Vendetta

by Iris Johansen

  “I mean it,” he said roughly. “I can see you softening like you did when you were bending over that little kid. That’s not what I’ll ever want from you.”

  He was right. She was softening, trying to understand him, and it was probably crazy to think he’d need either. She drew a deep breath and tried to get back on track. She returned her gaze to the ocean. “But you said that Huber might know that you have this particular predictability.” She got out of the car. “Or maybe you didn’t want to make it difficult for him to locate us.”

  “You keep persisting in believing that I’m staking you out.” His lips tightened. “I don’t deny that time might come, but it’s not now. And I’ve no intention of letting Huber have you even if it comes to that. Nate makes sure that any rental can’t be traced. And you’re safe here.” He turned and headed for the front door. “And you might find the sea has a therapeutic effect. I always did.”

  “Because it was home to you.” She followed him to the front door and watched him enter the combination on the automatic lock. “Different people have different ways to cope.”

  “And what’s your way to cope? Where do you go?”

  She didn’t answer. There was an unexpected intensity in the question that made her uneasy. He was probing, trying to go beneath those layers that protected her.

  “The mountains? The woods?” His voice was soft, persuasive. “I’ve told you mine. Where’s your place to cope? Where’s your place to heal?

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “I’m not sure, but I do. I’m finding that I want to know all kinds of things about who you are, how you think. Maybe because you’re avoiding telling me about it.” He smiled mockingly. “And you did promise me ‘anything,’ Rachel.”

  “Then is this some kind of a test? If so, you’ve chosen something of totally no importance.”

  “Then why not answer me? Where do you go? Scuba diving on the reefs?”

  He wasn’t going to give up, and she might as well tell him, then dismiss it.

  She shrugged. “I go to work in Hu Chang’s lab for a while. Or in my own lab if it’s closer to where I am at the time. Satisfied?”

  “No, but fascinated.” He threw open the front door. “It sounds like hard work. I wouldn’t think that would be in the least soothing or healing. Why?”

  “It keeps my mind working. It takes me away. I can create solutions instead of feeling helpless about any given situation.”

  “Now I can see how that would have an appeal for you.” He frowned, his gaze narrowed on her face. “And now that I think about it, one of the things I heard about Hu Chang was that he was a brilliant apothecary and developer of homeopathic medicine.”

  “He’s a genius,” she said simply. “In many ways.”

  “I’m sure that goes without saying as far as you’re concerned.” He paused. “Hu Chang’s lab. That’s your lab of choice. Why?”

  “Why not? He has almost every kind of natural ingredient and herb you could think of having. From the mountains of Tibet to Mongolia, to the fjords of Norway.”

  “And that’s the only reason?”

  “I guess everyone feels more comfortable in the place where they were taught. I spent hours every day for two years drinking in everything Hu Chang would teach me.” Hours of healing, hours of becoming born anew, hours of finding resolution and understanding when she had thought it could never happen. “It’s natural I would feel a sense of coming home.”

  He tilted his head. “And that was right after you came to live with him after you left Afghanistan?”

  He was studying her again, and that question was verging on exploring places she didn’t want to go. “That’s right.” She strode into the foyer and looked around the high-ceilinged living room with its huge stone fireplace and comfortable, cushioned furniture. “This is very nice. I like the fireplace. My team and I have been working principally in the tropics lately. I haven’t used a fireplace since I was at Catherine’s house in Louisville two Christmases ago.”

  “And I assume this is a signal to indicate you’re closing me out and that any in-depth discussions are over,” he murmured. “Actually, I feel I gained more than I lost this time.” He turned and locked the front door. “Nate said that there are three bedrooms, a library, a kitchen, and a nice veranda. He’s also arranged to have basic wardrobes and some groceries delivered. Why don’t you go choose a bedroom while I go to the kitchen and see what I can do in the way of throwing together a meal?” He moved down the hall. “And after dinner we can have wine on the veranda and watch the sunset. The wine might help you to relax.” His lips quirked. “Sorry that I didn’t know it was necessary to furnish you with a fully equipped lab to release tension.”

  He was gone.

  And she moved toward a door across the living room in search of the bedroom wing. He had come another step closer, and it was on sensitive ground that was intensely personal to her.

  And she had not had to let him take that step, she realized. She had told herself it was easier and not important, but was it that she’d wanted to share the intimacy of that part of her life in exchange for what Brandon had given her that night on the boat? Or maybe it was simply sex and nothing deeper. There was no doubt that she was sexually drawn to him. Though she had not let herself think about it since those first moments on the boat after they had left Georgetown. After that, she had been lost, torn apart, completely devastated, when he’d told her about her father. But Hu Chang had taught her to know herself, particularly when it came to any of the damage that had been done to her in the past. And those small lapses that had been occurring since then were more revealing than she liked to admit. If she was vulnerable to Brandon in any way, then she had to face it so that she could come to terms and make decisions.

  But not right now. She would give herself time to rest and have a few hours to think about what was happening around her and to her. God knows she hadn’t really had that opportunity since Brandon had erupted into her life.

  It had all been about little Maria and Phillip and her promise to Brandon. And then it had been her father emerging from the shadows where she’d left him because she couldn’t bear to have him beside her. But he was now closer to her than he’d ever been when he was alive.

  It was all too painful and bewildering, and there was no way that it could stay that way.

  Yes, give herself time; and then face both the pain and the questions …

  * * *

  “That dinner was pretty terrific for just throwing it together.” Rachel’s gaze shifted from the scarlet-streaked sky of the setting sun to Brandon’s face. “Where did you learn to cook?”

  “The computer. I told you, my schooling was all Apple-oriented. Do you know how many cooking shows you can access on the computer?” He grimaced. “Plus when I was onshore, I often had jobs at restaurants and casinos. My dad insisted I bring something of value back besides what I won shooting craps in the alleys behind the kitchens.”

  “I’d say that chicken Parmesan recipe tonight definitely had value.” She made a face. “It’s not one of my skills. Hu Chang said he’d rather swallow one of my poisons than something I cooked from scratch. And my father was a very good cook and agreed with him. I kept forgetting ingredients. And I let things burn.”

  “It sounds like a case of serious disinterest.” He poured wine into her goblet. “Attention and alertness is required. Without them, most dishes turn out as disasters.”

  “But yours evidently didn’t.” She smiled. “So you must have had more discipline than your father thought you had.”

  “No, I was just as wild as he thought me. He knew exactly where I was heading.” He took a sip of wine and his gaze shifted to the sunset. “Poisons?” he repeated softly. “Swallow one of your poisons, Rachel?”

  She had wondered if he’d pick up on those words. It was really a foregone conclusion since Brandon never appeared to miss anything. It was like him not to mention them immediately, but go back to t
hem later. But she’d known as soon as she’d said them that he’d ask her about them. “Yes.” She smiled. “Do you think you’ve discovered one of my dreaded secrets? I’m no Lucrezia Borgia, Brandon.” She held up her hand. “No poison ring.”

  He took her hand and ran his index finger over each finger. “No ring. But I’ve always liked your fingers. They seemed very capable, yet graceful and full of life…”

  Her hand was tingling beneath his touch. She pulled her hand quickly away. “Definitely capable. I’d be a lousy surgeon if they weren’t. I might not be as good as Phillip, but One World wouldn’t have hired me if I didn’t have qualifications in something other than internal medicine. Anyway, I became very good at poisons by the time I’d been with Hu Chang for a year. By the time I was ready to enter medical school, I was almost as good as he was. Though he would never admit it.”

  “A trifle unusual. Is there some reason why you studied how to make poisons with Hu Chang when you were being taught homeopathic medicines?”

  “Hu Chang thought it was important. It was very good training. He’d grown up as the son of an apothecary who specialized in the creation and sale of undetectable poisons to governments and persons who paid highly for his services. Hu Chang learned that combining ingredients for poisons that had to be undetectable was much more difficult, subtle, and required more knowledge of results and effect on the body than any other possible blending. If I could do that well, it would help me in any other medicine I tried to create.” She shrugged. “I found he was right, so I learned everything he could teach me. I learned to create new, and derivatives of old, poisons, and I used the techniques I learned doing it to apply to my other work.”

  “Such as the medicine you were willing to trek through the rain forest to give to Maria?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” She gazed at him blandly. “I heard she was taking some brew her grandmother passed down to her mother, Blanca.”

  He chuckled. “You’re not shy at talking about poisons, but you won’t admit to creating a medicine to save a child?”

  She was silent. “It would be totally irresponsible to use anything experimental when a life could be in the balance. It could only be excused if there was no possible hope. Even then, it’s questionable. It takes years to get a medicine approved, then it sometimes isn’t made because an illness doesn’t affect enough people to make it profitable. It’s smart that they’re careful, but people sometimes die.”

  “And decisions have to be made in a life-or-death situation?”

  “Blanca made her decision for Maria.” She smiled. “She gave her an old family recipe.” She stared him in the eye. “You should understand, you’re obviously into recipes, Brandon. And why shouldn’t I be willing to talk about poisons? They were a big part of my life with Hu Chang.”

  “That’s what I’ve been thinking. And perhaps not only your life with Hu Chang.” He paused. “Undetectable was the key word, wasn’t it?”

  And he had known from the moment she had first mentioned poison how important that comment had been and where it was leading. He’d gathered all the information together and come up with answers. She could back off, even lie, but she suddenly knew she wasn’t going to do it.

  “Undetectable is always the key word with a poison,” she said recklessly. “But it’s almost impossible to create an undetectable poison with all the high-tech tests these days. Hu Chang said it was much easier in his father’s day.”

  “How fortunate. How close did you come, Rachel?”

  “I took the blue ribbon.” She got to her feet. “Or so my father told me. Is that what you wanted to know? Well, there it is. Now I think I’ll bid you good night.”

  “Wait.” He stood up and faced her. “Before you run off to your room and tell yourself how I’ve grilled you into letting me guess how you killed Conrad Huber, I have a word or two. Since Conrad Huber’s death was only recently found to be a murder, I suspected it had to be a poison. And you’re much too clever to have let that poison bit just slip out. You wanted me to question you. You wanted to tell me about it. So tell me.”

  She froze. “It’s not as if I have some reason to be that convoluted. And I’m usually very honest with myself, so why would I make an excuse to blame you?”

  “That’s why you have me confused. I’ve found you remarkably clear-sighted in our short acquaintance. Maybe you felt the need to share, but it could be that you panicked at the last minute and had to back off.” His lips tightened. “And the only other thing I can think it might be is that you wanted to cause some conflict between us. You picked a subject that’s probably one of the most sensitive, painful events in your past, then set me up to interrogate you about it. A perfect excuse to push me away.”

  She moistened her lips. “I wouldn’t need an excuse to push you away. We barely know each other.”

  “But we’ve come a long way down the path, haven’t we?” He met her eyes. “And I believe I want to see where it goes from here. So I’m not going to let you hold me at a distance. Yes, we have a job to do, and we’ll do it. Huber’s going down. But there’s no telling what else is going to happen along the way.” He reached out and touched the hair at her temple. “Think about it. Expect it.”

  She pulled her gaze away and took a step back. Her heart was beating fast, and she could feel the heat in her cheeks. Just the lightest touch, and she’d had this response. Maybe he was right, and instinct had made her try to drive him away in the most certain way for her to keep him at bay. Or maybe it was something else entirely different.

  “I’ll do what you want me to do to get Huber,” she said unevenly. “Other than that, don’t expect anything of me, Brandon. And I certainly won’t expect anything of you.”

  She turned and walked into the house.

  She didn’t know what had happened out there tonight, but she’d had little or no control of it. She needed to have a sense of control, she thought desperately. Her father’s death and the memories that assaulted her because of it were very strong. And Brandon’s arrival in the wake of it and his effect on her had also unsettled her. The last thing she needed was to do something stupid like fall into his bed because all her emotional responses were exaggerated right now. So do something to show herself she was still functioning as usual.

  She stopped just inside the door of the house and reached for her phone.

  She dialed quickly, and when the call was picked up, she said quickly, “Catherine, Rachel. I’m here in San Francisco. Do you want me to meet you somewhere or come here to me?”

  CHAPTER

  6

  Forty-five minutes had passed.

  It was time.

  Rachel left her room and moved out onto the veranda. Brandon was still there, sitting watching the surf. But there was something different … His every muscle was taut, ready.

  It was what she had expected … and feared. What would you expect from the ultimate warrior Nate had told her about?

  “Get back inside, Rachel.” He didn’t look at her. “Now!”

  “No.” She came toward him. “It’s okay. Relax. No threat. It’s only Catherine. She said she’d come on foot from a few miles down the road. Do you know where she is?”

  His tension ebbed a little. “Near that dune forty yards down the hill. I was about to go and greet her.” He got to his feet. “After I took her down.”

  “That’s why I came out to make certain that you didn’t do that.” She moved across to the edge of the veranda and motioned to Catherine. “I thought you’d act first and ask questions later.”

  “You phoned her?”

  “I told her I’d call her.” She watched Catherine move like a graceful shadow toward the veranda. “I did what I promised.”

  “You might have let me know,” he said dryly. “Or were you afraid of arguments?”

  “Why would I be afraid? We’re after the same thing and so is Catherine. I don’t have to consult with you unless I choose, Brandon. I agreed to do anything I co
uld do to take down Huber. That doesn’t include slave labor.”

  “Wrong. It includes anything that makes it more likely that I can kill the son of a bitch. That means a coordinated assault, not random acts that could get you killed.” He turned to Catherine Ling, who had just reached the steps to the veranda. “Hello, Ms. Ling, I don’t like you here. Houseguests aren’t on my list of desired personnel at the moment.”

  “Catherine.” She took the steps two at a time. “Sorry, Brandon. Rachel offered to meet me somewhere, but I didn’t like the idea of her exposing herself in case either one of us had been made. I could lose anyone following me and control the situation if I came here instead.”

  “You think you might be followed?”

  “Later, Brandon.” She turned toward Rachel. “This is more important right now.” She took Rachel in her arms and hugged her. She said softly, “I grieve with you, my friend. Venable was many things to me, but he was always someone I could turn to in need. Just as you are, Rachel. There’s no way we can make this right, but maybe we can do something to make it better.”

  Rachel was blinking back the tears. “I’m glad you’re here, Catherine.”

  “Why did you think you might be followed?” Brandon repeated.

  “Leave her alone.” Rachel turned and slipped her arm around Catherine’s waist and led her toward the French doors. “I made coffee before I came out here to rescue her from you. Come inside, and I’ll let you interrogate her.”

  “If I choose,” Catherine murmured. “Did you really think I’d need rescuing?”

  “I thought I’d avoid the possibility,” Rachel said. “He’d already seen you when I came out, Catherine.”

  Catherine shook her head. “Not possible.”

  “No, quite possible,” he said. “Though you’re very good.” He followed them into the house. “And I agree we shouldn’t be out there in the open now that you’re an unknown element in the equation.” He closed the veranda doors. “Now, I’ll go to the kitchen and bring out that coffee. You two can bond until I get back. Which will be in about three minutes. After that, I want answers.” He strode down the hall and out of sight.