Blink of an Eye

by Roy Johansen

  “Sorry.” Jessie made a face. “Life has been a little hectic lately, and today was no different. My part in this fiasco was to get Dee here without being tailed, and I was a little tense.”

  Kendra shook her head. “Not you.”

  “It happens now and then.” She shrugged. “Well, as I started to tell you, Dee decided the only way she could get the media to leave her alone and have a chance at the kind of life she wanted was to opt out of the entertainment scene for a little while.”

  “What?”

  “Not entirely,” Dee interceded quickly. “But it made sense to me. I have to give everyone a chance to forget the ‘big’ story and remember who I am.” She paused. “And who I want to be.”

  Kendra frowned. “But I’ve watched you perform. You love it. Nothing could be more clear.”

  “I do like it,” Dee said quietly. “It’s great fun. But what I love is the music. It’s always been the music. And lately it’s sometimes been hard to put my own music on hold and go out and perform.” She smiled. “I’ve composed three platinum hits in the past two years, and it felt awesome. But I think I can do better…if I have the time. If I can let the music come to me.”

  “And it will,” Jessie said gruffly. “This week she played her latest composition, ‘Sun Song,’ for me, Kendra. It wasn’t half bad…” She added slyly, “For a bloody superstar.” Her gaze shifted to the cargo plane. “Anyway, she’s heading out of the country for the next year or so. She’ll principally be composing but every few months she’ll give an impromptu concert at one of the cities near where she’s located at the time. Just to give herself a little fun and keep from getting too serious.”

  “And boring,” Dee said. “Heaven forbid I ever become boring.”

  “I don’t believe you’ll ever have to worry about that,” Kendra said. “Where are you going to start out?”

  “A small village about eighty miles from Tallinn, Estonia.”

  “What? Estonia? Talk about off the beaten track.” Her gaze shifted to Lynch. “Why?”

  “The media will locate her almost immediately. It’s a very small world these days. But where she’s going isn’t like Paris or Rome. Estonia can be very pleasant, but reporters won’t find this village nearly as comfortable, and there are places that are starkly primitive. I’ve made sure that Dee will be able to disappear in either direction whenever she wants to.” His blue eyes were twinkling as he glanced at Dee. “After a while the reporters might even find her boring.”

  Dee sighed. “I suppose I could put up with it for a little while.”

  “I’m not sure I like any of this.” The horror of losing Dee was still too fresh for Kendra. “Will she be safe?”

  “I’ve made arrangements,” he said quietly. “And Dee assures me that she can take care of herself from now on.”

  “Tell that to Jessie.” Kendra turned to Jessie. “You’re going along with this?”

  “Dee tells me I have no choice. She’s her own woman and makes her own decisions.” She smiled at Dee. “And most of the decisions she’s made for this trip are sound. It’s not only the orchestra and crew that are on that cargo plane. She’s bringing Colin Parks and his entire security team with her. That’s very smart, because Parks will work twice as hard keeping her safe just to save his own career from tanking.”

  “And it wasn’t his fault Noah managed to grab me,” Dee said soberly. “Noah was a monster who fooled all of us. Maybe me most of all. He thought he owned the world and couldn’t bear that anyone believed anything else.” Then she was smiling again. “So stop worrying, Kendra. Now that I know there are monsters out there, I won’t invite them into my world. But I won’t close myself off, either. It’s a wonderful world and I won’t be cheated of one minute of it.”

  “Get on that plane,” Lynch said again. “Now.”

  “Nag. Nag. Nag.” She turned and gave him another hug, whispering, “Thank you again.”

  She whirled and hugged Kendra. “It’s going to be fine. Lynch will tell you. And my first concert when I come back home will be for the kids at your school. I promise. I’ll see you soon.”

  Then she tore herself away and was running toward the plane. “Come on, Jessie. You heard him.”

  “You’re going with her?” Kendra’s brows rose in surprise. “So much for her being her own woman.”

  “She will be. I didn’t break it to her until we were on our way here that I wasn’t leaving her totally on her own,” Jessie said. “I’m just going to make sure that she’s settled in and doesn’t have any surprises to start this bid for independence.” She smiled ruefully. “And maybe I’m more dependent on her than she is on me right now. Friendship never stays the same, does it? Ours never has, Kendra.” She turned and handed Lynch the keys to the car. “You’ll find everything you need in the trunk. Dee wouldn’t let me do anything for her, so I concentrated on the instructions you gave me.” She gave Kendra a hug and then started running after Dee. “Lynch, I’ll tell you how good your arrangements for Dee turned out when I get back in a week or so. They’d better be very good.”

  “They are.”

  “What confidence.” She laughed as she climbed the steps. “I’m warning you I’ll have a checklist.” She disappeared into the plane.

  “And she will,” Kendra murmured. “She’s looking on this as sort of a last hurrah in her relationship with Dee. She’ll make sure that it’s done right.”

  “I know that, Kendra,” Lynch said gently. “Why do you think I let Dee draw me into this? I have to face too many final hurrahs in my life. When I can turn one of them into a new beginning, that’s all to the good.”

  A new beginning…

  He meant it. She could see that whatever waited for Dee in this time ahead, the preparations for it would have been done with Lynch’s usual panache, efficiency…and care. She had to clear her throat to ease the sudden tightness. “Yes, that’s all to the good.”

  Only minutes later the plane was barreling down the runway, then taking to the air.

  She took a deep breath and swallowed. “Gone.” She smiled a little unsteadily. “But you might have given me a heads-up what was happening before you sent me that text. I might have been able to help.”

  “You told me you were going to be busy.” His eyes were on the cargo plane just disappearing from view. “And I didn’t really want your help. I thought it would be easier for both of us if I just took you by surprise.”

  She stiffened with sudden wariness. “Surprise?”

  “See?” His eyes were twinkling. “I was right. Just the thought of anything unexpected puts you on guard.”

  “Unexpected?” she repeated. “Like the surprise when you just showed up at the FBI that morning when I thought you were in Tibet?”

  “Sort of. But much more pleasant. You were completely stressed out then and had every right to be upset.” He smiled. “But that worked out, didn’t it? If you let it, this will be even better.”

  “What are you talking about?” Her gaze flew to Jessie’s car. “What was Jessie talking about when she said she’d been working on your instructions for the last week?”

  “In spite of what she said, she knew I was working my ass off to make things right for Dee. She thought I deserved a reward.” He was striding to the trunk of the car and then unlocking it. “But only if you permitted it. She made certain that you’d be fully on board.”

  “To do what?”

  He lifted the lid of the trunk to reveal two suitcases and a briefcase. “Take a small vacation. She and Olivia got together and decided that these last days had been hell for you, too, and you needed to relax a bit. This is Olivia’s contribution.”

  “Relax?” She gazed at the suitcases. “I can’t go on a vacation. I got too far behind while we were searching for Dee. I have to work.”

  “No, you don’t.” He handed her the briefcase. “Olivia talked to your associates and arranged for them to fill in for you when you were gone. Check the paperwork. There’s s
upposed to be a note in there from Olivia, too.”

  She stared down at the briefcase, stunned. “I feel…hijacked.”

  “You are. But only by people who care about you. Nothing wrong with that.” He nodded across the field at a sleek white Learjet. “I borrowed that jet from my friend Chad Brooks. You remember him? It should be gassed up and ready.”

  “And where are we supposed to be going?”

  “Well, not Tibet. I thought we’d try Tahiti. Much more desirable climate. Have you ever been there?”

  “No.”

  “Then come with me.” His voice was low and infinitely persuasive. “It’s time for that truce, Kendra. We have to reach out and take it or it might slip away. Though I promise I won’t let that happen. Just take my hand and trust me.”

  Lord, how she wanted to do it. “A few weeks together might not change anything.”

  “Or it might.” He said again, “Trust me.”

  She couldn’t look away from him. “I don’t even know if Olivia sent my passport.”

  “Olivia is very smart.” He was opening the briefcase and searching through it. He pulled out a document wallet. “Eureka.” He brought out two other envelopes and handed them to her. “And these must be the notes she sent you.”

  The first note was very brief and typically Olivia.

  Kendra,

  Don’t be an idiot. One way or another, you need this.

  Go with him.

  Olivia

  She opened the second envelope.

  And she started to laugh.

  Lynch gazed at her quizzically. “What is it?”

  She held out the sheet of paper.

  “Harley.”

  The only thing on the paper was a huge paw print.

  “I guess that’s supposed to signify approval?” She couldn’t stop smiling. “Since he always agrees with everything Olivia tells him.”

  “That’s not enough. This time it has to have your complete approval.”

  “How honorable.” She was only half mocking. Lynch was one of the most complicated people she had ever known, but he had never been anything but honest in their relationship. This was no exception, so why was she hesitating?

  She reached over and grabbed her purse from the front seat of her car. “But how could I resist such a tender request from both you and Harley?” She headed across the tarmac toward the waiting Learjet. “It would be impossible. Besides, I’m fascinated to see how you intend to construct this truce. Grab my suitcases and let’s get going.”

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  About the Authors

  IRIS JOHANSEN is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 30 consecutive bestsellers. Her series featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan has sold over 20 million copies and counting, and was the subject of the acclaimed Lifetime movie The Killing Game. Johansen lives near Atlanta, Georgia.

  ROY JOHANSEN is an Edgar Award–winning author and the son of Iris Johansen. He has written many well-received mysteries, including Deadly Visions, Beyond Belief, and The Answer Man.

  Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen have together written Night Watch, The Naked Eye, Sight Unseen, Close Your Eyes, Shadow Zone, Storm Cycle, and Silent Thunder.