And Then You Die (21 page)

She was saying it again.

Fury tore through him. “You lie. Shut up, bitch. Stop
saying
that.”

He had turned loose the Dark Beast and shown them there was no way to save themselves. Yet they still thought she could do something to save them. If he was going to win the game, they had to remain frightened and subdued.

He must remove all hope.

Donovan's car encountered a National Guard roadblock two miles from the Collinsville airport but was allowed to pass when the soldier saw the CDC sticker on the windshield.

Bess had grown accustomed to soldiers and guns in third world countries, but they seemed an obscene anomaly in this small American town. Esteban had brought this obscenity down on everyone.

“Lock the car doors,” Donovan said over his shoulder. “The hospital is in the riot area.”

“Can't the National Guard do anything about it?” Bess asked.

“Right now they're busy just keeping the town quarantined, and the governor doesn't want to use force. These people are victims already. He's asked everyone to stay off the streets until morning, when more troops will arrive.”

A few blocks later, they entered the riot zone. Stores with broken windows. People carrying television sets and stereo equipment. Small fires everywhere.

“This is where you want me to show my support, Kaldak?” Bess murmured.

“I may rethink that part of the plan,” Kaldak said.

She shook her head. “No, you're right. It's effective showmanship.” She was silent, staring out the window. Suddenly she called to Donovan, “Stop the car.”

“What?”

“Stop the damn car.” She unlocked the door and hopped out. The police car screeched to a halt ahead of them.

The old woman reaching into the broken jewelry-store window.

Focus.

Shoot.

The scruffy little boy carrying a spaniel puppy from a pet store whose burglar alarm was shrilling.

Focus.

Shoot.

“Get back in the car.” Kaldak was beside her. “You're giving Donovan a heart attack.”

“In a minute.” Her gaze had been caught by something in the alley across the street. Two slender figures silhouetted against leaping yellow-orange flames. She couldn't tell their age or sex, but they were standing before a rusty oil drum like priests before an altar. “What are they doing?” she murmured. She moved closer.

Focus.

Sh––

My God, they were burning money.

But when we see them tearing up or burning money, we'll know we're really in trouble.

It seemed a long time since Kaldak had said those words. It had been impossible to imagine then.

But it was happening. It was all happening.

So take the pictures. Tell the story.

Focus.

Shoot.

She lowered the camera. “That's enough.” She started back toward the car. “Do you suppose it was the counterfeit currency?”

“They evidently think it is, but I hope not. They had it in their bare hands.” He held the car door open for her. “And you're not going back to try to rescue them. They're likely to toss you in that oil drum too.”

“Someone should warn them.”

“There have been police cars cruising the streets with loudspeakers,” Donovan said. “We should get out of here. We're attracting too much attention.”

He was nervous, she realized. She supposed she would be too if she hadn't been absorbed by the sheer impact of what she was seeing. She nodded, and Donovan gave a sigh of relief and started the car.

Kaldak locked the doors and leaned back.

“You warned me,” she whispered as she stared out the window. “I don't think I really believed you.”

“I can't blame you. I wasn't a well of veracity at the time.” He paused. “But I told you the truth when I could.”

“When you thought it was convenient to tell me the truth.”

“Nothing's been done for convenience since the moment I met you. I know it doesn't make any difference to you, but I promise I'll never tell you anything but the truth from now on.”

“It's too late.”

“It's
not
too late. Not if––” He drew a deep breath and shook his head. “I know. It's not the time. Forget I said anything.”

She would try to forget. She had been trying to forget Kaldak. Yet here he was beside her, manipulating, guarding, supplying her needs.

Kaldak made it very difficult to forget him.

At the hotel, they stopped by Donovan's room first so he could take blood samples from Bess. Yael decided to check out the building security, and Kaldak led Bess to her room.

He unlocked the door and handed her the key. “Yael's room is next door and Ramsey has agents swarming all over. The floor is wall-to-wall CIA. Don't open your door unless you know who's on the other side.”

“I know that. I've gone through all this before. I'm practically an expert by now.”

“This stay shouldn't be quite as dangerous. No one's even allowed in the city without the proper credentials, and you don't have De Salmo to deal with any longer.” He smiled crookedly. “And who in Collinsville would want to kill the new Mother Teresa?”

“That joke's gone stale. I'll see you in the morning, Kaldak.”

“Actually, you won't.”

She looked at him.

“I won't be back here until tomorrow evening sometime.” He paused. “Maybe not then.”

She frowned. “What?”

“I'm going to Kansas. Cody Jeffers called his mother earlier this evening. She hung up on him, but I think he'll call back.”

“Why?”

“He's scared and in over his head and she's all he has.”

“Then Ramsey can trace the call and get him.”

“I don't want Ramsey to get Jeffers. If Ramsey picks him up, it will be all over the newspapers. I want Esteban to think Jeffers is still free.”

“And what will you do if you get him?”

“I'll play it by ear. I have a few ideas, but it depends on how much he knows and how cooperative I can get him to be.” His lips curved sardonically. “I'm very good at using people, remember?”

“I remember.” She opened the door. “Call me. I want to know what's happening. If there's a chance of trapping Esteban, I don't want to be closed out.”

“I'm not closing you out. I'll take you with me if you like.”

“You know I can't leave. Donovan's team might need me.”

He nodded. “Remember when I asked you what you'd do if you had to make a choice between Josie and getting Esteban?”

“This is a different situation,” she said without hesitation. “If it was Esteban instead of Jeffers you were going after, then I'd come with you.” She turned and went into her room. “Good night, Kaldak.”

She leaned back wearily against the door. Kaldak, as usual, was relentlessly focused on his objective, but life had gone off-kilter for her. She couldn't walk away from Collinsville, not if staying there might keep someone alive. The helplessness she had felt at Tenajo was still too fresh in her memory. She'd do what she could here. Take one step at a time.

Nineteen

Day Four
Aurora, Kansas
2:47
A.M.

The small yard at the Jeffers house was overflowing with reporters and TV cameras. A satellite truck was parked across the street. Kaldak parked two blocks down and walked quickly to the front door.

He elbowed through the crowd of reporters and rang the doorbell.

“Better watch it,” one of the photographers warned. “She called the cops when I rang the bell this afternoon and they almost ran me off.”

He couldn't blame her. This media circus was overpowering. He rang the bell again.

No answer.

What the hell. He put his shoulder to the door and rammed it with all his strength.

“Shit. Are you crazy?” The startled photographer shot a picture of him as he broke through the door. “You're going to get us all thrown off the property. She'll scream bloody––”

Kaldak missed the last words as he entered and slammed the door shut behind him. The hall was dark but he could see a light streaming from one of the rooms at the top of the stairs.

He didn't have long to wait. A door was flung open and Donna Jeffers marched to the head of the stairs. She was dressed in a nightgown and robe and she was pointing a pistol at him.

“I'm sorry. I'll pay to repair the door,” Kaldak said.

“Get out of my house.”

“I need to see you.”

“You're trespassing. I'd be within my rights to blow a hole in you.”

“That's true. But do you think you need the hassle? You're probably having enough trouble.”

“Who are you? A reporter? Police?”

“CIA. Could I come up and talk to you?”

“I've had someone from your department talk to me. I've had someone from every damn department in the government talk to me.” She turned on the hall light and her gaze narrowed on him. “You were here before. Breen.”

“Kaldak. A small untruth.”

“You were looking for Cody.” She was coming down the stairs. “It hadn't even happened yet and you were looking for Cody.”

“I suspected he was involved.”

“Then why the hell didn't you find him? Why did you let him do it? My friends are going to think I've raised some kind of monster. Why didn't you stop him?”

“I tried.” He looked at the gun. “Will you put that down? I'm trying to make things easier for you.”

“You're trying to catch Cody, like everyone else.”

“I want the man who hired him, and I want you to persuade him to help me. But there are people out there who only want a scapegoat. They'll take your son.” He paused. “And they'll take you with him.”

She was silent a moment. “What do you want from me?”

“When he calls, talk to him but make it very short. We don't want the call traced. If he tries to set up a meeting, do it. And make sure he knows the line is bugged so he won't give himself away.”

“He may not call again.”

He sat down by the small telephone table in the hall. “We both have to hope he does.”

The phone rang a few hours later. Kaldak picked up the hall extension at the same time Donna Jeffers answered the kitchen phone.

“Mama, don't hang up.”

“I can't talk to you,” Donna Jeffers said. “Are you crazy? I told you the last time not to call me. After what you've done, do you think they haven't tapped my phone? I'll be lucky if they don't arrest me. You've ruined my life, you idiot.”

“I didn't mean to do it, Mama. It was counterfeit, but I thought that was all. I need your help. You're all I've got. Can you meet me at the place where I had my ninth birthday party?”

“No, I can't be involved in this.”

“Please, Mama.”

She was silent.

“I'll be waiting for you. I know you'll come.” He hung up.

Kaldak was surprised to see tears in Donna Jeffers's eyes as she came out into the hall. “Damn him. He's so stupid. They'll put him away in prison and then they'll kill him.”

Kaldak wanted to lie to her, but he didn't. “Feelings are running pretty high right now.”

“I love him, you know.” She wiped her eyes and straightened her shoulders. “But I'm not going to let him take me with him.” She gazed at Kaldak defiantly. “You think I'm terrible, don't you?”

“I'm not judging you.”

“It doesn't matter what you think. I always did my best for him.” She went toward her bedroom. “I've got to do my face and put on some clothes,” she said. “Then we'll get out of here. How do you intend to get me through that mob?”

“Same way I came in.”

“They'll follow us. So will the police.”

“I'll lose them. It may take a couple of hours, but I'll lose them.”

“Pizza Hut?” Kaldak asked.

Donna Jeffers shrugged. “All kids like pizza.”

Kaldak pulled into the parking lot and shut off the engine. It was just before eleven in the morning and the restaurant was closed. Three other cars were in the parking lot.

“He's probably watching us from a distance,” Kaldak said. “Let's get out of the car. I want both of us to be fully visible. He'd get spooked if he drove up and saw me in the car. He might take off again.”

Ten minutes passed.

“He's not coming,” she said.

“Give him a chance. He'll––”

A black car barreled down the street, pulled into the parking lot, and screeched to a stop. The window rolled down.

“Who is he?” Cody asked. “Why didn't you come alone, Mama?”

“Because I can't help you by myself. You've gone too far this time.”

“Who is he?”

“Kaldak.” She paused. “He's government.”

Cody started to roll up the window.

“Don't you do that, Cody Jeffers.” She glared at him. “Do you hear me? You don't run away from this. I'm not going to have them chase you down and shoot you.”

“He set me up, Mama. I didn't know anyone was going to die. They'll think I'm just like him.”

“Then turn the bastard in, make a deal.”

“I'm scared, Mama,” he whispered, his eyes glittering with tears. “I've never been this scared. I don't know what to do.”

“I told you what to do.” She stepped aside and gestured at Kaldak. “You do what he tells you to do and you may come out of this alive.”

“I don't want––” He met her gaze and then slumped in the seat. “Okay. What do you want me to do?”

Yes.
Kaldak tried to mask his eagerness as he stepped forward. “First, information. I want to know everything you did from the moment Esteban picked you up in Cheyenne.”

11:54
A.M.

“Are you still here?” Yael hurried into the hospital room. “For God's sake, haven't they fed you any lunch yet, Bess?”

Bess rolled down her sleeve. “I'm sure ready to eat now. All they've been giving me is orange juice. I bet all the soldiers who've been guarding me have had breakfast and lunch already.”

“I'll see if I can get you something. I promised Kaldak I'd take care of you.”

“You've all done that. I've been completely surrounded.” She smiled. “You two seem to think you're the only ones who can ward off the demons.”

“Well, we're damn good at it.” He helped her to her feet. “How's the old man who came in this morning?”

“He's got a good chance. Donovan gave him a culture from one of the samples from last night. But it takes a while to prepare the culture, and Donovan needs some in reserve.”

“Maybe I'd better keep an eye on him. These eager-beaver doctors may prove a bigger threat than Esteban. You've only got so much blood.”

“If you really want to protect my well-being, you can take me down to the cafeteria. I'm starved to death.”

“No problem.” He hesitated. “Well, maybe two little ones. One, I'll have to bring your lunch to you up here. It's not safe for you to go down to a public cafeteria. Two, there's a roomful of reporters outside with Donovan. They heard about the old man and they're going to pounce.”

“I'm surprised you're letting them near me. Everything else is a security problem.”

“They've all been searched.” He raised a brow. “Want me to try to get rid of them?”

She shook her head. This was just another part of the package she'd bought into to protect Josie. “I'll talk to them. But rescue me after fifteen minutes, okay?”

“Like Lancelot swooping to save Guinevere.”

She flinched. “Don't say that. Guinevere ended up in a nunnery.”

Yael chuckled.

“Did you see the newspapers this morning? They practically had me wearing a halo. I almost threw up.”

“You'll survive. If you don't take any chances.”

“I don't have a death wish. If I died, Esteban would win everything he's murdered to get. That's not going to happen. Have you heard from Kaldak?”

“Not yet. But he promised to keep me posted. He's not going to leave us in the dark, Bess.”

“Do you always believe what he says?”

Yael nodded. “And you should too.”

She shook her head. “You believe in Kaldak. I believe in Josie and you and, most particularly, good old burger and fries.” She started for the door. “So let's get those interviews over so you can bring me my lunch.”

She had finished the interviews and just returned to the hospital room when Yael's portable phone rang.

“Kaldak,” he informed Bess, then mouthed, “I told you so.” His smile slowly disappeared as he listened. “I don't think that's a good idea. Goddammit, you told me to protect her and now you want to do this? There's no way I'm going to bring––” He punched the disconnect button. “The bastard hung up.”

“What's happening?”

“He's found out where Esteban's counterfeit is stashed. It's on some farm near the Iowa border. He's heading there now.”

Excitement soared through her. “Esteban . . .”

“Don't even think about it. I'm not taking you there.”

Emily.

“Let Kaldak take care of him. Stay here, where you can do some good.”

Show them the monsters.

Donovan already had extra samples to use in case anyone was brought into the hospital. This was her chance to do what she'd always intended to do.

She could kill the monster.

“I'm going.”

Yael shook his head.

“Don't tell me no. I'm going. Take me there, Yael.”

“Hell, no.” He held out his phone. “Call Kaldak back and tell him to take you.”

She shook her head. “He's there, you're here. Take me.”

“And how am I going to do that? You're the most visible woman in America right now.”

“You managed to get me out of my apartment.”

“That was different. It wasn't a quarantine zone. And there's no way I can get you a plane.”

“Then find a car for me. Please, Yael.”

“It's a mistake.”

“No, it's not. I have to do this.”

He was silent a moment before he sighed resignedly. “Dammit, I guess you do.”

Springfield, Missouri
2:37
P.M.

Something had gone wrong. Jeffers should have been here an hour and a half ago.

Esteban's hands tightened on the steering wheel. With the nationwide media coverage, he would have known if Jeffers had been picked up by the police. And that hadn't happened.

If Jeffers had opened one of the packets, he might be lying dead at the side of some road.

Or he might have found out what was in those packets and panicked. He might be on the run, which was not good. He wasn't bright enough to avoid the search for long.

Whatever the reason for the delay, the situation was not irreparable. There was a possibility he might not be able to neatly eliminate Jeffers as he'd planned, but the man knew very little.

That Jeffers had been the one who'd hidden the cache of doctored currency at the mill was also a simple matter to solve. Remove the currency, and Jeffers was no longer any threat.

Yes, everything would still fall into place just as he'd planned. All he had to do was maintain control of himself and he could control everything else.

Near the Iowa border
3:48
P.M.

A breeze was blowing and the windmill's blades whirled lazily. “There it is,” Cody Jeffers said. “That's where I unloaded the money. I'm not going any closer. You can't make me, Kaldak.”

“You don't have to go.” Kaldak got out of the car. “Drive to the bridge that's two miles down the road, park out of sight, and wait for me.”

“What if you don't come back? What if someone sees me? You promised Mama I'd be safe.”

“Just wait for me.” The muscles of his stomach were tense as he stared at the windmill. All those years of searching and it all led here.

No cars in sight. That could be bad or good. Either Esteban had already picked up the currency, or he had not gotten here yet, giving Kaldak the opportunity to set a trap.

Dammit, he wished he'd had time to make the one o'clock meeting Esteban had set up with Jeffers. But it might still be all right. If Esteban had gone to the meeting place hundreds of miles away in Springfield, he shouldn't have had time to get here yet.

If. Maybe. When had Esteban ever done the expected?

He could have skipped the meeting, parked in that patch of woods to the south, and walked to the mill. He could be waiting there for word about the payment.

Or the damn place could be booby-trapped like that installation in Waterloo.

It didn't matter. He couldn't stop now. Esteban was too close.

He started toward the windmill.

7:33
P.M.

A windmill, Bess thought. A pretty stone windmill gleaming in the moonlight. Death was in that windmill, neatly packaged death. She had always liked windmills. She must have taken thousands of pictures of the ones in Holland.

“There aren't any cars around. I don't think Kaldak's here yet, so let me go in first.” Yael hesitated. “You won't change your mind?”

She shook her head. It wasn't Kaldak's presence he wanted to check out, but Esteban's. “Be careful.”

He smiled. “Always.” She watched him disappear into the shadows. A moment later he came out and gestured to her.

She ran toward him. “Kaldak?”

“Not yet.” He held the door open for her and she went into the darkness. “But the currency is here. That means we'll have a way to draw Esteban. I'll light the lantern.”