“That's true. But do you think you need the hassle? You're probably having enough trouble.”
“Who are you? A reporter? Police?”
“CIA. Could I come up and talk to you?”
“I've had someone from your department talk to me. I've had someone from every damn department in the government talk to me.” She turned on the hall light and her gaze narrowed on him. “You were here before. Breen.”
“Kaldak. A small untruth.”
“You were looking for Cody.” She was coming down the stairs. “It hadn't even happened yet and you were looking for Cody.”
“I suspected he was involved.”
“Then why the hell didn't you find him? Why did you let him do it? My friends are going to think I've raised some kind of monster. Why didn't you stop him?”
“I tried.” He looked at the gun. “Will you put that down? I'm trying to make things easier for you.”
“You're trying to catch Cody, like everyone else.”
“I want the man who hired him, and I want you to persuade him to help me. But there are people out there who only want a scapegoat. They'll take your son.” He paused. “And they'll take you with him.”
She was silent a moment. “What do you want from me?”
“When he calls, talk to him but make it very short. We don't want the call traced. If he tries to set up a meeting, do it. And make sure he knows the line is bugged so he won't give himself away.”
“He may not call again.”
He sat down by the small telephone table in the hall. “We both have to hope he does.”
The phone rang a few hours later. Kaldak picked up the hall extension at the same time Donna Jeffers answered the kitchen phone.
“Mama, don't hang up.”
“I can't talk to you,” Donna Jeffers said. “Are you crazy? I told you the last time not to call me. After what you've done, do you think they haven't tapped my phone? I'll be lucky if they don't arrest me. You've ruined my life, you idiot.”
“I didn't mean to do it, Mama. It was counterfeit, but I thought that was all. I need your help. You're all I've got. Can you meet me at the place where I had my ninth birthday party?”
“No, I can't be involved in this.”
“Please, Mama.”
She was silent.
“I'll be waiting for you. I know you'll come.” He hung up.
Kaldak was surprised to see tears in Donna Jeffers's eyes as she came out into the hall. “Damn him. He's so stupid. They'll put him away in prison and then they'll kill him.”
Kaldak wanted to lie to her, but he didn't. “Feelings are running pretty high right now.”
“I love him, you know.” She wiped her eyes and straightened her shoulders. “But I'm not going to let him take me with him.” She gazed at Kaldak defiantly. “You think I'm terrible, don't you?”
“I'm not judging you.”
“It doesn't matter what you think. I always did my best for him.” She went toward her bedroom. “I've got to do my face and put on some clothes,” she said. “Then we'll get out of here. How do you intend to get me through that mob?”
“Same way I came in.”
“They'll follow us. So will the police.”
“I'll lose them. It may take a couple of hours, but I'll lose them.”
“Pizza Hut?” Kaldak asked.
Donna Jeffers shrugged. “All kids like pizza.”
Kaldak pulled into the parking lot and shut off the engine. It was just before eleven in the morning and the restaurant was closed. Three other cars were in the parking lot.
“He's probably watching us from a distance,” Kaldak said. “Let's get out of the car. I want both of us to be fully visible. He'd get spooked if he drove up and saw me in the car. He might take off again.”
Ten minutes passed.
“He's not coming,” she said.
“Give him a chance. He'll––”
A black car barreled down the street, pulled into the parking lot, and screeched to a stop. The window rolled down.
“Who is he?” Cody asked. “Why didn't you come alone, Mama?”
“Because I can't help you by myself. You've gone too far this time.”
“Who is he?”
“Kaldak.” She paused. “He's government.”
Cody started to roll up the window.
“Don't you do that, Cody Jeffers.” She glared at him. “Do you hear me? You don't run away from this. I'm not going to have them chase you down and shoot you.”
“He set me up, Mama. I didn't know anyone was going to die. They'll think I'm just like him.”
“Then turn the bastard in, make a deal.”
“I'm scared, Mama,” he whispered, his eyes glittering with tears. “I've never been this scared. I don't know what to do.”
“I told you what to do.” She stepped aside and gestured at Kaldak. “You do what he tells you to do and you may come out of this alive.”
“I don't want––” He met her gaze and then slumped in the seat. “Okay. What do you want me to do?”
Yes. Kaldak tried to mask his eagerness as he stepped forward. “First, information. I want to know everything you did from the moment Esteban picked you up in Cheyenne.”
11:54 A.M.
“Are you still here?” Yael hurried into the hospital room. “For God's sake, haven't they fed you any lunch yet, Bess?”
Bess rolled down her sleeve. “I'm sure ready to eat now. All they've been giving me is orange juice. I bet all the soldiers who've been guarding me have had breakfast and lunch already.”
“I'll see if I can get you something. I promised Kaldak I'd take care of you.”
“You've all done that. I've been completely surrounded.” She smiled. “You two seem to think you're the only ones who can ward off the demons.”
“Well, we're damn good at it.” He helped her to her feet. “How's the old man who came in this morning?”
“He's got a good chance. Donovan gave him a culture from one of the samples from last night. But it takes a while to prepare the culture, and Donovan needs some in reserve.”
“Maybe I'd better keep an eye on him. These eager-beaver doctors may prove a bigger threat than Esteban. You've only got so much blood.”
“If you really want to protect my well-being, you can take me down to the cafeteria. I'm starved to death.”
“No problem.” He hesitated. “Well, maybe two little ones. One, I'll have to bring your lunch to you up here. It's not safe for you to go down to a public cafeteria. Two, there's a roomful of reporters outside with Donovan. They heard about the old man and they're going to pounce.”
“I'm surprised you're letting them near me. Everything else is a security problem.”
“They've all been searched.” He raised a brow. “Want me to try to get rid of them?”
She shook her head. This was just another part of the package she'd bought into to protect Josie. “I'll talk to them. But rescue me after fifteen minutes, okay?”
“Like Lancelot swooping to save Guinevere.”
She flinched. “Don't say that. Guinevere ended up in a nunnery.”
Yael chuckled.
“Did you see the newspapers this morning? They practically had me wearing a halo. I almost threw up.”
“You'll survive. If you don't take any chances.”
“I don't have a death wish. If I died, Esteban would win everything he's murdered to get. That's not going to happen. Have you heard from Kaldak?”
“Not yet. But he promised to keep me posted. He's not going to leave us in the dark, Bess.”
“Do you always believe what he says?”
Yael nodded. “And you should too.”
She shook her head. “You believe in Kaldak. I believe in Josie and you and, most particularly, good old burger and fries.” She started for the door. “So let's get those interviews over so you can bring me my lunch.”
She had finished the interviews and just returned to the hospital room
when Yael's portable phone rang.
“Kaldak,” he informed Bess, then mouthed, “I told you so.” His smile slowly disappeared as he listened. “I don't think that's a good idea. Goddammit, you told me to protect her and now you want to do this? There's no way I'm going to bring––” He punched the disconnect button. “The bastard hung up.”
“What's happening?”
“He's found out where Esteban's counterfeit is stashed. It's on some farm near the Iowa border. He's heading there now.”
Excitement soared through her. “Esteban . . .”
“Don't even think about it. I'm not taking you there.”
Emily.
“Let Kaldak take care of him. Stay here, where you can do some good.”
Show them the monsters.
Donovan already had extra samples to use in case anyone was brought into the hospital. This was her chance to do what she'd always intended to do.
She could kill the monster.
“I'm going.”
Yael shook his head.
“Don't tell me no. I'm going. Take me there, Yael.”
“Hell, no.” He held out his phone. “Call Kaldak back and tell him to take you.”
She shook her head. “He's there, you're here. Take me.”
“And how am I going to do that? You're the most visible woman in America right now.”
“You managed to get me out of my apartment.”
“That was different. It wasn't a quarantine zone. And there's no way I can get you a plane.”
“Then find a car for me. Please, Yael.”
“It's a mistake.”
“No, it's not. I have to do this.”
He was silent a moment before he sighed resignedly. “Dammit, I guess you do.”
Springfield, Missouri
2:37 P.M.
Something had gone wrong. Jeffers should have been here an hour and a half ago.
Esteban's hands tightened on the steering wheel. With the nationwide media coverage, he would have known if Jeffers had been picked up by the police. And that hadn't happened.
If Jeffers had opened one of the packets, he might be lying dead at the side of some road.
Or he might have found out what was in those packets and panicked. He might be on the run, which was not good. He wasn't bright enough to avoid the search for long.
Whatever the reason for the delay, the situation was not irreparable. There was a possibility he might not be able to neatly eliminate Jeffers as he'd planned, but the man knew very little.
That Jeffers had been the one who'd hidden the cache of doctored currency at the mill was also a simple matter to solve. Remove the currency, and Jeffers was no longer any threat.
Yes, everything would still fall into place just as he'd planned. All he had to do was maintain control of himself and he could control everything else.
Near the Iowa border
3:48 P.M.
A breeze was blowing and the windmill's blades whirled lazily. “There it is,” Cody Jeffers said. “That's where I unloaded the money. I'm not going any closer. You can't make me, Kaldak.”
“You don't have to go.” Kaldak got out of the car. “Drive to the bridge that's two miles down the road, park out of sight, and wait for me.”
“What if you don't come back? What if someone sees me? You promised Mama I'd be safe.”
“Just wait for me.” The muscles of his stomach were tense as he stared at the windmill. All those years of searching and it all led here.
No cars in sight. That could be bad or good. Either Esteban had already picked up the currency, or he had not gotten here yet, giving Kaldak the opportunity to set a trap.
Dammit, he wished he'd had time to make the one o'clock meeting Esteban had set up with Jeffers. But it might still be all right. If Esteban had gone to the meeting place hundreds of miles away in Springfield, he shouldn't have had time to get here yet.
If. Maybe. When had Esteban ever done the expected?
He could have skipped the meeting, parked in that patch of woods to the south, and walked to the mill. He could be waiting there for word about the payment.
Or the damn place could be booby-trapped like that installation in Waterloo.
It didn't matter. He couldn't stop now. Esteban was too close.
He started toward the windmill.
7:33 P.M.
A windmill, Bess thought. A pretty stone windmill gleaming in the moonlight. Death was in that windmill, neatly packaged death. She had always liked windmills. She must have taken thousands of pictures of the ones in Holland.
“There aren't any cars around. I don't think Kaldak's here yet, so let me go in first.” Yael hesitated. “You won't change your mind?”
She shook her head. It wasn't Kaldak's presence he wanted to check out, but Esteban's. “Be careful.”
He smiled. “Always.” She watched him disappear into the shadows. A moment later he came out and gestured to her.
She ran toward him. “Kaldak?”
“Not yet.” He held the door open for her and she went into the darkness. “But the currency is here. That means we'll have a way to draw Esteban. I'll light the lantern.”
It was pitch dark. She couldn't see anything. How had he been able to see the currency?
“I'll do it,” Esteban said.
She went rigid.
Esteban lit the lantern across the room. He held a gun in his hand. “Right on time, Nablett. I just arrived myself.”
“It wasn't a simple matter getting her out of Collinsville,” Yael said. “I was lucky I could do it at all. I think you owe me a bonus.”
She stared at him in shock.
“I'm sorry, Bess,” Yael said gently. “The deal was just too generous to pass up.”
“You're part of this?” she whispered. “You've been working with him all the time?”
“No, I just seized the opportunity when it presented itself.”
“He came to me and offered me a way to leave Mexico quickly and unobtrusively,” Esteban said. “And any service that I needed in exchange for a small percentage of the ransom.”
“Two million dollars may seem small to you but it's not small to me. I grew up on a kibbutz.”
Bess felt sick. Anyone but Yael. Yael wasn't one of the monsters. “What . . . services?”
“Why, you, of course,” Esteban said.
Murder. He was talking about murder. “Yael saved my life.”
“Oh, he insisted he couldn't compromise his association with the Israeli government. He wants to walk away from this clean. So it couldn't happen when he was supposed to be guarding you.”
Yael waved his hand dismissively. “None of that matters. I've burned my bridges by bringing her to you. As I said, I think it deserves a bonus.”
Bess still couldn't believe it. Yael's betrayal stunned her. “Kaldak never called you and told you to come here, did he?”
Yael shook his head.
Sweet Jesus, he'd played her so cleverly. He'd known all he had to do was dangle Esteban in front of her and she would do everything under the sun to get to him. “You even told me to call Kaldak back. What would you have done if I'd done it?”
“I'd have offered to call him for you and he would have been conveniently out of range.” He met her gaze. “I regret having to do this, Bess. But you were making Esteban very nervous.”
“I wasn't nervous. She's only a woman. I always knew that I'd find a way to rid myself of her.” Esteban's grasp tightened on the gun in his hand. “And now that you've brought her here, I'm going to have the joy of disposing of her. And, believe me, it will give me the greatest pleasure.”
“Don't you want me to do it?” Yael asked.
“You're worried about your bonus? No, she's mine. Don't interfere.” He pointed the gun at Bess. “I've dreamed about this moment. Do you know how much trouble you've caused me?”
He was going to kill her.
Terror tore through her. She didn't want to die. There were so many th
ings she still wanted to do.
Dammit, she would not die. There had to be a way. Think. Find a way to stall him.
“I'm glad I caused you trouble,” she said. “It's going to go on. Even if you kill me, it will go on. They'll never pay you. I've given them enough blood to find an antidote. They'll find it. Tomorrow. Maybe today.”
He glared at her. “It's not true.”
“It's true.” She walked toward him. “They'll never pay you. Why should they? You release this stuff in New York and it's only going to be an inconvenience. No one's going to die.” She was a few feet from him. “Except you. They'll kill you. They'll tear you apart for what you did at Collinsville.” She thought of something else. “And then the rats will eat you. They'll tear at your flesh and go for your eyes. They'll devour you like a––”
“No.” His voice rose shrilly. “Liar. Bitch. It won't––”
She lunged for the gun.
“Puta.” He swung the barrel at her head.
Pain.
Falling . . .
Through a dark haze she could see Esteban level the gun at her.
“Esteban.”
Kaldak!
Darting out of the shadows behind Esteban, diving between them, bringing him down.
The gun blast was muffled by Kaldak's body. He went limp even as the gun skidded across the floor.
Agony ripped inside her. “No.”
Bess frantically pulled him off Esteban.
Blood. Blood everywhere. His chest . . . Kaldak didn't move.
Esteban was scrambling across the floor, trying to reach the gun.
She got there before him. Her hand closed on the butt of the gun and she rolled over and pointed it at him.
“Stop her.” Esteban was looking beyond her at Yael. “Kill her.”
She stiffened.
“But you wanted to do it yourself,” Yael said. “I really don't think I should interfere.”
“Kill her.”
“Do you really want to do this, Bess?” Yael asked.
Kaldak. Emily. Danzar. Nakoa. Tenajo. Collinsville.
“I can see you do,” Yael said. “Then I suggest you shoot the son of a bitch.”
She pulled the trigger.
The bullet tore through Esteban's forehead.
She shot him again.
“That's enough,” Yael said. “Once would have been enough.”
And Then You Die Page 25