I stumbled across the room and fell back into bed for the umpteenth time.
True to his word, Kane woke me for a shift change around four-thirty A.M. I’d been secretly hoping he’d play the white knight and let me sleep, but apparently my new status as an agent exempted me from any such chivalrous behaviour.
By the time he relieved me in the back yard at seven, I was so tired I wouldn’t have noticed an entire platoon of evil bombers even if they’d surrounded me and sung a rousing chorus of ‘Another One Bites the Dust’.
Feeling marginally more human after a long hot shower, I sleepwalked down the hall, following the delicious aroma emanating from the kitchen.
Fortunately, I had insufficient energy left for shock and horror when I turned the corner.
Lurene’s considerable assets overflowed a red satin corset with matching string-bikini bottoms and garters. She had finished the ensemble with a sheer, marabou-trimmed negligee, black stockings, and red spike-heeled marabou mules, and the overall effect was… festive.
Yeah, that was it. Festive.
I smothered a yawn and wished her good morning. She turned to greet me and shot a glance down the hallway.
“Your big hot hunk of man’s out sitting in the back garden,” she informed me. She leaned closer, eyes sparkling. “Honey-pie, what did you do to that poor man last night? He looks like he got hog-tied and dragged through a thornbush.”
I slumped into a chair and massaged my aching temples. “Nothing.”
“Nothing!” She threw up her hands. “I don’t mean to be rude, sugar, but the two of y’all were shaking the whole house. Why, I thought your bed was going to come right on through the wall, y’all were going at it so hard.”
“Look who’s talking,” I mumbled before I could stop myself.
Lurene let out a guffaw that rattled the chandelier and flung her arms around me. I was trying to extract myself from tickly feathers and smothering cleavage when she let go and bellowed another laugh.
“Honey-bun, y’all are the best thing that ever happened to my sex life! That Winston was an animal last night. I haven’t had sex that good since our honeymoon! When y’all started up next door, it was like he was eighteen again. Lord-a-mercy!” She fanned herself, giggling.
“Great,” I muttered. “That’s great.”
Lurene swooped close again with her confidential growl. “Did you get any sleep at all last night?”
“Couple of hours.”
“Oh, my heavens, honey, no wonder you look like something the cat dragged in. Here, you start with this. Build up your strength.”
She slipped a dish onto the placemat in front of me, and the mouthwatering scent of peaches made me sit up straighter. When I dug into the concoction, it turned out to be a sort of fluffy creampuff affair, not too sweet and thoroughly delicious.
I was gobbling enthusiastically when Lurene returned to her interrogation. “Is Big John really hung like a horse?”
It was hard to be mad at her with a mouthful of creamy, peachy heaven. “What do you think?” I mumbled, and stuffed in another spoonful.
“Ooooh!” Her hands fluttered in salacious approval. “You lucky, lucky girl!” When I didn’t respond, her brows drew together as she apparently thought it through. Her voice dropped to as near a whisper as a gravel-crusher can manage. “Oh, honeybunch, you did him all night long? How can you even walk?”
I gave up any hope of dignity or privacy. “I’m a professional.”
Chapter 37
I was zipping up my suitcase when Kane tapped on the open door and stuck his head in my room. “Ready for your public appearance?”
“Oh, God, now what?”
He slipped inside and swung the door shut behind him. “I called the local newspaper and television station and gave them an anonymous tip that Arlene Cherry was staying at this B & B after her motel room was bombed. That’ll stir up some media excitement, and we’ll tell the reporters we’re leaving Macon for good. That way our bomber will know we’re gone and Lurene and Winston will be safe.”
I blew out a breath of relief. “I was worrying about that. Good thinking.”
“Well, Ms. Cherry?” He shot me a wicked grin. “Are you sure you don’t want to dress up for your public? How about a red corset and high heels?”
“Dream on.”
When we emerged onto the verandah, I was relieved to see only a small handful of reporters and cameras. Macon wasn’t a big place, and Kane hadn’t given them much advance notice.
I had only taken a few steps when a camera and microphone were shoved in my face. “Miss Cherry, what a shocking near miss for you! Tell us how you feel!”
Kane’s powerful arm closed around me as he pressed us slowly toward the waiting taxi. “Ms. Cherry is thankful for her escape, but deeply saddened by the death of the motel manager,” he said smoothly.
“Who’s trying to kill you?”
We progressed a few more steps toward freedom as Kane answered again. “Investigators have determined the explosion was caused by a gas leak. It was definitely not a deliberate attempt on Ms. Cherry’s life.”
I had to admire his deviousness. Tell them about a bomb in an anonymous tip and then deny it in person. Great way to stir up controversy.
We managed a few more steps.
“Miss Cherry, Miss Cherry! Were you doing a shoot here in Macon? What are your plans?”
We gained the taxi, and I stuffed my suitcase inside and clambered after it while Kane dealt with the reporter. “Ms. Cherry is not at liberty to discuss her current projects, but a prior commitment requires her to leave Macon this morning.”
“Yoo-hooo!” Lurene’s booming voice made the reporters glance toward her, and jaws dropped at the sight of her outfit.
Somebody muttered, “Holy sh…”, and a couple of cameras swung in Lurene’s direction. Kane seized the opportunity to slide into the taxi beside me.
“Go,” he said to the cab driver.
As we pulled away, Lurene’s voice drifted faintly through the open window. “Let me tell y’all, having Arlene Cherry staying here was just…”
One news van pursued us all the way to the airport. The reporter caught up to us as we got out of the cab, but Kane simply said, “Ms. Cherry has no further comment,” and kept repeating, “No comment,” as we strode through the airport. At the security area, he guided me briskly inside before sidestepping rapidly to stand around the corner, just out of sight of the camera crew.
The security guard descended on us immediately, but after a short, inaudible conversation with Kane, he returned to his post and ignored us while we stood leaning against the wall.
Several minutes later, he nodded in our direction, and Kane straightened and returned a nod of gratitude. “Let’s go,” he said.
“They’re gone?”
“Yes. This isn’t exactly Hollywood.”
“Thank God.”
We emerged warily, but nobody paid any attention to us while we walked back out of the airport and got in another taxi.
I shot an anxious glance at my watch. “Shit, we have to be back here at eleven, and I still wanted some time to check out the network.”
When we walked into the reception area, Candy’s sunny smile was nowhere to be seen. “What’s wrong?” I demanded, dread rising in my heart as I took in her reddened eyes and trembling hands.
“Oh, Ms. Widdenback,” she whispered. “Everything’s wrong. Dr. Cartwright passed on yesterday. They couldn’t save him.” She sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with a balled-up tissue.
“Oh, Candy, I’m sorry,” I said. “He seemed like a nice man.”
“I don’t know how we’ll go on without him,” she quavered. “He’s… He had been here since… forever. Decades. And Betty… she needs him now, so much…” She pulled a fresh tissue from the box on her desk and held it to her eyes for a moment before straightening.
“I’m sorry,” she said tremulously. “I don’t mean to be such a mess. We’re so grateful
to y’all for what you’re doing for Betty. I can’t tell you what it means to her family that total strangers would pay for her trip all the way up to Canada, and for all her treatment at your hospital, too.”
Comprehension kicked my gut, and I forced my suddenly stiff lips to curve upward. “We’ll do our best to help her. When will she be leaving?”
Candy returned a watery smile. “That nice Mr. Stemp made all the arrangements, and they came for her first thing this morning. She’s already on her way.”
“Oh… good…” I turned away before she could read my face and sank into one of the chairs. Stemp’s voice pounded in my brain like a mocking echo. ‘I’ll deal with it.’ My rich breakfast churned in my stomach.
“Arlene?” Kane stooped, frowning. “Are you all right?”
“Just… give me a minute…”
Stemp had abducted Betty. Right under the noses of her co-workers and family. Goddamn him, if he arranged for an “accident” for her, I’d kill him with my own hands. Walk right into his office and shoot him between his snake eyes. Send him straight to hell where he could burn for all eternity.
“You’re white as a sheet. Do you feel faint?” Kane’s warm hand smoothed the hair back from my damp forehead. “Put your head between your knees.”
“No… I’m okay.”
I’d stop him somehow. I’d find a way. Cassandra would get her grandmother back, dammit.
A few more deep breaths won the battle with breakfast, and I braced trembling hands on my knees to straighten.
“Ms. Widdenback…?” Candy’s quaver made me turn to see her tear-stained face hovering anxiously beside my chair. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Widdenback, but there’s an urgent call for you. He says he has to speak with you immediately.”
Kane’s head snapped up, his gaze boring into me.
My overloaded adrenal system slammed into top gear again. “Where can I take it?”
“I’ll take you to one of the offices.”
I hauled myself up, and Kane placed a firm hand under my elbow as I tottered forward. Candy eyed him uncertainly. “The caller said it was confidential.”
“Kane stays with me,” I snapped. No way Robert was getting another chance to divide and conquer.
When we were seated in the small office, Candy withdrew, swinging the door shut behind her.
Kane met my eyes over the desk. “Do you want me to listen in?”
“No. Definitely not. I just didn’t want you out of my sight in case this was another attempt to keep me occupied while he takes you out.”
He nodded and rose to lean against the far corner of the room while I picked up the receiver.
“Hello?” My voice shook despite myself.
“Aydan, it’s Sam. Are you alone?”
“What? Why are you calling me? Why don’t we just-”
“Are you alone?” His voice rose shrill and trembling.
I shot a frown at Kane. “No.”
“Aydan, I have to talk to you alone! I told Candy it had to be alone!”
“Calm down. Hang on.” I pressed the receiver against my chest while I stared into middle distance, frowning.
What the hell was Sam all worked up about, and why was he calling me instead of simply sitting down in a meeting? What could he possibly need to tell me that he couldn’t divulge in front of Kane? I briefly considered asking Kane to wait outside, but thought better of it. I couldn’t give Robert another opportunity.
“Okay, I’m alone, go ahead,” I lied.
“They’re trying to kill us!” Sam sounded frantic.
“Wha…? Who? What us?”
“You and me! That bomb last night was meant to kill you and me!”
“What? You weren’t even there.”
“No, I’m sorry I didn’t show up, I just, when I reported about Bert they told me not to talk to you, but I said I was going to your motel anyway, but then I thought better of it and told you to meet at the coffee shop, but I chickened out, but I couldn’t get a message to you, and thank God you weren’t in the motel, I was just sick when I heard somebody had died…” He wheezed in a breath. “It had to be one of them, they’re the only ones I told. We have to run, they’re going to kill us-”
“Stop! Slow down. Tell me who ‘they’ is.”
“The nights.”
“No, tell me who you’re talking about.”
“I am! The nights! The nights of Sirius!”
“What the hell…”
“Nights! K-N-I-G-H-T-S! Knights of Sirius!”
I squeezed my aching eyes shut. “Who the hell are they?”
“We, actually. We’re the Knights.”
I took a deep breath and held my voice very calm and level. “Explain.”
“There were eight of us originally, but now Bert and Ivan and Gus are dead and Magnolia and Sunflower and Tulip, and Terry is offline now so maybe he’s the one trying to kill us. I thought he was my best friend but-”
“Stop. What’s his full name?”
“Terry Sherman. He’s the Chinese knight. And Plum Blossom is missing, too.”
“What the fuck?”
“Aydan, there’s no time, I’m at a pay phone and I don’t dare talk too long-”
“Then make it count,” I snapped. “Start from the beginning.”
“There were eight of us at M.I.T. in 1961 and we decided we could bring about world peace by, uh, sharing information so when we developed the brainwave driven network we split up and set up in eight different countries and used the mages to find what we needed and get it to the right ears but the mages didn’t know, you weren’t supposed to know, you were always supposed to be with a knight, you have to stop killing the ghosts, you’re killing us-”
“Stop!” I could hear him wheezing on the other end of the line while my exhausted mind tried to sort out the deluge of information. “What-” I began, but he interrupted.
“I don’t even care so much about myself anymore, I’m an old man now, but you need to save yourself. He knows exactly who you are and where you live and all about your cover identity. You need to find him and stop him, or change your name, change your appearance, run and keep on running. And don’t tell anybody about this, especially not Kane or Stemp.”
“But how the hell am I supposed to-”
He sucked in another sibilant breath and kept talking over me. “I was an idealistic young fool, and now I’m an idealistic old fool. You have to believe, everything I’ve done, I did with the best of intentions. One of the Knights has betrayed the sacred quest for the sake of his own profit. If you can stop him, you’ll save the world, and us in the process.”
The line went dead in my ear.
I let the receiver sink slowly to my lap while I stared at the wall without seeing it.
“Aydan?” Kane’s voice startled me and I shushed him, trying to force my mushy brain to remember Sam’s exact words. Dammit, why couldn’t I have Hellhound’s photographic memory? None of that gibberish had made sense, but if I could just remember it, I might be able to figure it out later.
Knights and mages and sacred quests? Was he talking in some kind of code? And he wants me to save the world?
Well, hell, no problem. It’s not like I need to know what I’m saving the world from. And hey, it’s only saving the world, right? How hard could it be?
I groaned aloud and thumped the receiver against my forehead.
Chapter 38
When I looked up, Kane was eyeing me with concern.
“That didn’t sound promising,” he said.
“And you’re a master of understatement.” I blew out a long breath and unclenched my fingers from around the telephone receiver.
“Is there anything you want to tell me?”
“Not at the moment.” I scowled at my watch. “I have exactly twenty minutes to spend in the network. Dammit!”
When I tried to rise, my shaking legs barely held my weight. Kane was at my side in an instant.
“Sit,” he commanded, and lower
ed me back into the chair before squatting in front of me to meet my eyes. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
I shot a glance around the room, and he extracted the scanner from his pocket, holding it up to show its glowing green light.
I leaned closer to whisper. “Stemp’s going to kill Betty. He just abducted her, and he’ll kill her, that bastard. We have to stop him.”
Kane frowned. “Why would he do that?”
“Because she knows everything I know, and I was goddamn stupid enough to report her as a security risk to Stemp last night.” I knotted shaking fists in my hair. “Why the hell did I trust him? He’s going to kill her, and it’s all my fault…”
“Aydan, I don’t think he’d do that,” Kane interrupted.
“Are you kidding me? He’d murder his own grandmother!”
Kane’s troubled grey gaze held mine. “I don’t believe Stemp would kill Betty. I know you don’t like or trust him, but in all the time he’s been director, he’s only given a kill order twice. I’ve seen him take dangerous risks to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. He won’t hesitate to act if it’s necessary, but I really don’t think he’d kill an innocent woman.”
I tried to let his words comfort me. “He’d better not, or I swear to God I’ll kill him with my own hands.”
“Aydan…”
I shook off Kane’s cautioning hand. “We have to get into the network. We’re running out of time.”
Precious minutes ticked away while Candy tried to find someone with the authority to issue me a network fob. “I’m sorry,” she stammered. “Dr. Kraus hasn’t come in yet, and Dr. Cartwright…” She trailed off with a helpless gesture.
“Don’t worry,” Kane reassured her. “It wasn’t that important. May we use one of the offices for a few minutes? We just have to make a few phone calls, and then we need to leave to catch our flight.”
I shot him a ferocious glare behind Candy’s retreating back. I really needed to get into the damn network. He returned an almost-invisible wink, and I felt the knot in my stomach loosen a fraction. Maybe he had a plan.
How Spy I Am Page 27