“Nothing.”
Her eyes narrowed. “So it’s to be blackmail, is it?”
“Huh?” I blinked, slowly processing her words. “No. I don’t have anything to blackmail you with.”
“Except that I abducted and attacked you. And my fingerprints are on the gun that killed Jones.”
Glancing around, I realized the crowd had moved on and we were alone. I drew my Glock. Eleanor caught her breath, going white and backing away, but I held the muzzle in a safe direction and mumbled, “No, calm down. Stand closer.” When she reluctantly edged nearer, I used our bodies to conceal the gun while I wiped it down with the tail of my T-shirt and returned it to my holster.
“There. No evidence,” I said. Belatedly remembering I was supposed to be Arlene Widdenback the ruthless arms dealer, I added, “My people will clean up the mess at the house and get rid of Jones’s body and car. I don’t have any proof that you did anything. Nobody ever saw us fight. The only witnesses saw me reunite you with your son a few minutes ago and now we’re chatting quietly. Nobody would ever believe a prominent and upstanding citizen like you would attack me.”
“Except the first two men I hired,” she said caustically. “I’m sure they’ll be back with their hands out as soon as they finish spending the cash I gave them.”
“They’re dead. Permanently vanished just like Jones.”
She staggered back a step, her hand flying to her lips. “You k… killed them, too?” When I didn’t reply, she hesitated, then stiffened her shoulders. “All right. But I know you want something. Nothing’s free in your world.”
Weariness overcame me. “You’re right,” I said, dragging the words up with the last of my strength. “I do want something from you.”
The white mask froze her face again and she stared at me with haunted eyes.
“Here’s what I want.” I met her gaze to make sure she was listening. “I want you and your son to get psychological help. You both need it. I want you to go back to your life and pick up the pieces and hold onto any friends who were good enough to stick with you through all this. I want you to continue your charity work and raise your son right and treasure every minute. And I never want to see your face again.”
“And…?” The word came out faint and breathless.
“And that’s it. I told you, you’re more trouble than I need. I don’t do blackmail and I don’t give a shit about revenge. I won’t bother you if you don’t bother me.”
Too soft. Be a ruthless arms dealer.
I leaned forward, letting the chill around my heart pour into the coldest emptiest tone I could summon. “To compensate me for my trouble I’m keeping the cash you gave your stupid little amateurs. And if you ever say a word to anybody; or if you cause even the tiniest bit of trouble for me ever again…”
I let the threat trail off as she blanched.
“I won’t,” she quavered.
“Good. Get in. I’ll drive you back to your car.” I turned back to Jones’s car.
“Wait… what about… Logan’s backpack?”
Pain paralyzed me for a moment. I didn’t turn, and when I spoke my voice was emotionless. “Buy him another.”
I beckoned to Hellhound and he ambled over, obviously attempting to look non-threatening and failing utterly.
Eleanor took a step backward. “Logan, sweetheart,” she said in a voice slightly too high-pitched. “We’re just going to sit in the back while these people drive us back to our car. And then we’re going home.”
A few minutes later Hellhound and I sat in Jones’s car, watching the tail end of Eleanor’s Mercedes vanish around the corner.
He turned to me, cupping my chin with his light touch and turning my cheek gently toward him. “This your blood, darlin’?”
I craned my neck to look in the rear-view mirror and would have recoiled if I’d had the energy. “God, I look like shit. No wonder Logan freaked out.” I inspected the small trail of dried blood on my cheek, squinting to focus at close range. “Yeah, that’s probably mine. She kicked some broken glass in my face. It’s just a tiny nick, though.”
“Ya look like ya can barely move.” Hellhound frowned worriedly at me. “D’ya need to go to the hospital?”
“No.”
He didn’t look reassured. “What happened, Aydan?” he demanded. “Weasel called an’ said your guy hired out another contract, an’ K…” He cleared his throat. “…John an’ I’ve been lookin’ all over for ya. Searched the whole damn town an’ even drove out to your place. Where the hell did ya go? An’ who was kickin’ glass in your face? Was it that blonde with the kid?”
Too many questions.
I slumped back in the seat, closing my eyes. “The last assassin showed up. I found out who was behind it all and solved the problem. It’s over.”
“The last… shit, Aydan, ya went somewhere with him?”
I grunted sour amusement. “Not intentionally. I’ve got a couple of Taser burns to show for that little adventure.”
“Aw, shit, darlin’…” He took my hand. “I’m sorry. This was my fault.”
“Of course it’s not your fault.” I dragged my eyes open and squeezed his hand. “Thanks for getting me out of the crowd and back here.”
He studied me, brow furrowed. “Ya sure you’re safe? An’ ya sure ya don’t wanna go get checked over at the hospital?”
“Yes.”
Bless him, he didn’t ask any more questions, just leaned over so I could rest my head on his shoulder while he stroked my hair.
Exhaustion and grinding fear for Kane and Jill dragged at me, but I forced myself to straighten. Keep it together. Maybe they weren’t holding the bomb when it went off…
With all my remaining will I pushed away the thoughts of torn flesh and spattered blood. Stay focused. Finish off the mission.
“May I borrow your phone?” I asked.
Hellhound passed it over and I dialled Stemp’s number. His crisp ‘yes’ was all but drowned out by crowd noise and I wondered if he’d been watching the parade before the bomb went off. It seemed such an oddly ordinary, human thing for him to do.
“Yes?” he repeated with a rising inflection. “Who is this?”
“Oh. Sorry. It’s me. Aydan.” With a great effort I marshalled my wits. “It’s over. I need a cleanup crew at the old Wright homestead, four miles north and a mile east of my farm. And we’ll need to get rid of a car, too. I’ll leave it at Kane’s house.”
“Very well. Debrief at the office in half an hour, and then you can complete your work with Ms. Mellor this afternoon.”
He hung up and I slowly lowered the phone to stare blankly at it.
That was it. No ‘are you okay’; nothing. Just a command to debrief and get onto the next problem.
And, God, I had completely forgotten about Tammy’s plight. In the next couple of hours I had to come up with some way to protect her freedom.
Could I even care about that? What if Kane and Jill…
Don’t think about it.
Surely Stemp would have said something if he knew.
I passed the phone back to Hellhound and took slow breaths, trying to blank my mind.
His phone rang.
We both tensed and he punched the button. “Yeah?”
I couldn’t decipher the faint crackle from the speaker, but after only a few moments Hellhound let out a breath and slumped in the seat, closing his eyes.
No. Oh, no.
I closed my eyes, too, sinking into the numbness of despair.
A shout of laughter made them pop open again, and I gaped at Hellhound while he roared with mirth beside me.
“They’re fine, darlin’,” he crowed. “The bomb was a fake. Modellin’ clay wrapped around a little digital clock. An’ the explosions were the fuckin’ cannon over by the library. They fire it off fifteen minutes before the parade an’ then again when the first marchers start. Scared the fuckin’ shit outta me!”
I sucked in a breath that didn’t seem to fill
my lungs. “And the sirens…?” I managed.
“Police, fire, an’ ambulance whoopin’ it up. They’re at the head a’ the parade.”
I went limp. “So… they’re really okay?”
“They’re fine, darlin’. Kane’s gonna meet us at his place in a few minutes.”
“Oh.” My relief drained away into emptiness. “Good.” The word came out without inflection and Hellhound glanced over worriedly.
“It’s gonna be okay, Aydan,” he said softly.
I pushed a smile onto my face. “It’s already okay. But I have to be at Sirius to debrief in half an hour, so…” I held out a violently trembling hand. “Do you still have your key to John’s place?” I let my hand fall, too weak to hold it up any longer. “I didn’t get breakfast this morning and I’m ready to drop.”
“Shit!” Hellhound eyed me with concern. “Yeah, I got my key. Ya want me to drive?”
“It’s only a block. And I’m too tired to swap places.”
Moments later I pulled to a stop in front of Kane’s house.
“Stay here, darlin’,” Hellhound said, unbuckling his seatbelt. “I’ll go grab ya some juice.”
“I’m okay.” I hauled myself out of the car. “If I had to run I’d fall flat on my face, but I can make it to the house.”
With Hellhound’s strong arm around me I managed to totter up the walk and inside. He lowered me onto the sofa and vanished into the kitchen to clatter around, returning a few moments later with a tall glass of orange juice.
While I sipped gratefully he withdrew again, and soon the comforting smell of toast wafted to my nose.
“Here ya go, darlin’,” he said a few minutes later as he handed me a giant plate of toast slathered with peanut butter.
“Omigod, I love you!” I exclaimed just as Kane stepped through the door.
Chapter 49
I froze, but Kane and Hellhound only exchanged a nod. The air felt brittle.
Keeping my gaze glued to my plate, I inhaled the toast in record time. Barely preventing myself from licking my fingers, I laid the crusts on the plate.
“Hands are too dirty,” I said in response to Kane’s raised eyebrow. “I didn’t want to eat anything I’d touched.” I turned my grubby palms toward him and he grimaced.
“Your other jeans and T-shirt are in the bedroom along with your waist pouch,” he said.
“Thanks.” I hauled myself upright. “I’m supposed to be at Sirius to debrief in fifteen minutes. Could you please call Stemp and tell him I’m going to be late? I need a shower.”
In the bathroom, I winced and turned away from the mirror. My skin, hair, and clothes were caked with grime. Under the dirt my face was chalk-white and baggy black circles hollowed my eyes. Dead grass and cobwebs festooned my hair, and the small trickle of dried blood on my cheek completed my fresh-from-the-crypt look. An angry pink welt stood out on my chin, and when I shed my filthy clothes more welts crisscrossed my legs and body.
“Whatever,” I mumbled, and staggered into the shower.
I intentionally stayed there a full fifteen minutes to avoid the tension in the living room. Letting the hot water cascade over my head and ease my aches and bruises, I still couldn’t relax. I kept expecting Kane to come in the door, encroaching on my space and privacy.
When he didn’t, I drew a shaky breath at last and turned off the water. Then I dragged on my clean clothes, blasted the hair dryer at my scalp long enough to dry the roots of my hair, and pasted on a confident expression. Snapping on my waist pouch, I drew a deep breath and persuaded my aching body to straighten out of its exhausted slouch.
Okay. Do it.
I cruised through the living room and shoved my feet into my shoes. “Gotta go; I’m late,” I chirped with my best attempt at a smile. “John, may I borrow the Expedition?”
To my relief, he tossed me the keys without comment and I hurried out the door before he or Hellhound could get started on me.
It was only a two-minute drive to Sirius Dynamics, but I fought sleep all the way. In the parking lot, I sagged in the driver’s seat, my eyelids dropping closed.
A sharp blow to my forehead made me jerk upright, heart hammering and hand on my gun, but then I realized I’d fallen asleep and cracked my head on the steering wheel when I slumped over.
Muttering, I dragged myself out of the SUV. Habit made me glance warily around, searching for potential threats, but I drew a deep breath and let it out slowly.
It’s over. No more assassins. Stemp was right; it was time to concentrate on the next thing. Tammy’s life depended on it.
Despite my mental pep-talk, my back prickled with the expectation of an attack while I strode across the parking lot.
Leo wasn’t on duty but his counterpart signed me in without fuss, so Stemp must have lifted my suspension half an hour early. Clipping my security fob onto my sweatshirt, I plodded upstairs to his office.
There, I handed over Jones’s Glock before slumping into the guest chair to reel off my report, thankful that at least the act of talking would keep me awake.
When I was finished, Stemp studied me in silence for a moment before saying, “So you don’t intend to press charges against Eleanor Parr?”
“No.” At his raised eyebrow, I elaborated, “I don’t want to take a chance on blowing my cover by going through the court system, and I think I’ve created enough goodwill that she won’t cause me any more problems.”
When he eyed me in silence, I added, “And I felt sorry for her and her son. If they get psychological help, Logan might grow up okay. Sending Eleanor to jail would just screw him up even more.”
Stemp nodded slowly. “Very well. Is that all?”
I nodded, too tired to speak, and he glanced at my hands quivering on the armrests of the chair before adding, “I’m removing you from active duty effective immediately. Despite your apparent ability to suppress your emotions, don’t forget…” His gaze bored into me. “…I’ve been where you are. It’s impossible to perform at peak efficiency after experiencing as much trauma as you have lately. You’ll have administrative duties only, and see Dr. Rawling as frequently as he considers optimal.”
I managed a lopsided smile. “No argument.”
He leaned back in his chair, his shoulders relaxing. “Good.” He glanced at his watch, then added, “You and your team have less than an hour left to put together your recommendations for Ms. Mellor, so I’ll meet you in the conference room at fourteen hundred hours. Dismissed.”
As I trudged down the hallway Spider emerged from the stairwell, looking tired and miserable. “Aydan, thank God!” he cried, hurrying toward me. “Where have you been? Why did you tell us to hide? And what happened? You look terrible-” Before I could answer he blushed scarlet and stuttered, “I m-mean, you never look terrible, I just-”
“It’s okay, Spider,” I interrupted. “Considering how I look right now, ‘terrible’ is a tactful understatement. And I’m sorry I scared you. There was a bomb threat at the parade, but it turned out to be a fake.”
He paled. “Oh, no! How did you find out…” He trailed off, propping a hand under my elbow and adding, “Come on, let’s go and sit down in your office.”
I smiled. “Christ, I must really look like hell if you’re treating me like a feeble little old lady.”
“Oh, no, of course not!” He flushed again, his eyes widening in consternation. “I didn’t mean to insult you, it’s just… you’re shaking, and I thought-”
“I’m pulling your leg.” I gave him a one-armed hug as we navigated toward my office. “Thanks for looking out for me.”
“Oh… you’re welcome, Aydan, but… what happened?”
I sighed. “I solved the mystery of the assassins today. It got a little hairy.”
“A little h…?” Spider trailed off as Stemp strode toward us.
“Webb, welcome back,” Stemp greeted him. “Kelly, the clean-up crew just reported they’ve finished at the Wright place…”
As
he spoke a siren wailed outside the building, followed by another, then another. They faded into the distance and Stemp continued, “Apparently you left too much of a mess for them to clean effectively without it looking suspicious in such a derelict building.” He inclined his head in the direction the sirens had faded. “The volunteer fire department will get some practice today.”
“Oh.” I spared a worried moment for Tom and the rest of the volunteers. “I hope nobody gets hurt.”
Stemp shook his head. “By the time they get there the fire will be too advanced for them to do anything but contain it. The danger to personnel should be minimal.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
He nodded and kept on walking, and I turned to face Spider’s wide eyes.
“C-cleanup crew?” he quavered. “You had to…?” He broke off as one of the civilian researchers passed in the hallway, then towed me into my office and lowered his voice. “Aydan, what happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just sore and tired. Another assassin showed up this morning and kidnapped me …”
He went white and I added hurriedly, “But don’t worry, Brock wasn’t involved. I found out who was behind the attacks and solved the problem.”
“…s-solved…?” Spider glanced in the direction the sirens had gone, looking sick. Then he swallowed hard and squared his shoulders. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said firmly. “Who was behind it?”
I patted him on the shoulder. “Can’t tell you; sorry. But it’s over, and now we need to concentrate on Tammy.”
“Oh, Aydan!” He dropped into my chair, burying his head in his hands. “I’ve been worrying about it day and night and I just can’t think of anything! I don’t want to lose my job but…” He dragged his head up his bloodshot gaze steady even though his lips trembled. “I won’t compromise on this.”
“I know, Spider.” I flopped onto the sofa opposite him. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”
Little did he know that if Stemp’s review didn’t go well this afternoon, he probably wouldn’t have a job anyway.
I didn’t bother to mention that.
“Let’s go over this one more time,” I said instead.
Spy Away Home (The Never Say Spy Series Book 10) Page 36
