The Perfect Witness

by Iris Johansen

  She leaned against it for a moment and closed her eyes. She was tired and sad and a little bewildered. She could accept the first two, but she had to keep her mind clear and focused. The interchange with Renata had confused her. She’d come close to liking the woman, and she did understand her. Under the same circumstances, she might have had the same intensity as Renata had shown. As Mandak had said, in these last years, Allie, too, had discovered that love of family was everything. Not only had she begun to understand Renata’s viewpoint, but as she’d watched Renata and Mandak together, she had begun to question her judgment of Mandak. Throughout her entire relationship with Mandak, she had thought of him as totally invulnerable. She’d been the one who’d had to fight for her independence against his intelligence and strength.

  But Renata had not seen him as invulnerable. She had seen him as threatened and a friend to protect. It had been an eye opener. But it was a vision Allie couldn’t accept. Mandak was already too much in her thoughts and emotions. Both the disturbing sensuality and that bonding that had never left her in all those years. He struck sparks whenever he was around her. She certainly didn’t need to believe he might actually need her at some point.

  No way.

  Her eyes flicked open, she took a step closer to the vanity, and turned on the water.

  I’m out of it, she told her reflection in the mirror as she splashed her face with cold water. I won’t be drawn into the net.

  Let Renata worry about you, Mandak …

  * * *

  “COFFEE.” MANDAK WAS POURING the dark brew into her cup as she came out of the bathroom ten minutes later. “You take it black, right?”

  She felt foolish as she stared at him. What had she been thinking? No one could look less like they needed anyone to worry about them. Mandak had taken off his black leather jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his blue shirt. He looked tough and virile and totally able to handle anything.

  “You know I take it black.” She came toward him. “How many times did you fix it for me when we were at the lodge?”

  “That was a long time ago. You were only a kid. Tastes change. I wouldn’t insult you by assuming that you’re the same person as when I turned you over to Lee and Natalie.” He handed her the cup and saucer. “You’ve clearly matured.”

  Was there a hint of sensuality in his tone? She felt a tingle of heat. It surprised her. She’d thought she was too numb to feel anything but sorrow. It was the first time she had experienced that sexuality since that night he had come to her room at the house in Flagstaff. She supposed some responses were mindless and could never be controlled.

  Then, if it couldn’t be controlled, ignore it.

  “Yes, I have.” She sat down in the chair across from him. “In many, many ways. I’m sure Lee must have given you a report on my personal life as well as the other items on the list.”

  “You mean sex? Only in general terms. I just wanted to be assured that you weren’t becoming serious enough about anyone for it to become a problem for us.”

  “Heaven forbid,” she said sarcastically.

  He smiled faintly. “And besides, I’ve always regretted having to be so damn noble and saying no when I wanted desperately to accept. I didn’t want to hear any details.”

  The heat was there again and so was the tension and lack of breath. She remembered lying against him in that bed and feeling the hardness of his muscles against her softness. She could almost smell the musk and lemon scent of him. She was smelling it. He was using the same aftershave as he had when she was sixteen. He even looked the same, the flat stomach, the dark hair on his muscular forearms and his chest. And she knew how they felt against her … so familiar. But she wasn’t the same, every sense was tuned to a dizzying sexual arousal. She had felt something then but nothing compared to what she was feeling now.

  And he must have sensed it. His eyes narrowed. “Allie?”

  She quickly looked away from him. “And I wouldn’t have forgiven Lee if he’d given you any details.”

  He shook his head. “Wrong. You would have forgiven Lee anything. You would have just blamed it on me.”

  “You’re probably right.” She could feel her eyes sting. “Because he would have had a good reason for doing it. Not that he would ask me. All they ever wanted was for me to be safe and not be hurt.”

  “If you’ll recall, I said something like that at the time.”

  “You did, didn’t you? I’d forgotten.”

  “Curses.” He dramatically struck his forehead with his palm. “Forgot? My one attempt at being the good guy, and you obviously weren’t impressed.”

  She had never seen him like this. “You can hardly blame me.” The corners of her lips turned up. “It was so rare that I must have missed it.”

  “There’s always that possibility.” He took a sip of his coffee before he gazed down into the depths of his cup. “But believe me, that was a difficult week. We’ve had a lot of difficult times.” He looked up to meet her eyes. “And there are going to be more coming. I was sitting here trying to put two and two together as Renata told me to do. I came up with a double bull’s-eye.”

  She stiffened. Any hint of humor had vanished in those last sentences. Mandak’s expression was grim. “What?”

  “I was hoping for separate targets, but that might not be possible.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mandak.”

  “I’m talking about the fact that Praland should have acted against me and didn’t do it. He’s practically salivating to get his hands on me. Yet when he had his chance, he didn’t follow through. He’s crafty as hell, and there had to be a reason why.”

  “And what reason would that be?”

  “He found someone to do his dirty work for him.”

  “Who?”

  “Camano.”

  She froze, stunned. “You’re crazy. That doesn’t make sense.”

  “I wish it didn’t. Do you want to hear the scenario?” He didn’t wait for her answer. “Praland managed to get a general location on me, but I move around a lot, and he wouldn’t have been able to get a precise target area. But the signal must have constantly returned to Flagstaff. So he started looking for a reason, a connection.”

  “Lee and Natalie,” she whispered. “Simon’s parents.”

  “Two senior citizens who had retired at their old college town. But what did he find besides Lee and Natalie? A young girl who was supposed to be their niece. But under investigation and intense scrutiny, that proved untrue. She was not their niece. So who was she, and why would the Walbergs and I both be interested in her?”

  “They couldn’t know it was Witness Protection.”

  “You have a security detail. Praland could have traced him to Dantlow. There are the usual school photos that have been taken of you during the last seven years. You were memorable when you were sixteen, you’re even more unforgettable now. Praland probably started to circulate those pictures among the underbelly of society and suddenly came up with an interested party. Camano.” He nodded. “And a reason I might also be interested in you. We hadn’t been able to touch Praland or find a trace of where he’d hidden the ledger because of his natural block. But you might prove to be a threat if what Camano told him about you was true. So it was to Praland’s advantage to rid himself of you and anyone else who stood in the way. He started to deal with Camano to have him take care of the problem for him, so that he could avoid risking his empire in Africa by going up against the Feds in the U.S.” His lips twisted. “And I’m sure my head on a platter was a major part of the deal Praland insisted upon.”

  “And the break-in at Dantlow’s office was by Praland’s men and not Camano’s?”

  “No, I believe that was Camano. But he was verifying, not searching. He wanted to make sure that the deal he was making with Praland was the real thing. Praland would have been more cautious about a break-in. He would have been afraid that Dantlow would warn me of a possible problem.”

  “W
hich he did,” Allie said numbly. “I wonder how much Praland was willing to pay to Camano to create his bloodbath. It might have been very cheap for him. After all, they really wanted the same thing.” She moved her shoulders as if shrugging off a burden. “But this is all supposition. You’re guessing, Mandak.”

  “Yes. I’m guessing,” he said grimly. “And the only thing that might substantiate it is the fact that Camano’s goon, Ledko, said my name before I killed him. He recognized me. He was probably furnished a photo of me by Praland. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I was too involved with getting you and the Walbergs out of the house.”

  “Guesswork,” she repeated.

  “That I’m going to accept until I know it’s not true,” Mandak said. “Because I want to know if we’ve got battles on two different fronts or if we have to face a combined enemy. I’m going to assume it’s the latter.”

  And Allie was beginning to believe he could be right. Her mind was in a whirl, and yet the scenario Mandak had depicted could well be true. Had her enemy, Camano, and the monster who had poisoned Lee and Natalie life come together to attack and destroy them that night?

  “It’s okay.” Mandak was reading her expression. “We’ll get through it.”

  “That’s what you said when you were trying to keep me from going crazy and pull me through one of those damn memory sessions,” she said shakily. “This is a little more than that, Mandak.”

  “You didn’t think so at the time.” He reached out and gently touched her cheek. “But this is more, and that may be a good thing. No fighting against phantoms. We’ll be able to go for the jugular. We just have to figure out how to do it.”

  “Oh, is that all?”

  He smiled. “I know. I know. But we’ll do it.” His hand moved down to cup her throat. “Your pulse just jumped. I can feel it pounding.” He was suddenly still, his hand tightening. Then he took a breath and pulled his hand away from her. “Sorry. Not a good idea.”

  “No.” She nodded jerkily as she stepped back from his touch. She was liking it too much. It was giving her comfort as well as that fiery, tingling warmth. “We have no choice but to figure out how to get some sort of plan together. So where do we go from here?”

  “I go to see Renata, and we compare notes. She’s probably coming up with something on similar lines.”

  “Because you think alike?”

  “Because we have similar experiences, and we generally think out of the box. I’ll ask her to send someone to Camano’s camp to try to verify.” He moved toward the door. “Drink your coffee and have a bite to eat. Not much. We’ll have dinner with Renata at seven, then we’ll be leaving from the airport at eleven tonight. I should be back soon. I won’t—” He stopped as he saw her expression. “What?”

  “I’ll do as you suggest because I can’t contribute right now, and you may come up with something valuable if I leave you to it.” She met his gaze across the room. “But don’t expect me to let you pat me on the head and do whatever you tell me to do. I’m going to be part of every aspect of getting Praland. I have a very personal interest now that I realize that his hands are as stained and bloody as Camano’s.”

  He smiled. “I know you too well to expect you to be that meek. I remember having to chase you through the forest that first night, so that you could be sure that I’d put down those three men of Camano’s. I’m just grateful you’re not chasing after me to Renata’s room. She’s very wary of antagonism from any quarter.”

  “I’m not antagonistic. Not anymore. I’ll take help wherever I can get it.” She lifted her cup to her lips. “Particularly from you, Mandak. It appears we’re both targets, and we may need each other to survive.” She added, “So by all means, go and have your chat with Renata. But while you’re talking strategy, start planning how to get me to that service for Lee and Natalie. Nothing you’ve told me just now has changed that priority. Nothing is more important to me.”

  He nodded soberly. “I’ll get you there.” He opened the door. “And, what’s more important, I’ll get you out.”

  Heathrow Airport

  London

  “Just do what Mandak tells you to do.” Renata watched Mandak head for the cockpit. “He’s smart and lethal and everything I’d want in someone in my corner.” She turned to face Allie. “He’ll do whatever is—” She stopped as she saw Allie’s expression. “Okay, you’re not going to do that. Good advice but not realistic for you.” She made a face. “Or for me, for that matter.”

  “I’ll try to go along with what seems sensible to me.”

  “From what Mandak has told me about you, that’s quite a concession.”

  “I’m trying to do what Lee and Natalie would want me to do.” She shrugged. “Sometimes it’s not easy. But there has to be a middle road somewhere, and I’ll find it.”

  “I’m sure Mandak will be grateful,” Renata said dryly. She was silent a moment. “Good luck. I’m sorry I started out wrong with you. You have every right to resent me.”

  “I don’t resent you.” She realized she was telling the truth. That first moment in Renata’s suite seemed a long time ago. During the last hours she had spent with the woman, Allie had realized how intensely Renata not only cared about all the individuals she called family but also those children who had been Praland’s victims. “You were worried about Mandak and being protective.” She smiled slightly. “I do find that idea a bit bizarre.”

  “Sometimes I do, too. What can I say? He’s family.” Renata reached out and took Allie’s hand to shake. “But I want you to know I regard you as family now, too. I’ll protect you as much as I can.”

  “Thank you. But I’m sure both you and Mandak regard me as expendable.”

  Renata flinched. “Sometimes I don’t have a choice. But Mandak doesn’t consider you expendable. It would be a hell of a lot safer for him if he did. In case you haven’t noticed, he goes the extra mile even when everyone else considers it a suicide mission.”

  “Like the night he went after Simon Walberg?”

  Renata nodded. “I told him not to go. It was my duty. I knew it was probably a lost cause.”

  “And you were right.”

  “It doesn’t make me sleep any better at night. And who’s to say who was right. I had logic on my side, but Mandak had hope. And because of that hope, he was able to spare Simon unbearable suffering.”

  “And put himself on Praland’s hit list.”

  “He knew that was going to happen the minute he pulled the trigger and put Simon out of his misery. He’s never regretted it.” Her smile ebbed. “But I’ve regretted it for him. Every time he doesn’t check in for a little while, I make an excuse to call him. He pretends not to know why I’m doing it.” Her gaze moved to the cockpit door. “But he knows.” She shrugged and turned back to Allie. “This memory reading that you do. How does it work? Is it a sure thing?”

  “How do I know? When I was reading the memories of those men for my father, I was able to do it every time. But I’ve never run across anyone who has a natural mind block. Mandak says he believes I’ll be able to do it. He detected a weakness in Praland’s memory area.”

  “That’s what he told me, too.”

  “But you have to realize I haven’t tried to read anyone’s memory in the last seven years. On the contrary, I’ve been shoving them away.”

  “Understandable. That’s what Mandak wanted from you.”

  “What?”

  She shrugged. “I asked him why not concentrate on making that gift itself stronger? But he said that you were already so strong that it would be taking coals to Newcastle. It wasn’t strength you needed. It was control, to keep you sane and balanced. He wouldn’t let any of us push you or try to take over your training. We all thought it was taking far too long. But he said you needed to heal and grow strong.” She made a face. “Seven years? It was an eternity, with everything that was going on with Praland. We have to hope Mandak was right.”

  “I’m always right.” Manda
k was smiling as he came out of the cockpit. “I won’t even ask what you were discussing. It’s immaterial. Get out of here, Renata. We’re taking off in a few minutes.”

  “I’m going.” She reached forward and kissed his cheek. “Take care. I called Marc and told him to set a watch on Camano to monitor his moves. After you killed his men in Flagstaff, he appears to have crawled into a hole and disappeared. But the minute he sticks his head out of the ground, we’ll be there. Maybe we’ll be able to give you warning if we find out he’s heading this way.”

  “That would be helpful,” Mandak said dryly. “That’s not a surprise I’d welcome. And I’ve just made the arrangements we discussed. Have that helicopter on the ground waiting.”

  “I will.” Renata reached into her bag as she turned to Allie. “I brought you a present.” She pulled out a Luger revolver and handed it to her butt first. “Mandak may have furnished you with one, but this one is better. I’ve used it many times. It’s a fine weapon, and the balance is just right. But it shoots a little to the left. Remember that.”

  “Thank you.” Allie’s hand closed on the pistol. The weapon looked cold and lethal, but it felt oddly warm to the touch. “I’ll remember. And Mandak hasn’t seen fit to give me such a useful gift. However, he did give me a designer wardrobe.”

  “What?” Renata glanced at Mandak.

  “It was a distraction,” Mandak said.

  “And a gun would have been a shock to my delicate nervous system,” Allie said. “Even though he taught me to use one years ago.”

  “Your nerves are delicate right now,” Mandak said bluntly. “But I would have gotten you a weapon before we got to Tanzania. Praland won’t give a damn about your sensitive soul.”

  “Well, now you won’t have to bother.” She tucked the gun in her jacket pocket. “And what plans have you and Renata made that you haven’t told me about?”

  “I’m out of here.” Renata turned toward the door. “You’ll let me know when it’s over, Mandak?”