Chapter Twenty-three
Francesca froze for a second, stunned by the words, and then ran her fingers through Ran-Del’s hair, trying to look as if she had no thought in the world beyond a little diversion. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Ran-Del said. “But I don’t know why.”
Francesca leaned her head against his chest as if she were merely being affectionate and tried to get a grip on herself. “Can you find out?”
“If he thinks about his reasons, I can,” Ran-Del said quietly.
Francesca nodded once, and then pulled away, smiling but shaking her head as if to say that this wasn’t the place for what he had in mind.
A little while later, she had maneuvered herself and Ran-Del over to where Elena stood. Hans and his mother were conversing alone, almost arguing. He seemed to want to move away from her, and she seemed determined that he should stay beside her.
“Hello, Elena,” Francesca said pleasantly.
“Good evening, Francesca,” Elena said, her voice glacial.
“I’m sorry I was so abrupt on the com the other day,” Francesca said, putting a generous dose of contrition into her voice. “I had just found out something rather upsetting.”
“Any problems at Hayden?” Elena asked, her interest rising visibly.
“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Francesca said, trying for an earnest tone. This was a new level of lying; she wasn’t used to having so much riding on her ability to deceive. “My new security chief discovered that the flyter crash that killed Pop was arranged by our previous security chief. Apparently, she miscalculated, because she was killed, too, but still, it’s distressing to think that someone you trusted could betray you like that. Someone must have paid her an awful lot of money.”
Elena made sympathetic noises. Hans said nothing, merely stood quietly and watched Francesca’s face as she described her efforts at tracking down whoever had hired Alyssa D’Persis to betray her employer. His eyes flicked once to Ran-Del’s face, but they darted back to Francesca very quickly.
“Well, good luck, my dear,” Elena said, with ghoulish enthusiasm. “It doesn’t do not to exact retribution, you know. If people see you as a safe target, they'll strike again.”
“Yes, I know that.” Francesca didn’t even try to mute the steel in her voice. If Hans sweated a little, so much the better. “Believe me, Elena, I have every intention of seeing justice done.”
A loud burst of laughter from the other side of the room made her turn her head. Freddie was attempting to drink directly from the wine fountain without bothering with a glass. He succeeded only in dousing himself with wine and ceased his efforts with a laugh. One of the women near him handed him a drink, and he tossed it back in one gulp.
When Francesca turned back, Hans was scowling and Elena frowned heavily.
“Come along, Hans,” Elena said, her hand digging into her son's arm. “It’s time to take your brother home.”
Hans moved reluctantly. Francesca stared after him, wondering what reason he could have had to want her father dead.
“Wait,” she said to Ran-Del, laying a hand on his arm and not giving him a chance to speak first. “Tell me when we get home and not before.”
They stayed several minutes to avoid suspicion, and then politely said good night to the guest of honor.
Ran-Del sat in silence beside Francesca all the way home. Conscious of the four security staff sitting in the back of the skimmer, she made no attempt to engage him in conversation.
Only after they had entered their own quarters did she sit down wearily and look up at Ran-Del. “Now, tell me everything. Why did Hans kill Pop?”
Ran-Del moved across the room and sat across from her. “Because of me. Elena had told him she still thought she could get Hayden into the cartel by arranging a marriage between you and Freddie.”
Francesca drew in a sharp breath. If she hadn’t waited to marry Ran-Del, Pop might still be alive.
Ran-Del frowned. “You can’t blame yourself. You didn’t kill your father. Hans did.”
She waved a hand. “I know. Go on. Why was Hans so set on bringing Hayden into Leong-Norwalk?”
His frown eased. “Hans had hopes of using Hayden as his own springboard; Elena doesn’t know it yet, but Hans is plotting a takeover of their House. The mine deal was part of Hans’ plan.”
Francesca fought the urge to let her jaw drop. Hans was more like his mother than she had realized.
“When Hans found out you were betrothed to me,” Ran-Del went on, “he thought he had to act quickly, before the marriage happened. He sank most of the money he had into bribing D’Persis, but he didn’t count on you acting so quickly when your father died. He thought you’d be so upset that you’d turn to Freddie for comfort.”
Francesca digested this. If she hadn’t had Ran-Del, and Freddie had come to console her, she might well have let herself fall for him again. “But how did Hans know he could bribe Alyssa? She’d been with us for years. How did he know she’d bite if he offered big enough bait?”
Ran-Del looked apologetic. “That part was less clear. Apparently, he knew about her and Toth, and that Toth had broken off their relationship. He decided to use the information to gamble that D’Persis could be turned against your father for a price.”
Francesca stared off into space for a second, an image of the burning flyter in her mind. “That bastard! I thought it might have been Elena, but it never occurred to me that Hans would act on his own. I’ll get him for it, Ran-Del. So help me, I will.”
He looked worried. “I don’t understand the laws here. Can you call Hans to account yourself?”
“I can, and I will. It happened here in the complex, so my law is the only law that counts.”
Ran-Del’s worried expression grew into an active frown. “What will Elena do if you execute Hans?”
The thought gave Francesca pause. “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.” She had another thought, and she looked at Ran-Del again. “What about the attack on you? Was that Hans, too?”
Ran-Del nodded. “Yes. He’s suspicious of me. That day he came here to talk about the mines, he suspected that I was signaling you. He’s heard stories about the Sansoussy, and, if he doesn’t quite believe all of them, he does accept that empathy is possible.”
Francesca twisted her mouth. If Hans had voiced his suspicions to anyone, it could dilute Ran-Del’s usefulness.
Ran-Del shook his head. “Hans is playing his own game. He decided to get me out of the way because he still wants to get his hands on Hayden. He needs the resources to finance his takeover of Leong-Norwalk. He’s angry at Freddie because his brother won’t make a push to capture your affections.”
Francesca smiled grimly. “What a nice old fashioned expression for it—to capture my affections?”
“Freddie knows nothing about it,” Ran-Del said. “Hans is operating alone.”
Francesca frowned and tapped the table top in front of her with her fingernails. After a moment, she got up, paced a few times, and then went over to the com set. “The first step,” she said resolutely, “is to get more information.”
In a few seconds, Quinn’s face appeared on the screen.
“What is it Baroness?” she asked. “Did anything go wrong at the party tonight?”
“No,” Francesca said. “In fact, something went right for a change. Could you come to my quarters, please, Marina? I’ve got some information for you.”
The Sixth Discipline Page 91