by Linda Grimes
“Whatever you say.”
“You can’t make me if I don’t want to, you know,” I said, and snuggled closer, stifling a giggle. It hadn’t been that bad. She knew it, I knew it, and she knew I knew it.
She tucked one of Auntie Mo’s ugly afghans around me. “Of course not.”
“If Dad doesn’t have to, I shouldn’t, either. It’s only fair.”
“I couldn’t agree more, sweetie,” she said, her voice soothing, like when I was a little girl and upset about something. Usually Billy teasing me, or one of my brothers not letting me tag along with him wherever he was going.
“So you won’t ask me to do it again?” It was always worth a shot.
“Not unless there’s an emergency, dear.”
I sighed. “You’re still going to expect me to help out, aren’t you?”
“Well, it pays very well. And you do need the money.”
There was that about it. “So, do I get extra for the dunking? Like hazard pay or something?” She expected that, too. I always asked for more money. I keep hoping she’ll get tired of giving it to me and stop asking me to help. Hasn’t worked so far.
“I’ll see what I can do, dear.”
“Mom?”
“Yes, dear?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, sweetie.”
*
When I woke up I was alone on the sofa, ugly afghan still tucked around me. Mom had replaced her lap with a pillow, and had gone on to the next item on her agenda, whatever that might have been. Probably cooking dinner. I just hoped like hell it wasn’t calamari casserole.
Billy was supposed to call me after he tracked down the real Devon. No word yet, so I assumed Pretty Boy was still AWOL.
I yawned and stretched until my bones creaked. I still hadn’t heard if Brian had found Suze, either. Mark was supposed to be on that. Maybe I should call him and ask.
He picked up on the first ring. “Are you okay?” were the first words out of his mouth.
“Yeah, of course,” I said. “What’s going on? Did you find Brian? Did he have Suze? Where are you?” (I liked to get in as many questions as possible before he started not answering them.)
“Where are you?” he said, ignoring my questions. (Huge surprise.)
“At home. I did a job with Mom today.”
“Good. Stay there.” Click.
I stuck my tongue out at the phone screen. “Mom?” I hollered. “I’m going out. Don’t keep dinner for me!” I was through the front door before she could answer.
*
Two blocks away, the Volvo shot past me on the other side of the street, screeched through a U-turn, and pulled up next to me. “Get in, Howdy.”
Mark looked only mildly annoyed as I buckled my seat belt. “Didn’t I tell you to stay where you were? I could have missed you.”
“Yeah, well, you might have mentioned you were coming to get me. I thought you were telling me to stay put while you went about your merry business,” I said, a little grumpily. It’s not like it was an unreasonable assumption.
“Like I’d think that would work without handcuffs.”
I decided to take that as a compliment. “So, what’s going on? Did Brian find Suze?”
“Nope. He found a good-bye note, and her stuff gone. She must have cleared out when you guys were performing.”
“Why, that bitch! What a sneak. Do you think she knew we were on to her?”
He shrugged. “It’s possible.”
“Is Brian still…” I tried to think of the right word. “Angry” didn’t seem to cover the transformation I’d seen in him. “… not Brian?”
“He relaxed a little after we found out Monica wasn’t dead. I think he felt responsible for that somehow.”
“But that’s just stupid—it wasn’t his fault at all. How was he supposed to know Suze was a killer?”
“Monica isn’t dead,” he reminded me.
“I know that. But … hell, what’s going on with that, anyway? Did Suze only pretend to kill her? Why would she do that? And Monica must have been in on it—she’s the one who had to play dead.”
“Good questions. I’m getting closer to the answers, but for now…” He paused and gave me one of his rare soft looks. “Ciel, I want something from you.”
Eep! I swallowed. “Mark, you know Billy and I are … um, well, we’re…”
His smile turned rueful. “Yeah, Howdy, I’m aware.” Something in his tone told me he still wasn’t entirely happy with the situation. Is it bad that it gave me a little thrill to realize that? It’s tough to let go of a decadelong crush all at once.
“What, then?” I asked, proud of myself for not agreeing before I’d even heard his request, like I would have before. Guess I really was learning to let go, if a little slowly.
He didn’t speak for a moment, negotiating through traffic with some maneuvers that left me breathless while he kept a close eye on the rearview mirror. After he settled on a street a few blocks away, he said, “I’m taking you somewhere—”
“Your place?” I’d been there only once, with Thomas, ages ago. It was a tiny apartment in a crap neighborhood, but that was deceptive. It was like a geode—ugly on the outside, a total jewel on the inside. Every luxury and high-tech amenity you can imagine was crammed into a twelve-by-twenty efficiency unit.
He gave me a sidelong glance. “Would you come to my place?”
My cheeks warmed and my heart sped up. I cleared my throat. “Probably not a good idea.”
“Yeah. Probably not. So I’m taking you somewhere else, and I’d like you to stay there—”
“Uh-uh, no way are you locking me away somewhere out of some misguided—”
“Calm down, Howdy. I’m not going to lock you away anywhere. I’m asking you—nicely—to lay low for a short time, that’s all.” He paused. “Please.”
I set my chin stubbornly. “There’s no reason—”
“There could be. Listen, Howdy…” I could tell he was struggling with himself over how much to tell me. “I’ve moved Laura to another safe house, here in Manhattan. Earlier today, I put Molly there, too. With Mo’s permission, of course.” He gave me a sidelong glance. “She didn’t give me any shit about it.”
“Molly? Why would you do that? Is she okay? She hasn’t—”
“Molly is fine. I just want to make sure she stays that way.”
“Okay, I’m not following you here, Mark. Why did you move Laura if she was already in a safe house? And what about Monica? Wasn’t she there, too?”
“I had to leave Monica where she was—they were sitting on her too tight, afraid she’d get scared and bolt. I didn’t even have a chance to question her. As for Laura—frankly, I wanted her away from all of them until I’m sure about what’s going on. So I moved her someplace that nobody knows about.”
“Nobody?”
“Only me. It’s my own special bolt-hole.”
Okay, now I was really starting to get concerned. “Why is this necessary?”
“Look, not everybody where I work can be trusted. Let’s just say there are some factions within factions that might not have the adaptor community’s best interests at heart. I thought I’d insulated us pretty well, but even the best firewalls can be breached.”
“Who? Is it Harvey? Thomas doesn’t seem to like him at all,” I said.
Mark tensed. “No. Harvey and I have an understanding.”
“Who then?”
“Your client.”
“Thelma? Thelma is CIA?”
“Upper echelon, on a par with Harvey. Big-picture stuff. Doesn’t usually involve herself in the day-to-day operations. Until, I think, now.”
“Why now?”
“Could be as simple as professional jealousy. She doesn’t like it that Harvey has me in his camp. She’d like nothing better than to have her own pet adaptor. The deal Harvey made with me has always annoyed the hell out of her.”
“So she’s trying to, what, kidnap one of her own?”
“No, I suspect she’s trying to make one of her own.” There was a grim set to his mouth when he said it.
“Huh? But that’s ridiculous. Adaptors are born, not made.”
“Yeah, that’s how it’s always been. But after James made his breakthrough with the adaptor genome and came up with that handy formula, who knows how it could be applied?”
“Jesus. That’s just … frightening.”
“Oh, that’s not the half of it, Howdy. The worst part is, I’m starting to wonder if Thelma might be considering selling adaptor technology to the highest bidder.”
Holy shit. “But that’s treason.”
Mark smiled. “Hate to disillusion you, Howdy, but it happens.”
“Wait a second … Suze works for her. So Suze really is CIA, like Billy thought?”
“Billy has good instincts. I just wish he’d come to me with his speculations.”
“I think he thinks Suze works for Harvey. He didn’t figure you’d be, um, receptive to hearing anything negative about your mentor.”
Mark’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “Like I said, he has good instincts.”
“So why do you want to stash me away?”
“Call it an abundance of caution.”
“Not good enough,” I said. “Listen, Mark, believe it or not, I can be cautious without being confined. I might even be able to help you, if you’d just give me a chance.”
“This will help me. I told Mo you’d stay with Molly—it was the only way I could convince her to let me take Molly without coming along herself. That wasn’t feasible.”
“Why not? Seems like that would be best all around.” Especially if I didn’t have to be locked up with them, because hello? Claustrophobic here.
“A, it’s Mo, and Mo is … well, Mo. Would you want to be cooped up indoors with her for any length of time? Think of Laura. B, Molly is the one they’re after. I need the rest of the Doyle clan to maintain life as usual, at least until I can figure out a safe way to take down a very powerful woman. Nobody watching will be suspicious if you’re out of the picture for a while—you’re all over the place all the time, so it wouldn’t be seen as unusual.”
“But—”
“Ciel, Molly needs you.” The dove-soft eyes were back. “And I need to know you’re safe with her.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “Cheap shot, Fielding,” I said, and he knew he had me.
*
Molly was happily watching America’s Next Top Model reruns in the cramped living room of the high-rise apartment in the Bronx when we got there, sitting next to an efficient-looking woman. (And by “efficient” I mean large, with well-defined muscles.) Mark had explained in the car that there was a nurse for Laura—a nurse with extreme bodyguard skills.
The woman acknowledged us with a nod as Molly ran to me for a hug. Her grip around my midsection made me wonder if she hadn’t retained a little orangutan strength, but that was probably my imagination.
“Hey, monkey girl. How are you holding up?” I said.
“Great! I can watch TV here. Don’t tell Mom, okay?”
“Are you kidding? Of course not. I don’t want her to ground me, too.”
Molly ran back to her spot in front of the TV (the commercial now over), and Mark led me back to one of the bedrooms.
Laura looked so much better than the last time I’d seen her that it was almost worth getting shunted to the sidelines just to see her for myself. She was propped up by a bunch of pillows, still a little on the pale side, but awake and alert, and even smiling.
Her happy expression might have had something to do with Thomas, who was sitting on the edge of her bed, holding her hand and looking at her with such a soft expression I barely recognized him as my hard-ass lawyer brother. They both seemed happy to see me once they took their eyes off each other long enough to notice I was there.
“You didn’t tell me Thomas was here. Molly’s cool with him—why do you need me to stay?” I said to Mark after greeting them both.
“Because I’m leaving with Mark,” Thomas said. “I have to get Laura’s video statement to the judge first thing in the morning if I want to keep Billy out of jail. If.”
I knew he didn’t really mean that last part. No matter how annoyed he got with Billy, he loved him as much as the rest of us did.
“You can do that?” I asked.
“It’s not admissible, but it will do until it’s safe to bring Laura down to the precinct to give her sworn deposition.”
I looked to Laura. “So it really wasn’t Billy? Why’d you let everyone think it was?”
She looked at Mark, her eyes masking something. “That’s a little complicated, hon. Maybe we’d better discuss it later.”
“But—”
Mark gave her a nod. “It’s okay. Ciel, Laura has been officially read in about the rest of you now. Not that she didn’t already suspect about Billy.”
“Well, I would’ve had to have been an idiot not to, Mark, as much as he’s worked with you,” she said. “You were a surprise, though, Ciel. I thought Mark was so overprotective of you because you weren’t an adaptor.”
I cut Mark a look. “No, I think that’s just something he absorbed from Thomas when they were roommates. So, you know about my big bro, huh?”
“Oh, I’ve known about him for a while. How could I not when he offered to finish law school for me rather than let me drop out to join the Agency? I had a hell of a time convincing him I really didn’t want to be a lawyer. I’d only tried it out just to please my father.”
“You were so close to being there,” Thomas said. “I still say you should have let me finish for you. Then at least you’d always have a law degree to fall back on.”
“You know it’s not in my nature to work with a safety net, Tom.” Laura sighed. They’d obviously been through it all many times before. My respect for her went up another notch. If she could hold out against my stubborn brother, she must have a titanium backbone.
He leaned over and kissed her, right on the mouth, but only a peck. “We’ll discuss it more when you’re better.”
She pulled his head back and gave him a real kiss, bordering on passionate. “Yeah, and I’ll still win, Halligan,” she said afterward, a sparkle in her eye.
My brother looked at me and shrugged. “I’ll let her think so for now.”
“Hee-heee!” I chortled. “You are so whipped. I love it.” (What? It was a day I never thought I’d see. I had to enjoy it.)
Even my gloating couldn’t wipe the pleasant expression off his face. Man, he had it bad. He bear-hugged me, scrubbing the top of my head with one palm. “Look after this one for me, Laura. She’s trouble.”
“Hey! I thought I was here to look after everyone else. I’m the uninjured one.”
“Yeah, but even injured, Laura could still kick your ass. So you better behave and listen to her, shortcake.” I warmed, hearing his old nickname for me. He rarely used it now that he was a high-powered lawyer—probably figured it was beneath his dignity. Guess he really was relaxed. Whatever he and Laura had worked out between them, I was happy for them both.
After he and Mark left, I asked Laura about Billy again.
She shrugged. “I didn’t recognize the man who shot me. I thought he was someone who had come to kill Billy—that Billy had somehow been exposed—and the shooter was just getting me out of the way first. I figured jail was the safest place for Billy until we knew who was after him.”
“So, you were really just trying to protect him?”
“I was. It might not have been the smartest plan I’ve ever come up with, but bear in mind I’d lost a lot of blood. It was the only thing I could think to do at the time.”
Okay. I could make allowances for that, as long as her heart was in the right place. I changed the subject. “So, about my brother … Are we going to be sisters or what? I always wanted a sister.”
She laughed, hugging a small pillow to her side as she did. Oops. Forgot about that bulle
t wound. “Oh, Ciel. You are priceless. But, no. I love your brother too much to do that to him.”
I settled in the place vacated by Thomas. “Aw, come on. He’s tough. He can take it. Besides, he needs someone like you to keep him in line.”
“And off your back?” Her eyes had a knowing sparkle.
“Well, hell, what are sisters for?” I said.
*
After Laura was comfortably settled for the night, I heated up a frozen pizza, which Molly, the nurse, and I devoured while watching more episodes of America’s Next Top Model. Can’t say I was thrilled with Molly’s viewing selection, my experience with the industry being what it was, but at least it kept her happy. Nurse Kickass seemed strangely taken with it, too.
When bedtime could be put off no longer, I tucked Molly away in the smaller bedroom. She fell asleep easily enough, knowing I’d be there in the apartment when she woke. (Okay, so I bribed her with the promise of doughnuts for breakfast. Sue me. It worked.)
The nurse retired to Laura’s room, where she would be sleeping on a cot for easy access to her patient.
Hallelujah, peace at last! I thought, turning the volume way down and flipping through the stations until I found a marathon of Firefly. I was halfway through the second episode, drooling over Captain Tight Pants, when my phone buzzed. I checked the number—it was Billy.
“Hey there, sweet cheeks,” I said. (What? He was the one who’d called me out on my previous telephone greeting. I was trying to be accommodating.)
There was an appreciative chuckle, followed by, “Listen, I need to come get you. I don’t think you’re safe.”
“Ha. Mark is a step ahead of you. Don’t worry, I’ve already been stowed away.”
“What? Why would he—never mind. We can talk when I get there. Where are you?”
“Geez, Billy, you know I can’t tell you that.”
“Right … right. Okay, you’ll have to meet me somewhere.”
“No can do. I’m watching Molly.”
“Molly’s with you? What the—never mind. Bring her along. If she’s with you, she’s not safe, either.”
“Are you nuts? I can’t do that. Mark would kill me. Besides, I can’t just run out on Laura.”
“Laura?”