“From you, that’s quite a commitment, Venable. What about Wallace? Could he be Nardik’s client?”
“It’s possible, Wallace is very ambitious. He’s a former ambassador to the U.N., and he’s been pushing the U.S. toward a global government.” He paused. “He’s also very pro-China. It’s not enough that we owe China too much right now; he wants us to accept them as Big Brother and let them ‘advise’ us. Oh, he doesn’t say it like that, but he’s been subtly maneuvering for the last three years. Under Wallace, we’d end up with a country we wouldn’t be able to recognize.”
Gallo gave a low whistle. “And that opens a whole new can of worms. China, big business who want their piece of the action, Wallace’s handlers, and the lobbyist behind him. It goes on and on…”
“And what would happen if Andrews was taken out of the picture?” Catherine asked. “Could Wallace take the election?”
“If it was handled right. If there was no proof that it was anything but a natural death. It would cause an uproar, but Andrews is a shooting star. Shooting stars are forgotten once they disappear into the darkness. Wallace is a corrupt bastard, but he’s strong. Strength and answers will carry the day. When you lose Superman, you reach out for the next best option. Wallace would be sorrowful, sympathetic, might even say he’ll adopt some of Andrews’s philosophies. Yes, Wallace could be elected.”
“July 3. What’s Andrews doing on July 3?”
“I have no idea.”
“Find out. And send me a picture of William Scott Andrews. Okay?”
“I’ll get it to you in five minutes.” He paused. “You’re sure Andrews is the target? Dammit, no one knows better than I do how dirty it can be out there, but I wanted just once for something to go right.”
“Then we’ll have to see that it does,” Catherine said.
“Tell Hu Chang that he’d better be sure that it does,” Venable said roughly. “He can’t play games like this without suffering the consequences.” He hung up.
“You heard him, Hu Chang,” Catherine said as she pressed the disconnect. “It takes a lot to stir up Venable like that. It’s clear Andrews managed to pierce that tough hide of Venable’s. I’m curious if he has that effect on everyone.”
“Check the Web and pull up any stories,” Gallo said as he got out his computer. “That’s a peculiar platform he’s running on. I’m more interested in that.”
Hu Chang was staring at the cloud banks out the window. “A shooting star … That’s an interesting comparison. When I’m creating one of my drugs, some of them are shooting stars that disappear into the darkness. Others are like suns that are born to stay, burn, and transform themselves. I wonder which Andrews will turn out to be.”
“Well, whatever happens, I think Venable is going to heap the blame on you.” Her telephone pinged, and she accessed the photo Venable had sent her. “Let’s see what a present-day Abe Lincoln looks like…”
Not like Lincoln at all, she thought. The photo showed William Scott Andrews standing beside a Jeep Cherokee dressed in casual shirt and jeans. Was he handsome? It was difficult to tell. There was so much power and character in his slightly irregular features that they were the only things you noticed. His dark hair was clipped close to his head, he was tanned, and his blue eyes were narrowed, staring searchingly out of the photo.
“Presence,” she said. “Enormous presence. I can see how he’d hold an audience spellbound.” She handed the photo to Gallo. “We have to talk to him and tell him what’s happening.”
Gallo nodded, his gaze on the monitor of the laptop. “His home base is in Houston, Texas. But he has an apartment in Georgetown, D.C. We’ll have to find out where to locate him right now.”
“And convince him there’s such a thing as Hu Chang’s Pondera and a plot to go with it,” she said dryly. “Which may not be easy to accept.”
“Not for a shooting star,” Hu Chang said quietly. “Or certainly not for a new sun struggling to be born.” He was silent a moment. “And, if I am to accept the consequences as Venable suggests, we must make sure that those consequences do not weigh too heavily upon my soul.” His gaze shifted from the clouds to Catherine’s face, and he smiled. “So I must rely on my friend to make sure that they do not. I’m afraid we will have to save this Superman of Venable’s.”
“What do you think we’ve been working toward? I never intended anything else.” She added warily, “Did you?”
“I was reserving judgment. You would accept it as your duty as an agent. I have no duty except to Pondera and what I wish for it to be.”
“And what I wish is that you destroy that damned drug and the formula as soon as we get this nightmare over with.”
His glance returned to the clouds outside his window.
“Hu Chang.”
“I will consider your wishes. We will discuss it after we save Superman and all of the free world.” He smiled faintly. “I believe the rhetoric in the comic books goes something like that. Is that not true?”
CHAPTER
15
“ANDREWS IS AT HIS PLACE IN GEORGETOWN,” Catherine said as she hung up from talking to Venable after they’d landed at San Francisco International. “Venable is trying to get through the staff surrounding him to tell him what’s happening. He said that we should hop a plane and head for Washington.”
“Excellent. I’ll make our reservations.” Hu Chang headed for the desk across the terminal. “I’ll return shortly.”
Gallo watched him disappear into the crowd before he turned to Catherine. “You know the chances of Andrews believing Venable aren’t very good? No proof. A drug that no one knows anything about. We don’t even have the name of Nardik’s client. Venable will be lucky even to get to talk to Andrews.”
“Venable’s CIA. That will carry some weight. If Andrews is smart, then he’ll listen.”
“And if he’s not, then we’re in trouble. And all this effort to save him may come to nothing.” He shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be negative. We’ll find a way to stop it from happening.” He smiled crookedly. “If only to save Hu Chang from Venable’s wrath. Though I can’t believe that would bother him much. I can’t see him letting anything through that enigmatic shell he wraps around himself. Except you. You appear to be the exception, heaven help you.”
“Poor me? Is that what you’re implying? Knock it off, Gallo. I thank heaven that I’m the exception.”
“I know you do. Though I can’t see any signs that he’s helped us much since he came back into your life. He seems to have spread chaos wherever he’s gone.” He reached out and tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re tired. You didn’t sleep at all on that plane. You were too busy trying to pull the rabbit out of the magician’s hat.”
“So were you.” But she didn’t step back away from his touch. It was gentle, a comfort, not sexual, and she needed comfort. The world she had left in Hong Kong had been aflame with death and malice. The world she was facing now was full of plots and evil, and again, death was looming around every corner. It had to be faced, but this moment of gentleness was oddly welcome. “So was Hu Chang. We all had to work to make it come together. Stop being protective, Gallo.” She made a face. “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s one of your worst faults?”
“I’ll try to work on it.” He smiled down at her. “I know you’ll remind me.”
Intimacy. Charisma. Electricity …
And it was time to step back.
She drew a deep breath and did just that. “You can be sure I will.”
He chuckled. “Start now. You need to nap on the way to Washington. Give me your phone, and I’ll take any calls from Venable.”
She frowned. “As if I would do—” He had to be joking. She was overreacting. “Bastard. And I’m going to be using my phone. While we’re waiting for Hu Chang, I’m going to call Sam and tell him I’m back in the U.S. and check and see if everything is okay.”
“By all means.” He dropped down in a ch
air by the windows. “Though I imagine if he’s as good as you’ve told me, that you’d know if it wasn’t. Give him my best.”
She was already dialing the number. “You don’t even know Sam.”
“I still wish him the best. He’s taking care of your son, isn’t he? I don’t mind extending the protectiveness to which you object so strenuously toward your son as well. I trust you have no objection to that?”
“No. That’s different.” Sam was picking up, and she turned away from Gallo and spoke into the phone. “Sam, I’m in San Francisco. Is everything all right?”
“No problem. No sign of trouble. Are you sure I’m going to need that crew I hired?”
“No, I hope you don’t. I just had to have a little insurance. No, a lot of insurance. How is Luke?”
“Suspecting that all is not right in Emerald City.”
“What?”
“I have two very bright kids here. They were bound to find out that the place was being watched. Don’t worry. It’s cool. I just explained and they asked questions and then they went back to working on that translation. That’s what they’re doing right now.”
“Maybe I should talk to Luke.”
“And maybe you should think about it first. The only one who is worried about this is you, Catherine. If you talk to Luke, he’s going to know how you’re feeling, then you’ll both be uneasy. But you’ll be worried about each other and not the problem.”
“Stop being so damn logical.”
“It’s up to you. I’ll go find him and give him the phone. Say the word.”
She thought about it. “He’s not upset about this?”
“Only about my possible lack of ability for protecting him and Kelly. He’s sure he can do it better. What can I say? He’s your son.” He chuckled. “No, he’s cool as a cucumber.”
“You’ll tell him I phoned?”
“And I’ll also tell him that you’ll be eager to talk to him if he wants to give you a return call.”
Her hand tightened on the phone. “I should be able to wrap this up soon. I’m heading for Washington, and I was tempted to stop by to see him. But I can’t do that. I wouldn’t risk the possibility of my being under surveillance and drawing attention to Luke. You’ll keep him safe for me, Sam?”
“I’m keeping everyone on their toes. I’m even thinking of pulling in another couple operatives. It might be overkill. They’d probably be tripping over each other.”
“I don’t mind them tripping over each other. By all means do overkill.”
“You’ve got it. I’ll keep you updated, Catherine.” He hung up.
She pressed the disconnect and turned back to Gallo.
“Luke’s okay?” Gallo’s gaze was on her face. “You’re upset. Not frantic, just … troubled maybe.”
“He’s okay.” She grimaced. “Sam says he’s better than I am. He and Kelly know about the surveillance. I was trying to keep him from worrying, but it didn’t work out. It will probably never work out with Luke. He’s too sharp, and now he’s got Kelly, who is just as sharp, to ride shotgun.”
“But Sam said he was safe?”
She nodded. “And will have more bodyguards than the president.” She looked across the terminal. “And speaking about presidents, Hu Chang should be back with our tickets to Washington, shouldn’t he?”
“It hasn’t been that long. It’s only seemed that way to you.” He got to his feet. “But I’ll go look for—”
Her phone rang and she glanced at the ID.
“It’s Venable.” She punched the access and the volume. “Did you reach Andrews?”
“No, I didn’t have time. I was busy with another call.”
“Look, we need you to—”
“I have a message for you. You’re not going to like it.”
She stiffened. Her first thought had been of Luke, but Sam had just told her that Luke safe. “What are you talking about?”
“Ten minutes ago I got a call from Hu Chang. He told me to call you and tell you to pick up your tickets at the Delta counter.”
“What?” Then she understood. “Oh, shit.” She drew a long breath. “And what else did he tell you?”
“He said that he would see you in good time. That he knew you and Gallo could deal with Andrews, but that he had something else he had to do.”
“And what the hell is that?”
“I don’t know. He said to tell you to let him go. And then something cryptic about it being necessary to safeguard his own shooting star. I thought you might understand.”
“Maybe. You were comparing Andrews to a shooting star, and Hu Chang said something about his drugs and medicines were sometimes like shooting stars. He may be trying to find a way of getting his precious Pondera away from Nardik. Dammit, he’s going to walk right into Nardik’s hands again.”
“And you’ll follow him.”
“How can I? He’s slipped away again.” She was trying to think. “I can’t follow him until he tips his hand. Nardik is going after Andrews, and he’ll have the drug. Hu Chang will have to be on his trail to have an opportunity to grab the Pondera before he can use it.”
Gallo nodded. “So we’ll be playing the same game if not for the same stakes.”
“Yes, we’re trying to save Andrews, and Hu Chang is trying to save his drug.” She added, “And if we’re lucky, we might be able to help Hu Chang get out of this alive.”
“I’m not overenthusiastic about accomplishing the latter,” Gallo said dryly.
“Tough. I’m pissed off, too. But I’m not going to let Hu Chang die. And I’m not going to let him go. He knew I wouldn’t.” She said to Venable, “We’re on our way to Washington. Try to get us an appointment with Andrews. If you can’t, we’ll find a way to see him anyway.”
“And cause an incident that will cause the Company big-time trouble.”
“You can handle it. The CIA is golden since we delivered Osama bin Laden.”
“You’re dreaming. Our part in that was forgotten in a month. We’re always the bad guy until proven innocent with politicians.”
“But you said Andrews wasn’t a politician. He’s a patriot, remember?”
“Okay, you got me. But let’s see if we can accomplish the objective without the ruckus. But besides the problem of getting in to see Andrews, you know that either Wallace or Nardik will be having him watched? Nardik will know that you’ve found out that Andrews is the target.”
“I wish I thought that would stop Nardik. But his ego would demand that he go through with it anyway just to prove how brilliant and indomitable he is.”
“And whet his appetite to take you down, Catherine. Call me when you get to Washington.” He hung up.
“Let’s go.” She slipped her phone in her jacket and picked up her duffel. “We have a flight to catch.”
Gallo fell into step with her. “No running around the airport trying to find our elusive friend?”
“You heard me on the phone. We go where we can find Nardik, and we’ll find Hu Chang.”
“It will be okay, Catherine,” he said quietly. “I know you’re upset, but he’s not going to let Nardik kill him. Hu Chang’s slippery as an eel.”
“I know that,” she said jerkily. “I’m not worried, I’m mad as hell.”
He looked at her.
“Maybe a little worried. But he doesn’t deserve it. Why couldn’t he work with us? Why did he have to just take off? We’ve been together for so long. He should have known that I’d do—” Why was she asking those questions? Hu Chang was a law unto himself. She should have accepted that fact by now. “Forget it. Let’s just get the job done.”
“It will be easier for me to forget than you. In fact, I’d prefer that Hu Chang be forgotten.” He added, “It’s difficult to compete with him for your attention. Look at you, you’re mad and upset, yet he still has you riveted.”
But Gallo had that same riveting effect on her. The nuances were different, but the intensity was the same. Perhaps more riveting be
cause she’d deliberately been keeping Hu Chang between them as a buffer.
But now that buffer was gone.
And she was feeling vulnerable, she realized.
She had temporarily lost Hu Chang to his creative passion for his lethal shooting star, and the loneliness was back. But she wasn’t going to reach out for Gallo because of that loneliness. Sex might soothe that hollowness for a few hours, but the aftereffects could be addictive. She would be fine once she got over the shock of Hu Chang’s taking off.
She was already fine. She was her own person. She didn’t need Gallo. And Hu Chang had made his choice, and it hadn’t been her. His loss, dammit.
So deal with it.
* * *
“ANDREWS WON’T SEE YOU,” Venable said flatly when Catherine called him from Reagan National Airport. “His assistant, Pat Gower, is running interference, and she says she can arrange a phone call with him for you day after tomorrow at three. If you can catch his interest, you might be able to have an interview. I told her that wouldn’t be satisfactory.”
“We don’t have the time. You told her he could be a dead man if we can’t prevent it?”
“That’s the only reason that she agreed to the phone call. She’s smart, and she doesn’t want to take a chance that she could make a mistake. But Andrews has had a zillion death threats since he started his campaign. You don’t have a radical agenda like his and not bring out a horde of venomous opponents. She asked if we had proof and what could I tell her that was concrete. Nothing concrete. Suspicion of intent. Even Andrews as the prospective victim was questionable.”
“No way to budge her?”
“Loyal and determined. It’s a tough combination.”
“Then we go around her and straight to Andrews. Give me his address.”
Venable rattled off an address. “He’ll have security. You’re risking getting shot, you know.”
And having others get shot as well. This wasn’t the best way to handle the situation. She thought about it. “You’re right; give me Pat Gower’s address.”
“Tell me you’re not going to kidnap her.”
“Okay, I’ll tell you. But you’d be nuts to believe me. We need a way to get to him. Her security will be a hell of a lot weaker than his.”