Long After Midnight

by Iris Johansen

  “I’ve got you, Smith,” he murmured. It was surprising how even the most careful people goofed up on the little things. Credit card receipts were always useful. Everyone stuffed them in their pocket or purse without thinking, because they were afraid of credit card fraud.

  Smith had probably filled up close to his point of origin to avoid stopping on the way. It gave Ishmaru a place to start, and most of the time that was all he needed. He would ask questions and search and soon he would have Kate.

  He started his truck and swung onto the Beltway.

  I’m coming, Kate.

  “Why the hell didn’t you hang up the phone?” Seth asked as he came through the door. “I thought you’d—” His gaze found her. “Christ.” He fell to his knees beside the couch and gathered her in his arms. He was wet, she thought dully. It must still be raining. It didn’t matter. He was here now. He would tell her everything was all right.

  He was rocking her back and forth as if she were a little girl. She felt like a little girl, bewildered, lost.

  “You’re stiff as a block of ice,” he said.

  “He’s not dead,” she whispered. “You came to tell me it was a mistake. Isn’t that right, Seth?”

  “It’s not a mistake.” His voice was unsteady, his eyes glittering with moisture. “Noah’s dead. Ishmaru killed him.”

  Ishmaru. She should have known it was Ishmaru. He was the nightmare, the nemesis. “He kills everybody. Michael, Benny . . . all those people at Noah’s plant. But I didn’t think . . . Not Noah. I hoped he couldn’t kill Noah.”

  “He must have caught Noah off guard.” His arms tightened around her and he pressed her face into his shoulder. His voice was thick with pain. “I can’t think of it without—” He broke off and a moment later he pushed her away. “Listen, Kate, I can’t let you fall apart like this. We can mourn later. There’s too much to do now. Ishmaru is still out there.”

  Of course he was. She was beginning to think he could never be stopped. He would just go on and on until—

  “Kate.” He shook her, hard. “Tony isn’t sure how much Noah told him. There were knife wounds on—” He stopped when she flinched. “I don’t think he told the bastard anything, but I have to take precautions.”

  “Yes, of course,” she said dully.

  He muttered something beneath his breath. “Joshua. Ishmaru may be coming after you and Joshua.” His tone hardened. “Do you want to lie here in a stupor while he slices up Joshua as he did Noah?”

  Shock seared through her. “Joshua.” She pushed away from him. “Ishmaru’s coming here?”

  “We don’t know.”

  Joshua might be in danger. She had to think. Easy to say. She felt as if her mind were frozen. “I’m sorry. You’ll have to help me. I’m having trouble functioning.”

  “I wonder why. I’m not doing so well myself.” He moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll make you some coffee. Go wash your face and start packing.”

  “Joshua . . . You should go back to Joshua.”

  “He and Phyliss are packing. We’ll go by and pick them up. Hurry.”

  “You should go back to them. Ishmaru . . .”

  “Even if he knows where we are, it will take him at least four hours to get here.” He gave her a cool glance over his shoulder. “Move.”

  The last word was like the crack of a whip, startling her into motion. He had changed, she thought as she hurried toward her bedroom. The gentle Seth who had rocked her and comforted her was gone as if he had never existed. Everything about him now was hard and sharp. Even the way he walked was different. The loping stride that had reminded her of Joshua was now tense, crackling with energy.

  This was the man she had first met in her driveway. The man she had thought of as Jack the Ripper. Noah had laughed about that and teased her, but he had known that Seth could be like this. He had counted on it.

  Noah . . .

  She pushed aside the pain. She mustn’t think of Noah now; she must think only of Joshua and Phyliss. She took her suitcase from the closet and began throwing clothes into it.

  “Ready?” Seth asked when she joined him ten minutes later. He handed her a cup of coffee and screwed the top on a large thermos. “Where’s the stuff for RU2?”

  “I packed it up earlier.” She set her suitcase down and took a sip of coffee. “I wanted to keep busy while Noah was gone. It’s stacked in the corner of the lab.”

  “I’ll go get it. Take your suitcase and the thermos to the jeep.”

  “I want to drive my car.”

  “No. One car. I need you all close, where I can see you.” He disappeared into the lab.

  She took another sip of coffee, then set it down on the counter and picked up the thermos and her suitcase. It was heavy but she welcomed the effort it required to lug it down the steps and stow it into the back of the jeep. It was still raining sheets and she was soaked by the time she climbed into the passenger seat. Thank God, Seth wasn’t pampering her. She needed to keep in motion to stop thinking about—

  What was keeping Seth? She had set everything neatly in the corner. Or maybe it only seemed that he was taking too long.

  Seth was coming down the steps, his arms laden with boxes and briefcases. He set them on the front seat. “Check them. Is everything here?”

  She went through the boxes, the briefcases, the disks. “Yes.”

  He picked up the boxes and stowed them in the back. Then he was in the driver’s seat, pulling out of the driveway.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “We’re heading for White Sulphur Springs. I told Tony to meet us at a motel there.”

  “Why?”

  “He said he had to see us.”

  “What if Ishmaru follows him?”

  “Then I’ll kill the son of a bitch.”

  “Lynski or Ishmaru?”

  “Maybe both.” He stopped the car as he reached the main road. “You’re sure you have everything?”

  “I told you I did.”

  “Just checking.” He pulled something out of his jacket pocket. “Here we go.”

  The explosion rocked the car as the cabin blew up behind them.

  She gazed in shock at the flaming wreckage. “What happened?”

  “A little plastic in the right place.” He put the control back in his pocket and started the car again.

  “You blew it up?” she whispered.

  “Some computer whiz might have been able to retrieve something from the lab. Noah died for that damn RU2. Do you think I’d let anyone steal it from him now?”

  The glare from the fire cast his face in stark relief and was reflected in his blue eyes. She had never seen a more coldly savage visage.

  “No, I don’t suppose you would.” She shivered and looked away from him.

  She had lost Noah.

  And she had lost the Seth she had come to know.

  It took only thirty minutes to pick up Phyliss and Joshua and load their luggage into the car. They were both silent, shaken as they climbed into the backseat.

  “There’s a fire,” Joshua said. “The cabin’s on fire. I saw it from the house. Should we call Lyle?”

  “I already did before I locked up the station,” Seth replied. “I told him to come back and take over his job.”

  “Will it cause a forest fire?”

  “No danger. It’s raining so hard, it will be out before we’re ten miles from here.”

  Joshua moistened his lips. “Did he do it?”

  “No, I did. Ishmaru’s nowhere near us, Joshua.”

  “Then why are we running?”

  “So he won’t get near us.” Seth started the car. “It will be okay.”

  “Will it?” Joshua whispered. “He killed Noah.”

  “Seth said it will be okay, didn’t he?” Phyliss slid her arm around Joshua’s thin shoulders. “He always tells us the truth.”

  Joshua sat straight and stiff on the edge of the seat. His hair was wet and plastered around his face, and in th
e dashboard lights his features looked gaunt and wizened. Not a child’s face, Kate thought. My God, what had she done to him?

  He stared at Seth. “Seth?”

  Seth met his eyes. “It’s okay for now, but it’s not over. But I—We can handle it, can’t we, Joshua?”

  Joshua slowly nodded and sank back against the seat. “Sure.”

  Blunt honesty instead of comfort. It wasn’t how Kate would have handled Joshua’s fear, but maybe Seth’s way was better. She wasn’t sure, Kate thought wearily. It did seem to work. Anything that worked was a plus right now.

  It was almost a totally silent ride to White Sulphur Springs. They reached the Dinmore Motel on the outskirts of the city at dawn the next day. Seth moved with lightning efficiency in getting a room for Phyliss and Joshua and a separate one for Kate. After settling them in he handed the key to Phyliss. “Lock the door. Take a shower and change, but don’t go to bed. We may be moving on after I talk to Tony.”

  “Right,” Phyliss said. “Can I go to that convenience store on the corner and get us something to eat?”

  Seth shook his head. “Stay inside until I come for you.” He said to Kate, “You come with me.” He turned and left the room.

  “I’ll come back as soon as I can,” Kate said.

  “Don’t worry about us. You’re the one who looks like she’s been run over by a truck,” Phyliss said.

  That’s what she felt like, Kate thought—squashed flat by a truck with razor-sharp treads.

  “Go on, Mom,” Joshua said as he moved toward the bathroom. “Seth must need you.”

  She smiled shakily. “And Seth knows best?”

  He gave her a sober look. “Seth’s smart. He knows about stuff like this.” He disappeared into the bathroom.

  “He’s right,” Phyliss said. “I think we should trust Seth right now, Kate.”

  “I guess we should.” She leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Phyliss.”

  “For what?”

  “For putting up with this mess I’ve gotten us into.”

  “Don’t be stupid. You’re blaming yourself for something you couldn’t prevent. Did you kill Michael or Benny or Noah? When something happens, you have to react. That’s all you did. React in the way you thought best for everyone.” She made a face. “Now get out of here. I want to get out of these clothes and dry off.”

  “Okay.” Kate left the room.

  Seth was waiting outside. “I’ll let you relax and clean up as soon as I can.” He took her arm and guided her down the walkway. “Tony’s in Room 34, according to the desk clerk. We’ll get this over as quickly as possible.”

  “And then?”

  “We’ll see.” He stopped before a door and knocked. “I have a few ideas.”

  Which was more than Kate had right now. She was acting purely on automatic. She’d had too much time to think about Noah on the drive here. Noah . . .

  The door was opened by a tall, heavyset man dressed in khakis and a striped shirt. “It’s about time.”

  “Tony, this is Kate Denby.” He pushed her into the room. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I want to look around.”

  “I wasn’t followed. Do you think I’d make that mistake again?” Tony Lynski asked bitterly.

  “I’ll check myself. If you hadn’t made it the first time, Noah would be alive now.”

  “Bastard,” Tony muttered as the door closed behind Seth. He turned to Kate, his face twisted with pain. “But he’s right. I wasn’t careful enough. I should have known Ishmaru was watching me.”

  Did he want her to argue with him? She didn’t know what she felt toward Tony Lynski right now, but it wasn’t the impulse to comfort. “What happened to Noah?”

  “Ishmaru killed him in my hotel. He was found near the elevators outside my hotel room.”

  “I know that. What happened to his—” She stopped to steady her voice. “What happened to his body?”

  “The morgue. There was no identification on the body. Ishmaru must have taken it. They’ll list him as a John Doe.”

  She flinched. Somehow that horribly impersonal disposal was almost as terrible as the murder itself. “And you let them take him?”

  “I came back as he was being put into the coroner’s wagon. I didn’t know what the hell to do. There was a cop asking questions of everyone in the building, and I gathered what information I could.”

  “John Doe.”

  “Do you think I liked it? But I had to get to Seth before I made any decision.” He paused. “Noah cared about you. He could hardly wait to get back.”

  “Why weren’t you with him when it happened?”

  “He sent me to deposit the documents he signed in a safe-deposit box.”

  The patents. So Noah’s death was her fault too. “You weren’t there to help him. No one was there.”

  “I couldn’t know that—”

  Seth came into the room. “The area’s secure. You did something right, Tony.”

  Tony drew a deep breath. “Was that necessary?”

  “No, but it felt good.” He looked around the room, spied a coffeemaker on the desk, and moved toward it. “Why the hell didn’t you give her something hot to drink? Can’t you see she’s almost shell-shocked?”

  “You were only gone—Oh, what the hell.” He threw himself into a chair. “Get it out of your system.”

  “I can’t.” He poured coffee into two mugs, brought one to Kate, and pushed her down in the other chair. He took a sip from his own cup before he said, “Not without breaking your neck. Why are we here?”

  “Because Noah would want you here,” Tony said. “He came to Washington because I’d drawn up some documents for him to sign.”

  “The patents,” Kate said. “I told him I didn’t want them changed. I told him—”

  “One document was the patents.” Tony looked at Seth. “The other document was a new will leaving all his possessions, including RU2, to you, Seth.”

  Seth froze. “What?”

  “You heard me. He decided he hadn’t made adequate provisions for protecting RU2 in case something happened to him. So he left it in your hands.”

  “My hands?”

  “I told him he was crazy. I told him you were the last person he should trust with anything important.” He smiled crookedly. “He wouldn’t listen. Noah never listened to me.”

  “Goddamn him.”

  Kate stared at Seth in shock.

  “I won’t take it.” He hurled the coffee mug against the far wall. “He can take his RU2 and shove it. He couldn’t catch me in that trap when he was alive, and I won’t let him do it to me now.”

  “A nice adult display of gratitude,” Tony said sourly. “Now why don’t you pull out a gun and shoot somebody?”

  “Don’t tempt me.”

  “Well, I did what Noah would have expected of me.” He leaned back in the chair. “What do you want to do?”

  “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to find Ishmaru and gut him.”

  “About RU2?”

  “I don’t want it. I won’t take it.”

  “You mean you don’t want the responsibility.”

  “Can you blame him?” Kate said. “For God’s sake, find a way to let him out. He doesn’t have to die too.”

  “The will’s iron tight. He’s got it whether he wants it or not.” Tony smiled. “If I’d known you’d be this upset, I wouldn’t have argued with Noah.”

  “I’ll sign it over to Kate.”

  “You can’t. It’s yours for life.” Tony was obviously beginning to enjoy himself. “I guess that means you inherited me too. What are your instructions? Shall I call a board meeting to—”

  “Damn you to hell.” Seth tore open the door and slammed it behind him.

  “Drink your coffee,” Tony told Kate. “He’ll be back once he cools down. Jesus, it felt good to needle him for a change.” His smile faded. “I guess that’s pretty immature. Noah’s dead. I shouldn’t be—” He shrugged. “What ca
n I say? I’m human.”

  “Yes.” She lifted the cup to her lips and found her hand was shaking. She carefully set the cup on the table beside her. “Why Seth? Why did Noah will everything to Seth?”

  “That’s what I asked him. He said Seth could do the job.” He grimaced. “If he doesn’t decide to sell RU2 to some Colombian drug lord.”

  “He wouldn’t do that. He blew up the cabin to make sure no one would get hold of it.”

  “Who the hell knows what Seth will do? He’s always been a wild card.” He shook his head. “It was a mistake. Everything’s falling apart. Noah’s dead and we’re helpless. RU2 is heading for the trash heap.”

  She jumped to her feet. She couldn’t handle this and she couldn’t sit here any longer. She felt as if she were being smothered by the heavy blanket of his words. “I need some air. Tell Seth I went for a walk.”

  “I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t very tactful. I’m having trouble dealing with—”

  The door closed behind her, shutting out his words. She drew a deep breath, but it didn’t help. She still felt the heaviness dragging her down. She jammed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and started walking toward the highway, her mind spinning.

  Noah’s dead.

  RU2 is heading for the trash heap.

  Ishmaru.

  Joshua.

  Seth is a wild card.

  We’re helpless.

  Helpless . . .

  Two hours later Seth met Kate as she was returning to the motel.

  Relief rushed through him. “I can see how you’d have trouble taking Tony for very long, but couldn’t you let someone know where you were going?”

  “I didn’t know.” She shot him a cool look. “And I didn’t see you handing out maps when you stormed out in your little tantrum.”

  “It wasn’t a tantrum. I was—” He shrugged. “Okay, I lost it. Tit for tat. But you should have—”

  “You said it was safe. Was that a lie?”

  “No, but you never—” He stopped, studying her. When he had last seen her, she had been wooden, lethargic, almost dazed. She was not like that now. Her eyes were bright, her lips firm, and her manner cutting sharp. It was as if a wind had blown over her, clearing all the cloudiness away.

  But leaving what behind?