plan.”
He stormed by Sean and hurried after June. She’d already merged into the increasing current of people walking down the cobblestone street.
“Would you use me as bait?” Adriana said, curling her bottom lip.
“Not unless I was sure you’d be okay.”
She didn’t seem surprised. “So you think June will be okay?”
“She would have been if Tommy had stayed here. Now they’re both in trouble.”
“We going after them?”
He nodded. “Yep. Just as soon as that guy across the street steps out the door.”
Sean reached across the table and picked up the folder. He stuffed it and the medallion into his rucksack.
“Why do you think that guy was bluffing?” Adriana asked.
“Someone who intended to hurt us wouldn’t have shown their face. They wouldn’t have come after us in broad daylight. And they wouldn’t have been so polite.”
“Polite?”
“Yep. He clearly said he didn’t want to hurt us.”
“And you believed him?”
Sean’s lips pressed together in a grin. “I’ve played cards long enough and been in this game long enough to know when a person is lying and when they’re telling the truth. That guy wasn’t lying.”
“Which means what, exactly?”
“I don’t know,” he said, staring across the street through the passing bodies. “But it looks like the spotter is on the move.”
Adriana followed his eyes across the street to the white door in the red building. A man dressed in black pants, and a matching pea coat stepped out onto the street. His gaze was aimed in the direction Tommy and June went. The guy slipped on a pair of sunglasses and started after them, careful to stay close to the buildings to keep out of sight.
“Are we going after them now?” Adriana asked.
“Yep,” Sean said with a nod.
He fished some euros out of his pocket and put enough on the table to cover their bill.
“Shall we?” he asked.
“Sure,” she answered with a cute smirk.
They made their way out of the cafe and onto the street, keeping a careful eye on the spotter across the way. He was dipping in and out of sight between the other people walking along. Occasionally, he paused to pretend to look at fruit or some other items in the outdoor marketplace, probably because he thought his quarry had noticed him. All the while he never realized he was being followed. At least that’s what Sean hoped.
From Sean and Adriana’s vantage point, it appeared Tommy was trying to convince June not to leave as the two made their way toward the next street, where Sean was 99 percent certain the gunman was waiting. More than once, June spun around and waved her hand at Tommy. Sean read her lips as she told his friend to go away and leave her alone.