Harlequin's Shadow

Chapter 9: Operation Barbarossa

With the arrival of the last guests—Agent Tricia Wiese and Sara—the party began in earnest. June's chef Emil had planned the menu around a dinner June prepared to welcome Neal home in Cinereous Skies: shrimp étouffée, vegetarian jambalaya, and Brandy Alexander pie for dessert. Henry's belated birthday cake was a masterpiece—a devil's food chocolate U-boat afloat in a blue ocean. It was hard to tell whether Henry, Jones, or Mozzie was more delighted. The excitement in the group was palpable. The U-boat con was weighing anchor.

Neal drifted among the guests, careful to pay only casual attention to Sara. They'd previously agreed for her to focus on Mozzie and Diana. He would have loved to sneak off with her for a continuation of the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation that had been so successful Tuesday night, but with Henry there, it was too risky.

After dinner, the well-fed crowd gathered in the music room for a command performance. The Arkham Round Table asked Neal to sing some of the selections from the story with a little help from his friends. At the top of the list was a duet he and June performed of "Bridge Over Troubled Water." It was a song of special significance, not only because of the part it played in the story, but because Peter had requested it be included. A bridge over a troubled river was the symbolic lifeline he'd tossed Neal, allowing him to confess to the theft of the Braque painting.

From bridges they moved to birds. "Blackbird" by the Beatles was a favorite of June's which Diana had woven into the story. After Neal performed it as a solo, he asked for any requests from the floor.

"Since you're singing about birds, how about 'Mockingbird'?" El asked. Neal grinned when he heard it. He knew someone would suggest it. A daring move to have it come from one of the matchmakers, but he and Sara were ready for them.

"My pleasure, but I'll need to have Sara join me. As you undoubtedly recall, that's a duet in the story."

"No way, Caffrey!" Sara interrupted with a laugh. "I hope no one makes the mistake of confusing me with Arkham Sara."

"Aw, c'mon," Henry cajoled. "You're among friends."

"If you'd read the story," Sara said, giving him a pointed look, "you'd know Sara has till New Year's to learn how to sing 'Mockingbird.' For me to sing it now would be a spoiler!"

"How about 'Hey Jude' instead," Neal suggested. "That was included in an earlier story."

"Excellent choice," El said. "You're our Arkham Paul McCartney."

Diana rolled her eyes. "You really don't want to feed his ego, do you?"

"Sure she does," Neal said and launched into a soulful rendition of "Hey Jones," muddling Jones's name for Jude and urging him to go after his on-and-off girlfriend Helen. Jones was breathing fire by the conclusion.

"What's the matter?" Neal mocked. "Can't take a hint? I thought you'd appreciate a clue or two." He was careful not to look at Sara when he used one of their code words.

"Yeah, right, Caffrey. You're the clueless one, not me," Jones retorted then turned to Diana. "How about giving Arkham Jones a girlfriend? Aren't your fans demanding it?"

"What do you think I'm writing?" she complained. "The dating game?"

While they argued, Henry jumped up and turned on his electric guitar. He'd been fidgeting impatiently to sing ever since Neal started. He stoked the already excited flames by singing "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones. Jones even leaped up and danced with him. It was a classic moment that Neal was glad to see Travis was recording, but Henry's choice of music couldn't go unchallenged.

"You're not being true to canon," Neal pointed out, adopting Peter's stern look. "No Stones music has ever been mentioned in Arkham Files."

"Picky, picky. It's the same era. Besides, bad-boy music is just what we need to kick this con into gear."