“Were you ever in the military?” she asked suddenly.

“No.” With a completely straight face he added, “The closest I ever came to battle was being in paintball fights in college.”

“Lucky you.”

“Yep, lucky me.”

The last painting was Courtyard with Lunatics. As Reggie explained it, the piece portrayed the unfortunate inmates in a sixteenth-century asylum. She stood stock-still staring at the images. When Shaw glanced over at her, he saw a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Hey, Janie, maybe we should get back to daylight and have that nice lunch in Saint-Rémy.”

She didn’t appear to have heard him. When he touched her on the shoulder, though, she jumped and turned to him. Her eyes were reddened and moist.

Choosing his words carefully he said, “Do you know someone-I mean not in a place like that, of course-but someone who had some… issues?”

She didn’t answer him, but turned and walked back through the space. After a moment he hurried after her. She stopped in front of the first painting on exhibit, The Nude Maja. The naked brunette was lounging on a chaise, her hands clasped behind her head.

“I have to say, that’s more my taste in paintings,” said Shaw. “At least over the flesh-eating monster back there.”

“It’s amazing how they’re able to display these images on the walls.” Reggie’s eyes had dried and her voice had returned to normal.

“Well, they probably just use basic projection equipment, maybe even like a computer PowerPoint thing.”

“So, pretty easy to do, actually?”

“I guess so, but I’m no expert.” He smiled. “Why? You planning your own exhibition?”

She gave him a whimsical look. “You never know.” She slipped her arm through his. “How about that lunch?”

On the way out they passed an old fortress that was carved out of the mountain. Reggie pointed up to it. “The King’s Fortress. Built right out of the stone and placed perfectly for maximum defensive measures.”

“Okay, were you ever in the military?” said Shaw.

“I just read a lot. And that French immersion class included a historical overview of Provence. The fort overlooked the King’s Valley down there. The provincial crowns ruled their fiefdoms from up here.”

“It’s always rulers up top and everybody else down below. Separation is the key. Only thing that prevents anarchy, or democracy, depending if you’re a ruler or the ruled.”

“That was actually very philosophical, Bill.”

“I have my moments.”

They ate outside at a small café in Saint-Rémy. After that they toured the Popes’ Palace in Avignon, getting caught in a sudden shower as they headed back to the car, which was parked in an adjacent underground garage. They ran laughing and soaked across the stone courtyard to the garage, Shaw using his jacket as an umbrella to cover them both.

“I guess that’s why I like big guys,” said Reggie, looking up at the large jacket over her.

By the time they returned to Gordes their hair and clothes had mostly dried. As they pulled up to Shaw’s hotel Reggie’s cell phone buzzed, indicating a text message had just arrived. She slipped it from her pocket and glanced at the screen, then put it away without commenting.

“Let me guess, Evan Waller wants to know where you’ve been all day?” said Shaw.

“Getting a bit jealous, are we?”

“No, I’m not the possessive type. But I don’t think I can say the same for him.”

“But like I said, you don’t even know him.”

“I’ve known lots of guys like him. And haven’t we had this discussion?”

“Yes. But it’s nice to know you care.”

Shaw put a hand on her arm. “Seriously, Janie. Tread lightly with the guy. I’ve just got some weird vibes about him.”

“I’ll be careful. Would you like to get together for dinner later?”

“Not sick of me yet?” he said with a grin.

“Not yet, no,” she said impishly.

“Okay, up in town or somewhere else?”

“How about I cook for you?”

He looked mildly surprised. “At your place? Sure. But only if you let me bring the wine.”

“Deal. Say about eight?”

Shaw walked up to his room, unlocked his door, and froze.

The man sitting in the chair beside his desk stared back at him.

41

AFTER DROPPING Shaw off Reggie didn’t return to her villa. She continued on out of Gordes again, passed her villa, turned onto the main road, and drove off. Twenty minutes later, after making certain she wasn’t being followed, she reached her destination.

Dominic had seen her drive up and was waiting for her at the door.

When she walked in the cottage and saw the messy digs she said, “I see Whit has settled in quite nicely here. Where is he, by the way?”

“Out working on the job. Told me to hang here.”

“I just got a text from the professor. That’s why I’m here. He wanted to know if there are problems. Are there?”

Dominic tugged at the wrists of his sweatshirt. “I take it you and Whit had words.”

Reggie sat down on the edge of a chair. “Why, what did he tell you?”

“You want his version straight or the cleaned-up copy?”

“What did he say, Dom!”

“Verbatim, that you’ve ‘lost your bloody head over this bloke and you’re possibly screwing everything up,’ only he didn’t use the word ‘screwing.’ ”

“Is that what you think?”

“You went out with him today, right?”

“And I’m going to see him tonight too.”

“Reg,” he began.

She cut him off. “And do you know why?”

“Why don’t you enlighten me?” he said sarcastically.

“I can see you’ve been hanging out with Whit too long. That tone doesn’t become you, Dom.”

“You may not agree with him on everything, but he’s got good instincts in the field.”

“No, he has great instincts in the field. But so do I. And this time he’s just wrong.”

“And why is that?”

They both whirled around to see Whit standing in the doorway that led to the small kitchen.

“I thought you were out,” said Reggie.

Whit came forward and sank down on the couch next to Dominic. “I was and now I’m back. So keep talking. This is really informative.”

“By the way, Bill knew someone had searched his room.”

“Really? Guy’s better than I thought. I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Whit continued to stare at her.

“Do that. At least for future missions.”

“Back to this mission. And your relationship with little Billy?”

“Okay. I’ll lay it out for you. I have a short time frame to get to Kuchin. The whole mission is predicated on him going where I want him to go at a certain time and day.”

Whit tugged his jacket off and tossed it on a small table in one corner. “Just get to the part we don’t know and are thinking the worst about, meaning you and bloody Bill!”

“Jealousy,” said Reggie simply. “It’s the fastest way to reel a man in. He thinks I’m spending too much time with Bill, Kuchin gets antsy. He’s already reacted that way. That gives me the upper hand. He’ll come at me hard: ‘Janie, go to this beautiful place with me and that beautiful place and have this lovely dinner and drink that lovely wine.’ And it’ll come to the point that wherever I suggest that we go, he’ll do it, without hesitation. So having Bill around actually made my job far easier. I don’t have to overtly throw myself at Kuchin, which is very good, because a man like that will see through that sort of thing nine times out of ten. He believes he’s coming after me, it’s a whole different story. His defenses are down.” She paused. “But if you two male-female experts have a better way, I’m listening.”

Dominic looked over at Whit, who was still staring at Reggie. “So this is all tied to the mission?” Whit asked.

“It’s always been tied to the mission, Whit. Everything I do in my bloody life has been tied to the mission. If you’d get your brains out of your crotch you might be able to see that. Or did I misinterpret your last remark back at Harrowsfield? What was it again?”