Heart of the Assassin

by Robert Ferrigno

  "Daddy?" said Sarah. "Is that a pet name?"

  "Don't be mean now," said Baby. "He's my father."

  "My sympathies."

  Baby had to hand it to her, she didn't let things throw her. Just processed the new information and moved forward like a shark.

  "Is the Colonel here?" asked Sarah.

  "Not that I know of," Baby said airily. "I think he's busy driving the Mexicans back across the Rio Grande."

  A parrot cawed in the ballroom, the sound echoing. "You must be very proud of your husband."

  "Well, tell you the truth, I'm more proud of yours." Baby saw Sarah's mouth tighten. "Golly, that just slipped out."

  "Golly gee," said Sarah.

  Baby brushed past her, stood at the railing of the balcony, letting the cool breeze tickle her skin. Headlights and spotlights all across the city, horns blaring, songs echoing through the streets, just one big party. Quite a change from three days ago, when everybody hunkered down waiting for the bombs to drop. Judging from Sarah's surprise when she saw Baby, the little woman didn't know anything. Rakkim was still probably trying to get home--if he had made it out of the Belt he'd be here now. Ignorance is fertile ground, that's what Daddy said, and Baby wasn't about to let the opportunity pass.

  "I talked to Rikki a couple hours ago," said Baby, still looking out over the city. "I told him I might be running into you."

  Sarah moved beside her, but didn't take the bait.

  A waiter stepped onto the balcony. Sarah shook her head, but Baby beckoned him over, took a couple of champagne glasses from the tray. She handed one to Sarah.

  "That's a real pretty dress you got," said Baby. "Flatters you."

  "What do you and the Old One want?"

  "You know Daddy, same as ever, he wants it all, every last bit of it," said Baby. "Me, I'm still trying to decide."

  Sarah watched the bubbles rise in her champagne glass.

  "Robert says you got the whole country in the palm of your hand," said Baby. "Politicians falling all over themselves to--"

  "Whatever you're here for, you and your father, it's not going to happen," said Sarah. "The Old One's going to have to find another ugly little dream."

  "I'll be sure and tell him, thank you kindly." Baby sipped her champagne, felt it fizz gently down her throat. "I wonder, though...you being so busy with interviews and politics, doesn't really leave much time for you and Rikki, does it? A man like Rikki, he won't stand for playing second fiddle to a wife's ego."

  "Rikki told me all about you when he came home last year," said Sarah. "I'd repeat what he said, but I'd have to wash my mouth out."

  "Here I was hoping we could be friends," said Baby.

  "I know," said Sarah, pushing out her lower lip. "I'm disappointed too. I was looking forward to inviting you to my next slumber party."

  "Daddy used to think you were really something." Baby slowly shook her head. "I'm going to have to tell him he was misinformed." She sipped her champagne. "Gosh, I almost forgot. Don't be counting on that piece of the cross. Rikki gave it to me. Kind of a...pillow present after our first night." Fireworks exploded across the city.

  "You and your father must be scared of me for you to go through this," said Sarah. "Or is lying as natural to you as breathing?"

  "Sweetie, a woman who doesn't know how to lie is never going to keep a man." Baby peered at her. "Maybe that's your problem."

  Sarah laughed. "I'd love to stand out here and listen to your quaint cornpone expressions, but I've got more interesting things to do."

  "Rikki's penis surprised me no end."

  Sarah stopped, turned back to Baby.

  "I thought for sure he was going to be circumcised," Baby said, running her finger lightly around the rim of her glass, the hum rising and falling. "I heard all Muslim men are circumcised, but there was Rikki with this cute little sleeve on Mr. Johnson." She dipped her finger in the champagne, sucked it. "I asked him and he said he was born Catholic. Only became Muslim when he moved in with you and Redbeard." She batted her lashes, watched the flush rise up Sarah's neck. "Is that interesting enough for you?"

  "I don't believe you."

  Baby knew better. "Rikki's got a real nasty streak in bed. I like that in a man."

  Sarah tossed champagne into Baby's face.

  Baby's eyes burned as Sarah walked back into the ballroom.

  "Anthony," said Sarah, greeting a big, sloppy guy with tough eyes, and a gigantic king-crab leg in each hand. "I could use some good company."

  CHAPTER 50

  "You're leaving the party early," Rakkim said softly, so close behind them he didn't need to raise his voice.

  Sarah jerked.

  Colarusso already had his gun out before he saw Rakkim standing in the shadows "Jeez, Rikki, you almost gave me a coronary."

  Rakkim would have answered but Sarah threw herself into his arms, kissing him like he was a drowning man. She pulled back for an instant, looked like she was about to slap him, then kissed him again, hanging on, and Rakkim clung to her, inhaled her, folded himself into her heat and wished they didn't have to speak.

  They stood beside Colarusso's car just down from the Brazilian embassy, the police badge embossed into the bulletproof windshield guaranteeing the best parking spot. A light rain had started falling, the street mirrored with oily rainbows. Traffic cops and security guards hunkered down in their windbreakers, sipping coffee from cardboard cups. Music from the embassy filtered through the drizzle.

  "Good to see you, Rikki," said Colarusso, ignoring the weather, rain spattering his stained topcoat. "You lovebirds going to need a ride?"

  "I'm not staying," said Rakkim, feeling Sarah tighten her grip on him. "Just wanted to talk to Sarah for a few minutes. You can take her home."

  "Sure." Colarusso leaned against his car. He pulled a napkin full of tiger prawns out of his coat pocket and started munching away.

  "Where are you going?" said Sarah, rain dripping down her face. "You should come home."

  "I have to take care of some business first," said Rakkim, leading her deeper into the shadows.

  "Can't this business wait?" said Sarah.

  Rakkim shook his head. "I just wanted to see you first."

  "Don't say it like that," said Sarah, her lower lip quivering. "You know I hate melodrama."

  "I saw you with Baby."

  "She's beautiful." Sarah watched him.

  "Did she tell you that we had slept together?"

  Sarah started to speak. Stopped herself.

  "We didn't."

  "I...I knew that."

  "We didn't, Sarah." Rakkim gently wiped the rain from her cheeks. "I was close to making a mistake...closer than I ever want to get again, but I thought of you."

  Sarah kissed him, her lips cool with rain but fiery underneath. "I knew...I knew she was lying...I knew you wouldn't..." She swayed against him. "I missed you, Rikki."

  "Aren't you going to ask me if I have the piece of the cross?"

  Sarah pulled back slightly.

  "That's why you sent me into D.C.," said Rakkim. "That's what Moseby died for."

  "What's wrong?" said Sarah.

  Rakkim watched her standing in the rain, concerned, dark hair plastered around her face, and he could still see her as a little girl that first day Redbeard brought him home. She had been so happy to see him--a playmate, a friend, an ally--but even at six years old, she already knew how to hide her feelings, greeting him formally, welcoming him to her home. Redbeard had trained her well, even better than Rakkim...or perhaps Sarah just took to the training more than he had. "When were you planning on telling me?"

  "Tell you what?"

  "The truth."

  Sarah hesitated only an instant, which was something. She knew how to lie, but she also knew when to cut her losses and tell the truth. "When I thought the time was right."

  "What time is it now?"

  "How did you find out?" said Sarah.

  "I just kept putting the pieces together--I'm good
at that. I remember when you first showed me the footage from D.C. and the zombie ripped his suit. He looked into the camera and said he was sorry, and I remember thinking, who is he apologizing to? His wife, that's what I figured. Then I met her and she told me what a tough guy he was, never shed a tear. She had such wonderful things to say about you, how you had paid for their kids' operations, and arranged for their schooling in Canada. You did all that before Eldon found the cross. It didn't make sense...until I realized you weren't paying him for finding the cross, you were paying him for planting the cross. Eldon was apologizing to you, Sarah, apologizing to you for ruining the big onscreen moment."

  "If...Eldon hadn't torn his suit I wouldn't have needed you and Moseby to retrieve it," Sarah whispered, raindrops gleaming on her eyelashes. "I never intended to bring you into this."

  "But you did. I'm just glad Moseby didn't realize he was dying for a fake."

  "The cross...the cross is a symbol, Rikki, an emotional construct, a national lifeline," said Sarah, "and a symbol can't be a fake."

  "What happens when the Belt finds out?"

  "They're not going to find out."

  "That piece of wood is going to be analyzed and reanalyzed."

  "Let them." Sarah took his hand. "Spider's taken care of everything."

  "Spider was in on this?"

  Sarah nodded. "He wanted me to tell you the truth...if that matters."

  "What about Leo?"

  "No...just Spider." Sarah shivered, her evening clothes soggy around her. "It's going to work, Rikki. The president is going to hand it over to the Belt leaders and they're going to take it and put it on public display and be grateful to us for finding it and returning it to them. Miracles and visions will be attributed to it. Children will be healed. We all want to believe, Rikki. The Belt needs reunion just as much as we do, and no one's going to look too closely at the things that hold us together."

  "We'll be held together with a lie."

  "Here's a dirty little secret that most historians don't talk about." Sarah clutched his hand to her chest and he could feel her heart pounding. "Most wars start with a lie, good wars, bad wars, they start with a lie, and the peace that comes afterwards, those promises of forgiveness and cooperation and fair play for all...those are lies too, lies wrapped in hope. So if it took a lie to bring us together, I'll take it, and hope for the best."

  Rakkim stared at her, saw the strength and certainty in her eyes. This was as close to an apology as he was going to get. He kissed her, his lips barely touching hers, kissed the rain from her eyes. "I love you."

  "Rikki, don't be...Rikki?" called Sarah, but he was already gone.

  CHAPTER 51

  Rakkim was leaning against the railing overlooking Niagara Falls when he heard them come in. Just after 2 A.M. A virtual beach, they called it. He also liked Point Break, East of Oahu and Lake Como, all previously selected by the Old One and accessible, but you really couldn't beat Niagara Falls for sheer power. A place for honeymooners, that's what they called it. Danger and power and beauty. Prelude to a marriage.

  He had been there for over an hour, waiting, enjoying the feel of the cool mist against his skin, and thinking about Sarah. When he confronted her outside the embassy, he hadn't even been sure that the cross was fake. Had half expected her to deny it, and would have been happy to accept her answer. People want to believe, Rikki...She was right, as usual. Instead, she had told him the truth. A small blessing with a sharp edge. He watched the three of them enter the cube, the mist floating around them.

  "It is him," said Gravenholtz.

  "Don't act so surprised, Lester, it reveals your ignorance." The Old One strolled into the cube, dapper in a lightweight dark blue suit that followed his every movement. "I expected you yesterday, or the day before, Rikki."

  "I got delayed in Las Vegas," said Rakkim.

  "Well, you're here, that's all that matters," said the Old One.

  "Yeah, he's here," said Gravenholtz. "Light the candles on my birthday cake."

  Rakkim watched them through the haze, the waterfall crashing behind him. Seeing Gravenholtz made him miss his blade even more. The New Mandarin was the only hotel in the Republic fitted with the latest Swiss security filters, able to detect even a Fedayeen DNA knife. No knives, no guns, no explosives...the system screened for eighty-seven poisons and biotoxins too. One big happy family at the New Mandarin.

  The Old One looked around, the breeze from the falls stirring his fine gray hair. "A good choice, but have you tried..." He fingered the remote, the falls flickering for an instant, revealing the actual enormous swimming pool at the center of the cube, before popping to a clear lake surrounded by black volcanic rock, stars everywhere, the night air instantly colder.

  "Where are we?" said Rakkim.

  The Old One kicked off his shoes, rolled his pant cuffs up and waded out into the water. "Lake Neruda, in the Andes. Elevation so high and the soil so acidic that there's almost no life in it...hence its spectacular clarity."

  "Fuck the travelogue," said Gravenholtz. "Is he on board or not? Because if he's not, I want to take him out."

  The Old One looked at Rakkim, rolled his eyes.

  Rakkim laughed.

  "Are you going to let me in on the joke?" Baby stood in the doorway in a low-cut party gown. Rakkim hadn't expected to see her. "Don't worry, Rikki, I don't hold a grudge."

  Rakkim ignored her, turned to the Old One. "You have the piece of the cross?"

  The Old One patted his chest. "Right next to my heart." He splashed Rakkim. "Come on in, the water's fine."

  Rakkim took off his boots, splashed out beside the Old One, the water numbing his feet, the gravel shifting slightly under his bare feet. He looked back at Gravenholtz glaring at him from the shore, his features brutal in the moonlight, and Rakkim couldn't tell if he was in a swimming pool in Seattle or in a lake on the other side of the world.

  "Why don't you go out there and keep them company, Lester?" said Baby.

  "No thanks," said Gravenholtz.

  "Realistic, isn't it?" The Old One went under, came up spitting a fountain into the air. Tiny insects buzzed around them, their wings silky in the sunlight. A dragonfly landed on the Old One's outstretched hand, drying its wings before flying away. "Three-hundred-and-sixty-degree technology, every sense taken into account."

  They were in bright sunshine now, the water warmer, the beach composed of smooth, flat rocks instead of gravel. Wooden cabanas and snack stands loomed behind Gravenholtz and Baby, men and women in bikinis waiting in line for cold drinks, the signs in French. "This is Cannes, on the Riviera of my youth. It doesn't exist anymore...except here." He sniffed. "You can actually smell the salt air and crisped potatoes."

  "Ask him," said Gravenholtz.

  "Lester, honey," drawled Baby, "shut the hell up and let Daddy handle things."

  Gravenholtz kicked at the rocks, sent a couple of them scudding into the water.

  Rakkim watched the ripples approach, felt them.

  "I'm afraid Lester has a point," said the Old One, wading farther out, the water at his knees. "I asked you once before to honor me with your allegiance. You declined then, but I was hoping you might have changed your mind."

  Rakkim watched the vendor walking down the strand selling ice cream bars to the sunbathers from a tiny icebox, an African immigrant...his features reminded Rakkim of Moseby, and for an instant he wondered if the Old One had programmed the holo display for maximum upset. He waded out to where the Old One stood.

  "Leo is such an interesting young man," said the Old One. "He looks at the universe like a child presented with a new toy he can't wait to unwrap."

  "You've spoken with him?"

  "Don't be scared, Rakkim."

  "I'm not scared."

  "I think if I treat Leo right...treat him with care, I think he's going to be incredibly useful," said the Old One.

  "You're not going to get the chance," said Rakkim.

  "Don't threaten me, Rakkim--it demeans
you." The Old One dragged a hand in the water, let it trickle through his fingers. "I could have had you killed on many occasions. You and your family. Didn't you ever wonder why I kept you safe?"

  "I had all these questions when I came here," said Rakkim. "I was going to ask if Amir had signed up for your two-bit caliphate, and how the war with Aztlan fit in with your long-range plans. I really wanted to know what the puzzle was supposed to look like." He reached into the water, picked up a large rock, threw it at Gravenholtz, who tried to duck...the rock shimmered as it went right through him and clattered onto the beach. "Now...now I don't care," said Rakkim, unnerved by how real the rock had felt in his hand. "Answers would be nice, but I didn't come here for answers. I came here to kill you and Gravenholtz. That's good enough for me."

  The virtual beach flickered, the scene at Cannes winking out, and Rakkim glimpsed again the Olympic-size swimming pool. Then he and the Old One were on a fine, white sand beach at dawn, the air already humid. Rakkim could see Sugarloaf Mountain and massive high-rises dotting the hills behind them. Rio.

  "Why don't you wait a while to kill us? It's such a lovely morning." The Old One took off his suit jacket, tossed it onto the sand. He spread his arms, eyes half closed, his diaphanous white shirt flapping in the warm breeze off the Atlantic. "Relax, Rikki, enjoy the moment."

  "Wheeeeeeee." Baby raced past them and high-stepped into the surf, completely naked, her white ass flashing in the sun as she dove in.

  Rakkim looked back, saw her clothes strewn on the beach. Gravenholtz sat on the sand, knees clasped, glaring at him.

  The Old One sat in a canvas lounge chair as Baby frolicked in the waves. "She's amazing...and even more beautiful than her mother." He drew on a sketchpad with a fountain pen--the breeze whipped his shirt, exposing the piece of the cross hanging around his neck on a silver chain, most of the tiny white flowers gone now. "Baby is part of the offer, Rikki," he said, not taking his eyes off her as the pen flew over the pad. "You can marry her with my blessing."

  Rakkim watched Baby backstroking farther out. "What does she have to say about that?"