Devious Minds

by Colleen Helme

  “He’s dead?” I asked, suddenly lightheaded. “But he was doing so well earlier. What happened?” I swallowed past the lump in my throat, and tears gathered in my eyes.

  “His injuries...” the doctor shrugged. “They were serious. Too much for him to survive, it seems.”

  “I want to see him... his body,” I said through my tears. “I want to say... goodbye.” But that wasn’t the real reason I wanted to see him. Something about this seemed off, and the only way to know if he was really dead, was to see his body, no matter how hard that might be.

  The doctor’s lips thinned, but he nodded and turned to the nurse. After explaining my request, she motioned us to follow her to another elevator, large enough to fit a hospital bed. She punched the floor to the basement.

  Ramos put his arm around me, and I leaned into him but didn’t dare catch his gaze. Right now, I needed to be strong, and seeing the pity in his eyes wouldn’t help me accomplish that. With determination, I wiped the tears away and took a deep, cleansing breath for composure.

  The doors opened, and we followed the nurse into the stark and sterile morgue. She spoke softly to the attendant who nodded, then motioned us to follow him into the back. Two bodies with sheets over them rested on cold beds of steel.

  He checked the tags on their toes, then indicated the nearest body. I stepped closer and held my breath while he pulled the sheet away from the man’s face. I expected to find Blake’s bruised face, but this man’s face was old and wrinkled, without a bruise in sight. “That’s not him,” I said, letting my breath out with a surge of hope.

  The attendant’s brows drew together in puzzlement. He quickly moved to the other body and pulled the sheet away. Recognition hit me between the eyes, and I sucked in a gasp. “That’s Mason.” I turned my face into Ramos’ chest, hoping not to faint. After a moment, I pulled away. “Neither one of them is Blake. So where is he?”

  Our police escort burst into a string of French questions. The attendant shrugged and answered him, indicating that these were the only bodies he had at the moment. The policeman mumbled something, then whipped out his phone and left the room.

  We followed him into the hall and listened to him talk before he handed me the phone. “Inspecteur Dumont... for you.”

  I took the phone. “Yes?”

  “I am sorry... I don’t know what is happening. But I promise you, I will get to the bottom of this. I have told my officer to talk to everyone involved. We will find him.”

  “Do you think the terrorists may have taken him? What about the officer that was guarding him?”

  “I am told he just arrived. After I talk with him, I will send him back with one of my detectives to figure out what has happened.”

  “Okay. Thanks. Have you found the... uh... item yet?”

  “No. Not yet.”

  “All right. Uh... I’m giving the phone back to your officer now.”

  They spoke for a few more minutes. Then he disconnected and motioned us to follow him back to the elevator. We rode up in silence, but Ramos was thinking that whoever had taken Blake had gone to a lot of trouble and must have all kinds of resources. He wasn’t sure if that meant Blake was dead or not, but without a body, who knew? Maybe Blake had other friends we didn’t know about, including the CIA.

  Those thoughts settled me down, and the knot in my stomach relaxed. Ramos was right. Until I was told otherwise, I chose to believe that Blake was still alive somewhere and getting the care he needed. We exited the elevator and followed the hall back to Blake’s room.

  While the officer explained the situation to the nurse, I opened the closet in his room to see if I could find any of Blake’s things. Ramos did the same with the drawers. Nothing. It was like he’d never been there. Now what? I glanced at Ramos and shrugged. He nodded and thought that now might be a good time for us to leave. I could tell the officer that we’d be down in the cafeteria for a bite to eat. Then we could figure out what to do on our own.

  That sounded good to me, so I turned to the officer. “Is there a cafeteria here?” He nodded, and I continued. “Is it all right if we go there? I’d like to sit down and maybe get something to settle my stomach.” I could tell he was reluctant to let us out of his sight, so I continued. “We won’t go anywhere else, I promise. I want to find out what happened to Blake. Do you think he’s still alive?”

  He sighed and shook his head. “I do not know. This is... incroyable.”

  “Yeah, that’s for sure.” I sighed. “Uh... we’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”

  He glanced between Ramos and me, then came to a decision. “Oui,” he said. “Do not go anywhere else. You could still be in danger, oui? I will join you shortly.”

  “Okay.” I sort of hated to lie to him like that, since he seemed like a nice person, but I didn’t know what else to do. We took the elevator to the ground floor. “Can we go to the cafeteria and sit down? Then figure out what to do next?”

  Ramos smiled down at me. “You don’t like lying much, do you?”

  “There is that. Plus, I need a diet soda, and maybe a minute to process what just happened. Do you think it’s safe?”

  “Sure,” he agreed. In spite of Blake’s disappearance, and the police officer’s warning, he didn’t think we were in any danger at the hospital.

  We exited the elevator and followed the signs to the cafeteria. Since I still had all of the euros Blake had given me, I told Ramos I’d pay. It seemed like the least I could do. We got through the line and found a table.

  I ate a whole croissant and drank half my soda before saying a word.

  “Feel better?” Ramos asked.

  “Much. So what’s going on? What are we going to do now?”

  Ramos shook his head. “I don’t know. Blake disappearing like that... somebody took him, but who?”

  “Yeah, and why? Do you think he’s really dead?”

  “Beats me. I don’t know how all this spy business works. Did Blake give you any other contacts besides Dumont?”

  “No. Just him,” I answered.

  “He should have contacts with the CIA or someone here. Why didn’t he tell you about them?”

  “I think it was because he was meeting with Mason on his own, and he didn’t want them to know.”

  “Yeah,” Ramos agreed. “That makes more sense than anything else.”

  “So... what now?”

  “I’d like to take this binder back to my hotel. I’m kind of tired of lugging it around. No one except Dumont knows where that is, so we should be safe. Then we need to find the driver, Louis, and have a chat.”

  “About that,” I said. “How are we supposed to find him? I know Blake called him, but I have no idea what service he used.”

  Just then, my phone rang. I dug it out of my purse and frowned. “It’s Chris. Should I answer?”

  “Babe, your call.”

  I sighed, then answered the phone. “Hi honey, how are you?”

  “I’m good. Just getting ready for work and thought I’d call. What are you up to today?”

  “Oh not much, just trying to save the world.”

  “Is that right?” Chris chuckled. “From what? A bomb or something?”

  “Ha, ha,” I said. “If that were the only thing...”

  “What? Shelby... I was just joking.”

  “Oh... I know. Me too.”

  “Now you’ve got me worried. Is everything all right? Last night you said it was. Has something happened?”

  “To be honest, yes. But we’re figuring it out.”

  “Okay... can you tell me about it?” he asked.

  “It’s kind of a secret... for now. But I promise to fill you in as soon as I can.”

  Chris sighed. “All right. Call me when you can talk.”

  “Sure. How about the trial? Did you win?”

  “Yes, we did. The jury acquitted Victoria and now it looks like the prosecution is going after Oliver.”

  “That’s great!”

  “Yeah, we
couldn’t have done it without you, though. So... now it looks like they’re going to make me a partner. It will be official tomorrow. They’re even having a new name design put up on the entry wall with Larsen, Pratt & Nichols on it.”

  “Wow. Way to go! That’s the best news ever!”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty happy about it. I’ll have to tell you all the details... as soon as you get home. When will that be, do you know?”

  “Not yet, but hopefully I’ll know by tonight.” It was a lie, but I reasoned that it could be true by then.

  “Okay. Call me.”

  “You bet,” I agreed. We said our goodbyes and disconnected. I glanced at Ramos and shook my head. “I’m in so much trouble.”

  “Yeah,” Ramos said. He was thinking that maybe we should just run off together and leave it all behind.

  “If only it were that easy. Hey, maybe I should just call Blake and see if he answers.”

  “Why not,” Ramos said, shrugging. He didn’t have any better ideas.

  I put the call through and nearly dropped the phone when someone answered. “Oui?” a woman said.

  “Is... uh... I’m looking for Blake.”

  “Who is this?”

  “Uh... Shelby Nichols.”

  “One moment please.” I held my breath in suspense.

  “Shelby?” Blake said, his voice sounding like gravel.

  “You’re alive? They said you were dead. Where are you?” He didn’t answer for a minute, then the woman came back on the line.

  “He’s tired, but he’ll survive,” she said. This time I picked up her British accent. “You must be important to Blake, otherwise, I wouldn’t be talking to you.” She paused, then continued. “He wants to know if you got the item.”

  “Tell him we did, and I have some important information for him. I also need his help because someone tried to kill me when I left his apartment. I think that person is still after me, so I’m not safe until said person is found.”

  The muffled sound of her voice talking to Blake came through, then she heaved a sigh. “I don’t like this, but Blake won’t let it rest. I’ll meet you somewhere close by unless you’re followed, then I will disappear, understand?”

  “Us,” I said. “Ramos is with me.”

  “Where are you?”

  “At the hospital.”

  “Then leave through the doors on the south side of the building, and walk to the avenue. A stone wall should be on your right. Follow the street keeping to your right at all turns, and you will soon come to a café called the American Kitchen. Go inside and take a seat.” She disconnected. With a sigh, I put my phone away.

  “Blake’s alive. If we want to see him, we need to leave from the south side of the building. Do you know which direction that is, because I have no clue.”

  “Yeah,” Ramos said. “I think it’s this way, but are you sure we can trust her?”

  “Yeah. This lady sounds like she’s a friend of his. Now that I think of it, Blake was thinking of a woman I could contact, but went with Gabriel first. I forgot her name, though.”

  “All right,” Ramos said. “Let’s go find her.”

  We left the cafeteria and turned in the opposite direction from which we’d entered. The exit came into view, and I let out a relieved breath. As we crossed through the doors, I caught Ramos’ arm. “We’re supposed to walk to the avenue and down the street with a stone wall to our right. Do you see it?”

  “Yes, this way.”

  “We’re supposed to keep to the right and meet her at the American Kitchen café.” We passed a couple of cafés, and I started to get nervous, until the American Kitchen café came into view at the opposite corner of the street. “There it is.”

  “Wait,” Ramos said. “I want to make sure no one is following us. Let’s go down this street and then come back on the other side.”

  After that little detour, Ramos gave his approval to enter the café, and we sat down near the entrance on the side where we had a clear view of the street. Since we had to order something, I got another diet soda, but I didn’t really want any American food. Ramos ordered some french fries and chuckled at the irony.

  “Yeah, I guess that is kind of funny,” I agreed.

  I sipped my drink and ate a fry or two while keeping watch out of the window, so it was a surprise when a woman came from the back of the café and sat down beside us. She was older, with white-blond hair, and reminded me of Helen Mirren. “I’m Suzette,” she said. “Come with me.”

  Now I remembered her name. But how had she known about Blake? With a quick slurp to drain the rest of my soda, I pulled a twenty euro from my purse and left it on the table. We followed her to the back, past the kitchen, and down some stairs to a side entrance. Then exited onto the sidewalk where a car waited on the street. She got into the front seat, and we slipped into the back.

  The driver sent a smile in my direction, and my jaw dropped. Holy hell! “Louis?”

  “Bonjour Madame. It has been an eventful day, no?”

  “Uh... yeah,” I answered. “It sure has. In fact, we saw you drive by just before we got shot at and our car exploded. Whose side are you on, anyway?”

  He glanced at Suzette, and I had my answer. “So, Suzette, it looks like he’s on your side. What side would that be exactly?”

  “You’ll have your answer soon enough,” she said. My stomach clenched. What the hell was going on? She was thinking that this was turning out to be more fun than she’d thought. Not only did she have me, but even better, the handsome man sitting beside me had the binder.

  “Are you helping Blake, or not?” I blurted.

  “Of course I’m helping Blake. I had to get him out of that hospital before Cypher found him. Why Gabriel ever thought he’d be safe there is a mystery. In fact, it serves him right that I took Blake out from under his nose. What was he thinking?”

  Since I didn’t know the answer to that, I kept my mouth shut. Before long, Louis pulled the car off the street into a driveway with a gated entrance. He rolled down his window and pushed a code into the panel. It beeped and the gates swung open. A beautiful mansion, a lot like Ramos’ hotel, stood at the end of the circular drive.

  After Louis pulled up at the entrance, we exited the car, and Suzette ushered us inside. The chandelier hanging over the entrance glowed with light, highlighting a grand staircase going up to a second floor. Aubusson rugs covered the hardwood floors, and impressionistic paintings hung on the walls.

  Suzette shrugged out of her jacket and draped it over the back of a chair. “Blake is this way,” she said. We followed her down a hallway to the back of the building and into a room. We found Blake, lying comfortably on a bed, hooked up to the same machines and tubes as before.

  After hearing he was dead, I didn’t expect him to look so good. The color was back in his face, and he didn’t seem to be in any pain. The swelling around his eye had even gone down. A woman in a white jacket, with a stethoscope around her neck, wrote on a clipboard and turned to greet us. She frowned at our intrusion, but only shook her head before telling us that Blake needed his rest and not to talk long.

  With our entrance, Blake’s eyes fluttered open, and a smile lit his face. “I see that she found you.”

  “Yes.” I wanted to ask him what the hell was going on, but refrained since this wasn’t exactly the right time for all that. “How are you doing?”

  “I’ll live. Now tell me what’s going on.”

  I glanced at Suzette, but she had no intention of leaving the room. Blake recognized my reluctance and sighed. “It’s okay. She needs to know.” He was thinking that he hadn’t wanted to involve Suzette, but now that she had taken things into her own hands, it was nice to have her on our side. He just hoped Gabriel didn’t get too upset about it.

  “What’s with you guys? Are you all in some secret organization or something?”

  Suzette burst out laughing, and Blake winced, then took a deep breath to explain. “We’ve become friends over the years.
You know... same types of assignments and such. I didn’t expect Suzette to be here in France, but it seems we’ve all been following the same trail. Which has led us to Cypher. Now, tell me what you’ve got.”

  Just then, the doorbell rang. “I suppose that’s Gabriel,” Suzette said, thinking he was one of the few people with her gate code. “Would you mind putting off your narrative for a moment?” I nodded, and she left.

  As soon as she was out of earshot, I turned to Blake. “I know Cypher’s true identity. He was at the house, pretending to be one of the men, but we figured out his identity from the binder. Is it okay to tell them?”

  Blake’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “Yes. Tell us everything you know.”

  Suzette entered the room with Gabriel following behind. He stopped short to see me and Ramos standing there, then shook his head. “I should have known. Were you in on this?”

  “They had nothing to do with it,” Suzette said. “They wouldn’t even be here now, except they called Blake’s phone number, and he insisted I answer it. Although, I do think they’ve found something, and from the looks of it, they didn’t tell you.”

  Gabriel’s eyes widened, then narrowed. He was thinking that if he’d followed his instincts, he would have questioned me more thoroughly before letting me leave for the hospital. He turned his gaze to Suzette.

  “But there is something you don’t know. There is a bio-weapon in the metro ventilation system... at least according to her, and I haven’t been able to find it.” Now he wondered if I’d been telling him the truth.

  Both Suzette and Blake perked up at that. “Is it true?” Blake asked.

  “Of course it is,” I answered. “I wouldn’t make up something like that.”

  “Tell us everything,” he said.

  I took a deep breath and explained how I’d been caught and taken to Cypher’s house last night, met Cypher and his men there, gotten a premonition about their nefarious plot, and all that had happened since then, including our brush with death this morning at Blake’s apartment.

  “From the binder, we figured out Cypher’s true identity.” I glanced at Ramos and nodded. He opened the binder and took out the photos, explaining that the man I’d recognized as Cypher was actually Trevor Olsen.