by Kylie Brant
“Where are we going?” She spoke in English, her voice snappish. She followed him to the employee elevator, which was reserved for cargo.
“Eleventh floor. Room 1107.” He stabbed the appropriate button impatiently with a forefinger. “It’s Dajana. She’s dead.”
Xie said nothing more, even when the elevator doors closed behind them and they were assured of privacy. There was nothing to say. She’d assess the situation, and then she’d take action. It was what she had done for more than twenty years. Fix other people’s messes. It was a job she’d become quite adept at, although it was frequently wearisome.
When they arrived at room 1107 she turned to the man next to her. “Film everything.” She had to knock several times before the door was opened by Khalid, one of the assistant managers. “You must take care of this.” He yanked her into the room with a hand on her arm. Malsovic followed them inside the room silently, pulling out his cell phone. “It is a police matter. The publicity. Very bad.”
Ignoring him, Shuang looked at the overweight man sitting on the small couch, his robe revealing far more than she wanted to see of his nudity beneath. He held his head in his hands, and another man sat nearby, murmuring to him in urgent tones.
She crossed toward the bed, tilting her head to survey the scene with clinical detachment. Dajana was most certainly dead. She lay on the floor next to the bed, on her back, wearing only a wisp of black panties. Her arms and legs were splayed, her neck twisted at an odd angle. Crouching next to the body Shuang could see the tiny, ruptured capillaries in her wide staring eyes. Strangled.
Rising, she turned to approach the man on the couch. One of the Germans, she recalled suddenly. He and his friends had been in the dining room this morning. “English?”
The man who’d killed Dajana didn’t look up. His friend did. “ Ja. Yes.”
“Your friend has done a bad thing. This girl…” She waved a hand toward the body on the floor. “Her family is very powerful. They will be angry. There will be police. Jail time.”
“It was an accident. The girl…she liked to play rough. Begged for it. Hans would not hurt anyone on purpose.”
Shuang’s lip curled. But she only said, “It is a tragedy for all. I would like to help, but only money helps in situations like this. Silence is expensive.”
Hans finally raised his head. He had thick lips set in a fleshy face. His thinning hair stood on end. “You can silence the family?”
Easy enough to promise since Dajana’s people were halfway across the world. “For a price. And then there’s this mess to clean up.” She gave a wave of her hand. “But it can be done if you are willing.”
“That man.” The friend pointed at Malsovic, who was doing as she’d ordered and filming the scene. “What is he doing?”
“Protecting all of us. This agreement we have—it is an agreement, yes? Both sides are vulnerable. The one who killed the girl and the one who offers to cover it up.” After a long moment the other German nodded and looked away.
Stupidity. It was all Shuang could do not to shout at the man. Of course when they were done with the recording, she would be cut from the frames. And all that would be left was the damning shots of the dead girl and her obese killer begging for a cover up.
“How much?” This from Hans. Tears tracked down one pudgy cheek. Since they’d been absent until now Shuang could only guess that it was the thought of parting with his money, and not the dead girl that saddened him. “How much to make this all go away?”
“Fifty thousand.” The two men gaped and gasped, then jabbered together in German in hushed undertones. She walked to the window to give them time to confer. They’d agree, because they had no choice. Desperation always made for the best leverage.
Hooking a finger to pull the curtain back, she looked down at the street until she heard Hans speak. “Yes. All right. But it must be soon. No one can hear of this.”
She allowed herself one small satisfied smile before turning back toward them. “Of course. But first you make payment.”
Chapter 5
“Eve. It’s your phone.”
It wasn’t the words that roused her. It was the touch on her arm. Tiny tendrils of heat traced beneath her skin. Instinct rather than consciousness put a name to the source. She sat straight up in bed, instantly alert in a way the ping of the cell hadn’t been able to accomplish.
“What? What are you doing in here?” She looked around for the blanket. Found it clutched in her fists around her waist. Promptly drawing it to her chin, she frowned at him. “Why do you have my phone?”
“Because you weren’t answering it yourself.” His tone was amazingly patient for it being—she took the cell from him and turned it on to check the time—after one AM. “It was the alert Adam set for our answering services. Yours went off about three times in the past half hour. Didn’t you hear it?”
The message alert. Belatedly comprehension filtered in. She hadn’t heard the sound before, but she did recall Adam Raiker explaining that as an extra security precaution calls to their personal cells wouldn’t go through these phones. Instead they’d set up an alert once a voice mail was left.
Thumbing through the log she saw that he was wrong. Four alerts had sounded in the last forty-five minutes. It was odd that he’d heard the small sound when she’d stood over him the night before and had barely been able to wake him. Maybe he wasn’t sleeping especially well on the couch. Which made this moment an odd sort of déjà vu.
She started to call her cell to access the messages. Stopped to look at him. “What about the bug?”
“I jammed it before coming in here. It’s safe.”
She lost no time completing the call. Since she was on leave from DOS she doubted the messages were work related. Which left family. And phone calls in the middle of the night were never good news, regardless of whom they were from.
Listening to the last voice mail first she heard her sister Leslie’s annoyed voice. “Eve, honestly. Where on earth are you? Mother has called twice. Vincent once and now me. Father has already arrived at George Washington University Hospital. Meet us there immediately. Your tardiness is just going to upset Mother more than she already is.”
Her feet were on the floor before the message ended, bringing her face to face with Declan, who hadn’t moved. She elbowed her way past him in search of her clothes. Then checked belatedly to see what she’d worn to bed last night. Relief swept her. She was decently covered in the satin nightshirt. “My father’s been taken to the hospital.” Nerves jittered through her. If he’d ever had anything more serious than a cold, she hadn’t known about it. Not that she would. Her family wasn’t prone to share confidences.
Which made this call even more nerve-wracking. “I’ll need to get a cab.” A sudden thought struck her then, and she stopped in the midst of gathering up jeans and socks. “Do you think Shuang posted someone to watch the apartment?” They’d been followed back to it after their meeting with her yesterday, but hadn’t seen anyone when they’d ventured out for dinner.
“It’s doubtful, but we’ll slip out the back just in case. A cab would draw attention in this area, so we’ll walk a bit before calling one.”
She shook her head. “There’s no reason for you to go. If you want to get a taxi for me I’ll be perfectly fine to…” Her words trailed off when he went to the small dresser and started digging through the drawers. “What are you doing?”
“Finding you a top. Unless you were going to wear the nightshirt over those jeans.”
“Declan.” A sense of urgency was whipping her pulse. She needed to listen to the rest of the messages. Then call her mother. Maybe once she got settled in a cab…
“Eve.” He turned from the dresser and shoved a beige sweater to the top of the pile of clothes she held. “You’re perfectly capable. I get that. But there’s no way I’
d send you out alone in the middle of the night, even if we weren’t in this neighborhood. Now you can argue or you can get your pretty butt in gear, because the quicker you get dressed the quicker you can get to the hospital.”
For the space of three seconds she stared at him. “Have I mentioned my dislike for bossy men?”
His lips quirked a bit. “You’ve alluded to it. I’m sure you have a similar distaste for men who are right. And I am. Get dressed.” He went to the small bedroom closet and gathered up his own clothes. “Last one ready has to spring for coffee.”
_______
It wouldn’t occur to Declan until later that he’d witnessed a metamorphosis over the next few hours. At the time, he only noted that Eve was ready quickly, although not soon enough to get out of having to buy him coffee at the all night coffee shop where they stopped to call a cab.
Her demeanor had been calm as she’d listened to her messages and then returned calls to her family members. She hadn’t been able to reach her mother, but Declan had eavesdropped unabashedly to her side of the conversation with her siblings. Both older, he recalled her saying once. Which was odd, because she spent a great deal of her time on the phone making soothing noises and uttering reassurances.
“Has your father been sick?” The cab drew up to the emergency entrance of the hospital as he spoke.
“No. I mean…” she hesitated. “Not that I know of. My family isn’t exactly forthcoming about such things.”
She exited the cab and he thrust money at the driver before following her to the entrance. Her family must be the polar opposite of his, since most of his relatives were guilty of over-sharing. Despite the time, he found himself a bit intrigued at the prospect of learning far more about Eve that night than she’d seen fit to share with him in the days since they’d been paired on this assignment.
He caught up with her at the door, only because she’d paused to wait for him there. “I’m going to tell my family we work together, but don’t offer anything beyond that.”
“What if they press for more details?”
Her smile was wry. “They won’t.” Without further explanation she pulled the door open and entered the hospital.
The emergency room waiting area housed nearly four dozen people, which was a little surprising, given the time. He had about ten seconds to guess whether any of them were related to Eve before she headed straight for a couple in the corner who’d risen at her approach. Studying them, he could see a familial resemblance between the two, but not to Eve.
He followed more slowly, and drew close enough to hear the man say, “Honestly, Eve, it’s absolutely unfathomable that both Leslie and I beat you here. Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“I was asleep and didn’t hear it. Has Mother been out yet? Has the doctor been in to see Father?”
“We have no idea where they’ve taken him. The help in this place is absolutely deplorable, isn’t it, Vincent? Believe me, administration will hear about it when I…who’s this?”
Eve’s sister was tall and spare, towering over Eve by at least six inches. Her drab brown hair was pulled back off her face in a no-nonsense manner, and the imperious look she turned in Declan’s direction immediately had him harboring an immature urge to do something shocking.
Instead he stuck out his hand. “Declan Gallagher.” The woman gave him a bone-crushing handshake.
“Declan and I work together. He was kind enough to accompany me so I wouldn’t have to come downtown by myself.” Declan shot Eve a considering glance. It was becoming apparent that she had a gift for deception that he’d only previously guessed at. Not that she’d said anything untrue. She’d just given a purposefully false impression, and he couldn’t help wonder how often she’d done the same to him. Wonder, hell. He knew she had.
“Well thank God you had the sense for that, Savvy.” This from the man, who looked enough like Eve’s sister for Declan to be certain that he must be the brother. “I can’t count how many times I’ve told you that you need a safer neighborhood. Georgetown is getting downright seedy, at least in the area where you live.”
“Why don’t I get you both some coffee?” Eve’s tone was entirely pleasant as she ignored her brother’s words. “I know they have a kiosk around here somewhere that’s open all night. And then I’ll see if I can’t find someone to give us an update on Father’s condition. Mother said it was his heart?”
“A heart attack most likely,” Leslie said darkly, sitting down again. “He eats entirely too much red meat. For a brilliant man, he can be absolutely pigheaded about his vices.”
“Coffee would be excellent. Make mine black.” Vincent retook his seat, as well. “But you aren’t going to be able to find out more than we have. The doctor we did talk to in the emergency room was absolutely uncivil.”
Eve merely smiled and left the area. Declan looked around, intent on putting a bit of distance between himself and Eve’s family. His plans were disrupted by Eve’s sister, Leslie. “There’s an empty seat here, Mr. Gallagher. You may as well sit, at least until Eve gets back.”
The alternative would make him look churlish so, hiding his reluctance, Declan sank into the unwelcoming barely padded chair. Both of the siblings stared at him with unabashed curiosity.
Vincent spoke first. “How long have you known Eve?”
The interrogation had begun. Declan settled back, hooked one ankle across his knee and sipped at his coffee. “Not long. This is the first time I’ve worked with her.”
“So how did you come to be available to accompany her this evening?”
Comprehension dawned. Vincent Larrison was playing the heavy-handed big brother. The fact that Eve was… The thought fractured when it occurred to Declan that he had no idea how old she was. But apparently her age was far beyond her high schooler looks, given her occupation. Too old for this degree of meddling. He wanted to believe that in similar circumstances he’d refrain from a similar line of questioning, although his stepsister Eugenia might disagree. “We live quite close to each other currently.” Being able to hand the man a truth that was also misleading was oddly entertaining. “It was no inconvenience.”
“Yes. Well.” Obviously the man wasn’t satisfied. “It’s unfortunate that you had to be bothered. Eve can catch a cab from the hospital safely enough.” His smile looked as though it pained him. “We appreciate your efforts, but there’s no need for you to miss more sleep.”
Holding up his to-go cup, Declan said, “Too late for that, I’m afraid. Once I’ve had caffeine I’m up for the duration. I may as well give her a ride back. I won’t sleep anyway.” It didn’t escape him that Eve’s older brother wasn’t professing a desire to take her home later himself.
From then on the two decided to ignore him and focused on conversing among themselves. Work talk, Declan surmised. And whatever their careers were they sounded wearisomely boring. He listened with half an ear, grateful that the short-lived interrogation had died with a whimper. The others in the waiting room proved to be more interesting than the couple at his side. Especially the drunk and bloody Santa Claus in the chair next to his who was nursing a head wound and loudly proclaiming to everyone in the vicinity that he’d sustained the injury fighting off the thieving bastard who’d stolen his sleigh.
It was a good hour before Eve returned, and if anything the ranks of those in the waiting room had swelled. Declan got to his feet as she arrived, more than a little grateful to have a reason to give up his seat.
Steam rolled off the cups she was holding. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I was able to speak to Mother and to the doctor overseeing Father’s care.”
“What?” Vincent took the cup she offered and took a cautious sip. “How did you find them? Leslie and I met with nothing but obstacles when we asked to be taken to them. And the people manning this place,” he gestured to the waiting room contemptuously, “either can�
��t or won’t update us.”
Carefully Eve handed the remaining cup to her sister. She must have finished her own earlier. To Declan’s discerning eye, she looked like the past hour had been a trying one. “Father is likely suffering from some unstable angina…”
“I knew it.” interrupted Leslie grimly. “As many times as I warned him about his dietary habits…”
“Oh for heaven’s sakes, Leslie, angina isn’t the same as a heart attack.” Vincent complained wearily.
“It’s symptomatic of underlying coronary heart disease,” the woman disputed. Declan thought rather uncharitably that when she looked down her nose like that she bore an unfortunate resemblance to a stork.
“Which is exactly why the doctor ordered an EKG,” put in Eve smoothly. He was beginning to realize why she looked so tired. If her mother were as difficult to deal with as these two, the intervening hour of her absence had been a trying one.
Her sister took a large gulp of coffee. “Some people with angina have normal EKGs. I’m a doctor. I should speak to the consulting physician myself.”
“You haven’t practiced medicine for ten years,” her brother scoffed.
“In my research…” the woman began.
“…cancer research, not cardio…” he interrupted, his tone rising.
Declan looked on with something akin to awe. This was beginning to be every bit as entertaining as drunk Santa, at least since the costumed man had fallen asleep. Although the two were not yet near as combative as his family could be whenever all of them were in close proximity. There had not yet been blows exchanged nor a bout of theatrical weeping.
“As it happens, Father’s doctor said the exact same thing.” Eve didn’t pitch her voice above her siblings, but somehow her even tones got their attention regardless. “He’s also had a chest x-ray and neither test will be interpreted until tomorrow. Then a full plan for treatment will be suggested. When I saw him he was dozing, and Mother was preparing to sleep in his room. If you want to see them, I have the room number and can take you there. But we should go quickly.”