Deadlock

by Iris Johansen

  DARDON WAS HURRYING DOWN the street when Emily and Iran arrived at the car. His hair was mussed, and his breath was coming i short pants. "I didn't get him. He had a car parked in the next bloc and was driving off when I got around the house." He looked behin her. "Where's Garrett?"

  "In the garden," Irana said. "Bishop Dimitri is dead."

  "Shit." Dardon headed for the gate. "Garrett may need help." H disappeared into the garden.

  Irana opened the rear car door. "Get in. I don't like the idea of yot being out on the street. Staunton may be on the run, but there migl be someone else who-"

  Emily got into the car. "You're right, but I imagine his man, Bor| hasn't had time to get here from New York. That was probably wh Staunton did the killing himself." She shuddered. "Though I'm sui he enjoyed it. You should have heard him on the phone. He was- She stopped and steadied her voice. "And actually I'm not his targi right now. He wants me to be last. He made me think it was you 1 was going to shoot. And he has a list."

  "And who is on it?"

  "Everyone who knows about the treasure. He admires Mikha

  Zelov very much. He says he was very efficient. Kill everyone and leave no witnesses."

  "And that's why he killed the bishop."

  "Yes." Where was Garrett? She was still caught up in the panic caused by Staunton's words. Perhaps she should go back and see what-

  She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Garrett coming out the gate, followed by Joslyn and Dardon.

  "Dardon, you drive." Garrett got into the passenger seat. "Joslyn, where's your car?"

  "Around the corner." He stood watching as Dardon got into the driver's seat. "Thank you for your help. It bought me a little time. I'll have to make arrangements for my family before I go to the police."

  "Don't be in a hurry," Garrett said. "Maybe we can work some¬thing out. The Russian government isn't going to be very lenient about this. That billion dollars is going to look very good to them. They need money, and they like to set examples."

  He shook his head. "Make peace, Dimitri said. I don't know how else to do it." He stepped back. "Again, I'm very sorry. I wish I could make amends, but I know that-"

  "Don't let him go," Emily said. She leaned forward, glaring at Joslyn. "This isn't over for you. You can't walk away and bribe your way out of a Russian jail. I won't let you."

  "I have no intention of-"

  She turned to Garrett. "He's on Staunton's list. He has to be. Staunton's not going to let him go to the police. He's going to kill him."

  "I'll take my chances," Joslyn said. "Though I'm surprised you'd care.

  "I don't care. You'd deserve it," she said fiercely. "But I'm not go¬ing to let Staunton kill anyone else. That's what he wants to do. Kill and kill and kill again." She whirled on Garrett. "We're not going to let him do it. Do you hear me? Not one more death. Not one more person in pain. This is where we draw the line. This is where we stop him. Joslyn wants to make peace? Then let him help get rid of that killer. That's the only way to make peace." "Joslyn?" Garrett asked.

  "Don't ask him, tell him," Emily turned back to Joslyn. "Staunton has a list. I'm sure you're on it. I'm not sure if your wife and children are on his kill list. I'd bet they are because Staunton is very thorough, and he couldn't be sure that you hadn't talked to them. If I were you, I'd send them somewhere safe, then help eliminate the threat."

  Joslyn was silent a moment. "My family?"

  "Do you think he'd stop because they were innocent? He's like Mikhail Zelov, who killed those poor young royal children just because it was convenient. Staunton wouldn't think twice."

  Joslyn turned to Garrett. "It seems that I won't be talking to the po¬lice anytime soon. I have to protect my family."

  "Good," Garrett said. "Will you come with us now?"

  "No, I've got to get home as quickly as possible. My family may need me."

  Garrett said to Dardon, "Follow him to his car, and we'll check it out.

  Joslyn's brows lifted. "For explosives?"

  "For explosives, for bugs. Whatever. It won't take long. Dardon is an expert. But you have to be safe." Garrett shrugged. "We have our orders. Emily wants you kept alive."

  "I don't want it," Emily said. "That's the way it has to be. And we may be able to use him."

  "I'll do anything I can for you," Joslyn said quietly. "After I take care of my family." He turned and strode down the street.

  Emily leaned back in the seat as Dardon started the car and cruised slowly after him.

  "He's not a wicked man." Irana's gaze was on Emily's face. "I be¬lieve him when he said that he didn't know what Staunton was doing. I think he and the bishop were both trying to do what they thought was right."

  "It doesn't matter. He paid out the money. He made it possible for Staunton to do what he did to Joel," Emily said. "And even if he honestly wanted me to forgive him, I wouldn't do it. I may have to work with him, but that's all."

  "It's more than I expected," Garrett said. "You're angry enough to cut him loose for Staunton to take down."

  "Yes. You're the one who said you wouldn't be satisfied until you found the man who funded Staunton."

  "And we have him. I'm just not sure exactly what we have." Gar¬rett turned around to look at Emily. "Now tell me exactly what Staunton said on the phone. Every word."

  She wouldn't tell him every word. She wouldn't tell him the part that had frightened her almost more than the threat to Irana. The ter¬ror was still hanging over her like a dark cloud.

  "77/ make sure it's worse for him than it was for Levy."

  Don't think about it. It won't happen. I'll make sure it can't hap¬pen.

  "I got the call after I'd been in the study for about thirty minutes. Staunton was…"

  PAULEY WAS WAITING IN THE lobby when they walked into the inn an hour later. "You should never have left me here alone," he said reproachfully. "It was very cold of you after all I've done. I was won¬dering if I was going to have to come and rescue you. That might have been a disaster, since I'm not exactly experienced at search and rescue. It would have been much better just to have let me come-"

  "Pauley, be quiet," Garrett said. "We have enough problems with¬out you yammering."

  "I don't yammer. I speak with great-" He broke off as he met Garrett's eye. "Problems? What can I do to help?"

  "I'm not sure. But you can bet I'll let you do whatever you can."

  He headed for the elevator. "You can start by getting the desk clerk to change all our rooms to the same floor. I don't want anyone more than hailing distance away."

  "That may be difficult," Pauley said. "The inn is full now. No one is going to want to move."

  "Can you do it, or not?"

  Pauley glanced at the desk clerk, who was frowning as she studied her computer. "It's not the kind of work I really like." "It's what I need from you."

  He sighed as he turned back toward the desk. "Give me an hour."

  The last thing that Emily saw as the elevator doors closed was Pauley leaning his elbows on the desk. He was smiling with a voltage that was stunning in intensity as he spoke to the desk clerk. Good heavens, he was mesmerizing. Emily had never seen Pauley operating with more than a casual charm. This was not casual, this was pure charisma, and it was meant to captivate and sway. "I believe we may have found something that Pauley handles better than computers," she murmured.

  "Just so he gets it done," Garrett said.

  "I thought you'd want me to change hotels," Dardon said. "Since Staunton evidently knows where we are."

  "This is as good a place as any," Garrett said. "And we're not run¬ning anymore." He smiled as he looked down at Emily and quoted her words. " 'We've drawn a line.' Isn't that how it goes?"

  "That's how it goes." Emily turned to Irana. "Are you all right? All of this was pretty rough on you."

  "It was pretty rough on you, too. You were faced with your bogey¬man again. I just had to deal with an old man who wanted to do good and did evil instead." She go
t off the elevator as it stopped on her floor. "And now I'm going to my room and pray for that old man's soul. I'll call you later."

  "Stay where you are. I'll send Pauley and Dardon to move you as soon as Pauley arranges it." Garrett punched the hold button on the elevator and watched until she reached her room and unlocked the door.

  Emily was glad to see his caution. That moment in the garden when she'd thought Irana was the target was still with her. She was trying to maintain her composure, but she kept seeing Irana shot, Irana dead. "She should pray for herself. If that bullet had been six inches to the left, she'd be dead."

  "She won't pray for herself," Garrett said. "She told me once that prayers should be for those who can't help themselves. She's not sure if she wasted them on herself that God would pay attention when she prayed for someone else."

  "That sounds like her," Dardon said. "You can't say that she's not an original." He got off the elevator at his floor. "Do you want me to go down and try to help Pauley?"

  "I think he's got it under control," Garrett said dryly. "Just pack up and get ready for the move." He added, "And be careful."

  Dardon tilted his head. "You're really worried about this Staunton. I don't think I've ever seen you this uneasy."

  "Because I can't figure out what he's doing," Garrett said. "It doesn't make sense to me. And I don't like not knowing which way he may jump. Just take care of yourself."

  Emily didn't speak until after they'd entered her room a few min¬utes later. "I've told you which way he's going to jump," she said curtly. "He told me. He's killing witnesses and anyone who knows about the Tsar's treasure."

  "But why now? It seems a little unreasonable. Think about it."

  "I don't want to think about it." She was barely maintaining con¬trol. "Maybe later." She threw her purse on the bed. "All I want to think about is how we're going to trap Staunton before he kills you and Irana and-" She stopped and had to fight to keep her voice steady. "No more, Garrett."

  "Shh." He took her in his arms. "No more. I promise."

  "You can't promise. You can only promise to do your best." Her arms slid around him, and she buried her face in his chest. "And sometimes best doesn't do the job." "It will this time."

  "How do we trap him?" she repeated. "He's like a phantom." "We start with his phone call." She took a step back. "What?"

  "We have Pauley dig out Staunton's number as he did Babin's. It will be harder, since you can bet Staunton has been even more careful than Babin. When we're ready, you call Staunton back, and we put a trace on his location. Then we move in for the kill."

  "What do you mean 'ready'?"

  "It has to be in a place that we can get to him." He added, "And he can't get away as he did today." "Won't that be hard?"

  "Extremely. But that's why we have Pauley. Maybe he can do a lit¬tle satellite magic again."

  "It took him a long time to get Babin's location. We may not have a long time."

  "He appears to rise to the occasion. Let's see if we can give him a little encouragement." "Money?"

  "I'm not sure. Pauley has been surprising me lately." He smiled. "Maybe I'll use an incentive. I'll tell him that James Bond could do it in a heartbeat." He paused. "I'm going to make sure I have a room only a few doors down the hall. I'll probably be spending a lot of time with Pauley until he comes through for us. I'm no wunderkind like he is at manipulating the Internet, but I'm pretty good. I may be able to offer a suggestion here and there. I'll at least be there to apply pres¬sure. Do you want me to go to my own room tonight? It's your call."

  She didn't have to think about it. She was still hearing Staunton's words over and over in her mind. She didn't want Garrett only a few doors down the hall. She wanted him close enough to touch, close enough to protect. "Stay."

  He nodded. "Good. I got what I wanted, and I didn't have to by¬pass the freedom-of-choice issue. Second question. Do you need me to be with you this evening?"

  "I don't need you." But she wanted him here. She wanted to be able to reach out and assure herself that Staunton hadn't taken him away from her. "Don't be ridiculous. Go on to Pauley. I want to have dinner with Irana. She may be more upset than she's letting us know." She turned toward the bathroom. "I'll take a shower and give her an hour or two, then I'll call her." She looked at him over her shoulder. "Staunton will phone me again. He enjoyed himself too much not to want to get that rush again. I could almost feel the pleasure he had taunting me. It just may not be convenient for us."

  "Then we have to rely on Pauley doing his magic." He added, "In the meantime, Joslyn may be able to help with information. We'll have to see."

  "If we see him again. He may decide to go with his family to safety."

  "I don't think he will."

  Neither did Emily. She wanted to believe that he was as bad as Staunton, but she couldn't forget his expression as he stared down at his friend, the bishop. Agony, pity, horror, regret, and other emotions that she couldn't decipher. Was guilt one of them? "I hope you're right. We need all the help we can get." She closed the bathroom door behind her.

  TWENTY

  IRANA KNOCKED ON EMILY'S door two hours later. "I'm right across the hall now. Dardon is next door, and Pauley is three doors down. I wasn't sure that Pauley would be able to negotiate that exten¬sive a switch."

  "I was." Emily remembered that last glimpse she'd had of Pauley leaning on the counter of the reception desk. "I didn't have one doubt." She closed the door and nodded at the covered tray on the small table across the room. "I was going to order room service for us, but Dardon went down and got us takeout from the kitchen. Garrett said it would be safer." She smiled faintly. "Garrett's protective instincts are flying high right now."

  "And you're not objecting." Irana's gaze was fixed on her face. "Why is that?"

  Because she was feeling just as protective of Garrett. More. For the first time, she was experiencing an urgency that was frantically in¬tense. "It won't hurt to let him have his way in the little things. Per¬haps my confidence was shaken today."

  "Or perhaps you just slid away from my question. But I should warn you, Garrett's not ever going to back off from protecting you now. And it won't only be in the little things. I believe he tried, but it's not going to happen. I saw that in the garden today." Irana lifted the metal lid off the plates. "It smells good. What is it?"

  "Some kind of stew or borscht, I think. And potato pancakes." She sat down. "Sturdy fare. Dardon's choice. I wasn't sure you'd be this hungry."

  "I usually have a good appetite." Irana sat down opposite her and lifted her fork. "And though I appreciate your respecting my sensitivity, I'm pretty tough. I'm a doctor, and I'm used to God taking unexpect¬edly."

  "Not like that."

  "No, not like that," she said quietly. Irana didn't look at Emily as she took a bite of the potato pancake. "Violence is ugly." "I thought it was going to be you."

  "I know. You were worried from the moment I told you that I felt that I was meant to come here." She took a sip of water. "It's hard for you to look on anything but the darkest side right now."

  "Then why did you tell me that?"

  "I wanted to prepare you. Just in case." She raised her eyes. "I knew God had a purpose. I just didn't know what it was. You like me. I didn't want it to come as a shock."

  "Irana…" She swallowed hard. "Well, it didn't happen. So maybe he didn't have a purpose this time."

  "I believe he did. But it was for the bishop, not me. He wanted me there to help ease his way. Dimitri had spent all his life serving God. He took one wrong path, but God wouldn't have wanted him to die alone, with no one to understand his pain." She smiled. "So he sent a messenger. Not a very wise messenger, but I did understand, and I think Bishop Dimitri did die more peacefully than if I hadn't been there."

  "I believe he did, too."

  "But you still can't forgive him."

  "Maybe I will someday. I can only think about Joel. I'm not like you. It will take a long time."
/>   Irana nodded. "When you're away from all this. It's difficult to see beyond the hurt and the anger." She paused. "After I prayed for the bishop, I sat down and read some of Mikhail Zelov's Book of Living. I remembered what you said about Staunton and Zelov being so much alike. You're right, perhaps history does repeat itself. Zelov was trying to take over his world, and now Staunton is doing the same thing. And both were using the hammer to do it. It's curious…"

  "It's horrible."

  "That, too." Irana nodded at Emily's plate. "Stop talking and eat something. Garrett will not be pleased if I don't see that you stay healthy."

  "Now who's being protective?" She picked up her fork. "I told him that I wanted to make sure you were okay, and you immediately set about taking care of me."

  "It's my job. It's what I am." She smiled. "And my pleasure. Eat your dinner."

  GARRETT WAS STANDING NAKED beside her bed. "Awake?"

  "Yes." She shifted a few inches and curled up against him when he slid under the covers. "It's almost three. Did you get anything done?"

  "Enough. It was interesting. I think that Pauley could probably hack into the CIA if he set his mind to it."

  "Don't let him do it. I don't want Ferguson becoming irritated. You seem to have to call on him too often." She was silent a moment. "The bishop?"

  He knew what she was asking. "Ferguson wouldn't touch a cleanup here. Bishop Dimitri is a revered institution in this city, this country. We have three days before he'll be found. We'll have to think of some¬thing else."