Monique sat on the bed in the tiny inn Murray had selected, listening to the man on the other end of the phone.

"I want to speak directly to Angelo Spataro, I think if you do not put me through it will be a very dark day for you, my friend. Tell him it is about the merchandise."

She glanced at her nails and held out a shapely leg, turning it and admiring the curve while she waited. A few minutes later Angelo answered, his voice small and wary.

"I don't like being put off, Angelo. I specifically told you to await a call."

"I apologize. My friend was protecting me; Jean's men could be looking for me already."

"That's why I'm calling. I have a solution for you."

"Go on."

She described Nathan's plan and what he was expected to do. Angelo groaned over the line.

"Who is this Carstairs?"

"You don't need to know just do as I say."

"I will have to tell him where I am! He won't just accept my word. I can't do this."

"Not only will you do it, Angelo. You will do it immediately or you will have more than Jean to worry about." She smiled at the receiver as she listened to the whimpered assent. "Call immediately after you speak to him and tell me everything. Everything, Angelo. If I am out just keep calling." He whimpered again and she hung up.

The old-fashioned alarm clock on the antique dresser gave a small chime and Monique noted the time. She didn't expect Angelo to call back for a while, depending on where Jean was and she considered going out and finding some place to have a bite to eat.

*************

"Richard Carstairs. He made me give him the gems, all of them, I swear." Angelo dabbed at the sweat dripping from his brow. He had been phoning for hours dreading every minute. "What could I do, Jean? He said he would kill me. He's the one that killed your men who were after Roger Léger."

"What? What are you talking about?" Jean accepted a large towel from the gym attendant and wrapped it around him as he listened to the panicky caller.

Angelo wiped his face and stared at the wall of the shop. "Roger Léger, another of the Agency's contacts. Your men were after him and Carstairs killed them."

"Who is this Carstairs and where is he now?"

"I don't know! In Genoa still I would think, it is the best place for him to sell the gems quickly."

Jean wiped his hair and face and dropped the towel on the floor. The attendant hurried to pick it up and get a fresh one ready.

"This information had better be good, Angelo."

"It is, it is. I know what can happen, Jean. Please, you have to believe me."

"We shall see."

The line went dead and Angelo sagged against the counter of the marine shop.

"I need to leave Genoa, Petrolia. I think it should be by boat." He placed his call to Monique and reported the conversation, reiterating that he was in mortal danger now more than ever. Monique shushed his complaining and hung up, immediately reporting on time to Nathan. He listened carefully and gave her a verbal applause then told her when to call Tremblay.

***********

The man that answered her call was adamant that she would not be speaking to Jean personally, he didn't speak to strangers on the phone and unless she could provide some serious reason he wouldn't even know anyone had called. Monique let her voice harden as she spelled out her reason for calling then she grinned with satisfaction when she was put on hold.

"Who is this?" The voice was smooth but hard.

"That is of no consequence, my information is, however."

"What information?"

She told him Nathan's story about how Angelo Spataro would be calling with a story blaming Richard Carstairs for forcing him to hand over the stones. Angelo was keeping Jean's diamonds for himself after doing a deal with Carstairs to split any future merchandise.

"Where did you get this?"

It doesn't matter. If Angelo doesn't call then it's all moot." She smiled, knowing he was calculating his position, having already talked to Angelo. The silence went on for some time and Monique pressed the receiver tight to her ear to try hearing anything in the background.

Jean came back on with the news that Angelo had already called and that her information seemed authentic.

"I want to know how you know these things."

"That's my business. You should only be concerned with the facts I have told you." She waited again and heard an odd clicking on the line. Her mind went into panic mode . . . they were recording the call and likely tracing it.

"I think that's all for now." She hung up and sat staring at the phone. Was she just imagining things? Should she contact Nathan and get moved somewhere else? He wanted her to watch the bank so that was not an option. She could find a room somewhere but then Murray might be sent to find her, and he was not one to listen to reason.

She put the phone away and checked herself in the mirror. Nathan wouldn't let anything happen to her . . . yet;it might be better just to stick to the plan. Her next call to report in was in forty-five minutes then she had the evening ahead of her. She took a brush to her hair and repaired her makeup then left the inn and asked a cabbie to take her to a decent restaurant with a nice view. A nice glass of wine and maybe a decadent pastry would go down nicely, perhaps erase the nightmare of Murray that clung like lint to the lining of her mind.

"Welcome to Arnesto's, Signorina." The suave little waiter met her at the entrance and led the way to the back deck. He announced with pride that the electric heaters permitted outside dining even though the weather was turning cool. Brandishing a menu the size of a suitcase, he swept Monique through a cluster of busy tables to one nicely situated on the deck overlooking the marina.

"This is perfect," she said. "I'd like a tall gin and tonic with a twist and a small plate of calamari." The change in her preference was prompted by the warmth of the heaters and the spectacular view of the harbor.

"You are having more than that, surely, Signorina." He seemed crestfallen.

"Oh yes, that's just a starter."

His face exploded in a smile and he flourished the menu once more, pointing out the specials and the house recommendations.

"I will be but a momento."

Monique nodded and washed him with a seductive smile. He fled. Eager to please. She sat back, crossing her legs and digging out a cigarette; immediately her little waiter was there with her drink and a lighter.

"Grazie."

"My great pleasure, Signorina."

He left again and she sipped her drink, closing her eyes and sighing softly. She needed this, an evening of total escape and relaxation. A good night's sleep and tomorrow would be an easier challenge.

The evening ended a little differently than she expected. After a pleasant meal and more than enough wine following a pair of gin and tonics and the overly devout attention from the young waiter, Monique awoke in her room to find the muscled body of her waiter sleeping tangled in the sheets beside her.

She closed her eyes and pinched the skin of her forehead trying to remember what happened and failing, she lifted her nude body from the bed and padded unsteadily, through the morning sunshine on the carpet, to the bathroom.

She closed the door and stared in disbelief at her undergarments lying soaking wet in the bottom of the shower stall along with a pair of men's briefs. The mirror revealed a face puckered from a lack of sleep and an overindulgence of alcohol, pink-rimmed eyes and makeup smeared around negligently.

She heard a groan from the bedroom and a voice calling her to come and teach him some more of her wicked ways. Monique dropped her aching head against the bathroom door and moaned inwardly.

Had she reported in to Nathan?