Long After Midnight

by Iris Johansen

  “I was invited.” He looked at Noah. “You didn’t tell her?”

  Noah shook his head. “She was skittish.”

  Skittish? Anger suddenly jarred Kate out of her bewilderment. She whirled on Noah. “You told me no one knew about this place.”

  “I lied,” Noah said simply.

  “Because I was ‘skittish.’ ”

  “His word, not mine,” Seth said.

  Noah ignored him. “Because I needed you here and you were looking for an excuse not to come.”

  She flung out an arm at Seth. “An excuse like him?”

  “My feelings are hurt,” Seth said. “My company is usually sought after by one and all.”

  “Who else knows?” Kate asked Noah.

  “No one.” He raised his hand to ward off the charge he knew was coming. “And that’s not a lie.”

  “How could I ever be sure?” It was too much after the exhaustion and terror of the past few days. She exploded. “Damn you. I’m out of here.”

  She turned on her heel, strode out of the house and down the steps. “Get back in the car, Phyliss.”

  “Again?” Phyliss made a face and climbed into the passenger seat. “Make up your mind.”

  “It’s made up.”

  “Where the hell are you going?” Noah called from the deck behind her.

  She didn’t answer as she got behind the wheel.

  “Will you listen to me?” Noah called. “I can’t let you go like this, Kate.”

  She started the engine and drove away.

  “Testy, wasn’t she?” Seth strolled out of the cabin and handed Noah the Springfield rifle he’d taken from the case by the door.

  “What am I supposed to do with this? Shoot her?”

  “Just the left back tire. She’s going slow enough.” Seth shaded his eyes with his hand. “And you’d better do it before she reaches the curve or she may go off the road when the tire bursts.”

  “Since you seem to be orchestrating this, maybe you’d prefer to do it,” Noah said sarcastically.

  Seth shook his head. “I’m already in deep trouble and I’m going to have to live with the kid and the grandmother. I don’t want them shaking in their boots every time I walk in the room.” He grinned maliciously. “Besides, I want to see if you’ve lost your touch. Come on, it’s only five hundred yards.”

  “Six.”

  “Whatever. The way I see it, it’s either a high-speed chase that could send them over a cliff or a neat little bullet on the straightaway.” He looked back at the road. “I’d judge you only have forty seconds before she reaches the curve.”

  No one was better than Seth at judging in this arena, Noah thought. And he was right; it was the only safe way of stopping Kate and she had to be stopped. He lifted the rifle and sighted. He pressed the trigger.

  The tire blew. Kate struggled to keep the car on the road. The Honda came to a stop two yards from the curve.

  “Not bad,” Seth murmured. “Some people never lose it. Did it feel good?”

  “No.” He tossed Seth the rifle and started down the steps. “And it’s going to feel even less good when I get out there and have to face Kate.”

  Seth smiled. “I think you’re lying. I watched you. I bet it did feel good.” He headed back into the house. “I’ll go get my gear and set out for the ranger station. I’m a peaceable man. I really don’t want to hang around if there’s going to be a row.”

  Noah snorted derisively as he jumped into the jeep.

  Kate leaned her head on the steering wheel, heart beating frantically. Damn him. Damn the crazy, obsessive son of a bitch.

  “My God, what happened?” Phyliss asked after she caught her breath.

  “He shot out a rear tire.” The sound of the shot and the blowout had come almost simultaneously, but there was no doubt in Kate’s mind what had happened.

  Phyliss blinked. “He really didn’t want you to go, did he?”

  “He really didn’t.”

  “Why have we stopped?” Joshua asked sleepily from the backseat. He sat up and looked around. “Are we there? I don’t see a cabin.”

  She was grateful Joshua had slept through everything, but this was no time for explanations. “Stay in the car.” She grabbed her purse and got out of the Honda.

  Phyliss followed her as she moved to the rear of the car. “Why did you change your mind about staying?”

  “He lied to me. There was someone at the cabin.”

  “Oh, and you were afraid?”

  “No.” Fear hadn’t entered into it. She had known neither Noah nor Seth Drakin would hurt them. But Noah had lied to her. She had felt used and manipulated and then he had used that word. Brainless birds were skittish, horses were skittish. Women were not skittish.

  “Here he comes,” Phyliss said, looking up the road. “What do we do now?”

  “Wait.” Kate drew the Colt from her purse as the jeep stopped behind them.

  “For God’s sake, put that up.” Noah jumped out of the jeep. “You know I’m no threat to you.”

  “You shot at us,” Kate said coldly. “I’d say that’s a threat.”

  “I had to stop you.” He held out his hands. “Do you see any weapon?”

  “I see a liar and a man who shot at me.”

  “I shot at your tire, not at you.” He went to the trunk of the car. “Give me your keys. I’ll change your tire and you can drive it back to the house.” He glanced at the gun. “Put it away. If you weren’t so tired, you’d realize that you overreacted. You know I’ve no intention of harming you.”

  “I’d say you’re the one who overreacted,” Phyliss said dryly.

  “Maybe you’re right.” He grimaced. “I was desperate. There didn’t seem anything else to do at the time. I honestly had no intention of harming you, Mrs. Denby.” He met her gaze directly. “I promise that I’m going to do everything in my power to see that nothing happens to you.”

  Phyliss studied him for a moment and then said, “Put the gun away, Kate.”

  Kate hesitated, then wearily slipped the gun in her bag. She was sick to death of guns. She felt like some half-baked Annie Oakley. She had handled the weapon more in the past few days than she had in all the years since Michael had given it to her. She threw him the trunk keys. “Change it and let us get out of here.”

  “I want you to come back to the cabin and let me make dinner for you all. Okay, I made a mistake. I should have told you about Seth.”

  “And the ranger station.”

  He took the spare tire and jack out of the trunk. “But does the fact that you find me untruthful and unscrupulous really alter the reason you came here? You wanted to be safe. I’ll keep you safe.”

  “That could be a lie too.”

  “Don’t you trust your own judgment? You didn’t think it was a lie before.” He knelt down and began to jack up the car. “Just come back to the house and give yourself a chance to think. You’ve been under tremendous pressure and, like an idiot, I tossed the last straw at you. I won’t do that to you again. Even if you—”

  “What happened to the tire?” Joshua was standing beside Noah staring curiously at the hole in the rubber.

  “I told you to wait in the car, Joshua,” Kate said.

  “But it was rocking. Besides, maybe I can help. You taught me how to fix a flat.” He touched the hole. “Blow-out?”

  Noah nodded. “My fault, I’m afraid.”

  “Why?”

  “I shot out the tire.”

  Joshua’s eyes widened and he took a step back.

  “I only wanted to get your mom’s attention.” Noah made a face. “But she’s mad and punishing me by making me change and repair it.”

  Joshua looked at Kate.

  What could she say? She didn’t want him frightened. “That’s right, Joshua. It’s okay.”

  He looked back at Noah. “Yeah, she always makes me fix what I break.” He shook his head. “But I never did anything this stupid. You have to be careful with guns. M
y dad would have tanned me for doing something like that. He used to take me to the target range, but I never—” He stopped abruptly and Kate saw his hands clench at his sides.

  “I was careful,” Noah said quickly. “I’ve done it before when I was in the service. You were never in any danger, but I guess I was pretty stupid. It won’t happen again.” Noah took off the tire and laid it on the ground. “It’s getting dark. I’d like to finish this job and get back to the cabin and start supper for us. I could use some help.”

  “Supper,” Joshua repeated. Then he nodded vigorously, shifted the tire aside, and knelt beside Noah. “I’ll put on the lug nuts, you tighten them. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Noah said. He looked at Kate. “Okay?”

  He wasn’t asking only for permission for Joshua to help him, Kate knew.

  “We’re all hungry, Kate,” Phyliss said quietly. “What could it hurt?”

  She wasn’t sure. In the space of a few minutes Noah Smith had won over Phyliss, who was no easy game, and was now working on Joshua. Not only that, but he had almost convinced Kate that she had compromised Joshua’s safety by acting impulsively.

  Maybe it was true, she thought wearily. She had certainly not acted with her usual cool deliberation. She had gotten angry and walked out. Perhaps she should have listened and—

  My God, what was she doing? She was blaming herself when this asshole had just shot out her tire.

  And called her skittish. Somehow that repulsive adjective weighed almost as heavily as the more violent act.

  “Please,” Noah said softly.

  And that was supposed to make everything all right? Not likely.

  But she was hungry and tired, and so were Joshua and Phyliss. She wouldn’t make them all suffer because she wanted to brain Noah Smith. In fact, it might be pleasant to see him slaving on their behalf. “Okay,” she said. “Supper.”

  “Dessert,” Noah announced. “Sorry, I didn’t have time to put together anything. We’ll have to settle for a store-bought cherry pie.” He got up from the table and disappeared behind the breakfast bar into the kitchen area.

  “He’s good,” Phyliss said as she leaned back in her chair. “Steak, potatoes, homemade biscuits, and pie.”

  “He likes food,” Kate told her.

  Joshua took the last of his biscuit and mopped up the gravy from his plate. “Did you know he shot out that tire from six hundred yards?”

  “No,” Kate said. “He told you that?”

  Joshua nodded. “He used to do it all the time when he was a sharpshooter in the Special Forces. But he said that was a while ago. All he’s been doing lately is target shooting with Seth.” He popped the biscuit in his mouth. “He says Seth can hit a bull’s-eye from a thousand yards.”

  “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Kate said.

  “Sorry.”

  “And who is Seth?” Phyliss asked Joshua.

  “Noah’s friend. He was the one who came to the house that night.”

  Phyliss looked at Kate. “That was the man? I only caught a glimpse of him.”

  Kate nodded.

  “He lives at the ranger station a few miles from here. Noah said he’d take me there tomorrow.” Joshua shook his head. “A thousand yards . . . Dad told me practically no one could do that. And Seth knows all about tracking.”

  “That’s nice.” Noah had spent his time well when he’d had Joshua helping in the kitchen while he prepared dinner. He’d not only filled Joshua with admiration and enthusiasm but primed him to renew his acquaintance with Seth. The man never gave up. Kate wondered why she wasn’t more annoyed. Maybe it had something to do with the flames crackling in the fireplace across the room, a full belly, and the feeling of cozy isolation in this aerie in the woods. Was he manipulating her again? Probably, but it didn’t matter as long as she recognized it and could deal with it. “But it depends on what you track and what happens when you find the quarry.”

  “Oh, Seth doesn’t shoot any animals. He just tracks them and gets them in his sights. Noah says animals aren’t fair game for him.”

  And what was fair game for a man who could hit a target at a thousand yards?

  “Noah says Seth would probably take me along if I asked him.” He gave her a wary glance. “No guns. I know you don’t like hunting. I’d only take my camera. People go on camera safaris all the time. I bet I’d get extra credit when I get back to school.”

  “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “But it would be good exercise, and you always say I should—”

  “Give it a rest, Joshua,” Phyliss advised. “Your mom’s tired.”

  He sighed and pushed back his chair. “I’ll go help Noah.”

  Phyliss smiled as she watched Joshua leave. “He’s excited. A new interest isn’t a bad thing right now. It was this Seth who was here when you arrived?”

  She nodded. “Noah wants you and Joshua to move to the ranger station with Seth so he can take care of you. He says it will be safer for you than being with me.”

  “Don’t tell Joshua that or you’ll never get him to go.”

  “I don’t know that I want him to go anywhere. And certainly not with a stranger who may be a terrible influence. Maybe I shouldn’t even be here.” She wearily rubbed her temple. “Have I done the right thing, Phyliss?”

  “I don’t know. Michael would say you hadn’t. Michael would say trust the system. Go to the police.” She leaned back in her chair. “But you see so many bad things on television that no one seems to be able to stop. Detectives taking bribes, drugs, children abused.” Her lips trembled. “And if they killed Michael and managed to fool Alan and the rest of the force into thinking it was about drugs, I can see how you’d be afraid to trust anyone but yourself. That’s why I didn’t argue with you about coming. We can’t lose Joshua too.”

  Kate reached out and closed her hand on Phyliss’s. “We won’t lose him.”

  “And working to complete this RU2 will make him safe?”

  “I think so. It makes sense.” She grimaced. “But I don’t even know that RU2 is what Noah says it is. I only have his word.”

  “It would be pretty stupid for him to go to all this trouble if it wasn’t.” Phyliss paused. “I like him.”

  “He made damn sure you would. But he lied to me and he’d do it again.”

  “We all have things that are so important to us we’d lie to protect them.” Phyliss smiled. “Even you. You’d lie until you were black in the face to keep Joshua safe. Maybe RU2 is Noah’s Joshua.”

  “Maybe. I’m sorry to have drawn you into all this. You didn’t deserve it.”

  “You and Joshua are my family. It goes with the territory,” Phyliss said. “I’ll take care of Joshua. You take care of trying to get us out of this mess. Okay?”

  “You think I’m going to stay.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” she said. The knowledge that this would be her decision had been growing all evening. For the first time since Michael’s death she felt as if the world had steadied on its axis. They were safe here and it was to Noah’s advantage to keep them safe. She could overlook almost anything else. “As long as it’s on my terms.”

  * * *

  SEVEN

  * * *

  The air was cool and crisp when Kate opened the door and stepped out on the deck after she had put Joshua to bed.

  Noah turned to face her. “Joshua asleep?”

  She shook her head. “It will take a while.” She glanced at him. “You did a real number on him talking about your friend Seth.”

  “It was all true.” He added soberly, “No more lies, Kate.”

  “Phyliss said that everyone lies if the stakes are high enough. That doesn’t excuse you or make what you did more palatable to me.” She looked intently at him. “What would you do if I left right now?”

  “Try to stop you in any way I can. But I’m not Ogden. I wouldn’t hurt you or your family. If nothing worked, I’d try to get along without you.” H
e added, “And hope that you all stayed alive until I can go public.”

  She believed him. “Phyliss said RU2 may be like a child to you.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know anymore. At first it was an ego trip, then it was a kind of holy mission, then it turned into something else. If it’s my child, it’s a child who’s already murdered ninety-nine human beings. I expected a fight but not that.” He paused. “But the price is already too high to stop. I can’t let all those people die for nothing. I have to try. Will you try with me?”

  She didn’t answer directly. “Who is Seth Drakin?”

  “A friend. We were together in the service.”

  “A friend who can hit a bull’s-eye at a thousand yards?”

  “I’m not trying to hide anything from you. Seth had a hellish upbringing and he never settled down after we got out of the service. He’s been everything from a mercenary to a smuggler.”

  “And you set him to watch my son?”

  “I’d set him to watch my son in the same circumstances. Joshua will never be safer with anyone. He’s not what you think. His IQ is probably higher than mine. He’s certainly better read and he handles people better than any man I’ve ever met.”

  “When he doesn’t kill them.”

  He grimaced. “Talk to him. Let me take you all to the ranger station tomorrow.”

  She nodded. “But I want it understood that if I decide the situation isn’t what I want for Joshua, you’ll give me no argument.”

  “No deal. I’ll argue. Everyone has the right to argue.” He smiled. “But I won’t push too hard.”

  She found herself smiling back before a thought occurred to her. “One other thing. If you ever refer to me as skittish or any other demeaning term, I’ll crown you.”

  He shuddered. “I knew that was a mistake the minute it came out of my mouth.”