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silly dispute is only a minor setback. I’ll inform the Queen of the incident, and expect to recover my client soon.”
    I wanted to snicker at the way Creepy-hat made it sound like he was indulging March, when it was clear that he didn’t have the balls to face him alone and was, in fact, retreating. I didn’t, because when I heard March’s voice, any fleeting relief, any amusement I had felt died right away. “Island. Close your eyes.”
    I obeyed, inching closer to him, until I was almost brushing his back, smelling rain and cedar on his wool coat. I did register the noise, like two firecrackers bursting one after another, but I didn’t understand immediately. Until I opened my eyes again.
    Creepy-hat was still standing in front of us. The hand that had been resting in his pocket all this time was now visible, holding a small brown pistol equipped with a long black suppressor. There was a little smoke, a smell I identified as powder, and his men were no longer moving. The driver had collapsed face-first in the muddy ground, whereas Greasy-jacket lay on his back, a bloody wound visible on his left temple.
    For a few seconds, my mind couldn’t process that Creepy-hat had just killed his own men. All I could focus on was the sound of the gunshots, so different from the movies. He put the gun back inside his coat and knelt beside the driver’s body to retrieve the SUV’s keys from the guy’s jacket. I watched, paralyzed, as he unlocked the car and turned one last time, silently tipping his hat to bid us good-bye. I think I closed my eyes at that point because I don’t remember seeing him climb into the vehicle. The engine hummed to life, and when I peeked again, he was gone.
    I thought of horses with broken legs, and I cried.
    March turned to face me, his expression blank. Without saying a word, he produced a tissue from one of his pockets to wipe my nose and cheeks; I let him proceed without reacting, in a daze. Once he was done, he meticulously folded the dirty piece of paper until all that was left was a compact little square, which he wrapped several times into a second, clean tissue before tucking it back in the same pocket. My shoulders were still shaking, and he waited patiently until I was more or less in a state to form coherent sentences.
    “Now . . . I believe we have some unfinished business, Island.”
    I took a few steps backward, my eyes traveling back and forth between his indecipherable expression and the rifle, and I blurted out the question I needed answered the most. “Who were they? Are they looking for that diamond too?”
    “Yes.”
    “He called you his partner. Why would your boss hire competing forces?”
    He appeared to hesitate, and what came out was a masterpiece of vague non-explanation. “My employers had second thoughts about their primary choice of professionals.”
    “Why? Aren’t you both the same, with the guns and—” My eyes darted to the two bodies on the ground, but the words wouldn’t come out.
    Something a little dark flashed in March’s eyes. “That man doesn’t work like me. He has his . . . kinks.”
    I swallowed hard. March had rescued me from whatever Creepy-hat had been planning to do with me, but at what cost? From the looks of it, I had merely traded one soulless asshole for another. I suddenly felt terribly alone, half-incapacitated and trapped in front of him in the middle of nowhere. I figured it would be preferable if I kept asking the questions, given his track record with interrogation, so I shot first before he could threaten to break my arms again.
    “I don’t get it. You had me! Why did you let them take me?”
    A little frown creased his brow. “You were very unresponsive after you threw up in your bathroom, so I decided to let him make his move and tenderize you for me. Also, your apartment was messy. I thought you deserved a little chastening.”
    “T-tenderize me?”
    “Yes, I planned on rescuing you after you were on the