“It’s three in the morning,” Rowe grumbled. “You do not need to go out.”
At the sound of her voice, Zoe’s tail thumped against the floor and Molly woke up, emitting small excited yelps.
Resigning herself to the inevitable, Rowe slid her feet into fleece-lined boots, scooped the puppy from the crate, and opened the bedroom door. The two Labs preceded her down the stairs to the front entrance and she let them out. They never went far from the house during late-night bathroom breaks, content to squat in the snow a few feet from the front steps before rushing back indoors.
Rowe put Molly down near them so she would get the general idea. The little pug caught on immediately and almost buried herself in snow when she scampered back into the house after her role models. Getting colder by the second, Rowe locked the door and tried the downstairs lights. There was no power, and she would probably end up electrocuting herself if she started fiddling with the mains in pitch darkness. The repairs would have to wait until morning. With any luck she could convince Earl and Dwayne to do the job for her if they managed to get over to the island. She had never been much of a butch when it came to electrical problems or car repairs.
She panned her flashlight around the hall, looking for evidence of the breakage. It was probably a light fitting, she decided. She had replaced bulbs in all the chandeliers soon after moving in, but many of the glass shades were broken at the base. A gust of wind would knock them from their brackets. Already a couple had fallen from the decrepit fixture nearest the kitchen. She should have installed new fittings through the entire hall instead of simply replacing the chandelier in the vestibule.
Rowe took a few paces past the stairs, the dogs at her heels. The dank smell of the kitchen had filtered through the crack beneath the door and drifted along the airless corridor. A soft repetitive thud transformed her irritation to a crawling unease. Unable to identify the sound, she trained her dark-adapted eyes on the kitchen door and moved toward it. The floorboards were less likely to creak where they met the skirting boards, so Rowe slid her back along the paneled wall. She was creeping, and she knew that was idiotic. There was no one else in the house. And even if there was, whoever or whatever was hiding in her kitchen already knew she was downstairs.
Reminding herself that she had a couple of big, protective dogs with her, she took a few more steps, then glanced back over her shoulder. Jessie and Zoe were pacing the vestibule, waiting for her to get with the program and return to bed. Only Molly seemed unperturbed, nestling hotly against Rowe’s throat as they inched into the darkness. Listening intently, she stopped at the kitchen door, turned the handle with excruciating finesse, and peered into the room.
The thudding was coming from one of the cupboards near the sink. As Rowe held the beam on it, the door drifted open, then banged shut. Rolling her eyes at her own paranoia, she marched into the kitchen and closed the noisy culprit, fiddling with the antiquated latch to secure it. She turned to leave, but an icy gust of wind cut through the room and the door to the hall slammed violently shut. Rowe jumped with fright and shone the flashlight manically about. One of the cupboard doors below the knife drawer swung back and forth as if an invisible child had hold of it.
“Okay. You win,” she said with a show of bravado. “It’s all yours. I’m outta here.”
She had barely uttered the words when a dining chair crashed to the floor and everything in the room began to shake. Rowe wanted to believe it was an earthquake, but in her gut she knew it was a force infinitely worse on some level. Nothing was as it should be. Crockery began to fall from cupboard shelves, smashing on the tiled counters and the floor. Inside their drawer, the kitchen knives rattled viciously.
She ran for the door and groped for the handle. Something buzzed past her head and smashed into the wood. Shock spurred her into motion and she wrenched the door open and ran into the hall. An object flew after her and landed with a distinctive metallic twang. A long, lethal blade was caught in the beam as her flashlight traveled ahead. Hugging Molly close, she sprinted to the vestibule, yelling for the dogs to come. All she could think of was getting out. Behind her, glass smashed and cupboards banged like gunshot fire.
“Have the fucking place,” she yelled as she frantically unchained the front door and twisted the deadlock.
Howling, Jessie clawed at the heavy wood. She and Zoe burst out into the night and bolted across the moon-washed meadow. Rowe tried to run after them through the snow, but it was up to her knees. Grunting from sheer effort, she flailed and stumbled away from her home. Wetness invaded her boots and climbed the brushed cotton of her pajamas. Her teeth chattered as the bitter cold penetrated her inadequate garments.
Somehow she made it to the birch trees, panting with exertion, sucking musty air through lips so numb she couldn’t feel them. She could not afford to rest. A few more minutes and she would be at Phoebe’s. Forcing herself to move, she took a shortcut through the trees, figuring it would lead more directly to the back of the house. She’d only made it a few yards when she caught her foot in a root mass and she was thrown forward, her flashlight flying from her hand. Instinctively she enfolded the puppy against her chest with both arms and braced herself for the fall.
Instead of finding snow her head struck a solid mass, and the last thing she knew was warm blood in her mouth and an explosion of light beneath her eyelids.
*
Phoebe sat up and turned on the lamp next to her bed, blinking in the harsh light. She was supposed to be dreaming of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the bearded terrorist whose photograph was optimistically positioned next to her bed. Instead, she had been lying wide-awake, her mind harried. She wanted Rowe. All she could think about was her lover, and her yearnings had finally exploded into urgent agitation. She needed to go home. It had been a mistake to come here. She should have refused.
Distraught, she gazed at her sterile surroundings. The suite the Langley folks had accommodated her in was pretending to be a home away from home. A bunch of spring flowers graced a glass-topped coffee table. Several Van Gogh prints splashed brazen color against the pristine white walls. Books no one had ever opened stood neatly at attention on a white shelf near the bed, and someone had actually rustled up a frilly pink bedcover, gender coding her like a baby in a hospital nursery.
Phoebe stared up at the ceiling trying to see where the cameras were hidden. She knew she was being watched and wondered how long they planned to keep this up before they realized she couldn’t summon ghosts at will or see into the future. She had managed to keep a straight face when one of the interview team asked whether a crystal ball would help her. Someone else had hooked her up to a polygraph and proceeded to ask all kinds of stupid questions, especially about Cara.
With a despondent sigh, Phoebe tried her twin’s cell phone again and got the voice mail. She didn’t bother to leave yet another message. Maybe Cara had mislaid the phone and that’s why she wasn’t picking up. Phoebe hadn’t been able to get hold of her since being spirited away by the CIA. She wasn’t worried so much as puzzled. It was the first time her sister had ever let two days pass without communicating.
Cara was fine, she could sense that. But she could also sense that something was not quite right. It was as if the invisible cord that joined them had been yanked sharply and the vibrations were still tingling at Phoebe’s end. Cara had been in a mood when she left for L.A., and their conversations since then had been tense. Was she still upset about Rowe?
Phoebe called the Isola Bella again, and no one answered. Cara had probably gone out to a late-night club, she rationalized. That was nothing unusual, although her twin usually sent a text message if she wouldn’t be picking up her phone for a while. Perhaps she had called Dark Harbor Cottage, expecting to find Phoebe there. There was probably a message waiting.
Flustered, Phoebe dialed Rowe’s number. So far she had not been able to get away from her minders long enough to make a private phone call, and she’d hesitated to phone Rowe from her room in case someon
e was listening in. It seemed like no one had guessed at their relationship, and she wanted to keep it that way.
After a few rings, the phone switched to voice mail. Deflated, Phoebe left a lame we’re-just-good-friends message and dropped her cell phone back on the bedside table. She felt incredibly alone. Even Vernell was impossible to get hold of. Phoebe could tell he felt guilty about everything that had happened. It made him look bad, she supposed. He had promised to keep the CIA out of the picture, and now, here she was in the upscale version of a padded cell with a tracking device fitted to her wrist like she was a menace to society.
While she was here at Langley, she wasn’t any use to the FBI either. No doubt there were cases Vernell wanted her to work on, but he would have to sit back and wait for the CIA to figure out that she was never going to be a psychic spy for them.
She studied the pudgy, self-satisfied face of al-Zawahiri. If she could only tell them what this depraved individual was planning, she would be able to go home. Marvin Perry had taken her aside after dinner last night and told her she had nothing to worry about.
“Your security is our first priority,” he’d said. “It’s necessary to house you in a controlled environment while we conduct our preliminary interviews.”
“So I can go home after this?” Phoebe asked.
“If it is ascertained that you cannot provide useful information, you will be free to go.”
“How long will that take?”
“We can’t put a time frame on it. Of course, if you can assist us, you’ll find the Agency very flexible about your location and lifestyle.”
“I just want to go home.” Phoebe added some emotional weight by mentioning her obligations. “I got a puppy for Christmas. Our neighbor’s looking after her, but I can’t expect her to do that indefinitely.”
“If you wish, we can pick up your pet, and it can be here with you,” Perry offered as if he sympathized. But meeting his light blue eyes was like looking into a pair of mirror lenses. Phoebe had no idea what was happening behind them.
“We’ll see how it goes,” she said. A paranoid fantasy played in her mind. Molly strapped to electrodes, Marvin Perry operating the voltage. Talk or your puppy suffers.
“By the way,” her minder said, watching her face intently, “have you managed to get in touch with your sister?”
“Not yet.” Phoebe faked unconcern.
“If you’d like us to make inquiries, just say the word.”
“It’s okay.” Phoebe could only imagine Cara’s reaction if a bunch of scary guys in dark glasses showed up at her apartment, demanding to know why she hadn’t picked up her phone in two days.
Glucose seeped into Agent Perry’s tone. “I’m sure your sister’s fine. But keep me posted.”
Their conversation had ended when Eve entered the room, wanting to discuss some of the tests they had done that day. After Marvin Perry left, she told Phoebe, “He’s a nicer guy when he thinks he’s winning.”
*
Rowe had no idea how long she lay in the snow before she forced her eyes open. Slowly, she became aware of feeling strangely compressed. She could smell wet dog, and something warm countered the numbness of her face. As she stirred, so too did a body on either side of her, and she grasped the fact that she was sandwiched tightly between her two Labs. Blinking, she stared into Jessie’s face and was greeted with licks and whines. Something moved against her chest and Phoebe’s puppy stuck its head up, apparently none the worse for wear.
Galvanized into action, Jessie scrambled to her feet and seized a mouthful of Rowe’s pajama jacket, dragging on it until Rowe managed to stand. Pain shot through Rowe’s right foot the moment she rested her weight on it. She recognized the sensations instantly. That ankle had been sprained before.
Placing her free hand against the nearest tree to prop herself up, she tried to clear the fog in her head. The trunk was slippery with ice and felt even colder than her extremities. Her head pounded, and to make matters worse, she was so dizzy she wondered if she could walk. But Jessie wasn’t taking no for an answer. Positioning herself at Rowe’s side, the tall yellow Lab urged her into motion. Grasping a handful of scruff to steady herself, Rowe focused on taking one step at a time, and somehow they made it through the maze of trees to the house. Foggily, she reached behind a small bird cote mounted to one side of the door and withdrew a spare house key. Thank God, she thought, then corrected that to Thank Dog.
They fell wetly into the hall, and setting Molly on her feet, Rowe immediately pulled off her boots and pajamas. The garments were stiff, the moisture in them having frozen. She wrapped herself in one of the coats hanging on the Temples’ antique stand and caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror next to it. She was blue with cold. Blood glued her hair to her lacerated forehead, and red trickles progressed slowly around her eyes and down her nose.
Shivering uncontrollably, she dried off the dogs with a towel from the kitchen, then summoned them upstairs to Phoebe’s bathroom. Traces of her lover’s perfume lingered, comforting Rowe while at the same time reminding her that she was alone when she needed Phoebe’s arms so badly she wanted to cry out her name. She turned on the faucets and the oil heaters around the walls and washed the blood from her face. Then she sank down on the floor, her head in her hands, and sobbed.
*
Cara poured herself a second glass of vodka and inspected the black spa tub that was tiled like an afterthought into one corner of her ugly king room. How thoughtful of Vernell to have secured the best accommodations in this downscale tourist inn. And what luck, she could see the Disneyland fireworks from her balcony, not to mention revel constantly in the happy squeals of small children wearing mouse ears. Thanks a bunch.
She sprayed bleach all over the tub and collapsed into a pink mock–French Provincial chair while she waited for the germs to die. A tiny spider crossed the beige wall to a chocolate box landscape hanging above the bed. The painting’s cobalt blue tones clashed with the dark gray-green carpeting and the busy floral bedspread. Sipping her vodka, Cara watched the spider’s progress and wondered how in hell she was going to get herself and her twin out of this jam.
A wave of misery swamped her. Ever since Christmas, she and Phoebe had spoken like strangers, and it was all her fault. She was jealous, she realized. Jealous that Phoebe had found someone who really did seem to love her, who seemed to look past the lovely exterior to the person within and cherish her. The rapport between them was obvious, and very different from anything Cara had observed in her twin’s previous relationships. Rowe was the first woman Cara could imagine Phoebe being with long term, and for some reason the thought had shaken her to the core.
She should have been celebrating, she thought crossly. Didn’t she want a life herself? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Phoebe was with a woman who truly understood her and who was willing to take over Cara’s protective role? Rowe was the ideal candidate, the kind of woman who wanted a partner she could shield and adore. They were made for each other. What had Cara been thinking, trying to get between them?
Frustrated with herself, she finished her vodka and turned her thoughts to the business at hand. Vernell had phoned a few hours earlier. The conversation had been brief. He had ordered her to stay put in this nightmare of cheesy family values for a couple of days.
“Blend in with the crowd,” he suggested. “Go see Disneyland so no one notices anything unusual about you.”
“Other than the lack of snot-nosed brats, and no husband wearing a Pirates of the Caribbean T-shirt?”
“Go tomorrow. Ten a.m. The Enchanted Tiki Room. A man will ask if you’re enjoying the show.”
“And I’ll say it sucks.”
“You’ll tell him you prefer the Jungle Cruise. He’ll ask if you could show him the way. You’ll leave together.”
Cara felt like pointing out that if he wanted to keep her in the Magic Kingdom for more than five minutes, he would need to send a total goddess, not some newly minted Keanu Reeves look-al
ike.
She jotted down a few notes and said, “So, this guy is going to tell me where to next. Is that the deal?”
“We’ll move you to a safe location.”
“Vernell, I have a job to do. I can’t just vanish off the face of the earth. Tell them they’ll never get anywhere with Phoebe if she’s pining for home. They have to cut her loose.”
“I did. They said they would make her bedroom more feminine.”
“Christ.”
“I’m sorry about your work.”
“Hey, me, too. And I’m sorry I talked Phoebe into spending that week in Quantico.”
“She saved a woman’s life.”
“And just think how many other victims she could help if you got her away from those morons.”
“The director feels she may be able to save thousands of lives if she could see what the terrorists are hatching. I think it’s probably worth a try, don’t you?”
“Remind me.” Frustration made Cara’s voice rise. “How much are we borrowing from the Chinese so we can run a war that puts billions of dollars straight into the pockets of companies like Halliburton while we let bin Laden get away? This is such bullshit.”
“All I can tell you is that everyone working in the field wants bin Laden and his network brought to justice.”
Some of Cara’s fury dissipated. “I believe that. And I know a lot of good people in your line of work have been shafted for telling truths no one wants to hear. Tell me honestly, am I just the suspicious type, or does it seem like maybe our leaders prefer to keep bin Laden at large because it suits their political ends?”
“I can’t speak to that.” Vernell paused for a few beats. “I’m asking you to trust me, Cara. I won’t hang you or your sister out to dry. Okay?”
“Okay. That’s good enough for me.” Cara was suddenly overcome with weariness. “Thanks for doing this.”
“No problem. Get some sleep.”
Dark Dreamer Page 20
