"Back out of the way," she told Daniel.
Alex pulled up the camera on a phone Val had given her--left behind by a friend, Val said--and snapped a few pictures of Olivia sleeping. She flipped through them and found one that she decided would do.
"This is my least favorite part of the plan," Daniel muttered.
She glanced up and saw his pained expression. It looked strange on his new face.
"Let's hope Carston feels similarly."
His frown deepened. Alex took his hand and pulled him from the room. The way he was holding his mouth made the round shape of his cheeks more prominent.
"What did she do to your face?" Alex asked.
Daniel stuck two fingers in his mouth and pulled out a little piece of plastic. "These make it a little hard to talk." With a sigh, he replaced the plastic, and his cheek rounded out again.
Val waited for them in the big living room, eyes still lit up with her success.
"That baby's not going to wake up, right?" she asked.
"Right."
"Good. I wouldn't know what to do with a kid. Now, what do you think? Totally altered, yes?"
Alex looked at Daniel again, and her shoulders slumped. He was thicker around the middle, too; she hadn't noticed that before. It all looked so real.
"You don't think it's good enough, do you?" Daniel asked.
"It's good enough," Val answered for her. "And she knows it. That's why she looks so glum. She'd much rather risk my life than yours."
Daniel looked at Alex, waiting for her answer.
"Val's right. Except for the part about risking her life. I don't want to risk anyone's."
Val snorted.
Daniel grabbed Alex's hand and pulled her against his chest. "It's going to be fine," he murmured. "We can do this together. Your plans always work. I will follow your instructions to the letter, and we'll make it through. I promise."
Alex squeezed her eyes tight, trying to force the tears back into their ducts.
"I don't know, Daniel. What am I doing?"
He kissed the top of her head.
"Cut it out," Val interrupted. "You two are making me jealous, and that's never a safe thing to do."
Alex opened her eyes and pulled away, brushing at Daniel's suit to make sure she hadn't left any makeup on it.
"I see you had time to get the things I needed from the Batcave. This toolbox is perfect."
"More than perfect--check the fifth drawer down. I packed the rest how you asked," Daniel told her. "Do you want to go through it before I put it in the car?"
"That's a good idea."
The silver toolbox--one of the props from Kevin's stash, she assumed--had wheels and a pull-up handle, like a suitcase, but unlike a suitcase, many locking drawers that pulled forward out of its face. She went swiftly through the top drawers, identifying the location of the different drugs by the color rings on the syringes. The syringes were stacked in the rubber trays she usually stored them in. The next drawer down had a variety of scalpels and razor blades. She wouldn't need so many; the point was to make the drawer look full. Saline bags and tubing were next, along with needles and catheters in different sizes. The next compartment was deeper. It held her pressurized canisters and several random chemicals from Kevin's stores.
The second-to-last drawer was key. It held another tray of syringes--these empty--and seemed shallower than the last. She traced the edges of the bottom of the drawer--of course Kevin would have something like this. She could fit her fingernails around and lift up the false bottom. She peeked at what was underneath.
"Let's hope Carston's up for some Oscar-level acting," she murmured to herself.
She went through the final, deepest drawer, where Daniel had stowed her more ostentatious props--the blowtorch, the wire snips, the pliers, along with several arbitrary tools Daniel had added from the items available in Kevin's hoard.
There was one more useful thing she needed--just a tiny configuration of wires that she'd picked up the first time they'd visited the local Batcave. She pulled it from her backpack now and hid it in the third tray of the first drawer, under a syringe. She would want easy access to that one.
Alex straightened. "Perfect. Thank you."
"You," Val said, pointing to Daniel. "Get to the rendezvous point. You," she continued, moving her index finger toward Alex's face. "Let's fix you up and get going. The clock is ticking." She motioned to a set of double doors across the room.
"I'll be there in thirty seconds," Alex promised.
Val rolled her eyes. "Fine, have your little good-bye scene." She turned and walked through the doors.
"Alex--" Daniel began.
"Wait."
She took his hand again and led him out the front door, pulling the toolbox with her free hand. He had the big first-aid bag slung over his shoulder. Einstein tried to follow and then whined when she shut the door on him.
They walked down the quiet hall to the elevator. Alex pressed the button. When the doors slid apart, Daniel walked in and she followed, putting one foot across the breach to hold it open. She dropped the toolbox's handle and reached up to hold Daniel's face between her hands.
"Listen to me," she said quietly. "In the glove compartment of the sedan there's a manila envelope. There are two sets of IDs--passports, driver's licenses, and a bunch of cash."
"I don't look that much like Kevin now."
"I know, but people age, lose hair. You can toss the glasses, shave, dye your hair back to brown. And if things go badly, you'll need to do all of that. Then get to the nearest airport. Get on any plane that's leaving North America, okay?"
"I won't leave you behind."
"When I say go badly, I mean that I won't be around for you to wait for."
He stared at her with that odd new version of his troubled face.
"Okay?" she repeated insistently.
He hesitated, then nodded.
"Good," she said, trying to sound like that discussion was closed. She wasn't feeling the conviction behind his nod, but there wasn't time to argue about it.
"You stay quiet tonight," she instructed. "Don't speak to anyone unless you have to. Think like an underling. You're just there to drive the car and carry the bags, okay? This is just a paycheck. None of what's happening means anything to you. No matter what you see, it doesn't affect you. You have no emotional response. You got that?"
He nodded seriously. "Yes."
"If things get dicey, it will make sense for you to run. This isn't your problem."
"Right," he agreed, but his answer was less decided this time.
"Here." She yanked the gold ring from her finger. It was the bigger of the two. She removed his arms from around her and tried it on all his fingers. As with Kevin, it fit only on his pinkie. At least she was able to get it all the way down over his knuckles. Hopefully it wouldn't look too out of character.
"Be extremely careful with this," she told him. "Slide this little hatch out of the way if you need to use it. Whatever you do, don't touch the barb. If you're not in the act of using it, keep it closed. But if you're trying to get out, and someone's in your way, all you have to do is put that barb in contact with his skin."
"I got it."
Alex looked into the startling blue eyes, searching for Daniel behind the strangeness of his oddly simple disguise. She was out of instructions, and the feelings she wanted to share with him didn't seem to have corresponding words.
"I... I don't know how to go back to my old life," she said, trying to explain. "I don't know how to do that anymore, without you. Having you as my liability is the best thing that ever happened to me."
He smiled just a little bit, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I love you, too," he whispered.
She tried to smile back.
Daniel put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her for one lingering second. Then he smiled at her again, unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. She took a step away from him.
"I told you I'd be there when you
needed backup," he said.
The elevator doors closed.
CHAPTER 29
There was no wig involved this time, just a quick trim that left her real hair looking like it had an actual style. A pixie cut; that's what people called it, she thought. The color was medium blond now, and it lightened up her complexion. It was also flattering to her face shape the way her real hair hadn't been since... she couldn't remember the last time her hair had been attractive.
"Seriously," Alex said. "Did you go to cosmetology school?"
Val applied mascara with a hand as steady as a surgeon's. "No. I never liked school that much. It always seemed a little bit like prison to me--I wasn't going to sign up for extra. I just liked playing with my appearance, having a face for every mood. I practice a lot."
"I think you've got a real aptitude. If being the most beautiful woman on the planet ever gets dull, you could open a salon."
Val flashed her brilliant teeth. "I never thought I would want an actual woman friend. It's more fun than I imagined."
"Ditto. Just curious, and you don't have to answer, but is Val for Valerie?"
"Valentine. Or Valentina. It changes, depending on mood and circumstance."
"Ah," Alex said. "That fits better."
"It's very me," Val told her. "It's not the name I was born with, of course."
"Whose is?" Alex murmured.
Val nodded. "It's only logical. My parents didn't even know me when they picked a name out. Of course it didn't fit."
"I never really thought of it that way, but it does make sense. My mother picked a name for a much more... feminine kind of girl."
"My parents evidently assumed I would be very boring. I cleared that misconception up pretty quickly."
Alex chuckled once. As was so often true lately, the laugh carried with it the barely disguised sound of panic. It was nice to talk like she imagined normal people did, to try to forget that this might be the last friendly, mundane conversation she would ever have, but she couldn't keep her thoughts focused on pleasantries.
Val patted her head. "It's going to be okay."
"You don't have to pretend to have faith in the plan. That's only for us suckers who are putting ourselves into the line of fire."
"It's not a bad plan," Val assured her. "I'm just not a risk taker. I never have been." She shrugged. "If I were brave, I would do it."
"It wasn't fair for me to ask you."
"No, it was. I do... care about Kevin. Part of me just can't believe that what you say is happening to him is actually happening. He's always seemed so invulnerable. That's what pulls me to him. Like I said, I'm not brave, so I'm fascinated with people who are. The other part of me..."
Val leaned back for a moment, the little brush with lip gloss on it trembling suddenly. Her face was still perfect, but suddenly it was the doll's face again. Exquisite, but empty.
"Val, are you okay?"
Val blinked and her face came back to life. "Yes."
"You'll leave here, after your part, right?"
"Absolutely. I have lots of friends who can protect me. Maybe I'll go visit Zhang. I'm sure he's still stuffy, but he has an amazing place in Beijing."
"Beijing sounds lovely," Alex half sighed. If she lived through tonight, she'd do whatever she had to in order to get her hands on a passport. She'd blow the rest of her savings--all of Kevin's drug money. To be out of the easy reach of the American government sounded like a practical version of heaven.
"If..." Though when was probably more appropriate, Alex thought to herself. "If you don't hear from any of us by sunrise, go see Zhang. If I can, I'll call you from a pay phone."
Val smiled a little. "You have my number." Her lips pursed. "You know, there's a guy... I might be able to get my hands on a service-dog vest."
Alex stared at her for a moment, then felt her face start to crumple. With the new plan, the suicidal plan, there was really no way for Alex to keep Einstein safe.
"That's a brilliant idea. That makes me feel better." Her positive words didn't match her expression.
Val reached out with one bare foot and stroked it along Einstein's back. His tail thumped once against the marble floor, but without much enthusiasm.
"Okay," Val said in a brighter voice. "You're done. I'll throw on my things, and we're off."
While Val disappeared into the closet, Alex checked out her face. Val had done another excellent job. Alex looked pretty, but not flashy. The hair was obviously hers, which was important; she would definitely be scrutinized tonight, and a wig would be the most obvious tell. She looked more or less credible for the role she'd chosen. Of course, she'd feel more comfortable with no makeup at all--in her experience, that was the way people in this specific role presented themselves, without fuss or vanity. But that was just baggage from her past.
She knelt down on the floor beside Einstein. He looked up at her with eyes that were unmistakably pleading. She stroked his muzzle, then rubbed his ears.
"I'll do everything I can," she promised. "I won't come back without him. If I screw this up, Val will take care of you. It will be okay."
Einstein's eyes didn't change. They accepted no excuses or consolation prizes. They just begged.
"I'll try," she vowed. She laid her forehead against his ear for just a moment. Then, with a sigh, she got to her feet. Einstein put his head on his paws and huffed out his own sigh.
"Val?" Alex called.
"Two seconds," Val called back. Her voice sounded far away, like she was at the other end of a football field. This bathroom was nice--like the bathroom in a fancy hotel suite--but not insane like Val's other place. Maybe the excess here was saved for the closet.
She heard Val shut the closet door and glanced up; she felt a brief jolt of shock at the change, then nodded.
"That looks about right," she approved.
"Thanks," Val replied. "Some parts of being a spy I could handle."
The outfit Val was wearing was not inconspicuous. She had on a long flowy dress kind of thing that covered her from chin to wrist to floor, similar to a sari, but with more coverage; it had scarf-like pieces that cascaded around her, obscuring the shape of her body. It looked like something straight off an avant-garde runway, and probably was. It was memorable. But from behind, all you could see about her body was that she was tall. She wore a thick, dark wig with corkscrew curls that jutted out wildly in every direction. It, too, called attention at the same time that it obscured the shape of her head and covered parts of her face. With the wide-framed black sunglasses she held in her hand, she would be well hidden.
"Shall we?" Val asked.
Alex took a deep breath and nodded.
*
ALEX PARKED VAL'S tacky green Jaguar at a meter on the hill overlooking a large, dingy-gray concrete office block. Val had insisted on the green car--a gift from another admirer, naturally. It was the one, she said, that she wouldn't miss if she had to submerge it in a lake.
From this angle, Alex could see the entrance to the underground parking garage. It was kind of sad, actually, that Carston had never moved to a better office. Maybe he liked the depressing surroundings. Maybe it seemed appropriate to the job and he liked things to conform. Making things easier for Alex had probably not been on his agenda, but it was nice it had worked out this way.
She and Val sat in the Jag for more than an hour, Val getting out to feed the meter once. They didn't talk; Alex's mind was miles away, working overtime to think through the flaws in her plan and try to fix them insofar as that was possible. There was so much that had to be left up to chance; she hated chance.
Alex imagined Val's mind was in Beijing. It was a good place to run to. Val might even be safe there. Alex wished she and Daniel were getting on a plane to Beijing right now.
Daniel probably wasn't enjoying the wait any more than she was. He'd be at the park now, nothing to fill his time until Alex arrived, no way to know what was happening. At least she had Val to sit with, even if neither of them wa
s very good company at the moment.
Finally there was movement below, and she sat up straighter. The white-and-red-striped arm at the mouth of the garage was rising to let someone out. The last two alarms had both been delivery trucks, but this time a dark sedan was pulling out of the garage. Alex started the engine and rolled out onto the street. Someone honked behind her, but she didn't spare him a glance. She didn't take her eyes off the car. From this distance, it appeared to match Carston's black BMW. It was only just after four o'clock now, not quite time for government employees to be heading out.
Here was the first big chance. Once Erin Carston-Boyd was sure her daughter was missing, she would have called her father in a panic. Right? She knew he had some kind of important government job. She would consider him powerful and capable. She wouldn't rely on just the police with her daughter kidnapped. Should it have taken this long? When Alex had last been able to check, no call had come and Carston was still in his office. Managing Kevin's interrogation, no doubt.
She thought he would head to his daughter's side. It seemed the only response. But what if Carston had other options? What if he sent a special ops team instead? Was he that cold? If he had to be... probably yes.
But surely Deavers could manage the interrogation by himself for a few hours. Right?
Alex's driving was much more offensive than defensive as she weaved her way forward, refusing to stop for even the pinkest of yellow lights. She knew the two best routes from Carston's office to the zoo, where she assumed Erin's call had come from. Would the terrified mother leave the last place she'd seen her daughter before she was positive the child wasn't hiding somewhere in the foliage? If the call came from a police station, of which there were several possible options, Carston could take a number of different routes.
So many things left to chance.
The BMW was heading down the correct street, the one she would have chosen as the quickest route to the zoo. He was driving a little erratically as well. She carefully moved up from behind two other cars. She didn't want to spook him.
It was the right car. The plates matched. It looked like the back of Carston's mostly bald head.
Alex watched for eyes in the rearview mirror, but he seemed to be focused on the road. She maneuvered into the parallel lane.
She supposed she should feel better that this part was going according to plan. But it felt like someone was drilling a wide hole into the bottom of her stomach; she thought she might gag as she pulled alongside his car. Because if this part worked, that meant she had to go forward with the rest of the plan.