by Gini Koch
“No. Why would I go to the bus station, ever?”
“Pardon me for sullying your pristine reputation. So, where the hell did you hide these instructions from a mysterious person that you both believed and obeyed?” I’d worry about why he was so stupid later. Like once I’d found this information later. If it was real, we had the means to be able to have a hope of tracking where, and possibly who, it came from.
“I kept it at work.”
“Your office?”
“No, I’ve been free—” Eugene was interrupted by two things. The first was the shriek of a Peregrine that appeared between us and shoved me just a little to the right.
The second was the arrival of a bullet through his brain.
CHAPTER 30
AS BLOOD SPLATTERED, Prince slammed into me and George the Peregrine. I went down, to be quickly covered by Hughes throwing himself on me and, by association, the animals.
Men were shouting, and I heard more shots being fired along with the van doors being slammed shut, even though the shots didn’t appear to be coming toward the van. Anymore.
“You okay, Kitty?” Hughes asked.
“Yeah. Can we get up yet?”
“No,” Walker replied. “You stay down. Matt, stay on top of her.” He sounded tense. Couldn’t blame him.
“That bullet was meant for me, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Walker said. “I think it was. Good thing the Peregrine showed up when it did.”
Gave George a nice scritchy-scratch between his wings and petted Prince while we all lay on the floor of the van. A lot of things were running through my mind, not the least of which being that I had a really good guess as to who’d just shot Eugene: Raul the Assassin with a Grudge.
This line of reasoning raised many more questions than it answered, of course. Like where were the Dingo and Surly Vic, what was really going on, and what was the rest of the sentence Eugene was going to speak? I was most interested in the last one, since it was the only way to find whatever he’d been sent.
The shooting stopped. Someone banged on the van three times. Hughes got off me. “The shooter might have been aiming for both of you,” he said as he helped me up.
“Yeah.” Walker was examining the part of the van behind what was left of Eugene’s head. I pointedly looked at the big hole in the metal, versus the big hole in Eugene. Realized that I’d sort of asked for Eugene to be executed in the public square and this had been pretty close to matching my request. “I think it was an armor-piercing bullet, meaning it would have gone through Kitty and into Montgomery here, too.”
“Intentional double-duty or just didn’t care about who else got killed?”
“Depends on who hired him,” Hughes said. “I mean, we all agree this was the work of a professional, right?”
“Seems like it to me.” Hoped this was noncommittal enough that neither one would ask the obvious question.
“Which assassin that’s tried to kill you before do you think did this, Kitty?” Walker asked.
So much for noncommittal. “Tell you guys later when we do the team debrief I just know we’re going to have.” Looked down at my dress. Sure enough, there was blood and dirt all over it. “My dress is ruined.”
That said, I burst into tears.
The van doors opened and someone had their arms around me in record time. “I’ll take it from here,” Jeff said as he picked me up. “One of you take the dog and get him inside the Embassy safely. The bird can take care of itself I’m sure.”
I buried my face in Jeff’s neck as he zipped us out of the van and into the Embassy. At least I assumed that’s what he was doing. I was too busy crying like a baby. Though Jamie rarely cried like this, truth be told.
Heard a door close and lock. Jeff sat down with me in his lap. “We’re back in the bathroom, baby.” He cleared his throat. “And the bird’s still with us.”
“Good.” Maybe I could wash my face and attempt to not look like a bright red Christmas ornament. “George is just making sure we’re really okay. How’d you know to come get me?”
“One of the other Peregrines showed up and started pecking at me while a couple Poofs did their jump up and down and mew in an authoritative manner thing.”
“You can understand them now?”
“No. I just figure that when the animals are acting up like that, it has something to do with you being in trouble. So far, the theory’s never been wrong.” He hugged me. “Thank God you’re okay.”
“I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“I do. It’s been a hell of a day. Who was the killer aiming for, you or Eugene?”
“Matt, Chip, and I think it was me or both of us, based on the bullet being used. I think the shooter was Raul, by the way.”
“Makes sense. Nice to see your supposed ‘uncle’ was on the job.” Jeff’s sarcasm knob was definitely turned to eleven.
“Who knows what’s really going on? Not me.” Pulled my face out of his neck and pulled myself together as much as I could as I sat up. Harlie and Poofikins appeared in my lap and started purring. Having the Poofs there helped a lot. Having Jeff hugging me helped more. “I’m a mess, aren’t I?”
“You’re always the most beautiful girl in the galaxy to me, baby.” Then Jeff kissed me deeply. His kiss always drove everything else from my mind, and I enjoyed it for the kiss itself and the momentary removal of worry about anything else other than getting naked as fast as possible.
Jeff ended our kiss slowly. “We still have lots to do tonight, baby. With this attack, Richard’s worried even more about our people at the hospital, and I am, too.”
“You two need to get over there. I got some information from Eugene, but he was killed before he could give me all of it.”
“Nice to see our luck remains consistent.” Jeff hugged me again. “I don’t want to leave you alone here.”
Shook my head. “I’m inside the Embassy now. No sniper’s going to shoot in here, and I’ll stay away from windows.” Put the Poofs gently onto the couch, gave George another scritchy-scratch, got up, and washed my face with cold water. It helped a little. Focused on the nice fluffy towels we had as I used one to dry my face. We really didn’t have time for me to go Basket Case on everyone.
Took a deep breath, let it out slowly. Felt a little more in control, but I still looked like I’d been crying. Fine. I’d looked worse.
There was a knock on the bathroom door. Jeff looked at me, I nodded, and he opened the door. White came in. “I approve of this as our new office. That way, no one can claim needing to use the facilities to get out of a boring briefing session.”
I burst into laughter. “Thanks, Richard. What’s up, you heading over to the hospital?”
“Yes, because there’s now another body going over. The SWAT team has declared the area devoid of snipers, so I’m going over with Airborne and the entire K-9 division, which should provide me with more than enough protection. Jeffrey, you need to stay with my partner and take care of her until I’m back.”
Jeff grinned. “Yes, sir, Uncle Richard.”
White came over and hugged me. “Anything I should know before we go? Other than the fact that, apparently, Raul is a sneakier person than the Dingo expects.”
“Or he has help the Dingo doesn’t.” Heaved a sigh. “Eugene got orders telling him Brewer was a robot. Robot, not android, by the way. If we can find those papers, then we can maybe figure out who put Eugene into La Femme Nikita Mode. He said they weren’t at his home to protect Lydia. I asked about other places. He said he kept them at work, but not his real office. He was mid-word when he was . . .”
“Regardless of what he thought he was doing, he murdered someone, and tried to murder someone else, without doing due diligence,” White said gently. “That he’s dead instead of you is a blessing. What word was he saying?”
“He said he was free and then bam, George knocked me back and Eugene was dead.”
“Was he working for free?” Jeff asked. “As in,
volunteering somewhere?”
“No, he didn’t make it sound like that. We’ll figure it out, I’m sure. I’m still shaken up, so my Megalomaniac Girl skills aren’t kicking in.”
“I’m happier than I can say that your Doctor Doolittle skills were in top form,” Jeff said, as he gave George a pat.
“Well, as you said, we’ll figure it out,” White said with calm confidence. He hugged me again. “I’m going to ensure that all our personnel are brought safely home, and as soon as possible. I believe we want everyone safely tucked away.”
“Speaking of which, where’s Christopher, does anyone know?”
White and Jeff both shook their heads. “I haven’t picked him up at all,” Jeff said. “So I think he’s still in the tunnels. I sent him the news that Buchanan appeared to have made the decision to go underground, but I haven’t heard back, so I don’t know if he got it or not.”
“If he’s not back by the time I return from the hospital, we’ll worry,” White said. “Otherwise, he’s a big boy and, frankly, quite competent enough to dispatch anyone or anything he might need to.”
“He likes getting to cut loose,” Jeff added. “We get to do it so infrequently now.”
Chose not to voice any worries. Because I could tell both men were saying these things so they could hide the fact that they were worried. “You’re right. Christopher will be fine.” Chose also to not mention that the last time someone had disappeared, Jeff and Chuckie were gone for far too long a time.
White kissed my cheek, gave Jeff a hug, and zipped off.
“Ready to leave the bathroom, baby?”
“In a second. George, Harlie, can you two please ensure we have at least a couple Peregrines and some Poofs going with Richard in Stealth Mode?”
Harlie mewed and George squawked and did the head bob thing.
“Oh, good initiative!”
Jeff sighed. “Translation?”
“Samson, who is Richard’s Peregrine, is with him, as are his Poof and several others. Poofs are already at the hospital because they’re with their people, so we’re good. Everyone’s on high alert, so to speak.”
“Good.” Harlie and George both turned and looked at Jeff. “Err, good jobs, everyone.” Harlie purred, George squawked in a friendly manner. “You’re, ah, welcome.”
“See? You can get what they mean. So, let’s head upstairs and see what Hacker International thinks of the bug in my purse.”
CHAPTER 31
OF COURSE, it wasn’t that easy. We had to work our way through our party guests who were finally being allowed to leave, albeit slowly.
Security had a system going—the elevators were off and all guests were being filtered down one set of stairs only, with A-Cs posted everywhere along the way. We found Abigail at the stairwell on the second floor, checking guests off a master list, and talking into a Bluetooth.
She halted the flow of people trying to leave to give me a big hug. “Hang in there, Kitty. Sis and Michael are downstairs, verifying that whoever I say has come past me is also going past them, no more, no less.”
“Where’d you score the headset?”
“Came down from upstairs,” she said with a grin. I knew she meant Hacker International. “Chuck’s handling the third floor, by the way, same verification system.” She looked away from me. “Yes. Yes, the Ambassadors are coming upstairs. Good.” She looked back. “Chuck’s holding the rest so that when this group passes, you two can go up without a problem.”
“No,” Jeff said. “Let our guests leave first.” This earned him big smiles from the people who were nearest on the stairs.
Abigail shared the news, and the guests began moving down again.
On the plus side, my looking like a wreck who’d been crying was actually taken as a show of how distraught we were over Reyes’ death and the party being pretty much destroyed. Since we were actually distraught, this was a good thing. Most people were incredibly kind and supportive, and more of them took the time to pause and talk to us than I’d have figured.
We’d had a lot of guests, so this took some time. I used said time to calm down, so by the time the last couple had hugged me, shaken Jeff’s hand, told us they’d loved the party and it wasn’t our fault someone had gone insane during dinner, and then said in a while it would be a great story to tell albeit with a sad ending, I felt in control enough to be able to think and do my mind meld with the psychopaths.
Which was good, because among those guests who were refusing to leave were the Cabal of Evil.
Abigail had warned us that there were several guests who weren’t going to budge until we were back on the third floor, so it wasn’t a total shock to see the remains of the Cabal sitting around. Villanova and Whitmore were with them—I’d wondered if they’d hung around with the rest because of their former android significant others, but clearly they were happy to continue filling in the Cabal’s ranks. Lucky us.
The McMillans and the Israeli ambassador and her husband had also remained, along with the folks I’d expected to see here—my parents, Andrei, the rest of our Embassy staff, Cliff, Reader, and Gower.
Andrei and the Israelis weren’t going anywhere until we got up to the fifth floor. So that meant getting rid of the Cabal. Easier said than done. Especially when Reader and Andrei pulled Jeff into another discussion with Alpha Team, Cliff, Chuckie, and Senators McMillan and Armstrong. Even though I was technically part of Alpha Team, I was pointedly asked to deal with everyone else so the powwow wouldn’t be interrupted. Always the way.
Of course, Lydia was a mess. Someone had advised her that Eugene had been shot and she was alternating between ranting about inefficient police and sobbing on Gadoire’s ready shoulder. Apparently she was also Pepé Le Pew’s type. I wasn’t flattered.
Vance came over to me. “Told you something was going down,” he said in a low voice.
“Did you know what Eugene was up to?”
“No, but I don’t think he and Santiago are the first to die mysteriously and I doubt they’ll be the last.”
Again, it struck me that Vance, for all his odiousness, was a hell of a lot smarter and more intuitive than I, or anyone else, would give him credit for. “Duly noted.”
He sighed. “Look, Kitty, I know we got off to a terrible start way back when. I pretend to Guy that we always got along, but I’m not stupid—I know you hated me in the Washington Wife class, and I can’t blame you. At all. But I really hope my standing by you when those pictures arrived shows that I consider and want you as a friend.”
“Thanks. I think.” The fact that I’d handled the pictures without Vance’s assistance wasn’t really the point. He and Gadoire really had come to support and help out, and, in a town like this, that probably meant more than him being a complete twit when we’d first met.
“I know there’s more going on. Guy thinks I’m crazy, and I’m afraid to talk to too many people about what I’m putting together, for a lot of reasons. I’ve seen what you and your friends and family accomplish. I think I’ve seen a bigger picture than anyone’s paying attention to. I want to help, and I want to stay alive. Near as I can tell, teaming up with you will be the best way to achieve both.”
“Oh, I don’t think we do that much,” I lied.
Vance gave me a look I could only think of as snide. “Right. And your husband’s not the hottest thing on two legs, either, right?” He shook his head. “I’m smarter than I act. You of all people should be able to relate to that.”
“Fine, fine. You win. While I try not to be offended about your most recent insinuation, would you mind hanging out here for a while, even if the others leave?”
“Sure. I think Guy’s going to have to take Lydia home anyway, and I’d rather miss all her hysterics if I can.”
“I hear you on that.” Realized what I’d said. “I mean, I feel awful for her, but there’s a lot going on.”
“I don’t care for her much either,” Vance said with a grin. “She’s nice enough, but there’s so
mething about her that rubs me the wrong way. Anyway, anything I can help you with while I wait?”
“Help me get the rest of your gang to leave.”
“They won’t until they’ve talked to you and ensured you still think they’re your best friends forever.” This was said with an incredible amount of sarcasm, at least nine on the scale of ten. With very little effort, it was clear Vance could turn his sarcasm up to eleven. Maybe, despite all the prior evidence, he was one of us.
Or he was playing me. Only one way to really find out. “Okay, I need to do something upstairs. Can you stall everyone or entertain them or whatever until I’m back?”
“Sure, what excuse do you want? Checking on the baby isn’t going to fly because we all know your kids are off-site.”
Interesting. Wondered how much else everyone knew. Figured I was keeping Vance around partly to find out. “Just say that I had to calm some things down upstairs and check on the Romanian ambassador’s wife, to make sure she’s feeling well.”
“Sounds good.” Vance headed for the rest of the Cabal, and I slipped off to the stairs. No one tried to stop me. Wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Like so many other things, tabled for later.
“Where are you going, kitten?” Mom’s voice was behind me on the stairs. She sounded tired, pissed, and resigned. Okay, so no one had tried to stop me in an obvious way.
Stopped and turned. She was on the landing. “Handling some stuff. You want to come?”
“Do I?” It wasn’t asked sarcastically. Mom was giving me the chance to choose to give her plausible deniability or ask for backup.
“Nah. Just checking on Olga and Mona.”
Mom smiled. “That’s my girl.”
She went back to the others; I used the slow hyperspeed and went up. Time to visit Hacker International and get at least one of the million answers we needed.
CHAPTER 32
HACKER INTERNATIONAL CONSISTED of the five best hackers worldwide. They all had other talents, too, and were pretty much Best in Show for anything scientific or similar they were interested in, including alien linguistics and reverse engineering.