Still she saw nothing to celebrate as she pulled her green Jaguar into Steel’s driveway. She was surprised the gate was open and he wasn’t meeting her at the truck stop. She had made sure no one followed her. Some part of her didn’t feel good about trying to bring him down. She didn’t know why, since her promotion to lieutenant colonel was in sight.
The barn door was closed and locked so she went to the front door of the house and rapped the window pane with her knuckles. No answer. She tried the door and found it unlocked. Surprised, she went in.
To her right, Steel sat on the living room sofa in jeans and a pullover, barefoot, his curly hair in disarray. He didn’t look at her. The edges of bandages were visible on his arm and calf. He had taken some damage on his last mission. Needed a shave too. Dead man walking.
His Glock rested on the sofa beside him.
Cranking up her dwindling enthusiasm, she dropped her car keys on the coffee table and stood in front of the TV, blocking his view. She wore blue shorts, a white blouse, gold bracelet, and a nice tan. She doubted he noticed. “She left you, didn’t she?”
He stared at her, pain evident in his eyes. Lost.
Get a grip. She isn’t the only woman in Virginia. But a hint of something else was awry in his eyes. It didn’t matter what it was. She didn’t care. She wanted to leave him too. Now.
Instead she surprised herself and put out her hand, waiting until his was firmly in hers. “Come on, Steel.”
She led him up the stairs to his bedroom. He followed her like a little boy.
After telling him to lie down on his stomach on his bed, she sat next to him and stroked his back. He didn’t move. She didn’t understand why she was doing this. It felt wrong.
He turned over and his palm slid up her arm.
“Steel?”
Looking into her eyes, he sat up. His lips brushed against hers. She didn’t resist. Some part of her wanted to yell, Stop! But a deeper part of her couldn’t move. His hands pulled her tightly into him, his lips finding hers again. She clutched his back. Emotions and thoughts swirled inside her.
Pulling away a few inches, he whispered, “Do you think love is possible?”
Her lips parted, but she couldn’t answer. Didn’t want to. Her hands fell away from him.
Releasing her, he rolled off the other side of the bed and walked away. She fell back onto the bed, put her hands over her face, and gave a loud groan. Danker could get his own dirt. She was tired of Steel. But she decided to wait him out.
He didn’t return.
She found him on the sofa again. A sarcastic remark formed on her lips, but it was cut off by his fixed gaze on the TV.
A reporter on CNN was talking about a Franciscan friar, Francis Sotelo. The friar was attending the International Environmental Summit in Honolulu in several days at the Hawaii Convention Center. The reporter talked about the controversy surrounding Sotelo, including his supposed miracles, past attempts on his life, and that he had taken a stand for the poor and nature, demanding governments support both. Support for Sotelo’s message was building worldwide.
The report said the friar was going to Maui before the conference for a much-needed rest for a few days. Sotelo was also scheduled for a public discussion with a few business leaders to try and reach a settlement regarding pollution their corporations had caused in Mexico.
Steel murmured something, but she didn’t quite catch the words.
“What?” she asked.
He got up and shut off the TV, turning to her, his features weary but decided about something. “I’m going to Hawaii,” he said softly. “Want to come?”
She frowned. She had missed something. “Look, Steel, one minute you’re passionate, the next you’re cool and distant, and the next you’re asking me to go to Hawaii. Why?”
“I’m not sure.”
“That’s not good enough. You said you would give me whatever I wanted if I got the Tom Bellue file for you. Well, what I want is the truth. All of it.”
“I’ll tell you in Hawaii.”
She regarded him. “You get me to Hawaii and then say, ’Sorry, changed my mind.’”
He shook his head. “I keep my word.” He hesitated. “Maybe you shouldn’t come.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to.” She felt backed into a corner. Like he had planned to do this to her. She wanted to kick him.
“I’d like you to come. It’s up to you.” He paused. “I’m not sure what will happen.”
It didn’t feel safe. Him not telling her what this was about, and him possibly dirty and involved with something dangerous. She wanted to say No, and report back to Danker that it was a dead end.
But duty, a promotion, and something else she couldn’t identify pushed her forward. “Why not. I’ve always wanted to see the islands anyway. You’re paying?”
“Sure.”
“A weekend?”
He shrugged. “A week.”
She bit her lip. “In what capacity am I going?”
“A friend?”
“Sure.” She felt his eyes following her until she was out of sight. She called Danker and told him about Steel’s interest in the friar, Francis Sotelo.
“Good. Play along with him. Have a fun trip. See what he’s up to.”
Danker’s casual tone made her wary. It didn’t sound like he cared what she learned about Steel. “What does the friar have to do with anything?”
“Classified. But I can promise you one thing. Your promotion goes through when you return.”
“What am I walking into? Is it dangerous? Is Steel dangerous?”
“You’ll be fine. You think I’d hang you out on a limb?”
She hung up. Danker and Steel were both using her and she didn’t trust either of them. Danker was a sexist creep and Steel had his own secrets.
She called Hulm next, but the CIA director said curtly, “We won’t be needing your services anymore with Steel. We’ll send a check.”
The line went dead. Frustration made her want to yell at someone.
Pulling to the side of the road, she used her phone to look up Francis Sotelo. That led to an article on the assassination attempt on General Garcia Vegas, and other attacks on him, Sotelo, and General Ramon Rivera.
But she came up empty as to how they were connected to Steel. It had to be related to one of his Ops, but Danker and Steel wouldn’t tell her how. Still, Sotelo had to be why Steel was going to Hawaii.
Other things bothered her at a deeper, personal level. That Steel had rejected her, holding fast to some code he lived by, unsettled her. It bothered her even more that her heart had skipped a beat when kissing him, and that she felt pain over his rejection.
It all seemed absurd. She didn’t consider herself desperate or lonely so she couldn’t identify what drew her to Steel.
Yet as she drove she knew his question unsettled her the most. The man lived in fairyland. They had spent a few training days together, sharing sweat and some words. But Steel believed they had shared more. The guy must have been royally confused to ask a question like that. Or maybe just desperate to want someone to lie to him about love.
She hadn’t been able to do it, say it to his face. Reel off an answer like she could have with almost any other question he might have asked her.
In a sense he had found her out and exposed a vulnerability. And she suddenly knew why his question—Do you think love is possible?—had brought such a deep ache to her chest. It had struck some part of her that hadn’t been touched for a long time. And the answer she had wanted to give him, confusingly, was Yes.
CHAPTER 52
Danker had never understood how to win the big games of money, power, and status in life. But for the first time he had a chance. It meant that he would have to trudge farther down the road of illicit acts, but after the first few it wasn’t as hard as he
expected.
Looking back over his life, he realized a number of times he could have, and should have, broken rules. It would have made life easier. He also understood the danger involved now. Still, he had considered all the options and prepared himself as he did for any Blackhood Op.
He was ready.
The demonstrators in front of MultiSec’s main entrance brought a smile to his face. Their leader, the blond Rich Plugh, was still at work with chants and leaflets. Danker limped past the demonstrators with his cane, toward the main doors. He nodded to Plugh.
“Hey, you’re not on their side, are you?” Plugh took off his sunglasses.
Danker grinned over his shoulder. “We’re on the same side, you can count on it.”
Two minutes later he was ushered into William Torr’s office. He winked at Torr’s beautiful receptionist. Giving him a cool smile, she shut the door behind him.
He limped to the chair in front of Torr’s desk. The CEO of MultiSec sat in his plush swivel chair, staring out the windows behind his desk.
Danker had known men like Torr in the military, who believed they were omnipotent. And he knew Torr didn’t like him. The man had good reason to hate him.
But even so, Torr would never have liked him anyway. He didn’t fit the mold that Torr wanted for his social connections. For that reason it satisfied him even more to have leverage on the man.
“The protestors are still out there.” Danker spoke as if he had just dropped by to pass the time. Two could play at this game. “You’re working hard to look green, aren’t you? I mean, being one of the sponsors of the International Environmental Summit—I’ve seen your commercials.”
Torr turned in his chair, hands tented, his face neutral. His bald head was shiny under the bright overhead light. “You don’t understand it, do you?”
Danker shook his head, annoyed that Torr was talking to him like a child. “Why don’t you explain it to me?”
“Any real environmental reform has to involve the large corporations. Ever since the first international conference in Rio, it was decided future conferences needed to be more inclusive. Allow corporations to be part of the process. We present economic priorities to the representatives of underdeveloped countries. The heads of state just need a package of ideas to take back to their people. The promise of jobs, a few more pollution controls, and the problem is solved.”
“Bribing the politicos, huh?”
Torr’s eyes iced over. “The politicians get campaign money, the stockholders see profits, and the consumers see lower prices. Isn’t capitalism what you’re fighting to defend?”
“I bet you’re going to be there in Hawaii center stage, huh?”
“I take it you’ve settled on an amount?”
“I figured out what the Komodo Op was all about.”
Torr didn’t respond.
Danker smiled. “You saw General Vegas headed to a presidential victory and you wouldn’t be able to bribe him. He actually has values. Kind of rare these days, isn’t it? With Vegas in power, MultiSec would take a hit of several billion in cleanup work. That might bother the shareholders a little, huh?”
Torr’s face darkened further, but Danker didn’t lose his smile as he continued. “And your lawyers wouldn’t be able to play games with the law south of the border like they can here. So you decided to use the Komodo Op as a preemptive strike before Vegas had too much security around him.”
“Did you deduce that all on your own, colonel, or did you need help?”
He chuckled. “That’s still a real problem for you, isn’t it?”
Torr’s fingers drummed the arms of his chair. “You could rectify that for me. The friar will be in Hawaii in two days. Enough people have called him a heretic to justify it, I should think.”
“Why, Mr. Torr, are you asking me to break the law?” Danker enjoyed seeing the man wince over his feigned ignorance. Spreading his hands, he gave a mock frown. “I’ll have to ask General Sorenson what he thinks about this, won’t I?”
“Leave him out of it. You don’t have to worry about him.”
“Somehow I figured that. We’ll have to bend some rules, you know.”
“I’m sure your tremendous intellect can handle it.”
Danker’s neck grew hot. He gathered himself. “Forgetting about the Mexican general?”
Tor grimaced. “Why not? General Vegas’ campaign will fall overnight. He’ll fade to obscurity without the friar at his side. The election is still months away. Voters have short memories. They’ll forget about Sotelo. And Vegas won’t get anything positive out of reminding them about a deceased friar. We have friends on El Universal and La Prensa who will continue to raise questions about the possibility that the friar was engaged in devil worship.”
“Nothing like good journalism.” Danker winked at Torr.
“Ninety percent of all journalism is biased, minimally in subject matter, often in substance. It should muddy the waters enough. It’s handled.”
Danker smiled. “You might have more than just that problem.”
“What?” Torr turned rigid.
“Steel’s going to Hawaii with Christie Thorton. Wants to check out the friar too.”
“So? Your people have some extra work. How many will you send?”
Danker thought about that. “Two.”
Torr grimaced. “Make it four. And do it all in Hawaii. Sotelo is going to be in Maui a few days before the IES. I agreed to talk with him there, which should make your job easier. I don’t want him to make it to the conference. I saw what the CIA did with Steel. I hope your people won’t prove as embarrassing.”
Torr paused. “Does Ms. Thorton know what’s going on?”
Danker shrugged. “She’s bright.”
“You better take care of her too.” Torr gave an icy smile. “Do you mind?”
He laughed. “Mind? You’re paying me to act out a fantasy.” He heaved a contented sigh. “Ten million.”
Torr didn’t even blink. “Two in any account you want, tomorrow, as a sign of good faith. Call me tonight after it’s set up. You get the rest when the business in Hawaii is over and I have all copies of the Paragon file on my desk.” He gripped the arms of his chair.
Danker sat back, deliberating. Two million was enough. It wouldn’t pay to get too greedy. He nodded. “Sounds fine. I’ll call you tonight.”
“What’s it going to be called?”
He paused. “How does Dragon sound? Yeah, Dragon.”
When he didn’t get up to leave, Torr asked, “Well?”
Danker smiled. “I brought an account number with me. I thought I’d give it to you now.”
CHAPTER 53
Steel could feel danger closing in on him. He didn’t know from what direction, or from whom, but he sensed his enemies’ footsteps deep in the reaches of his mind. He wanted to see their faces.
Kergan met with him early in the morning on the same road. Kergan drove. His silver hair blew in the wind from his open window.
Steel told him about the IES conference in Hawaii.
Kergan’s face tightened. “I’ll keep digging. See who else is involved and what we can do about it. You need to call me from Hawaii if anything goes wrong. I want to be kept involved, is that understood?”
Steel nodded. “I’ll call you from Hawaii.”
“We’re tapping the shoulders of powerful people. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes.” He looked out his window. The hills were covered with trees barren of leaves. “Carol wants a divorce.”
“She told me. I’m sorry.”
The silver Mercedes stopped. Kergan turned to him. “I have your word that I’m in all the way on this?”
“All the way.”
***
He took out the rest of the stash money. Along with a money belt, a Glock and disposabl
e silencer, his gun permit and military ID, the OTF knife, a gun case with a combination lock and exterior padlock, and one small suitcase.
Ready, he sat in the dark and wondered why he had invited Christie.
The invitation was out of instinct. Despite his concerns, intuition said do it. When he had kissed her, he knew it wasn’t right. Not now. Not yet. Maybe never. But at the time he had shoved that perception down. Thought it didn’t matter. Wanted to believe it didn’t. He wanted nurturance, someone there for him. Wanted to believe he had what Carol had—someone else.
And then he had asked the question.
The surprise on her face had embarrassed him as much as it had moved him away from her. His question had erupted out of self-protection. He understood rebounding. Yet he wasn’t sure if what he and Carol had shared over the last year was anything to rebound from. It hadn’t been much of a marriage during any of that time.
All he knew was that he wanted Christie to come. He was glad she said yes, even if he didn’t know why.
CHAPTER 54
Danker knew this was the most important mission he had ever organized. And the easiest. He spent some time on the computer going through operatives, a cold beer in one hand, the mouse in the other.
He didn’t trust Torr. Luckily he had the man under the stack of his Paragon copies, so to speak. Torr couldn’t touch him. Still, he was going to guarantee that.
All he had to do was make sure he had men he could trust to execute this Op. Out of two dozen options, he only had to find four good Blackhood operatives who understood how to obey orders without questioning them. They all had to be freelancers so that if they screwed up, or if Steel nailed them, there would be no ties to him or his office.
One of the men on the Komodo Op would work. And there was a Hawaiian who fit the bill. Four calls, he chortled to himself, and he would be home free with two million, minus expenses. What was beautiful was that the only person who might know his connection to Torr was Sorenson—and it sounded as if Torr was cutting his ties to the general anyway.
Steel Force Page 20