A Touch of Minx Read Online Free PDF Page B

you?" he squeaked.
    Samantha stepped forward. "A scoop of peppermint on a sugar cone for me," she said, "and one with almond praline for him."
    He moved up behind her to kiss the top of her head. "Does this mean we're in a rut?" he murmured, sliding his arms around her waist.
    "It means we know what we like," she returned in the same tone. "Now let go before I have to dump my ice cream onto your crotch."
    Richard let her go, mainly because he knew she would do it. Apparently he was still on the outs in Jellicoe village. She'd relaxed in his presence to an astounding degree given her background, but she still had her touchy subjects with a very prickly fence around them. So did he, he supposed.
    While Samantha took the cones and found a Formica table by the front window, he paid for the ices and retrieved napkins. If they were going to discuss these new jobs of hers, he would have preferred a more private setting, which was probably why she'd decided to remain in the shop. Was everything a power play between them, or did he merely read it that way? He liked the way she kept him constantly on his toes, but just holding hands and relaxing once in a while would be nice, too.
    "All right," he said, sitting opposite her and taking his ice, "you have your bribe. What are these new jobs you're not giggly about?"
    Samantha took a long, deliberate lick of peppermint ice. "I got a phone call from Olivia Donner."
    "Tom's Livia?"
    "Yes, Uncle Rick. Someone took Clark the anatomical man from her classroom right before she could begin her predoctoral studies. She wants me to look into it."
    Richard snorted. "And you agreed?"
    "Could you tell her no, Mr. Forty Boxes of Girl Scout Cookies?"
    "Point taken. What's the other job?"
    "My second call was from Joseph Viscanti at the Met."
    Now came the trouble. "Ah. An item retrieval for the museum?"
    "Yep. He's giving me another shot."
    Though he kept his expression calm, inwardly Richard flinched. She'd done only one of those previously, and the trail had petered out well before she'd tracked the painting down. Though he'd commiserated with Samantha's disappointment, he'd actually been relieved that she hadn't gotten close enough to try a retrieval. Very relieved. "Do you have any details yet?" he asked aloud.
    "Do you remember about ten years ago when the Met hosted that traveling Japanese cultural exhibit? The Samurai, it was called."
    "I remember," he said, going to work on his almond praline. No sense letting it go to waste just because he was a little worried. "But you were what, fifteen?"
    "Hey, burglary is my life," she returned, then flashed her quicksilver smile as he lifted an eyebrow. "'Was my life. Anyway, I was in Italy at the time, but I remember reading about it."
    "Is that your way of informing me that you had nothing to do with whatever you're going to tell me happened to the exhibit?"
    "Aside from the fact that I never hit a museum, I wouldn't take a job now to retrieve an item I'd stolen then. That would be both wrong and really weird."
    Ah, her unique code of honor again. "So what happened? I don't remember hearing about a theft."
    "They didn't actually know there'd been one at the time. According to Viscanti, the exhibit went great, they packed it up for the next stop in Chicago, and when it loaded onto the transport trucks they were two crates short. The armor and both ceremonial swords of Minamoto Yoritomo."
    "Wow. He's the founder of the Kamekura shogunate, isn't he? The first shogun."
    "You and your war guys," she chuckled. "The pieces are nearly a thousand years old."
    Rick frowned. "Why did Joseph give you this job now? The statute of limitations had to have run out three years ago."
    She nodded. "Apparently the Japanese are accepting applications and bids from museums wanting to host the return engagement of the exhibit, and they're rejecting the
    Met because of the theft. Viscanti says they made it pretty clear that the only way for the Met to redeem its honor and be