The Diamond Agenda

Part One: Idyllic Summer, cont'd

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Somewhere near Barcelona, Spain

Paradise was hell.

Amy didn't mean that metaphorically, she meant that literally. Like this moment, where Lucy rubbing her down with lotion was usually a good thing, now meant excruciating pain. Paradise sucks. And sunburns. And lovers with exotic skin immune to the sun who don't succumb to sunburns and share her pain.

"I told you that lotion wasn't any good."

Amy mumbled something in her pillow.

"What?"

She lifted her head a fraction. "This is all your fault."

"Yeah, how is this my fault?" Lucy asked, running her hand up and down Amy's back. Amy bit back a curse, and bit on the pillow instead. "Sorry, this stings a little."

"Now, you say that!"

"You do get cranky with sunburn, don't you?"

Amy returned to mumbling to her pillow. She sighed, she peeked at the satchel on the floor. Raised her head again, "I think we forgot my sketchbook and magazines on the beach."

"No, we didn't I brought it back."

Amy went still, Lucy continued laving her back with the medicine lotion, after a second's silence Amy said. "Is it safe to assume you've read about the Maharajah Diamond?"

"Why, were you trying to hide it from me?" Lucy's voice was teasing.

"No." Amy said, she bit her lip. "I just wanted to talk to you first before you saw the diamond."

Lucy made a noncommittal sound.

"Lucy?"

"You don't have to worry Amy," Lucy said, sounding like she was trying hard not to laugh. "I'm not going to the museum and steal the Maharajah."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Amy breathed deeply, that was good. She was even starting to enjoy herself a little. Amy let herself relax.

"But I'd be lying if I say I didn't think about it."

Amy didn't know what to say to that.

"Don't worry it was purely professional interest."

The bed covers were cool and soft, and Amy was getting tired of looking at nothing but that tiny space on the floor. Amy turned around, ignoring Lucy's protest. Lucy sat on her haunches and watched her, bemused. "As long as it remains a purely professional interest not to be acted upon."

"Never."

Amy searched Lucy's face and saw nothing of criminal intent, just the quirk of her lips and the angle of her eyebrows. Lucy leaned down, her long dark hair falling to her side, framing her face.

"I believe you." Amy said, holding reaching up to hold Lucy's face.

Lucy grinned at her, "Cover's all messy with the lotion now."

Amy smiled back. "Haven't you done anything you weren't supposed to do before?"

"Lots of times," Lucy said, throwing the lotion bottle over her shoulder completed the course she had intended to in the first place.

It was the loud buzzing sound that woke Amy. She groaned, threw her hand to the side table to kill the alarm clock, her hand hit the table with a dull thump, pain snaked to her arm.

It was then she remembered it was summer and she was in the beach house, 20 kilometers away from Barcelona and while she didn't have alarm clocks in this house, the beach house did carry one of the noisest doorbells in history.

Amy sat-up, swearing death to whoever was on the door in this ungodly hour of, she glanced at the wall clock, Jesus, three a.m.!

The bed shifted, Amy glanced at Lucy and realized that Lucy was already half out of bed, with an irritated expression on her face. Scud and Australia could attest, that that wasn't the safest emotion to get on Lucy.

"I'll get that." Lucy said, her voice roughened by sleep. Amy glanced at the security monitor on Lucy's night table and saw a pudgy, balding man, leaning heavily on the ringer.

"Don't kill him!" Amy said, "I want to kill him first."

Lucy pulled at her robe, Amy followed suit. "No promises."

Amy followed Lucy out the hall, but the brunette had gotten there first, and had already opened the door and broke out a tirade in Spanish. This was going to take long, like Max, Lucy had a talent for balling people out, with the side benefit of knowing where to hit and how hard. The benefits of being evil, she guessed.

Amy paused in the hall to fix her robe properly, when she realized it had fallen silent. Amy poked her head, she saw Lucy staring at the pudgy man in disbelief. The pudgy man was also staring at Lucy, turning and turning an old farmer's hat.

"Are you serious?" Amy heard Lucy say. "I mean after all this time, are you serious?"

"Please, Miss Reynolds, you're the only one I can turn to." The pudgy man said in straight English with a heavy Queen's accent.

Reynolds? Alarm bells blared in Amy's head. "Lucy."

Lucy turned a glance at Amy. Lucy looked like someone had told her there were no such things as diamonds and proved it to her by destroying every last diamond in Lucy's possession.

"Amy, this is an old friend…." Lucy waved at the pudgy guy and shot a look at him.

The pudgy guy, stood straight, catching Lucy's glance and managed to stammer: "Ricardo Torres, señorita."

"Torres, apparently, he's come to talk about business."

Amy crossed her arms. "Business?"

Lucy's smile strained. "Yeah, I was actually about to invite you to join us in the study."

"Miss Reynolds!" Protested the pudgy guy.

"I trust her." Lucy said in a clipped tone, then she nodded at Amy, Amy came forward then fell in step beside her, Amy glanced back and saw Torres fall a few respective steps behind.

"I thought you said no more crime?" Amy asked in a low voice.

"It's not crime," Lucy said, "this is talking."

"About what?"

"About… family business."

"Your family was crime!"

"Hey!" Protested Lucy, sounding deeply aggrieved, then she pursed her lips. "Okay, you're absolutely right, but I can't really throw him out, you know."

"Why the hell not?"

"He was like… a family retainer or something."

"Retainer?" Amy muttered.

Lucy looked away, they entered the study, and Lucy immediately made a beeline to her desk, and sat down on her high back chair. Amy frowned, narrowed her eyes and decided to sit on one of the chaise, she crossed her arms and leaned back, intent on Lucy.

Torres, twitching and perspiring approached the table.

"Well, Torres, what's so damned important that you have to bang on my door and wake us up?"

"It's my daughter, Miss Reynolds."

"What about your daughter?"

"She's in danger."

Lucy looked bored. "Then go to the police."

"I can't!" Lucy looked at him with raised eyebrows. Torres looked down, and worried the brim of his hat some more "I can't Miss Reynolds. I beg of you, you must help me. My family has always been loyal to your family. I have sacrificed two sons to your war versus the Schaffers. I have saved your father's life and he had granted me leave to transplant my family to safer ground. In all those years, I haven't broken faith with your family, and it is only now that I come for you to ask for your help."

"Help you how?" Lucy asked, her face impassive, devoid of the openness Amy was used to.

"My daughter, Miss Reynolds, she is young and impulsive. She has… lost a large amount of money. She didn't know what she was doing—"

"As her father, I would think it was your duty to educate your daughter about that."

"I have tried, you must believe me, I have tried!" Cried the desperate man, "and now—"

"The local syndicate wants to collect." Lucy finished for him. "You know, this may be the best time for your daughter to learn her lesson."

"But they threatened to kill her!"

Lucy sighed, blowing her bangs up, she seemed to relax from her position and for the first time since she entered the study looked at Amy.

"Please, I beg of you, capo!"

That jerked Lucy's attention back to Torres like a gunshot. Lucy stood up, fast, surprising Amy. Torres shambled backwards as Lucy walked around the table. Amy stood on attention, unsure what to do. She trusted Lucy, but when it came to the murky past, Lucy was as open as a closed book.

Lucy took two steps to Torres, an unreadable expression on her face, then she moved forward in a quick step that made Amy's long unused spy instincts kick-up as she watched Lucy raise her arm...

and put it around Torres' shoulder.

Amy blinked and watched as a manic grin formed Lucy's mouth.

"None of that! Look, no point in worrying about this, after all your daughter has ---"

"Only two days!"

"See. Plenty of time! Meanwhile, why don't you take your daughter elsewhere." Lucy said, all cheerful, completely different from the woman who was behind the desk.

"You'll help then?"

Lucy shrugged. "I'll think about it." She guided him to the door, "Go on, now, butler guy will meet you in the living room."

Then as they reached the door, Torres twisted around, caught Lucy's right hand and kissed it. Lucy looked pained.

"Thank you."

"Oh, here's Jose!" Lucy unceremoniously pushed Torres out the door, and waved. "Okay, buh-bye now."

Jose the butler-slash-cabana boy caught a very surprised Torres, Lucy didn't wait to see what would happen next and closed the door behind her.

Amy looked at Lucy, Lucy looked apologetic and shrugged. "Weird crazy guy, huh?"

"So, what are you planning to do?" Amy asked walking towards Lucy. Lucy grabbed her hand.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Well, I was going to go talk to the head of the local syndicate."

Amy sighed. "Lucy. No. We should just contact the police."

"Any other time I'd say you're right." Amy shot a look at her, and Lucy amended. "Okay, no, no other time will I ever say that about cops. But in this case I'm right. The cops won't be able to help poor Miss Torres."

"Don't tell me, corrupt cops."

"Right." Lucy lifted Amy's hand and kissed each knuckle. "Don't worry. I'll just talk to the local head, just talk and nothing more."

"That's right because if crime breaks out, I will be kicking your ass, Miss Badass Master Criminal."

Lucy grinned. "Right, we wouldn't want that."