Thankfully, Alex had chosen to travel by night train. That mode had its complications, but it was far less risky than flying. I knew the exact date and departure time, yet I couldn’t book a ticket — safety precautions...

I now had the necklace. The next step was delivering it to my client in Tolosa.Delivery was by far the easiest part of the entire mission. But laziness had always been my biggest flaw. I was chronically negligent with...