He tapped his left cheek. “It hurts right here. Maybe you’d like to…”
“Easy, tiger,” I said with a grin. “I don’t think you’ve met Derek Stone.”
Gabriel stared up at Derek with one eye open. He blinked once, then held his gaze steadily. After a long moment, he said, “Haven’t had the pleasure.”
“Nor I,” Derek replied.
“Derek Stone,” I said, “this is Gabriel… uh, Gabriel.” I still had no clue what his last name was.
“Gabriel’s good enough,” he muttered, and with what seemed like superhuman strength, given his current condition, he whipped the blanket off and sat up. I figured he wasn’t about to remain in bed when another alpha dog stepped into the room.
Gabriel shoved his hand forward and Derek gripped it in a tight handshake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure’s mine,” Derek said.
“Well, isn’t this lovely?” Mom said, as she gazed affectionately at both Derek and Gabriel. “Everyone’s friends now.”
She really needed to find a hobby.
“Gabriel,” I said, sitting on the small chair Mom had placed by his bed, “Derek has something we’d like you to take a look at.”
“Yeah?” he said slowly and gazed up at Derek, his forehead furrowed in suspicion.
Derek tapped his smart phone until he found the best shot of Alice, then handed the phone to Gabriel.
Gabriel blinked to clear his vision, then stared at the screen. He shook his head, blinked again. “Mary Grace?”
“Mary Grace?” I frowned at Gabriel, then at Derek, then back at Gabriel. “Who’s Mary Grace?”
He glared at me, then Derek, then back at the phone. “What the hell is Mary Grace Flanagan doing on your phone?”
“Who’s Mary Grace?” I persisted.
He ignored me and looked straight at Derek. “What’s she done now?”
“She may be implicated in a double murder,” Derek said straight out. “And she may have been the one who shot you. Can you tell us how you know her?”
Gabriel blew out a heavy breath. “I married her.”
“What?!” I might’ve shrieked it because he winced, while Derek stroked my shoulder as if I were a spooked horse.
“When?” Derek asked.
“Why?” I demanded.
Gabriel shook his head, then laughed without humor. “She was running a scam. We needed to appear married. It’s not important, but you should know that Mary Grace is very, very good at what she does.”
“Which is what, exactly?” Derek asked.
Gabriel told an amazing story. Mary Grace Flanagan had indeed been raised by nuns in a Catholic orphanage and she was a bad seed from the start. Gabriel had met her more than ten years earlier in Bahrain, when he was involved in a Tylos pearl scam and she was smuggling Russian iconic antiquities through the Middle East and into Western Europe. He was twenty-two years old and she was ten years older. They became lovers, but never trusted each other. The thrill wore off quickly as it turned out that there was, after all, no honor among thieves. Gabriel stuck close to her, though, as she geared up to move a shipment of forged Dead Sea Scrolls into France. She hoped to pass them off as newly discovered Qumran cave scrolls, but the shipment never went through and Mary Grace disappeared off the face of the earth.
I couldn’t get a clear picture of Gabriel and Mary Grace together. Gabriel refused to elaborate. What did she mean to him? Had he been trying to set her up or had he been in on the deal?
“I’m not surprised to hear it’s Mary Grace who shot me,” Gabriel said darkly. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“She shot you before?” I asked, fascinated.
“She tried,” he said. Then he cast a look at Derek. “If you’re setting a trap, I want in.”
“I’m not sure you’re up to it,” Derek said mildly.
Gabriel stood. “I’m up to it.”
“I’ve made sandwiches,” Mom announced from the doorway. “There are chips and cookies, too.”
“Let’s do this,” Gabriel said, then took one step and wobbled. Derek and I both grabbed him, but he held up his hands. “I’ve got this.”
He led the way, slowly, to the spacious dining room and sat down at the large, dark wood Craftsman-style table where my family had eaten together for years.
My dad joined us, insisting that we try sips of a new batch of chardonnay he’d extracted from the barrel for the occasion. As we ate sandwiches, Derek and I brought Gabriel up to speed on the attacks at BABA. Mom and Dad listened, occasionally adding bits of insight I found remarkably useful. I guess they’d had some experience with some unsavory elements in their lives. Not all Deadheads were about peace and love, it seemed.
After lunch, Dad went back to work in the barrel room and Gabriel and Derek discussed logistics while I joined Mom in the big sunny kitchen.
“Tell me more about the gray aura you saw around Alice,” I said.
Mom set her sponge on the rack near the sink. “I was so bothered by it, I had to look it up to be sure.” She walked me back to my parents’ office off the kitchen, where she pulled a thick old book from the wall of bookshelves. Laying it open on the desk, she flipped to a bookmarked page. “See? Look at this.”
I began to read about auras and their meanings, skimming through all the colors of the rainbow until I reached the various shades of gray and black.
Gray auras were indeed often a sign of disease. Usually the grayness would appear spotty and clustered around those parts of the body most affected by tumors or cellular abnormalities. But the book also warned that a gray aura could indicate dark thoughts, or the dark side of a personality.
“That’s why her aura was so dark,” Mom said. “I thought it was disease but it was just plain old evil. If I’d been more aware, I might’ve prevented Gabriel’s…”
“It’s not your fault,” I said, gripping her arm. “She fooled us all.”
“Sweetie,” she said gently, “it’s not your fault, either.”
“Mom, I invited her into my home, introduced her to my friends. Then I brought her here. I brought that evil to Dharma.” Tears stung my eyes. “I’m not sure I can ever forgive myself for that.”
She rubbed my back and gripped me in a hug. “Well, I for one am glad you didn’t recognize her dark side.”
“What do you mean?” I pushed away from her and tossed my hands up in dismay. “If I’d known-”
“No.” She gripped my arms and forced me to look her in the eye. “You must never become so cynical that the first thing you see is the negative rather than the positive.”
“But I could’ve-”
She shook me. “Promise me.”
“Okay, okay,” I said, giving in to the inevitable. “I promise I’ll be a naive twit for the rest of my life.”
“That’s my good girl,” she said, smiling. “My little twit.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Come on, sing with me,” she teased. “You know the words, ‘Look for the silver lining…’”
I laughed. “Oh, my dear God.”
After Derek and Gabriel worked out the scenario they would follow to trap Alice (or whatever her name was), we settled in my parents’ quiet office. Gabriel collected his thoughts, then called Alice from his cell phone.
“Hey, babe,” he drawled.
It seemed Alice recognized his voice immediately.
“Of course I knew it was you,” he said a moment later. “I hate to mention it, but you’re still missing your target.”
She responded, and he chuckled. “Yeah, you always were a good shot. If you really wanted me dead, you wouldn’t have missed.”
She spoke for another few seconds. Gabriel rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, I love you and miss you, too.” He looked at me and winked.
Derek watched, his mouth twisted in a tight grin.
“Here’s the thing, Mary Grace,” Gabriel said finally. “I want in on the book deal.”
He listened to her
protests for a full minute.
“You’ve shot me twice now, Mary Grace,” he said at length, his tone hardening. “I’m not letting this one go. I’m in, or I take it to the cops.”
They spoke for another minute. Gabriel told her he’d meet her at BABA late the following afternoon. Then he disconnected the call and we finalized our plans.
That night, after Gabriel fell asleep in my guest bedroom, I brought linens and blankets out to the living room, where Derek insisted on sleeping. He met me halfway and took the bundle from me. “A blanket is all I need.”
I spread the sheet over the couch and began to slip the ends under the cushions. “You’ll sleep better if you have sheets and a pillow.”
“I daresay nothing will help me sleep well tonight.”
Concerned, I asked, “Do you want some warm milk?”
“No.” He tucked the sheet under the last thick cushion, then sat on his makeshift bed and reached for me. “Come here.”
With a smile, I climbed on top of him, cradled his face in my hands, and kissed him.
He grabbed hold of me and returned the kiss, his lips more demanding, more fervent than ever before. I groaned as he slid his cool hands under my thin T-shirt and stroked my skin.
Footsteps slapped against the floor of the hall, then Gabriel’s weak voice called out, “Babe? Can I have some water?”
“Christ in heaven,” Derek muttered against my hair. “We’re doomed, I tell you.”
I laughed to keep from crying. “Yes, we are.”
“No, you’re not.”
“What do you mean, no?” I asked, as I paced around the living room the next day.
“I mean, you’re not going to be in the room with Gabriel and Mary Grace.” Derek went back to testing the tiny microphone at the end of the wire he would tape to Gabriel’s back. Gabriel had agreed to wear the wire in order to tape Alice-or Mary Grace, whatever her name was-admitting she’d killed both Layla and Mr. Soo.
The previous night, after we were so rudely interrupted by Gabriel, Derek and I had stayed up and talked for hours. We’d laughed over the realization that we’d both tried collecting stamps at a young age but found it unspeakably boring. Derek confessed that he’d wanted to join the Royal Navy ever since he saw the Sharks, the Royal Navy’s elite helicopter team, perform at an air show when he was six years old. Sadly, by the time he was old enough to enlist, the team had been disbanded, but he was determined to fly helicopters anyway.
My heart had melted as I pictured a starstruck little boy staring up in awe at the wildly exciting maneuvers of those daring helicopter pilots.
Finally, I had dozed on the couch while Derek placed a phone call to his people at Scotland Yard to find out what he could about Alice’s adventures in Bahrain. According to his sources, she still had a number of outstanding international warrants for her arrest. Once they realized exactly who we were dealing with, Scotland Yard, through Interpol, took control of the investigation, and Derek was duly authorized to run the sting operation. The local police were to follow his lead.
That hadn’t gone down well with Inspector Lee.
And now, as I continued my pacing, I was feeling a little cranky myself. “It’s not like I’ll be in the same room with them. I just want to be part of the action, back where you all are. There’s a small closet inside that workroom. I could just sit in there and-”
“Absolutely not.”
“You can’t keep me away.”
“I believe I can,” he said mildly, as he tested the earbuds attached to the micro recorder.
“But why?” I winced at the whiny tone of my voice. “I’m part of this.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ll allow you to-”
“Allow me?” I glared at him. “You don’t allow me to do anything. I do whatever I want.”
He looked up. “Of course you do, darling. But you’ll recall that I’ve already seen you at the wrong end of a psychopath’s gun, more than once. It’s not good for my heart.”
He patted his heart for emphasis.
I stomped my foot. “That’s so unfair.”
“I’m glad we agree,” he said. “It would be quite unfair of you to put me through that misery again.”
My shoulders slumped. “That’s not what I meant.”
His smile was affectionate. “I know.”
Gabriel and Derek had already decided that I would be their “front man.” I was not impressed with the job title or the description. My duties would predominantly involve schmoozing with Alice at the gala, keeping a sharp eye on her as I drank expensive champagne, nibbled on blinis and caviar, and partied with the rich and famous of San Francisco.
Talk about unfair.
I sat down next to Derek, scooted my chair closer, and put my hand over his. “Derek, I’m serious about this. Alice used me. She pretended to be my friend and wormed her way into my home and my heart. I feel sick about that and… and soiled.”
“Darling, no, you mustn’t.” He turned in his chair and wrapped me tenderly in his arms. “I would do anything to wipe those feelings away.”
I sniffled. “I brought her to Dharma and introduced her to my family. To my mother. They welcomed that negative, destructive force into our lives. I’ll never forget the look on Guru Bob’s face…” My lips trembled.
“Oh, sweetheart,” he whispered, as he stroked my hair. “Shush now. I know, I know. It’s very painful.”
I nodded, unable to speak.
“Poor darling.” He leaned back and tilted my chin up so I could see him. “But there’s still no way in hell I’m letting you hide in that closet.”
My mouth opened, then closed.
He winked. “Nice try, though.”
Gabriel was still weak but determined to carry on with the sting. I had changed his dressing so that instead of the eight-inch-wide white sterile patch that had covered half his head the day before, he now sported a subtle two-inch-wide tan bandage.
Two hours before departure time, Gabriel had to stretch out on the couch and rest.
I took a good look at him, then glanced at Derek. “I’m concerned his strength will be gone before we ever get to BABA.”
“I’ll rally, babe,” Gabriel protested.
“You’d better,” I said. “I don’t want to give Alice the chance to finish the job she already started on you.”
He groaned. “That cuts to the core.”
“Sorry,” I said, scowling. “But your ex-wife is at the top of her game and you’re weak as a kitten.”
“The weakness might play in his favor,” Derek said.
“What?” I said. “You think you’ll appeal to her maternal side?”
“That’s what I’m counting on,” Gabriel said.
“You think she has one?” I asked.
Neither of them answered.
“I just hope the police will be close by,” I muttered. I had a lot less confidence in Alice’s maternal instincts than these two did.
“The less obvious the police presence, the better,” Gabriel said, his voice gruff. “Mary Grace can smell a cop from a mile away.”
Gabriel slept for a half hour, then showered and dressed in his best black-on-black gunslinger’s outfit. I was wiping off the kitchen bar when he walked out to the living room. I stuttered to a halt.
The man looked like something off the cover of an extremely hot romance novel, meaning he looked damned good. It just went to show that Alice wasn’t as smart as she thought she was. If I were her, I never would’ve let him go. Just saying.
Then Derek walked in from my front office wearing an old leather bomber jacket over a navy T-shirt tucked into faded jeans, his muscular thighs hard beneath the denim. I’d never seen him in such casual clothes before, so I guess you could say he caught me off guard.
My feet froze to the floor. I fumbled for the sponge. Time slowed down as he turned, saw me, and smiled. My breath rattled in my throat and my heart tumbled into a place it had never been before.
Somethin
g flickered in Derek’s eyes. He walked across the room and slid his hand around my neck, then leaned in and covered my mouth with his. The kiss was openmouthed and heart-stopping. My lower stomach tightened and my knees threatened to give in. His lips inched along my cheek-bone, planting kisses until he reached my ear. There, he whispered, “You dropped your sponge.”
I laughed in surprise and my heart began to beat again. He bent down to retrieve my sponge, smiling wickedly as he handed it back to me. After another quick, hard kiss, he moved to the dining table, where his equipment, and a grinning Gabriel, waited patiently.
While I watched, Derek wired Gabriel for sound and they tested the equipment for a few minutes longer.
All systems were go, except my own.
Overwhelmed by a flood of emotions, I walked unsteadily into the kitchen and leaned against the cool surface of the refrigerator to regroup.
So much for acting like the sophisticated urban animal I fancied myself to be. Yes, I’d gone in with both eyes wide open, knowing Derek would leave town as soon as Gunther’s stint at BABA was completed. I’d been engaged before and I’d survived the breakups just fine. Truth be told, I’d done most of the breaking up myself because I’d had no business saying yes in the first place.
But now I knew I would be losing a great big chunk of my heart when Derek left. I would miss him more than anything or anyone I’d ever missed in my life.
All this time I’d been worrying that my karma was keeping us apart, when I should’ve been worrying about my karma bringing us together. Because now he would leave and I would be a complete, miserable, slobbering mess.
I sucked in a deep breath of air and pushed myself away from the refrigerator. I couldn’t afford to think about all that right now. I had a job to do, a book to avenge, and a killer to unmask.
Chapter 20
I walked into BABA and was slammed by the wall of sound that greeted me. It rattled my nerves and made me want to turn around and go home. For a few seconds, I wondered if Naomi had hired a live band, but no. It was the same old stereo system, set to an ear-bleeding level. I could take it. I could take anything. I held my shoulders high and plunged into the crowd.
The Lies That Bind Page 23