“No, I didn’t. But it doesn’t surprise me.”
“Before I came to see you, I made sure I had reports on both of you, and nothing in his hinted at this.”
“What?”
“He’s very charismatic.”
“Oh, yes.”
“He has those executives in the palm of his hand, and they’re not easy.” He added thoughtfully, “We had a little talk earlier and he came across as hard as nails, but then I saw this side of him. A combination like that is quite unique. He could be a very dangerous man.”
“Not to us.”
“I admit I had apprehensions regarding having Drakin in charge of RU2.” He turned to Kate. “I suppose you did too?”
“Yes.”
“But you’re satisfied with his stability?”
Seth was about as stable as a monsoon. “I’m satisfied about his commitment to RU2.”
He chuckled. “Nice dodge. I guess that’s all we can ask for.”
She nodded. “That’s all that concerns us.”
“What were you talking to them about in the gazebo?” she asked as they were driven home in the senator’s limousine.
He shrugged. “This and that. I’d tell them a story about my deep, dark past and then throw in something about RU2 that they could identify with. It kept them off guard and interested.” He paused. “I suppose I should confess that I wasn’t only planning your seduction this morning while you were sleeping. I called Kendow and he did some checking. Emily Santos was one of Ishmaru’s early victims. She’s been dead for over twelve years. She was blond and small and she didn’t die easy. She took a butcher knife to the bastard. He has a scar on his neck to prove it.”
“How did Kendow find out? This Jimenez?”
“No, he’d already gathered the files when I was looking for Ishmaru.” He paused. “Jimenez was found dead recently.”
She didn’t have to ask him how he died. Ishmaru again. “Then he thinks I’m some kind of reincarnation of this Emily Santos?”
“So it would seem.”
She stored away the information because she didn’t want to think of anything connected with Ishmaru right now. They’d had success today and she had no desire to dissipate her feeling of confidence. She changed the subject. “The senator said you were extraordinary.”
“Damn straight. Did you doubt it?”
“No, I just wondered where you learned to handle people so well.”
“Twelve foster homes. It took a little while for me to get it right. But the last time I got to stay four years.”
“You were an orphan?”
“Not exactly. My father abandoned my mother and me when I was born, but my mother stuck around for another two years.”
“She left you?”
“A state agency took me away from her after the welfare worker found out she’d left me alone for almost three days.”
“That’s terrible,” she whispered.
“Yeah, maybe. Shit happens.”
“It shouldn’t happen to children.”
“But it does.”
Twelve foster homes. What must it have been like for a child to be bounced from place to place, to face rejection time and time again? No wonder he had trouble settling down.
He smiled. “Don’t look so horrified. I was probably better off in the foster homes. I got enough to eat.”
“And you learned to handle people.”
“Sometimes you handle them. Sometimes you walk away. Sometimes you just get rid of them.”
“Were you ‘handling’ me this morning?”
“Doing my damnedest.” He took her hand and raised it to his lips. “But you’re not easy. You’ll only let me go so far and then you back away.” He licked her palm. “I’m having to work at it.”
“You don’t have to do anything.”
“True. My choice.” He laced his fingers with hers. “But I’ve never minded working for what I want. It makes it more fun.”
“Tell me, is ‘handling’ the same as manipulating?”
His smile disappeared. “No way. Not in this case. Even if you let me, I wouldn’t manipulate you. Haven’t I been honest?”
He had been honest. He had seduced, coaxed, persuaded, while being perfectly honest about what he was doing. It was difficult to resent anything he did when he was so open about it. “Yes, you’ve been honest.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about. You’re smart enough to see right through me if you put your mind to it.”
Instead of her hormones, she thought ruefully. She found she was having difficulty separating the physical from the mental. “The senator was right, you’re a dangerous man.”
“Yep, but you like that about me too. Same as those people back at the gazebo. It excites you to get close to the dark.” He grinned mischievously. “Want to get really close?”
She looked at him warily.
“Ever done it in the backseat of a limousine?”
Her eyes widened in shock. “No, and I don’t intend to do it now.”
He sighed. “I didn’t think you were ready for that yet. Oh well, maybe the senator will lend us his car later. We’ll be working pretty closely with him.”
It was strange how quickly you could become accustomed to lying naked in a man’s arms, Kate thought lazily as she listened to the steady beat of Seth’s heart beneath her ear. Sometimes it was exquisitely arousing; at other times, like the present, it was just comforting and nice.
“Move,” Seth whispered. “I need to get a drink of water. Sex is thirsty work.”
She reluctantly rolled over and watched him go to the bathroom. A minute later she heard the toilet flush and he came out with a glass in his hand. “You always drink water afterward. Weird.”
“Well, I used to smoke, but when I quit I had to have a substitute. It’s an oral thing.”
“When did you quit?”
“Five years ago.” He finished the water and set the glass on the nightstand. “In my line of work there are too many ways to get killed as it is without committing suicide.”
She cuddled close to him as he got back into bed.
“Did I tell you how much I like you curling up against me like that?” He pulled the blankets over both of them. “Kinda like a puppy with its favorite bone.”
“Was that a pun?” She gently nipped his shoulder. “Well, I’ve got to admit you are my favorite—”
Puppy. The word was triggering a memory. “How’s your puppy?”
“Fine. I called the quarantine center and checked on him last week. They said he’s put on weight. He was half starved when I picked him up in that village.”
“What village?”
He was silent so long she thought he wasn’t going to answer. “Just a village. I don’t know if it even had a name.”
“What were you doing there?”
“I’d had a report from one of my men, and I went to check it out.”
“And you saw the puppy and liked him?”
“Yeah, he was a survivor. I like survivors.”
“Survivor?”
He kissed her lightly on the nose. “Hey, you don’t want to hear this.”
“Don’t I?” She suddenly knew she did want to hear it if it would let her know Seth better. “Why was the puppy a survivor?”
He shrugged. “Everyone else in the village had been butchered.” He glanced at her. “See, I told you that you wouldn’t want to hear.”
“Who did it?”
“José Namirez. He wanted to control his little corner of the world and hired me to help him do it. It wasn’t a complicated situation. The only real impediment was a local drug lord, Pedro Ardalen. He’d set himself up as a sort of feudal baron with an army to match. It took us three months to clean them out. The villagers were all too frightened to refuse Ardalen when he marched in and demanded sanctuary.”
“And then?”
“Namirez wasn’t content with winning. He wanted to make examples. I’d told him when he hired m
e there were to be no reprisals.”
“And he did it anyway.”
“He did it anyway.” He kissed her cheek and whispered, “So I shot him.”
She went rigid. “Just like that.”
“Exactly like that.” He raised his head to look down at her. She could see the cool glitter of his light eyes in the dimness of the room. “Happy? Do you feel as if you know the real me now? Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t like what you heard. Well, that’s me, Kate. I won’t lie to you. If you don’t want to hear unpleasant truths, then don’t ask me questions.”
“Maybe I won’t.”
A troubled silence fell between them.
“Do you want me to leave you alone?” Seth asked.
“No.”
“Good.” He drew her closer. “I would have had to try to seduce you into letting me stay, and I’m plumb tuckered. Christ, you exhausted me.”
“I didn’t see any signs.”
“I was afraid I’d lose my macho image. You’re a tough critic.”
Her uneasiness was slipping away. That other Seth was gone again and she could keep him at a distance. There were deep valleys and chasms between them, but as long as she didn’t probe, didn’t question, she could keep the Seth she wanted.
She didn’t have to accept that other, darker Seth.
She received the package the next day. The porter brought it to the suite after breakfast.
It was the size of a shirt box and was wrapped in red-and-white-striped paper and pasted with gold stars. Happy wrappings. Bright, celebratory stars.
She opened the box.
A Little League baseball shirt.
And a note.
Right size, Emily?
She whimpered.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Seth said. “He can’t know where Joshua is. He knows you’re vulnerable about anything connected with your son. He’s trying to scare you.”
“He’s succeeding.” She closed her eyes. Please, God, keep Joshua safe. Don’t let any of this touch him. “Phone. Make sure.”
Her fingers dug into the baseball shirt as Seth placed the call.
A few moments later he nodded as he hung up. “Bluff. Phyliss and Joshua are both safe.”
Her fingers relaxed. Safe.
But for how long?
She was vaguely aware that Seth was on the phone again. “The package appeared on the concierge’s desk addressed to you. No way to trace it.”
She hadn’t thought there would be.
“There’s always Amsterdam,” Seth said quietly.
Hope flared and then died. “It wouldn’t stop him. He’d follow us. And as long as I make myself an open target, he may focus on me and not Joshua.” She hurled the box into the wastebasket.
God, she hoped she was telling the truth.
Another box came the next day. It held a baseball cap.
This time the note said, I’m looking for him, Emily.
Two days later the package was long and cylindrical.
A baseball bat with Joshua burned into the wood.
I’m getting closer.
“I’m going to tell the desk to hold all packages,” Seth said. “I’ll pick them up at the desk myself.”
“No.” She carefully laid the bat on the table beside the door. Her hands were shaking only a little, she noticed. Strange. She felt as if she were falling apart.
“What do you mean?” Seth said harshly. “Look at you. This is killing you. You’ve been balanced on a tightrope since that first package.”
“He’ll know when I stop opening them.”
“He’s not a mind reader.”
“He’ll know.” She had the feeling he knew every breath she took. “He’s enjoying what they do to me.”
“I’m not enjoying it.”
“If the threat keeps him satisfied, maybe he won’t act.” She moved heavily toward the bedroom. Don’t think about it. Block it out. She could get through this. “I have to finish getting dressed. Migellin’s arranged some sort of luncheon for me.”
“It can’t go on, Kate. You can’t go on.”
“Yes, I can. I can do anything I have to do to keep my son safe.”
“We’ve got the statement from Lila Robbins.” Blount placed the document on Ogden’s desk. “But it cost us a bundle.” He sat down in the chair in front of the desk. “And it will cost us more if you want to bring her to trial as a witness.”
“We’ll worry about that later. This may be enough to give to the media. What details does she give?”
He shrugged. “Three years ago she was a nurse at Kennebruk Hospital in Dandridge. Kate Denby’s father was admitted by his daughter in September. He had cancer and was terminal. Robbins said Kate Denby was very stressed. She overheard the father pleading with her to give him an overdose. He was transferred to a private hospital and died there two days later.”
“And she thinks Denby did it? Any proof?”
“None. Though she said anyone at Kennebruk would testify that the man was nowhere near death.”
“It’s so good,” Ogden said. “A woman who would kill her father would be considered loony as a hoot owl.”
“Or desperate,” Blount said. “Mercy killing might arouse a certain amount of sympathy in some quarters.”
“Bullshit. No one would trust the word of a woman who’s been covering up a murder for three years. Was there an autopsy?”
Blount shook his head. “Denby was the attending physician and she signed the death certificate. He was cremated.”
“All very convenient. Why didn’t the nurse come forward before?”
“She said that it isn’t that unusual for doctors to commit mercy killings in terminal cases. Everyone on staff usually just looks the other way. It was only when she read about the murder of the policeman that she even remembered Denby’s father. When our man showed up on the scene, she decided to make a little money for herself.”
“It’s all hearsay. It might make the rag sheets, but it’s not enough to be really valuable. What’s the name of that private hospital she had him transferred to?”
“Pinebridge.”
“What have you found out from them?”
“Nothing. I thought Robbins might be enough. Our man was becoming a little too visible.”
Ogden scowled. “Well, it’s not enough. We have to have the Denby woman completely discredited. Now that she’s linked up with Migellin, she’s beginning to become a major pain in the ass. In two weeks she’s managed to get two major television interviews, and that bastard Migellin has cut the bill out of the welfare package. How the hell are they managing it?”
“Drakin?”
“Don’t be stupid. The man’s practically a criminal and we’ve gotten stories about his background into eight magazines this month.”
“He certainly appears to be irresponsible enough to scare off most people,” Blount murmured. He’d been very interested in the dossier Ogden had ordered on Drakin. He just might be the key that would open the treasure trove. Thank God, Ogden couldn’t see it. “I’m sure the setback is only temporary. So I should send someone else to Pinebridge?”
“I said so, didn’t I?”
“Just verifying. I want to make sure I don’t misunderstand you.” He smiled. “Actually, I thought that might be your decision, and I know just the man to send.”
“No,” Ishmaru said. “I’m not ready yet.”
“What do you mean? This is what you wanted.”
Blount didn’t understand. Ishmaru had watched Kate go about town for the last few days. She was suffering. He didn’t want it to stop. Every move from now on must be carefully orchestrated to bring about the maximum effect. “I’ve decided to do the job you want me to do. It may fit into my plans.” He paused. “If you find her son for me.”
“I told you we haven’t been able to locate him.”
“You haven’t tried hard enough. Bug their hotel room.”
“We’ve tried. Drakin is too sharp.”
“The telephone.”
“They’re using digital. It would take a truckload of equipment to do the job, and Ogden won’t authorize it now that they’ve already gone public.”
“You’ll find a way to get around it.”
“Besides, that hotel is a skyscraper. The range wouldn’t be—”
“I want to know where the boy is.”
Blount sighed. “I’ll do my best.”
“Not your best. Find him.”
Everything was going very well, Kate thought as she watched Senator Migellin ply the congresswoman from Iowa with coffee and charm. He was good at this kind of thing.
And so was Seth. She glanced at the corner of the terrace where he was standing with a few members of the Senate. These afternoons at Migellin’s country house had become commonplace, and Seth and Migellin used these relaxed occasions to brilliant advantage. She wished she could say the same for herself, she thought ruefully. She was too blunt and impatient. She’d found her best course was to make herself available for questions on RU2 and otherwise keep her mouth shut. Particularly lately, when she’d found it difficult to barely hold herself together.
Migellin glanced at her over the congresswoman’s head and smiled.
Did he need her?
No, he was leaving the congresswoman and coming toward her.
She frowned. “Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know. Is there? You look a bit . . . frayed.”
“I’m fine.”
He studied her face with concern. “You’re sure?”
She wasn’t sure of anything except that she had to get through this day. She hadn’t received a package this morning, and she didn’t know whether that was bad or good. She nodded. “Thank you for asking. You can go back to the congresswoman now.”
He grimaced. “I needed a breather from hammering sense into that woman’s head. First-term representatives are harder than seniors. They haven’t learned that you have to bend to play the game.”
“You don’t bend.”
“I wish I could say that was true. But I do try to stand tall on the important issues.”
“Are we swaying any votes?”
“Oh yes, I got Wyler and Debruk this week.” He gently put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s still not a sure bet, but we’re doing better.”