No Way to Die (41 page)

“I did,” I said, allowing myself to be guided onto a gurney.

“Doc,” I called out just before they strapped an oxygen mask on me. He looked at me. “Dude, I owe you. Again.” I held my hand up.

He grasped it. “No, you don’t, man. You’re my bro. Bros don’t owe.”

They started to load me into the ambulance.

“Danny!” Doc called. I raised my head and looked at him. He stood tall and proud, his right hand raised into the air with a clinched fist. “
Sadnleel da’ya’dee nzho!
” he called out in Apache.

I didn’t know the meaning of the Apache words, but the triumphant message was still clear. I made a fist with my right arm and raised it in return.

I WOKE UP the next morning with bright sunlight streaming through the windows of my hospital room. I was on the same floor at Harborview as I’d been a few nights ago. When I arrived the day before, the same doc as last time—Dr. Malik—attended to me. “So much for being careful, eh?” he’d said, the concern in his voice obvious. “How’d you manage to get hit in the exact same spot? Even tore out some of my stitches.” He admitted me for observation. He sewed up my head again. They X-rayed me, CAT-scanned me, poked and prodded me. Eventually, Dr. Malik made the same diagnosis as last time—mild concussion.

The clock on the wall read seven thirty. I can’t remember the last time I slept until seven thirty. Then again, I don’t generally spend my time in a hospital bed connected to a bevy of machines. Aside from a slight headache, I felt pretty good. But regardless, I don’t like hospitals, so I decided I was ready to leave.

I felt a touch on my left arm. I looked over to see Toni seated in a chair beside my bed. She smiled when she saw that I was awake, and then she yawned. “You’re awake,” she said. She rubbed at the corner of her eyes so as not to disturb her makeup.

I nodded. “I am.” I looked around at the room, and then back at her. “How long have you been here?”

“A while,” she said, stretching her arms. “Happy Saint Pat’s.”

“Thanks,” I said. “You, too.” Toni wore faded blue jeans with holes in the knees and a billowy green top. I noticed a pillow in her chair. “What’s that? Did you spend the night here?”

She looked at me. “Well,” she said, “someone had to stand guard, right?”

I smiled. “I appreciate it,” I said, “but I think the case is over. Remember, the bad guys blew up. They’re probably checking in at hell’s front desk by now. Room for four. Close to the fireplace.” I paused and stared at her. She had a dark-purple bruise high up on her left cheek. From my perspective, it did nothing to diminish her beauty. “When’d you get here?” I asked. “I remember you leaving last night.”

“Yeah. I went home and got cleaned up. I hadn’t had a shower in two days. I called my mom and let her know I was okay. Then I came back here. You were already out.”

“You’re crazy,” I said. “But thanks for coming back and sitting with me.”

“Sure,” she said. “What are friends for, right? How you feeling this morning?”

“I feel good,” I said. “A little headache, but pretty good.” I looked at her. “You know, spending a night in a hospital chair watching me sleep is a little beyond the call of duty, wouldn’t you agree?”

She looked at me, smiling. Then she changed the subject. “Looks like we’ve got the Rasmussen case all wrapped up.”

“Good riddance,” I said. “Next time my dad calls wanting me to meet someone, I’m going to think twice. I’m tired of getting jumped by bald-headed Englishmen.”

“Yeah, really,” she said. “But look at the bright side. Katherine said she’d double our fee if we identified Thomas’s killer. We not only ID’d the guy, we also risked life and limb so that he could ultimately take himself out. That oughta count, right?”

“I should think,” I said. “Our client gets the closure she was after, and the bad guys get the closure they deserve. We get paid. The universe is in order.”

She smiled. “Just like that. Too bad we lost the key. That makes the Starfire Protocol box we salvaged pretty worthless.”

I smiled. “We didn’t lose it.”

“How?” she said, surprised. “You said they plugged it in and tested it.”

“They did. But it wasn’t the real key. Kenny programmed a regular old USB key with a script that ran automatically when it was plugged in. Everything they saw was completely fake—just window dressing. We figured if we had it just say something like ‘Calculating—please come back in eight hours for the answer,’ then Marlowe’d be happy. And he was.”

“So the real key is—”

“Still in my guitar case.”

She smiled at me. “You
are
tricky, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “You better believe it.”

“And the case is closed.”

“Closed,” I said. “On to the next case.”

“Is there a next case yet?”

“There will be.” I reached for her hand. “Toni, I’m so sorry. I should never have left you by yourself. I violated my own buddy rule.”

She smiled. “Don’t sweat it, Danny. Seemed safe enough at the time,” she said. “We actually thought I was out of the action. No need for buddies.”

“It must have been Holly who tipped them off?” I asked.

“I guess,” she said. “Who else knew where we were?”

“I don’t get it,” I said. “Maybe she was so scared for her brother that she felt compelled to go along.”

“Maybe,” she said. “But Marlowe’s guys handcuffed her and drugged her, too. It's weird. Maybe they thought they’d be tying up loose ends.” She thought for a minute, and then smiled. “Anyway, I’m okay. They didn’t touch me.”

“Except for . . .”I pointed to her cheek.

“Yeah, the bastards. That was a cheap shot.”

“Tell me about it,” I said, pointing to my head.

We started laughing, and we were still laughing when Jennifer walked into the room.

* * * *

“Good morning,” she said. “Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.” She was followed by Ron Jennings, Marilyn Rodgers, and Ryan Freedman. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything?”

“No,” I said, smiling and looking at Toni. “Toni and I were just comparing war wounds.”

“You were
both
injured,” Jen said. “How are you guys doing?”

“Thanks for asking,” Toni said, smiling. “I’m fine, although I’m a little worried about Danny getting hit in the head again. He doesn’t have that much gray matter left in reserve, you know?”

“I’m okay,” I said. “I’ve been told that if you want to hurt me, you shouldn’t hit me in the head, right?”

They laughed.

“Do you mind if we take up a couple minutes of your time?” Jennifer asked. “We have some questions, but they shouldn’t take too long.”

I shrugged. “Sure,” I said. “Look at me. I think you have a captive audience, at least for a little while longer.”

“Are they sending you home today?”

“First thing this morning, I hope,” I said. “I’m ready to get out of here.”

“Good,” she said.

“Mr. Logan, Ms. Blair,” Marilyn Rodgers said, “let me start by saying we’re all very happy your injuries seem fairly minor, especially you, Ms. Blair, having been taken hostage.”

Toni nodded.

“And, our British friends were not at all displeased with the final outcome, as regards Mr. Marlowe,” Marilyn continued. “No question that he was a bad man—murder, kidnapping, extortion—nothing seemed to be beyond this guy. He got what he deserved.”

I nodded. “I talked to him in the barn,” I said. “Right before he had his guy knock me out and strap me to the rail. He met the clinical definition of a psychopath, except in his case, he was all dressed up like a European socialite. He was scary. He was a guy for whom the ‘ends’ definitely justified the ‘means.’ He gave absolutely no consideration to the emotions or feelings of anyone, aside from himself.” I shook my head. “Those concerns simply didn’t exist inside him.”

“That fits his pattern,” she said. “This case wasn’t the first time he acted this way.”

“But it is the last,” Jennings said brightly. “And that leads to a question regarding the explosive device that was detonated. Special Agent Thomas has told us what you told her about the device, but we’d like to hear it in your own words, if you please.”

So I ran them back through the whole story—the break-in, the planting of the bomb, our modification—everything. I didn’t leave any part out.

“That’s it,” I said when I finished. “That’s the whole story—nothing abridged. It was Marlowe's bomb. He made it. He planted it. He detonated it. I’m afraid that if you don’t find that satisfactory, my next step is going to have to be to contact my lawyer.”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary,” Ron Jennings said. “I speak for the bureau. Based on what we know of you and certainly based on what we now know of this Marlowe character, we believe your story. I’m convinced that you played no role in Marlowe’s death—at least none that he didn’t precipitate. You simply acted in self-defense and outsmarted the guy. If you hadn’t done so, you’d be dead now, and he’d have most likely escaped to continue his illegal activities. We’re all very glad
that
didn’t happen.”

“We are, too,” I said. "Especially the 'dead' part."

He laughed. “Anyway,” he continued, “well done. Like Marilyn said, justice was well served. And I might add that by closing his own chapter the way he did, Marlowe saved both governments a fair amount of money—no prosecution required.”

“Well,” I said, “at least there’s that.”

“In fact,” Marilyn Rodgers added, “the only lingering disappointment from the whole operation seems to be with Mr. Freedman here regarding the loss of the Starfire Protocol device and, particularly, the key.”

Freedman gave me a dubious look, as if he still didn’t believe me. He acted like I was somehow guilty of showing him a new toy but then not letting him play with it.

“Yeah,” I said. “Well, the good news is the real Starfire Protocol device is back with its rightful owner now. But, you’re right—it’s too bad about the key. But who knows? Maybe the company can create a new one.”

“That would be nice,” Freedman said. “But I’m afraid that without the benefit of Thomas Rasmussen’s special genius, none of us may be able to figure out how exactly he took the Starfire Protocol algorithm and split it between the box and the key. None of us will likely be able to tell exactly how the key fit in.”

"Are you admitting that the key is
computationally
secure?" I asked.

He didn't answer but his look confirmed what he thought of me.

“Well,” I said, “I guess that means barring another mathematical breakthrough, we stay status quo. Look at the bright side. Nobody has to worry about their private transactions being opened and snooped.”

Freedman gave me another sharp stink-eye look. “Indeed,” he said.

“Let me ask another question,” Jennifer said. She addressed Toni. “You stayed at the Woodmark night before last?”

“Right,” Toni said.

“And you were abducted from there?”

“Yes. They actually got us in our room just as we were about to leave.”

“Have you figured out yet how Marlowe found you and Holly when you thought you were safely tucked away at the Woodmark?” Jennifer asked.

“I'm thinking that it had to be Holly Kenworth,” Toni said. “She was the only one who knew where we were, other than Danny and me. But then, I can't explain why they took her hostage alongside me, and she was drugged even more heavily than I was. So, maybe it wasn't Holly after all. Now, I think we’re both a little confused about it—not sure what to think. She must have been the one to tell—she was the only one who knew. But I can’t explain why they’d hold her hostage then. My current theory is that it was her. At first, her being abducted was part of the deception act - along with the whole rest of her story. But later, it was real and Marlowe probably intended to kill her along with us so that he could tie up loose ends.”

“Were you held together after you were abducted?”

“I don’t know for sure—I don’t think so. I think we were in separate rooms.”

“So it’s possible she may have been treated differently?”

Toni thought about it. “Yeah, I guess it’s possible. Why?”

Jennifer said. “Would it surprise you to hear that Holly Kenworth is missing this morning?”

I turned to look at her. “Missing?” I said. “How can that be? She was brought in with Toni in an ambulance yesterday. She's here in the hospital, right?

“Yes,” she said. “As Toni just said, she was apparently drugged more heavily than Toni was. She was barely conscious when she arrived at the hospital—certainly not coherent. They admitted her immediately. Toni," she turned to look at Toni, "you on the other hand, had pretty well recovered by the time the ambulance arrived. You were treated in the emergency room and released, right?”

“That’s right,” Toni said. “Yesterday afternoon.”

“Well,” Jennifer said, “Neither you nor Holly were thought to have committed any crimes, so you weren’t technically in custody. You were both left unguarded. After talking to hospital staff this morning, we’ve learned that Holly Kenworth has somehow made a rather miraculous recovery. She apparently simply got dressed and walked out of the hospital sometime early last night.”