“Brett,” Dario said quickly. “I’m talking to you, Brett.”
The whole situation was so comical Chase had to do her best not to laugh. God, how she’d missed Jack. “You’ll be fine,” she told Heather.
“You want her to babysit me.”
“I want her to make sure you’re safe.”
“Are you implying I might hurt her?” Dario asked, trying to sound offended.
“Never, being the sweet soul you are,” Jack replied. “We’re just worried she might slip and fall in the shower.”
“Why does she get to talk to me?” Dario asked no one in particular.
The elevator opened on the fourth floor and they got out. Chase handed Jack one of the key cards. “The three of us need to talk before we quit for the night. Your room.”
“What do you want to do about the creep on wheels?”
“He’s coming with. I’m not leaving him alone in case Rózsa decides to call.”
“This late?” Heather asked.
“Crime knows no time.” Jack glanced at Dario as she unlocked the room. “Right, creep? And don’t talk, it was rhetorical.”
They all entered the spacious room, which had a pair of double beds, a table and two chairs, and a balcony. Though it was clean and modern and had the usual amenities of any four-star hotel, the room lacked the opulence of Dario’s suite in Beijing.
“Mediocrity is the elephant in this room,” Dario said, looking around.
“Do you need to use the bathroom?” Chase asked as the others dropped their bags.
“No, why?”
“Because I’m about to cuff you to the radiator.”
“That’s absurd.”
“So is your occupation.”
“I’m a cripple, isn’t that handicap enough?” Dario asked. “Why do you have to detain me?”
“Your disability hasn’t been an obstacle as far as causing trouble is concerned. You seem to manage just fine.” Chase secured one handcuff to Dario’s left wrist, the other to the sturdy steel radiator. “I’m going to step out on the balcony. I’ll be able to see your every move.”
Dario tested the cuffs. “I’m not exactly in any position to escape.”
“Where’s your cell?”
“Why?” he asked.
“Where is it?”
“I’m not comfortable with any of this.”
“I’m not concerned with your comfort level,” Chase said. “Just tell me where the damn thing is.”
“Want me to frisk him?” Jack asked. “I’m very thorough.”
Dario pulled it out of his pocket with his free hand. “Here.” He gave it to Chase. “What if Rózsa calls?”
“I’ll hand you the phone.”
Heather frowned. “Are you going to leave me in here with him?”
“We’ll be just outside,” Chase said.
“Call me if Hot Wheels bothers you.” Jack gave Dario a menacing look, which he pretended not to see, staring instead at the ceiling.
Heather flipped on the television as Chase and Jack stepped out onto the balcony.
“Do you want to tell me why you seem so upbeat or should we skip to business?” Chase asked. “Although, I have to admit, your bright attitude is a bit disconcerting.”
“You go first,” Jack said. “I can’t wait to hear why the peanut gallery is here.”
Chase caught her up on Dario finding the wire and how he had Heather arrested for cocaine possession, and the deal she made with Dario to get to Rózsa.
“Of course, just because he said he’d play nice doesn’t mean he will,” Jack said when she’d finished. “He could still have his goons go after Rózsa and throw our hides in for good measure. I doubt his sister wants any witnesses.”
“I told him to call his men in France off, and as far as I heard he did, but you know how it works.”
“Yup. Say one thing to your men and mean another.”
“And that’s why Heather is here,” Chase said. “I don’t want her back in the States before this is resolved. I’m going to have Pierce get the feds to relocate her and her brother after we give them Rózsa.”
“Hell, if we deliver Rózsa, the feds will do our laundry and windows.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m gonna guess Heather didn’t take it too well.”
“Well…” Chase sighed.
“Yeah. I didn’t think so.”
“The money drop-off is tomorrow. Rózsa hasn’t called yet, but I’m sure he’s not going to make it easy.”
“He didn’t invent a virus, kill millions, and run with my girl by being stupid.”
“Chances are we’re going to have to deal with both Rózsa and Dario’s men.”
“Yeah. But come hell or high crap, I’m getting Cass back. We don’t have to deliver Rózsa alive, right?”
“Pierce never said.”
“Good,” Jack replied. “Because the guy has the life expectancy of a bad sitcom.”
* * *
Heather tried to distract herself by flipping through the channels, but the few mildly interesting possibilities were in French. Now and then she’d glance over at Dario, sitting across from her. She had his undivided attention and didn’t like it. It was creepy being alone in a bedroom with him now, with him watching her, so much so she deliberately chose a chair instead of relaxing on the bed. “Why are you staring at me?” she asked.
“Because you are like a puzzle to me, Heather.”
“Whatever.”
“With all due respect, I would think that someone in your line of business would be a bit quicker to see when they are being used.”
“My line of business.”
“Someone who’s…been around.” He smiled knowingly.
“You do enjoy rubbing that in, don’t you?”
“Why shouldn’t I? I have a lot of respect for what you do.”
“Have done.”
His feigned look of apology was pathetically transparent. “Of course. In any case, it takes a strong individual to decide to follow your particular path. A determined, selfless woman more concerned about the well-being of her brother than her own.”
He was up to something. She just didn’t know what it was. “What are you trying to do?”
“Do? Nothing. Nothing at all. I’m merely impressed and at the same time surprised by your choices. A puzzle.”
Heather lowered the sound on the TV. “What are you saying?”
“While I am impressed for the reasons I just mentioned, I can’t help but feel surprised at how impaired your reasoning has become as far as…” He pursed his lips. “Let’s play along and call her Brett…is concerned. There’s no reason why she’d give me her real name, and let’s face it, she doesn’t look like a Brett.” He gave her a chummy conspiratorial smile, like two good friends who could see through a lie.
“Brett,” she said with emphasis, “has not impaired anything.”
He shook his head. “I doubt that. She is more or less a complete stranger to you, who—”
“No, she’s not,” she lied. “I know her well enough.”
“Not well enough, or you wouldn’t have been surprised at how she lied to you. She spied on you while you were with me and denied it.”
She didn’t respond.
“I wonder what else she’s lied about. Don’t you?”
“What do you care?”
“I care because I can see what they are doing to you.”
“That’s rich. You care so much you had me arrested.”
“I felt betrayed. I trusted you. I sincerely liked you and still do, now that I realize how innocent you really are. But when I found out about the wire, I…I felt hurt. I asked you to join me in China because, like I told you then, you’re different. Compassionate. I never meant to hurt you, but I reacted like any deceived lover. I lashed out. I’m sincerely sorry, but only now do I realize how stupidly compassionate you really are. So much, as a matter of fact, you can’t see the game they’re playing and how
it’s going to end.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re delusional if you think they’re going to let you live. You’ve seen too much and know too much.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
think you’re officially the first operative to find their biological parent.” Chase still couldn’t believe Jack’s revelation. Jack had relayed the amazing story of meeting her mother and what she’d learned: how her parents had met and how her mysterious father took her away but kept tabs on her. Chase had stopped wondering about her own past and roots after her teenage years; she knew only that she came from some orphanage in Norway. But she couldn’t help feeling happy and jealous that Jack had managed to discover some of her history. “I suppose I would be in good spirits, too, had I found my mother.”
“What’s funny is how easy it is to consider her just that,” Jack said. “I don’t know if it’s because we look alike or because she was never replaced. It’s not like the kids at the organization ever get adopted by new parents.”
“No. A corporation adopts us. Hardly the same. Will you see her again?”
“Yeah.” Jack smiled. “We’d both like that.”
“Are you going to look for your father?”
“Wouldn’t know where to start.”
“Do you care?”
Jack leaned against the balcony rail and gazed out at the distant Mediterranean, a vast, black void dotted here and there with the twinkling lights of anchored or passing boats. “I’m not sure. I somehow always pictured him as a strong, heroic figure. Someone who gave me away against his will. Turns out, my mother was the heroic figure who wanted to keep me. He was just some guy who had his fun and left her, even when he found out they had a child.”
“But he took you with him.”
“Only to give me away again. As far as I’m concerned, he can screw himself.”
“He cared enough to look you up and send her pictures.”
“I don’t get that part.” Jack went quiet for a moment. “Either way, he never manned up enough to approach me and deal with his actions. I don’t like cowards.”
“I guess. But you never know what reasons people have for their actions. It’s not like you haven’t been there.”
Jack straightened and glared at her. “Are you going to tell me how you know? If not, how long are we going to continue the insinuation game?”
“You still haven’t asked the right—”
“Fuck that, Landis,” Jack shouted. “Don’t start getting all superior on me again about what I’ve done.”
“It was never about any of that. Yes, you worked for scum and you were good at it because you learned from the best. And honestly, I can’t blame you for leaving the organization. When it comes down to it, they only took us in because of what we can do for them, not the other way around. None of the three cares about our needs. They care about our skills.”
“Pierce is worse than the rest.” Jack gripped the rail with both hands. “All he cares about is himself and how much he gets if we do the job.”
“Don’t be naïve. They’re all the same. At least he doesn’t pretend to care. He acknowledges good work and rewards it accordingly.”
“Rewards who?” Jack looked puzzled. “What?”
“He let you live, didn’t he? Take that as a show of affection. It’s as good as it gets. And in case you never noticed, you were the only one he ever showed any understanding and weakness for.”
“Are you shitting me?” Jack laughed bitterly. “The guy ran me ragged, never said a good word.”
“Then you clearly don’t remember how you were the only kid he ever ran to when you fell, or hurt yourself, or got sick. The only one he visited in the recovery ward and slept by their side.”
“I don’t remember…” Jack stared off into the distance. “Why don’t I remember that?”
“I do. I wished he’d have shown even a fraction of that interest in me.”
Jack went silent, either because she was trying to remember or, because for the first time since their reunion, she was speechless.
Either way, Chase had had enough of her pity parade and insane ideas of how the world had conspired against her. In reality, as a kid, Jack had it better than the rest, as far as Pierce was concerned. And had it been any other op but Jack who’d deserted and deceived him, they simply wouldn’t have lived to bitch about it. “The right question is…Who did I kill?” Chase said, aggravated.
“What?”
“Do you remember Stellari?”
Jack looked surprised. “That was a long time ago.”
“I worked deep cover on that case. I was in the warehouse when everything went to hell with the Russian arms dealer and the feds.”
“That was ten years ago. One of my first jobs.”
“If you say so.”
“You’ve known about me from practically the beginning.” The shock was clear on Jack’s face. “You made me and never told anyone?”
She ignored the question. “A lot of innocent people died that night.”
Jack didn’t respond right away but looked back out over the water. “I know.”
“You killed some of those innocent men.”
Jack nodded.
“You also killed my lover. Stellari’s daughter.”
Jack spun to look at her with a horrified expression. “I…I had no idea. I…was just shooting at anything that moved. I had no idea his daughter was even there. Christ. I never even saw you.” She pounded her fist on the railing. “You’ve got to believe me, Landis, I never saw her. I was pumped on adrenaline and angry at the world. I wanted the likes of the Russians to respect and fear me. I wanted them to accept me, because no one else would. After I survived Israel and fooled the EOO, I thought I had to reinvent myself. Show everyone who Jack really was.”
“And who was that?”
“Someone to be reckoned with. Taken seriously. Not some misfit who jumped when she was asked to and was ignored if she wasn’t needed. I wanted someone to care if I lived or died, even if it was for the wrong reasons.”
“I cared.”
“I know.” Jack frowned. “But I didn’t want to make you a conspirator. If they ever found out you knew or that we had contact, they’d have taken you down with me.”
“I would have at least gone down fighting for something. Someone I believed in. That would have been a first.”
“You must’ve been very angry with me.” Jack hung her head and shook it slowly from side to side. “Not only for lying to you, but…Stellari’s daughter…I don’t know how to apologize. I don’t think that’s even possible.”
“There was a lot of shooting going on. I can’t say for sure you killed her, but yes. I was furious.”
“And you never told Pierce,” Jack repeated in disbelief.
“Would you have told on me? Even if I never spoke to you again, and let you think I was dead. Even if you thought I had killed your lover?”
Jack considered the question only for a few seconds before answering, and when she did, there was a catch in her voice. “No.”
“Then you know why.”
Jack nodded ruefully. “Yeah.”
* * *
“They’d never hurt me,” Heather insisted. “I can’t say I’m happy with how all this has played out, but they’d never harm me.”
Dario’s eyes narrowed dubiously. “How are you so sure, Heather?”
“Why would they? I’m no threat. As a matter of fact, I’m helping them out.”
“They got what they needed from you, which now makes you disposable, if not redundant. You’re nothing but an extra headache for them now.”
“I know what you’re trying to do.”
“Oh?”
“Divide and conquer, like Brett said earlier.”
“What would I gain? I’m not asking you to become my friend or ever see me again, and I doubt anything I say will make you help me from this predicament. Besides, it’s not like you can do anything about it, even if
you wanted to.”
That was true, she thought.
“I don’t want to see you get killed.”
“They would never.”
“That you don’t know them…Brett…has already been established. But I wonder how little you actually do know her.”
“Enough. I know her enough to believe you’re evil.”
“I doubt you even know her name. Let’s face it. We’re both aware it’s not Brett. It would be highly unprofessional—not to mention dense—to give me her real identity. But I wonder if the name she’s given you is real.”
Heather had the same thought in China. Truth was, she didn’t know Landis or Jack at all. Who was to say they weren’t hit men, or whatever they were called, after Rózsa for their own benefit, like bounty hunters. Maybe they were after Dario to steal the money he intended to give to Rózsa. Who knew what was true anymore? Maybe the whole story about Jack’s girlfriend was just to make Heather feel sorry for them. And how did they conveniently happen to find Gigi’s cell? Could it be that Dario had nothing to do with her death after all, and they had made her disappear to get Heather to help? God, this was all too much to take in.
“You don’t have to believe me, Heather. But if you ask me, this has nothing to do with any honorable cause, if that’s what they’ve convinced you of. They haven’t told me why they want Rózsa, but I’m guessing they’re bounty hunters. There must be millions on his head. Last time I checked, there was nothing honorable about their sort. They’ll kill their own mother if the price is right.”
Oh, my God. Dario had spoken her thoughts. Could this possibly be true? She had never asked for or seen any official credentials. Maybe she could ask for that now. She got up from the chair and took a couple of steps toward the balcony, then reconsidered. No. What if they really were criminals and killed her on the spot for asking too many questions? They had no further use for her. She sat back down. But then why were they keeping her alive if they didn’t need her? Landis could have let her rot in the Chinese prison.
“They probably still need you. I wouldn’t know why, but perhaps some involvement in tomorrow’s arrangement. Implicate you somehow with Rózsa.” Landis had admitted she thought Heather was helping Rózsa when they started following her. Could Dario be right? “Perhaps they want someone to take the fall for what they’re about to pull off. Someone they have evidence is linked to Rózsa.”
Demons are Forever Page 29