Long After Midnight (15 page)

“Fine,” she said automatically. “Hello, Joshua.” She thought quickly. “I was wondering if you’ll need another pair of binoculars. . . .”

She hung up the phone ten minutes later.

“Feel better?” Noah asked.

She did feel better. She had known Joshua was just a phone call away, but the brief connection had reinforced the fact and lessened the isolation. “Yes. How did you know?”

“It must be because I’m sensitive as well as brilliant.” He looked up from the tomato sauce he was stirring and grinned. “Lucky guess.”

She smiled back at him. With a dish towel wrapped around his waist and a smear of tomato sauce on his chin, he appeared very un-geniuslike at this moment. “That’s what I thought.” She moved around the breakfast bar. “What can I do to help?”

“Get out of my kitchen. I’m very possessive about my dishes.”

“You have a secret recipe?”

“Hell yes.” He grimaced. “Haven’t you noticed? I’m great on secret recipes. But I promise this one isn’t another RU2. No catch-22’s. It will only delight the palate.”

She sensed bitterness layered beneath the lightness of those last sentences. “RU2 may be the single most valuable medical breakthrough in history. It will save millions of lives.”

“And has already taken almost a hundred.” He paused. “No,
I
took those lives. I created RU2. I knew what the fallout might be and I went ahead with it. Anything that happens is on my head.” He took the pot of sauce off the flame. “As it will be on yours if you help me.”

She stared at him, puzzled. “Why are you warning me? You did everything but kidnap me to get me to work on the project.”

“I just want you to know that—Dammit, I don’t know.” He shrugged wearily. “I guess I feel guilty and want to share a little of it. Or maybe I want you to tell me to go to hell and walk away.”

“And then you’d come after me and convince me to come back.”

“Probably.”

“Certainly.” She said brusquely, “So shut up. You didn’t mesmerize me into agreeing to stay. I made my decision. I could have walked away. I didn’t.” She went to the cabinet. “Does this idiotic culinary possessiveness of yours include setting the table?”

“No.” He watched her get down the plates, and a slow smile lit his face. “You don’t find me mesmerizing?”

“Sorry.”

“Damn.” He took the boiling noodles off the stove and moved over to the sink to drain them. “I must be slipping.”

She found herself smiling as she set the table. She was beginning to feel comfortable with him, she realized. This wasn’t the brilliant scientist whose work astounded her, nor the relentlessly determined man who had shot out her tire. He was more human, vulnerable. He was the Noah who had sat in the diner and smiled at the waitress and made her feel as if she were the most important person in his world.

But Kate wasn’t Dorothy; she had to live with Noah for the next weeks. She had to work with him and hold her own.

“Hurry up,” Noah said as he poured the sauce over the noodles. “If you’re lucky, I’ll let you take the garlic bread out of the oven.”

“That’s slave work.”

“Yep.”

To hell with putting up barriers and holding her own. She couldn’t work in an atmosphere in which she was constantly on guard. As he had said, they were in this together. It would do no harm to be friends. “Take it out yourself. I choose my work.” She sat down at the table, spread her napkin on her lap, and announced, “I’m waiting to be served.”

When she went to her room that night, the first thing she saw was the hurricane lamp on the windowsill. The candle was lit and casting shadows on the wall. There was a note from Noah beside it.

You really can see this room from the ranger station. Seth thought you could light the candle every night and tell Joshua that it’s your way of saying good night.

She smiled as she gently touched the glass globe with her finger. Very thoughtful of Seth. He had not impressed her as the kind of man who would think of the little things. It made her feel more comfortable about leaving Joshua in his care.

She looked out at the darkness and whispered, “Maybe this will work out after all. Good night, Joshua.”

Noah waited only until the door closed behind Kate before he dialed Tony at the lodge.

“It’s about time,” Tony said sourly. “I thought you’d dropped off the planet.”

“Did you switch to a digital?”

“Yes, the day after you told me.”

“Good. Any more deaths?”

“No.” He paused. “What the hell happened in Dandridge?”

“Nothing good.”

“I’d say that’s an understatement. She killed a policeman?”

Noah went still. “What?”

“There’s a warrant out for her arrest in the killing of one Caleb Brunwick. You didn’t know?”

Noah muttered a curse. “Of course I didn’t know. It’s crazy.” Not so crazy, he realized. What better way to take Kate out of the picture and discredit her after Ishmaru had failed. “What’s the motive?”

“The word is that she flipped after the murder of her ex-husband and blamed the police department. She sent a note to the police commissioner telling them that she had taken a life for a life.”

“Forgery.”

“And several coworkers testified that she was suffering from exhaustion and depression.”

Ogden had woven his net and was drawing it tight. Christ, he had moved faster than Noah had thought possible. “Lies.”

“Well then, she’d better get back there and clear it up.”

Which was exactly what Ogden wanted her to do. If the frame was good enough, she’d be held. If it wasn’t, she’d be set up for Ishmaru again. “What’s happening with Ogden?”

“Barlow said he met with three bigwig executives yesterday.”

“Who?”

“He was only able to identify one. Ken Bradton.”

“Shit.”

“And today he paid a visit to an inn on the outskirts of town where Senator Longworth was registered under a phony name.”

“He’s sure it was Longworth?”

“Longworth isn’t hard to spot. He loves the limelight and he’s conducted more Senate investigations than Joe McCarthy.” Tony was silent a moment. “Ogden’s moving and shaking. That Washington connection doesn’t look good. What are you going to do?”

There wasn’t much he could do, Noah thought in frustration. His hands were tied until the work here was finished. “Wait. Watch. I want you to go to Washington tomorrow. Stay at a hotel outside the city and keep a low profile. I don’t want Ogden to know you’re in town.”

“You mean I can come down from my mountain?” Tony asked sarcastically. “I thought I was here for the millennium.”

He didn’t have any choice but to expose Tony. Everything was going to hell in a handbasket. “I’ll call you on your digital phone tomorrow night and get your hotel number.”

“What about Barlow?”

“For the time being, have him stay in Seattle and keep an eye on Ogden,” Noah said. “Be careful, Tony.”

“Always.” Tony hung up the phone.

Now what? he wondered. Should he tell Kate about the warrant? He might be able to convince her of the danger of going back, but her instinct would be to trust her friend Alan and clear herself. In that case, the best they could hope for was a delay for RU2, the worst was that Kate could die. He couldn’t accept either consequence.

So he would not tell Kate.

My God, he was digging a deep hole for himself.

Seth contentedly breathed in the clean, pine-scented air as he gazed out into the darkness.

It was good here. Not perfect. Nothing was perfect. But he’d take this corner of West Virginia anytime over that hellhole in Colombia.

He could hear the clatter of china and running water inside the house as Phyliss did the supper dishes. Nice woman. Nice kid. Nice place. Maybe he could stay awhile even after Noah brought order into the chaos surrounding them. Noah had always been good at patiently shaping situations to suit himself. Not like Seth. He had never had the patience. If things didn’t happen quickly enough, he’d make them happen and damn the consequences.

And then he’d move on.

Who the hell wanted to stay in one place anyway? This job would be like any other except he was helping Noah. After it was over, he’d get restless or bored or something would happen that would make him leave.

He heard the screen door open and glanced over his shoulder to see Joshua coming out of the house. “Hi. Nice night, huh?”

Joshua came to stand beside him. “It’s quiet.” His hands clutched the railing. “I didn’t expect it to be this quiet.”

“It’s not really quiet. Listen to the night sounds.”

Joshua’s hands nervously opened and closed on the rail. “Yeah . . . but it’s kind of lonely. It kinda makes you—” He broke off and turned away. “I think I’ll go around to the other side where I can see the cabin.” He quickly walked away and around the corner.

Too quickly.

He looked as if he were trying to escape from something.

Like the rest of us, Seth thought. Welcome to the world, kid.

But the kid belonged to him for the time he was here, and escapes often led to disaster. It was during quiet moments like these that the shock of displacement and traumatic events tended to hit home.

He followed Joshua.

But he stopped when he reached the corner.

Joshua was sitting on the deck, his shoulders heaving, silent tears running down his cheeks. He had run out here to vent his grief where no one could see him. Seth could understand. He had never wanted anyone to see his tears either.

Should he leave Joshua and go back into the house?

Probably. The kid was proud and wouldn’t want anyone to know. He might accept comfort from his mother or a man like Noah, but Seth would only bungle it.

He started to turn and then swung back. To hell with it. So he wasn’t Noah. The kid was hurting. He would deal with it in the only way he knew how.

“I’m coming over,” Kate told Phyliss over the phone two days later. “Tell Seth. He told me to call and let him know when I was coming.”

“He’s not here. He and Joshua are on maneuvers.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I told him you wouldn’t like it.”

“Where are they?”

“Near the lake. Ten miles south. He has his pager. Shall I buzz him?”

“No, I’m on my way.” She hung up.

“Trouble?” Noah asked.

“Why would you think that?” Her tone dripped sarcasm. “Just because your friend has taken a nine-year-old boy on maneuvers. Give me the keys to your jeep.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“One of you is enough to deal with. Give me the keys.”

He shrugged and tossed her the key ring.

Ten minutes later she was bouncing along the rough dirt road that bordered the lake.

No sight of them.

She stopped the jeep and jumped out.

“Joshua.”

No answer.

Where the devil were they?

“Seth.”

No answer.

Anger ebbed as anxiety flooded her. She moved quickly into the woods. “Joshua!”

“Time to answer. She’s worried, Joshua. You never hide from someone when they’re worried about you.” Seth moved out of the shadows only a few feet away.

“Hi, Mom.” Joshua was trailing behind him. “I knew it was you before you called.” He glanced at Seth. “Gosh, you’ve got a super nose. You were right. She does stink.”

“I beg your pardon?” she asked coldly.

Seth grimaced. “No offense. Not you in particular. Just human beings collectively.”

Joshua giggled. “But we don’t stink, do we? We didn’t shower last night and we rolled in dirt this morning.”

“We stink a little,” Seth told him. “It takes a good two days in the field before you wear away the scent of civilization.”

“What are you talking about?” Kate asked. “Is this part of these stupid maneuvers?”

Joshua’s smile faded. “Are you mad, Mom?”

“She doesn’t understand,” Seth said quickly. “Why don’t you go a little way down the path and let me explain it to her.”

“We’re not doing anything wrong, Mom. We’re just on maneuvers.”

“Maneuvers are war games. You know how I feel about—”

“I’ll come in ten minutes and I want you to tell me all the scents that you can identify.” Seth jerked his thumb. “Hit it, kid.”

Joshua grinned and ran down the path.

She felt a hurtful pang as she watched him go. She was being . . . closed out.

“Sorry we weren’t at the station,” Seth said. “You didn’t tell us you were coming today.”

“I didn’t know until the last minute.” She swung around and attacked. “Maneuvers? He’s just a little boy. I won’t have him playing games like this.”

“It’s no game.” He raised his hand to cut off her protest. “I’m not going to give him a rifle and a machete. Though I understand his father had no compunctions about teaching Joshua to shoot.”

“At targets. And I didn’t like that either.”

“It surprises me that you’d object.” He smiled. “You’re a fighter too. I knew that the moment I saw you.”

“Battles shouldn’t be fought with guns.”

“But they are. Look at the evening news.”

“Well, my son isn’t going to live in a ghetto where he’ll have to face that threat.”

“No, he lives in a quiet little subdivision where nothing bad ever happens. But his father’s been murdered and he thinks his mother may be at any moment.”

She felt as if he had struck her. “I did everything I could to keep him safe.”

He shrugged. “Things happen. Ghettos don’t have the monopoly on bad luck.” His expression softened. “Look, I’m not putting the kid through commando training. I’m just trying to make him believe that he can deal with what’s happened to him. Right now he feels helpless and worried as hell. He wasn’t able to help you when he thought you needed him.”

“He’s just a child.”

“With a king-size sense of responsibility. It must be in the genes.” He paused. “He cried the other night.”

She stiffened. “What did you do?”

“Ignored it. Pretended I didn’t see it. He didn’t want me to know. So I didn’t know.” He shook his head. “I’m not his mother. The only way I could comfort him was to take away his helplessness.”

“I should have been there.”