Edge of Dawn (27 page)

Richard counted keys and realized there wasn't one for Mosi. “My ward will also need a room. Next to mine,” Richard said. More than ever Richard wished he had a woman in the party. He hated to leave the child alone, but his sister's warning hung ominously in his mind. “And Mr. Kenntnis will share a room with me.”

“Hey, Mr. Oort, can Mr. Kenntnis bunk in with me?” Ron Trout asked abruptly. “I've been monitoring something, and I'd like to keep watching it.”

“Uh … sure.” He turned to the receptionist. “Then I guess we don't need another room.”

Only Richard, Mosi, Weber, and the two pilots actually had luggage. The four scientists, Cross, and Kenntnis went right to the breakfast room, while a couple of young men in bellmen's uniforms carried the bags up to the rooms. Weber quickly intervened before one of the men could pick up his big duffel bag o' guns as he called it. They didn't need that problem in addition to all their other problems.

Richard noted that Mosi's brows were drawn tight together. He fell into step with her as they went up the final flight of stairs to the topmost floor. “How are you doing, kiddo?” Richard asked softly. “I know things have been kinda crazy for the past week.”

Mosi looked up at him. “Where are we?”

He started to reach for his phone, then realized it was in a Dumpster outside the bank in Rochester, and the burner phone he had bought didn't have Internet access. “There's a computer in the lobby. After we have some tea I'll get online and show you. We're in a very large country called Turkey that is the crossroads between Europe and Asia.”

“Okay.” She paused, then glanced up at him. “We're a long way from home, aren't we?”

“Yes. Yes, we are.” He risked it. He put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her briefly against his side. He was gratified when her arm slipped around his waist and hugged him back.

“It is bad for Navajo people to travel beyond the edges of the four sacred mountains without protection.” She had once again taken on the cadence of a different person. Someone older and rigid.

“Who told you that?” Richard asked.

“Grandfather. We didn't go to a singer and get me special turquoise to protect me.”

“Weber and I can do that.”

“You're not a mountain.”

“No, I'm a man. That's more useful than a mountain … or turquoise.”

Her nose wrinkled and she twisted her mouth a bit, then a small smile broke out. “I think my daddy would think that too. Sometimes he got mad at Grandfather over the old ways. Grandfather didn't want Abel to have a computer.” Her expression became bleak. “But he was right about that, wasn't he? So maybe he was right about the turquoise too?”

Richard caught her hands. “No, Mosi, rocks and mountains don't have minds. They can't think or do things. Men did things to those computers so they became like windows, and it will be people who stop them. We'll talk more about this later, okay?”

She nodded and ran away up the stairs. Richard followed, suddenly a lot more worried about cultural differences and how what Mosi would learn at Lumina would challenge her beliefs.

The breakfast room was basically a sunroom with windows on three sides. Richard looked out at the graceful minarets and the dome of the famous Blue Mosque. Beyond it bulked Hagia Sophia. Through another window, sunlight danced on the rich blue of the Bosphorus. Richard noted the small mosque nestled right next to the hotel. He thought he'd better warn Mosi about the
adh
ā
n,
which would likely ring through their rooms at various times of day. A plate of cookies and baklava, already seriously depleted, was set out on a table, and the receptionist was pouring a pale golden tea into clear glasses. Richard accepted his and took a sip. It was apple flavored and delicious.

Mosi sniffed hers suspiciously, then tried a sip, and gave him another brief smile. “It's good.”

“Yes, it is.” Richard thanked the young woman, then turned back to Mosi. “Why don't you try one of those pastries? The one with the honey on it. You'll like it.” She went off to the table, and the scientists made room for her. Richard noticed that she chose to sit next to Kenntnis.

He moved to a window and stared out over the city. Weber and Cross joined him. “So what now, boss?” the homeless god asked.

“We wait for our general to turn back up, and head for Ankara tomorrow. I want you to do some recon. Since we filed a flight plan, they know where we are. See if there's activity near to us.”

“I'm thinking we better pull watches,” Weber said.

“Agreed. Brook and Jerry can help. They're both ex-military.”

“That'll make the night a bit easier.”

Richard looked at Cross. “Without the sword, we're depending on you for protection. Guns can handle human followers, but if something else shows up…” Richard's voice trailed away.

“I'll do my best. But I've always viewed self-sacrifice as overrated.” And with that Cross walked out of the breakfast room.

Richard studied Weber's grim expression. “So, you found that rather disturbing too?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah.”

“I don't want to leave Mosi alone, but for obvious reasons I can't put her in a room with … well, you understand. You have anything that can help with that?”

“Yeah, gotta small camera that links back to a handheld monitor.”

“Are we sure that is any less creepy than having a nine-year-old girl sleeping in a room with any of us?”

“No, but what's our alternative?”

Richard sighed and rubbed at his forehead. “Okay, set it up.”

Weber's eyes scanned the table with the scientists, pilots, one little girl, and an alien gathered around a now-empty plate. “One last thing. How are we going to feed this mob? Not sure I want to have us all troop off to dinner.”

“We'll order takeout. Have some of the hotel staff bring it back. Eat dinner up here. Why don't you find out if anybody has food allergies or any particular dislikes?”

“Having heard these guys talk in that meeting … that should only take an hour or two,” Weber said grumpily, but he moved off to the group.

Richard desperately wanted to slip away. To have a few minutes of privacy in his hotel room. To try and mentally prepare for what might come, and try to plan. But he couldn't walk out on Mosi and leave her with strangers. Not that he was all that familiar to her, but she knew him better than any of the others. For one moment he wondered if some nemesis had seized the sword because there were now two paladins. If somehow the universe had a perverted sense of fair play and decided two paladins and the weapon gave an unfair advantage to Lumina. He studied Kenntnis's dark face, the eyes alight with those whirling lights. He could imagine the man's scornful rejoinder to such a suggestion.

Eddie sidled up to Richard. “We gotta go buy some underwear and socks at least or ain't gonna be pretty in another day.” Eddie rolled an eye toward Trout.

Richard pressed a hand against his brow. “Yeah, okay, but make it fast. And for God's sake stay together.” Eddie nodded and returned to the table.

The receptionist proved to be as helpful as she was beautiful. She marked on a map where there was a shopping district. It was near the famous Grand Bazaar, and Chen looked wistful as he studied the tourist map. “That would be a sight to see,” he said.

“Maybe when we're not running for our lives,” Richard said dryly.

“Ah, I take your point.”

And indeed the scientists surprised him by returning in record time. While they were gone, Richard talked with the receptionist about dinner plans, and she recommended a restaurant that specialized in Anatolian cuisine. Even better, she ordered for them and sent one of the bellmen off to collect the food. There was an amazing lamb stew and a kind of bread that looked like a puffed-up pillow, a seafood chowder, also a selection of salads consisting of shredded tomatoes, cucumbers, and spices Richard couldn't identify. Dessert was again a honeyed pastry. The staff had thrown open the windows in the breakfast area to catch the evening breezes. They carried the scent of the sea and the cry of gulls. While they were eating, there was a burst of static from the loudspeakers on the mosque next door, and then the muezzin's call blasted through the room.

“Gonna be fun to try and sleep through that,” Trout grumbled.

Mosi leaned in close to Richard. “That was pretty.”

“Yes. It is.”

“What was it?”

“The Islamic call to prayer.”

The straight nose wrinkled. “Islamic, that's like Muslim, right?”

“Yes.”

“Aren't they bad people?”

“No worse than any other people.”

“Who's their god again?”

“Allah.”

“There are a lot of gods, aren't there? Navajo gods and white people's gods.” She looked over at Chen. “Are there Chinese people's gods too?” Richard felt himself stiffening. Eventually he and the girl had to have the conversation about the true nature of so-called gods, but not when she was nine, and not when her life had been so utterly disrupted.

“Not as you would describe it,” the scientist said with a soft laugh.

She looked at Richard. “Which white god do you pray to?”

“I don't, Mosi.”

“Pray?”

“Believe in gods.”

She surprised him by looking pleased. “Does that mean we don't have to go to church?” The men gathered around the table chuckled, and Richard gave a shout of laughter.

“That's exactly what it means.”

“Oh, good.”

Eddie leaned in to the little girl. “And just so you don't think he's weird—none of us believe in God.”

“Why not?”

Eddie opened his mouth, but Richard intervened. “Maybe this isn't quite the time for a theological discussion.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah.”

After dinner, people began to drift off to their rooms. Mosi was yawning. Richard took her to her room.

“I'm right next door. Call me if you need me.” He waved at the small monitor. “And one of us will be watching to make sure you're okay.”

“Okay.”

“Don't forget to brush your teeth.”

“Okay.”

“Sleep tight, and there's going to be that call … song … again, only really early in the morning, okay?”

He started to leave, but Mosi grabbed his hand. “Are the monsters coming?”

Richard hesitated and decided against lying. “Not right away. Go to sleep now. And lock your door.”

*   *   *

Gold showed up that afternoon. Grenier had not been told, did not expect him, and he immediately saw it for what it was.

“Checking up on me already?” Grenier made no effort to hide his annoyance, and it threw the chubby lawyer off balance.

“No, no, just wanting to see how you're settling in. Everybody treating you well?” Gold took a surreptitious glance around the office.

“Richard was too familiar with underlings. They resent the fact I'm exerting appropriate authority, but they'll come around.” He paused, then asked, “I'm curious, did Dagmar go with Richard?”

“No, apparently he locked her up too.”

“Really? I find that strange. She's always been very devoted and loyal to Richard,” Grenier said.

“Well, maybe she realized that he was destroying the company.”

“Perhaps, but I would strongly recommend that you keep a somewhat closer eye on her going forward.”

“Thank you for you input, but we've worked with Dagmar for a long time. I think we know her a little better than you.”

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Grenier asked.

“Please.”

Grenier keyed the intercom. “Jeannette, do come in and prepare a coffee for Mr. Gold.” The woman marched in, her lips set in a tight line. “What would you like?” Grenier asked Gold. “We're trying to get Jeannette up to speed as a barista, though I may have to pull in one of the younger girls. Jeannette just doesn't seem to be catching on.”

“If you'd like my resignation, Mr. Grenier…”

“No, no. I quite enjoy having you working for me.” He knew she got the barbed reply and enjoyed the hurt that flared briefly in her eyes. There had always been an undercurrent of contempt in her dealings with him. Payback was so sweet.

Gold asked for a latte with a double shot. It took longer than it should, but eventually Jeannette brought him the cup topped with frothing milk. As she handed it over, she blurted out, “Do we know anything about Mr. Oort?”

“That it's none of your concern,” Grenier snapped.

Jeannette cast him an absolutely poisonous look and stalked out of the office.

Gold reacted to the look. “Maybe you ought to fire her.”

“No, the younger employees look to Jeannette and Joseph for guidance. Once I bring those two to heel, the rest will fall in line.” Grenier's prosthetic hand clenched.

“I wonder why she isn't quitting,” Gold mused.

Grenier decided Gold really had little understanding of human nature. “She thinks she can spy on me and limit my influence. It makes her feel important to defend the office until Richard's return. Eventually she'll realize he's gone for good, despair will set in, and then I'll have her.”

“Damn, you sound like a shrink.”

“There's not a lot of difference between a therapist and a minister,” Grenier replied. He paused, then added, “Kenzo didn't give me much detail about what happened in Rochester. You do have the little girl, right?”

“No, Richard took her,” Gold replied. He blew noisily across the top of his coffee and took a sip. “Mmm, that's good.”

“We've lost control of
both
paladins?”

The lawyer shrugged. “It doesn't really matter since the sword is gone.”

“You mean Richard took it.”