Broken Faith

by Lois Cloarec Hart

  Lee stopped the recital of her probe into the events long enough to ask, "Rhi, have you had any recent problems with Pike and Eddie?"

  Rhi shook her head. "No, not since that time in the alley with Mrs. Khalil. I haven't even seen them around the neighbourhood much in the last few weeks."

  "Yeah, I didn't really think this was a personal vendetta, but I wanted to double check." Lee shook her head and picked up her story again. When she reached the part about checking out Gao's apartment, Rhi saw the frown on the lawyer's face, but Marika held her tongue.

  Looking directly at them, Lee said firmly, "I found two interesting things in his place. One was a handgun that is not your typical Saturday night special, and the other was notes detailing your activities back to the day you returned from Vancouver."

  Shocked, Rhi looked at Marika, who'd turned alarmingly pale. Instinctively she reached for the lawyer's hand, and she felt the long, slender fingers curl around her own as they both absorbed the startling information.

  "But why, Lee? Why would anyone follow us?" Marika asked, clearly rattled.

  "I've thought about that a lot this afternoon," Lee answered. "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but given the timing and what happened in Vancouver, I suspect it may be Cass covering the tracks of her double life."

  "Cass!?" Marika stood up abruptly, tearing her hand from Rhi's grasp and knocking her chair over backwards. "Cass tried to have Rhi killed?"

  Rhi stared in fascination, confused by the implications of some woman she didn't even know having it in for her, but even more amazed at the fury in the lawyer's face.

  Lee reached for Marika's hand, but the blonde backed away, crossing her arms over her chest. Precisely enunciating her words, she spat, "Are you telling me that Cass sent someone to kill Rhiannon?"

  "Sit down," Lee said sternly, and for a moment Rhi thought Marika would ignore her, but slowly the lawyer picked up her chair, and setting it upright, sat down again. However, the younger woman could tell by the stiffness in her friend's body that she was far from placated.

  "I don't have enough evidence to tell you that for sure, Marika," Lee stated, "but unless something else odd happened in Vancouver, the only thing that stands out about the trip is you finding out that Cass and this society woman are one and the same. What if she'd go to any lengths to ensure her secret doesn't get out?"

  "But why me?" Rhi blurted. "I've never even met the woman and I certainly couldn't identify her."

  Lee looked at her compassionately. "You could just be collateral damage control, Lady Mouse. Cass might be covering all her bases, figuring that Rika told you when she went back to her room that night."

  "I told you." Marika's voice was flat as she looked at Lee. "If my home has been bugged since we got back, someone knows that I told you everything about that night."

  "I know. I've thought about that, and I'll be watching my back," Lee assured her. "Look, whoever they are, they're going to realize that something is up because all their little toys have gone dead..."

  "Are you sure you got them all?" Marika asked bleakly.

  Rhi saw a little shudder go through her friend, and felt the same sense of revulsion that someone had invaded their privacy.

  Lee nodded. "Yeah. There's no one better at her job than Barb, and she swept this place twice just to be sure and disabled all these. You're clean; and I've got someone coming by tonight to install our best security system. Look, I want you two to be extra vigilant from now on. Grow eyes in the back of your head and use 'em. Stick together and watch each other's back. If you're going somewhere, make sure it's really public, but as much as possible, limit yourselves to going to work and coming home until I find out more about what's going on. Marika, make sure you've always got your cell phone with you and put my cell on speed dial."

  Both women nodded their understanding, and Rhi asked softly, "What happens now, Lee?"

  "Now I start to do a little digging. I want to find out what the connection is between Gao and Cass, and I want to know what rock Pike and Eddie crawled under. If I can find them, I have a feeling that with a little pressure, I can get them to squeal like a pair of piggies. I'm also going to talk to my old CO and see if he can help me out."

  Lee looked at her friends sympathetically. "We'll get through this. Don't you worry about that. I'm not going to let you down." Standing decisively, she swept the useless bits of technology into her hand and jammed them in her pocket. "Dana will be by after her shift. Will you tell her not to worry if I'm out late and that I'm working on something? She'll understand."

  Marika nodded and walked Lee to the door. Rhi watched as the big woman drew the lawyer into a hug for a long moment before making her exit.

  She rose and met the blonde halfway. They stared at each other, until Marika dropped her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

  Rhi barely heard the whispered words, but she heard the shame in her friend's voice. Wordlessly, she took Marika's hand and led her to the couch. Sinking into the thick cushions, she turned and took both the lawyer's hands in hers.

  Gently, the small woman asked, "What are you sorry for? None of this is your fault."

  Marika shook her head fiercely. "If it is Cass, then it's all my fault. My weakness could have cost your life!"

  She choked then and Rhi waited patiently for her to regain control. When the blonde calmed a bit, she said firmly, "If it is Cass, then she's the only one to blame, Rika. Not you. Not ever."

  "You don't understand," Marika protested, the agony rising again in her voice.

  "Then tell me," Rhi suggested simply.

  Unable to meet the younger woman's eyes, the lawyer stared at their linked hands. Rhi bided her time, unwilling to press Marika for more than she could handle, but certain that it was important for her friend to lance this festering boil if she was to move beyond it. She hadn't forgotten the loathing in Lee's voice when she'd described Cass as evil. She knew that if her good-natured, amiable friend felt that way about someone, she undoubtedly had good grounds for doing so. She was baffled by how Marika could have fallen into the clutches of a woman like that, and she hoped that the lawyer would find the strength within to talk everything out.

  Finally, Marika raised her head and, meeting Rhi's eyes squarely, asked, "How much do you know?"

  Rhi shrugged slightly. "Very little, actually. I know that whoever this Cass is, she's bad for you and to you. I know that Lee and Dana hate her, which means a lot in my book, but I don't know anything other than that."

  The younger woman watched her companion draw a deep breath and could almost see the blonde's resolve stiffening. She tightened her grip on the slender hands, trying to convey reassurance.

  Marika nodded her head, as if making up her mind. "It's not a pretty story, Rhi, and I don't come off very well in it."

  "I don't care," Rhi assured her.

  The lawyer gave her a wry half-smile. "You might change your mind, but you deserve to know the mess your roommate has made, especially since it now involves you."

  She considered for a moment and then began to speak. Speaking in a low but firm voice, she told Rhiannon of her life-of a bright, funny mother that spoiled her outrageously when she was drinking and who shut her daughter out when she sobered up. She spoke of the nights when she would go bring her mother home from the bars, while her father worked late at his firm. She told of going to live with her father and his new wife after her parents divorced, and of the scandal that saw her banished from the family.

  Rhi listened quietly to the dry recitation even as her heart ached for the girl this woman had been. Marika spoke briefly of the years away and the return to attend her father's alma mater in Toronto, graduating with honours, but with no one in the audience to cheer for her. She talked of coming to Calgary and meeting Lee. She didn't spare herself when she detailed the litany of failed relationships, taking full responsibility for all of them.

  "I met Cass last September. I'd gone with an acquaintance to a house party with people I didn't know. I
was feeling pretty lousy at the time, wondering if love was nothing more than a fairy tale told to gullible children, and after a few too many, I started expounding on that theory to this woman at the party. She laughed-said she knew what I needed and could give it to me without all that love nonsense."

  Marika paused and stared into the distance. Rhi waited, knowing that it was up to her friend to find the courage to face why she'd ended up with Cass.

  After a long moment, the lawyer shook her head. "I can understand why I went to her place that night, I guess, but I'll never understand why I kept going back." Anguished gray eyes met Rhi's. "Lee and Dana were right. She was bad for me. Not so much the things she did to me, but the way she made me feel."

  Softly Rhi asked, "How did she make you feel, Rika?"

  "Like the sum total of my worth was how I served her in the bedroom. Like no one would ever look at me as anything more than an available warm body, and that love was out of the question for someone like me."

  Rhi saw the growing anger in her companion's eyes and rejoiced at the sight.

  "I don't think I'll ever forgive her for making me believe that."

  With a calmness she didn't feel, Rhi sought confirmation, "So you know she lied, right?"

  Marika smiled slightly. "I didn't for a long time, but recently...yes, I know she lied and manipulated me for her own ends. I doubt that I'll ever know why I fell for it for so long. I once worked up the nerve to ask her why she kept letting me come back if she had nothing but contempt for me. She laughed and said I was an amusing bauble, then she..." The lawyer trailed off and Rhi saw a shudder run through her friend.

  "It's over, Rika," Rhi said fervently. "Put it behind you. She doesn't deserve one more thought from you."

  Shaking her head sadly, Marika pointed out, "It's not over if she's the one behind the attacks on you. You don't know, Cass. If she sets her mind to something, I don't think she'll stop." Biting her lip, she stared intently at Rhi.

  "Maybe you should get out of here. You've got lots of holiday time coming. Let me send you to the other side of the country until it's safe to come back."

  Rhi snorted. "Not likely. I don't run...especially from a bully like her. Nope, you're stuck with me." Grinning she added, "Besides, we've got Lee on our side. I'm not worried."

  Marika shook her head in affectionate exasperation. "All right, but we follow her instructions to the letter, okay? No playing Lone Ranger on me, right?"

  "I promise. I'll stick to you like glue."

  Both women smiled at that, then Marika suggested, "How about we get your new clothes put away?"

  Rhi nodded and released her friend's hands, conscious that she'd very much enjoyed holding them. As they picked up the abandoned bags and walked down the hall to the bedroom, Rhi vowed to herself that Cass would never torment Marika again.

  * * *

  Gao elbowed past the other passengers in the elevator, his usual manners eradicated by the escalating irritation of the day. Exiting onto his floor, he ignored the disgruntled murmurs that were cut off by the closing doors. Seething, he made his way to his apartment. After a fruitless day of searching, he'd had to accept that his incompetent subordinates were nowhere to be found. With them temporarily out of the picture, executing the Chameleon's orders fell back on his shoulders and he needed to make some plans.

  Entering his apartment, Gao checked his answering machine and found several messages from Perry, demanding that he call. Frowning, he placed a call to his electronic ear on the lawyer and her companion.

  "Yeah?"

  "You called. What did you want?" Gao was not pleased and was not about to waste pleasantries on the man.

  "The bugs ain't working." Perry was equally terse, but Gao could hear the tension in the man's voice.

  "What do you mean they're not working? All of them?"

  "Yeah, all of them went dead, plus the taps are out too."

  Restraining an urge to tear into Perry, Gao snapped, "When did this happen!?"

  "S'afternoon. I heard a couple of people moving around, but they wasn't talkin' or anything, and then...nothing. Couldn't hear a damned thing. You figure they found 'em all?"

  "That would be the logical assumption," Gao said coldly, chilled by the implications. "Look, when do you normally send your reports to the coast?"

  "Midnight, but the Chameleon ain't in town right now. Liang's been handling things for the last coupla days."

  Gao closed his eyes in relief. He had a brief window of reprieve if his boss was away. As long as he'd executed her orders by the time she returned, she would be less likely to hold him responsible for the break in surveillance. "All right. Be candid in tonight's report. Tell Liang that the bugs have been deactivated, but that I'm on top of the situation and the Chameleon's order will be carried out as issued. Is that clear?"

  "Yeah, okay. Did you want me to put more bugs in place?"

  Gao considered that for a moment. "No. If they have discovered them, they'll be hyper alert and you probably won't get access as easily. If the Chameleon still wants surveillance continued once her orders are carried out, then you'll have to get back in somehow."

  "Got it." Perry hung up without another word, and Gao replaced the receiver, tapping one finger on it lightly as he considered this latest turn of events. The Chameleon's original orders had been to make the hit look like an accident, but given the two failed attempts, that was virtually impossible now.

  "I do believe that more direct action is required," the slight man mused speculatively. He walked briskly to the bedroom and retrieved his gun. Quickly checking that the clip was fully loaded, he tucked it in the back of his waistband and zipped his light summer jacket half closed.

  Leaving the apartment, Gao decided that the troublesome and incompetent King brothers had officially become expendable, and he would see to that little matter after carrying out his priority orders.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  "LEE! COME IN. It's so good to see you again."

  The tall, lean man with the thick shock of white hair and piercing blue eyes came out from behind his desk with his hand extended and a broad smile on his handsome, angular face.

  "Marc," Lee acknowledged as she shook her former commander's hand. "Thank you for seeing me."

  He motioned her to a chair and settled his long frame in the one beside her. "I'm always delighted to see you again, Sarge, you know that. I'm just sorry I didn't get your message earlier. I've been away at a convention for the last few days."

  Lee smiled briefly at the invocation of her old rank, and then grew serious. "I think I may need your help, Cap'n. A couple of good friends could be in serious trouble-life threatening trouble."

  Marc frowned. "More trouble than you can handle, Lee? That doesn't sound good. Tell me what's going on and if I can help, I will."

  Inwardly sighing with relief, Lee began to lay out the details of the past week's events, beginning with the confrontation in Vancouver, the apparent attempt at a hit and run, the arson that had destroyed Rhi's home, and then the discovery that both Rhi and her boss had been shadowed since they'd returned. She glossed over how she knew the identity of their tracker, and Marc noted her omission with one raised eyebrow and an amused grin.

  When she brought up the possible involvement of Pike and Eddie King, he shook his head in disgust. "Well, there's a pair of names that are well-known to the police. Have you got anything concrete we can hang them on?"

  "Mostly hearsay and circumstantial evidence, I'm afraid. I'm pretty sure I've got enough to shake their tongues loose if I could find them, but they've gone to ground and I haven't been able to find hide nor hair of their whereabouts. That alone tells me that they're scared, because those two have never been noted for being inconspicuous."

  "No, they're not exactly the brightest bulbs in the box," Marc agreed. "In fact, let me flag their names right now in the police data banks and if they turn up anywhere, I'll know about it."

  He moved back to his desk and began
tapping commands into his computer. Studying his screen, he shook his head. "Sorry, Sarge, nothing so far, other than their records, but we can nab them on a parole violation if nothing else. If they've disappeared without notifying their PO, then that puts them in hot water right there. They're flagged now. They won't be a top priority to anyone, but if they pop up in the computer anywhere, we'll be notified."

  Lee nodded. It was a start. "Can you punch in Gao Qui-jian and see if anything comes up?"

  Marc asked for the spelling and entered the name. When the information came up, he gave a low whistle. "Jesus, what have you stumbled onto here, Sarge? This is not one of the good guys. They've never been able to pin anything serious enough on him to put him away, but the records indicate he's a longtime triad member. Appears to have worked himself up in the organization then disappeared off the radar for a while before popping up in Calgary. The Mounties' Major Crimes Unit was very interested in his arrival here, but he's been remarkably low-profile."

  Spinning his chair a bit, Marc pinned Lee with intelligent, intrigued eyes. "And you say there's some connection between him and this woman in Vancouver?"

  "Well, a lot of this is supposition, Cap'n. I'm still putting the pieces together. That's why I need to find Pike and Eddie. I'm sure they'll be the weak link to figuring this all out...and Marc, I have to figure this out before my friends get hurt." There was a note of desperation in her voice.

  He regarded her sympathetically. "What steps have you taken so far?"

  "I had a security system installed in their place..."

  Marc broke in for clarification. "They live together?"

  "For now. Marika took Rhi in when her place was burned down." The lean man nodded his understanding. "Anyway, I wanted to put a tail on Gao, but all our personnel are assigned at the moment, and I've been digging like crazy trying to find the brothers. I've got my friends taking extra precautions, and I instructed our company electronics whiz to install a GPS locator on Marika's car."