by Steve Berry
“Who was my mother seeing?” Gary asked him. “She won’t tell me much.”
“Why is it so important?” He was hoping the boy would realize that he had to give in order to receive.
“It involves my dad.” Gary paused. “Actually it involves another dad. Or birth father. Whatever you call him. My mother had an affair and I was born.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know what to think. But she lied to me and my dad for a long time.”
He’d imagined this moment since that day in the mall when he first saw Gary. He’d been involved with a lot of women. But none had ever, to his knowledge, become pregnant. He’d actually thought the time for him to be a father had passed, but Pam Malone’s admission had changed his thinking. Now here he was with an opportunity—one Pam never would have provided him. Her bitter denials alone had been enough to spur him forward. Who the hell did she think she was? He almost smiled. No failure had occurred in this operation. Everything had played out perfectly.
“Come with me,” he said to Gary.
He led the boy back toward the office. The warehouse landlord thought this was a start-up operation for a manufacturing concern, Antrim part of the advance team. So far no one had questioned anything, nor interfered, the rent paid far in advance. A restroom jutted from one side of the office, its door opening into the warehouse. He stepped inside, switched on the light, and motioned for Gary to come close.
He pointed at the mirror. “Look at your eyes. What color are they?”
“Gray. They’ve always been that.”
“Your mother’s are blue and your dad’s are green. Look at mine.”
He watched as Gary focused on his irises.
“They’re gray,” the boy said.
He said nothing and allowed the moment to sink in.
And it did.
“You’re the man my mother was seeing?”
He nodded.
Shocked filled Gary’s face. “And you didn’t know, either?”
He shook his head. “Not until that day in the mall, when I saw you. I then went to your mother’s office and confronted her and she admitted it was true.”
“She never told me that.”
“I’m afraid she didn’t want either of us to know the truth.”
“How did you manage to find me and my dad?” Gary asked. “How did we get here?”
He couldn’t tell him the truth. That he’d been watching both Gary and his mother. That he’d arranged for Malone to escort Ian Dunne to London. So he simply said, “One of those lucky breaks in life.”
Of course, he also could not say that Norse and Devene worked for him and that Gary’s “capture” had been a ruse, a way not only for father and son to connect but for Gary and Cotton Malone to both feel grateful. Of course, his men were supposed to corral Ian Dunne, too. But when Dunne ultimately fled, he’d modified the plan as a way to occupy Malone.
“I’m your birth father,” he said to Gary.
GARY DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO SAY. HE’D WRESTLED WITH THE fact that there was another man responsible for his creation, wanting to know who that was, demanding from his mother that she tell him the truth.
Now here he was.
But was it real?
His doubts must have been evident because Antrim laid a hand on his shoulder and said, “There’s a simple way to be sure. We can do a DNA test.”
“Maybe we ought to.”
“I thought you might want to do that. I have some swabs in the office. Just a swish around your cheek and we can have it done. I know a lab here in town that can do the test fast.”
“It’s only going to say what we both know, right?”
Antrim nodded. “Your face. Your eyes. Your build. They’re all mine. And your mother admitted that it was true. But I don’t want there to be any doubt.”
He was ill prepared for this. He’d come to the conclusion that he would never know the identity of his birth father.
“What do we do now?” he asked Antrim.
“Get to know each other. Neither one of us had that opportunity before.”
“But what about my dad?”
“We tell him when he gets back.”
For some reason, the prospect of that conversation bothered him. He felt awkward. Uncomfortable. Two men. Both his father.
Only in different ways.
Again, Antrim sensed his anxiety. “Don’t worry. Cotton seems like a good guy. Maybe he’ll be relieved to know, too?”
Maybe so.
ANTRIM DID HIS BEST TO CALM THE BOY’S FEARS, BUT HE HAD no intention of telling Cotton Malone anything. Prior to this moment he hadn’t made any final decisions as to what would be done after he told Gary the truth.
He’d wanted to see the boy’s reaction.
Which had been good.
He doubted there’d be room for two dads in Gary’s life. That could become awkward. But why should there be? This boy was his. Not a drop of Malone blood flowed in his veins.
One dad was plenty enough.
His real dad.
So he made a decision.
Operation King’s Deception would end.
He’d be paid his five million pounds from the Daedalus Society.
But he’d also demand one other thing.
The death of Cotton Malone.
Twenty-nine
MALONE BOLTED FOR THE DOOR, BUT STOPPED AT THE TOP OF the stairs. Just like back in Copenhagen, the flights here right-angled downward, the only difference being that instead of three there were two landings. Ian was right behind him, but Malone turned and whispered, “Stay here.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can. But Miss Mary may be in trouble and I can’t worry about you, too.”
The boy seemed to understand. “Help her.”
He pointed. “Stay put.”
A wooden rail lined both sides of the stairway. He planted a hand on each and pivoted his weight upward, easing down to the landing. He repeated the process to the next and stared down the final flight of stairs at the ground floor, into the bookstore. Fifteen wooden steps were between him and there, any one of which would announce his presence. But before he could decide on what to do, a shadow appeared below.
Then a man.
Headed onto the stairs.
He retreated into the second-floor doorway and peered past the jamb, spotting one of the men from the street coming his way. He waited until the man was halfway up, then burst from his hiding place and, using the two handrails again as pivots, hoisted his body up and slammed the soles of his shoes into the man’s face. He released his grip and fell forward, feet pounding the oak steps, legs leaping to the ground as his target hit the floor and tumbled between a row of shelves. Groggy, the man tried to stand, but a fist to the jaw sent him back down. Malone quickly searched and found a 9mm automatic.
Gun ready, he crept to the end of the shelves.
Three more rows lay between him and the counter.
“Here,” a man’s voice said. “I’m waiting for you.”
His gaze darted to the front door, which was closed. Through its glass people could be seen milling back and forth on the dark sidewalk. Someone stopped and tried the locked knob, then walked off.
He leveled the weapon and allowed it to lead the way.
At the third row of shelves he stopped and peered past.
The second man held Miss Mary from behind, a gun to her right temple.
“Nice and easy,” the man said.
He kept his weapon aimed and ready. “The point of this?”
“The flash drive.”
Who was this guy? And how did he know to be here?
“I don’t have the flash drive,” he made clear.
He kept his gun aimed.
Just one opening, that’s all he’d need to take the bastard down.
“The kid has the drive,” the man said. “Where’s the kid?”
“How do you know that?”
“I want the drive.”
“Give it to him,” Miss Mary said.
No fear laced her words.
“Do you have it?” Malone asked her.
“In the metal box. Beneath the counter.”
News to him. But what he saw in the woman’s eyes gave him comfort. She wanted him to do it.
He crept toward the counter.
The man and his captive stood at the far end, on the outside. He stepped inside and reached below, finding a metal container. With his left hand, the right one still aiming the gun, he snapped open the lid to see pounds, pennies, and pence scattered inside, along with a flash drive, the same size and shape as the one he’d read earlier.
He retrieved it.
“Toss it.”
He did.
IAN HAD MADE HIS WAY DOWN FROM THE TOP FLOOR, USING the handrails just as Malone had done. He found the bottom of the stairs and, to his right, saw a man holding a gun to Miss Mary.
The sight of her in danger frightened him.
She was the only person in the world who’d ever showed him real kindness. Never asking or expecting anything, she simply cared. Her suggestion that he sleep in her store and keep an eye on things was just her way of making sure he was out of the cold. Neither one of them ever voiced the truth, but they were both aware. Earlier, he’d returned to the mews for the plastic bag because the two books were a link to her. Seeing them reminded him of this store, her soft voice, her gentle ways. If he was to ever have a mother, he hoped she would be like Miss Mary.
He heard Malone’s voice, then Miss Mary’s, both discussing the drive in a metal box.
He smiled.
She was good.
He watched as the man with the gun told Malone to toss it, then used the moment when the man caught the drive to slip a book from the nearest shelf.
If he could catch the man off guard, Malone could act.
He gripped the book, cocked his arm, and said, “Hey, you bugger.”
MALONE HEARD IAN’S VOICE AND SAW A BOOK FLY THROUGH the air. The man with the gun raised an arm to deflect it. Malone seized the moment to re-level his weapon, but before he could fire, his target lunged left.
“Get down,” he yelled.
Miss Mary dropped to the floor.
Malone fired into the books, toward where the man had fled, careful with his aim.
Where was Ian?
He found the end of the first row of shelves and tried to spot any movement through the books toward the store’s far side. He spotted a shadow two rows over. He darted down the aisle, between the rows and the front windows, using the solid wooden ends for cover.
“Stay down,” he yelled again to Miss Mary and Ian.
At least he had the front door covered.
Then he remembered.
The stairs.
He heard footfalls pounding upward and dashed down an aisle toward the doorway that led to the upper floors. He approached with caution, keeping to one side. A quick glance past the jamb and he saw the man on the landing.
Two rounds pinged off the concrete floor a foot away.
Behind him, Miss Mary had retreated to the counter, seeking cover with Ian. Knowing they were okay, he made his move, firing a shot to clear the way, then rushing up the stairs.
He found the landing and hugged the wall beside the doorway leading into the second floor. The room beyond was empty, but a window at the far side was open. He spotted a fire escape, rushed over and glanced down, spotting the man fleeing down an dark alley behind the building.
He heard shots.
From below.
In the bookstore.
And glass shattering.
Then more gunfire.
KATHLEEN STARED INTO ANY OLD BOOKS THROUGH ONE OF ITS plate-glass windows, spotting an older woman and a young boy near the counter. To their right, amid the shelves, she saw a man coming to his feet. He bent down and lifted one pant leg to reveal a gun strapped to his leg. She reached beneath her coat for the weapon Mathews had given her and, at the same time, tried the knob to the front door.
Locked.
She kicked its wooden half, but the door held.
The man was now standing, gun in hand, advancing forward to the end of the shelves.
The woman and the boy were unaware.
She stepped back and braced her weapon.
The man saw her.
He hit the floor and she fired through the door’s glass half.
Shards crashed down.
People on the sidewalk scattered.
A woman screamed.
She searched for the man with the gun.
Gone.
Then he appeared, to her right, in another row of shelves, farther from the woman and the boy, but with a clear shot of her. She shifted left and fired again, through the opening her first round had made in the glass. The man was using the end of the shelving for cover, which seemed solid wood. His gun appeared and, as he fired, she dove to the sidewalk yelling, “Everyone get down.”
Most people had fled, some out into the street.
A few lay on the chilly pavement.
Three rounds came their way.
Others were approaching the store from behind her, seeing the commotion but unaware of what was happening.
A new surge of people crowded the sidewalk.
Somebody was going to get hurt.
Her attention returned to the store and she saw the man rushing out the door, into the crowd ahead of her.
She came to her feet and aimed.
But too many people were in the way.
MALONE DASHED BACK TO THE STAIRS AND RUSHED DOWN, stopping at the bottom. “Ian. Miss Mary.”
He heard people outside and realized that the glass in the door was gone.
“We’re here,” Miss Mary called out.
He darted toward the counter and saw that both were okay.
A new face stood ten feet away. A woman. She was maybe mid-thirties, short auburn hair, thin, attractive, wearing a beige overcoat. Her right hand held a gun, its barrel pointed to the floor.
“Who the hell are you?” he asked.
“Kathleen Richards. SOCA agent. Here on official business.”
He’d worked with the Serious Organized Crime Agency while with Justice.
“Why are you here?”
“Actually, Mr. Malone, I was hoping you could answer that question.”
Thirty
GARY WAS STILL STUNNED BY BLAKE ANTRIM’S REVELATIONS. All of the doubt that had filled him ever since his mother told him the truth had been replaced with a strange anxiety. He hadn’t had a chance to prepare himself. Instead, reality just found him.
He and Antrim were back inside the office.
“Do you want to take the DNA test?” Antrim asked him.
“I think so.”
“It’ll tell us with certainty.”
Antrim produced a sealed plastic bag that contained two vials, a swab in each. He opened the bag and swirled one of the swabs inside his cheek, then sealed it into one of the vials.
“Open up.”
Gary stood while Antrim did the same to his mouth.
“We’ll have the results by tomorrow.”
“We may not be here then.”
Which brought to mind the next uncomfortable step. Telling his dad. Or Cotton Malone. Or whatever he should call him. He suddenly realized that finding his birth father called into question the man who’d raised him all of his life.
A man entered the office.
Antrim handed over the bag with the samples and provided an address where they were to be taken.
The man nodded and left.
“We haven’t heard from your dad yet,” Antrim said. “Hopefully, he’ll find Ian Dunne.”
“What is it Ian stole?”
“The guy who died in the Underground station, Farrow Curry, worked for me. He deciphered the coded book I showed you out there. Unfortunately, he took his work with him on a flash drive that we think I
an stole. We just want it back, that’s all.”
“What does the coded book say?”
Antrim shrugged. “I don’t know. On the day Curry died he called and said he made a breakthrough. He asked that one of my men meet him at Oxford Circus. My man arrived just as Curry fell onto the tracks. He spotted Ian Dunne, with the flash drive, but lost him in the crowd.”
“How did you meet my mom?”
He truly wanted to know.
“Like I said, she and your dad were living in Germany. So was I. She was unhappy. Your father had cheated on her. She was hurt. Angry. One day, there she was, in Wiesbaden, at the produce market. We started to talk. That led to more talking and then to other things.”
“Were you married?”
Antrim shook his head. “I’ve never been married.”
“But she was.”
“I know. It was wrong. But I was much younger then. So was she. We all do things when we’re young that we regret later. I’m sure she feels the same.”
“She said something close to that, too.”
“Gary, your mother was lonely and felt betrayed. I have no idea what happened between her and … your dad. All I did was make her feel better for a little while.”
“Doesn’t seem right.”
“I can see how you’d think that. But put yourself in your mother’s shoes. Our relationship was a way for her to deal with the hurt she was feeling. Was it right? Of course not. But it happened and you’re the result. So how can it be all bad?”
“Why do you think she wouldn’t tell me about you?”
Antrim shrugged. “Probably because everything she’d say would only raise more questions. She surely doesn’t want you to think bad of her. Unfortunately, she didn’t take into account your—or my—feelings.”
No, she hadn’t.
“I don’t think she’d like it that you and I met.”
“Probably not. She made that clear to me when we spoke at her office. She never wanted us to meet. Told me to get out and not come back.”
“I don’t agree with that.”
“Neither do I.”
ANTRIM TOLD HIMSELF TO CHOOSE EVERY WORD WITH CAUTION. This was the moment when he would either win the boy over or scare him away. There was no doubt that Gary believed him to be his birth father. Having their DNA matched was a good thing for them both, but Pam had already made clear the results of that test. What he needed was for this fifteen-year-old to start questioning who was his father. The man who raised him? Or the man who provided his genes? It wasn’t Antrim’s fault that he hadn’t been a part of the boy’s life, and it seemed that Gary realized that, too.