The Jewels of Cyttorak (13 page)

But it wasn’t the outfit that shocked Remy.

It was the hair. Golden blonde hair worn tied back. He would have known that hair anywhere.

Bella Donna.

His wife.

The leader of the assassins.

The woman who had recently sworn to kill him.

The sun was just breaking over the high mountains east of Boise at six in the morning, cutting through the chill that covered the valley and airport. Unlike weather in New York, the nights in Idaho, even on hot summer days, turned cool. Dew covered the ground where, in a few hours, the sun would be baking the pavement hot as an oven top.

Robert Service strolled across the damp runway and into the open hangar of Back Country Helicopters, glancing around at the repairs being done on one ’copter. Two more sat outside and it was one of those he was interested in.

A half hour ago he had woken up in the back of his private plane. As with the first time he’d fallen asleep, he could no longer sense the other two parts of his emerald. So he pulled out the glowing stone and touched it again, letting its energy flow through and revive him.

This morning, instead of the feeling of the other two gems coming back into his head, red flooded through his mind like a spilled beaker of blood.

Red.

And danger.

Whatever it was that he’d sensed the first night, the red creature was now close. Very close.

And getting closer.

He had put the emerald back into his bag, checked to make sure his gun was in his duffel also, loaded and ready, then climbed out of the jet. He woke and ordered his pilots to fly first to Portland, Oregon, refuel, then return to a small central Idaho town called McCall. He’d meet them there in approximately four hours.

It was a longshot. The likelihood was much greater that the red creature, whatever it was, was following the gem, not the plane. But the diversion couldn’t hurt, in case it was the plane that it tracked.

And Robert needed some time to locate an emerald in over nine hundred square miles of Idaho wilderness. Four hours should do it, if he was lucky and his plan worked.

Robert shifted the light weight of the duffel, letting the feeling of the gem and the gun comfort him some.

“Hello,” he shouted into the empty hangar and his voice echoed off the high metal roof.

“Hello yourself,” a man said, moving out from behind the cabin of the helicopter inside the hangar. He was an older man, probably in his late fifties, with a thinning head of gray hair and a large smile. He strolled toward Service, wiping his grease-stained hands on a blue rag as he came.

“Can’t say I’ve ever had anyone in here as big as you,” he said, smiling and extending his now-clean hand. “Name’s Craig. I own this place.”

“Robert Service,” Robert said, carefully shaking the man’s hand in return, making sure he didn’t squeeze too hard. “Are you also a pilot?”

Robert had learned to fly helicopters back a few years before, but didn’t want to even try taking one into those mountains alone unless he had to—particularly with his hands much larger than they were.

“Sure am,” the guy said. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m willing to pay twenty thousand dollars up front in exchange for four hours of helicopter time and a pilot.”

“Twenty thousand?” Craig said, the look of surprise clear in his eyes. “You could almost buy one for that price. What do you need it for? Not that I’m saying no, mind you,” he added quickly. “Just wondering. Have to make sure it’s legal.”

“Oh, it’s legal all right. An emergency trip into the central mountains, above the small town of Yellow Pine,” Robert lied. “Your helicopters have that kind of range?” Graig shrugged. “No problem at all, even with someone of your size on board. But that’s rugged country up there.”

“I’m aware of that,” Robert said. “I’m looking for a man who’s in there. I’ve got a way of tracking his location, but it’s not exact. More directional in nature.” “So we do a little back and forth is all,” the old guy said, nodding to himself.

“Exactly,” Robert said. “So how long can you stay aloft up in that area before having to return to refuel?’ ’ “Three-plus hours, safely, at that altitude.”

Robert nodded and pulled out his wallet. “I need to leave right now. Is that also possible?’ ’

Craig started to say something, then noticed the wad of cash that Robert took out of his money clip. ‘ ‘Mister, for twenty thousand in
cash,
we could have left ten minutes ago. Let me just run this through, wash my hands, cancel another appointment, and I’ll be ready. The big bird on the right out there is gassed and ready to go. Give me five minutes.”

“Thank you, Craig,” Robert said, smiling his best smile at the older man.

In the back of his
min
d Robert could tell the red creature was closing in from the east, getting closer and closer. But it felt as if five minutes would be soon enough to get ahead of whatever was coming.

He turned and headed for the helicopter. Maybe after getting the next part of the emerald, it wouldn’t matter if the red creature caught up with him. Only time would tell.

Cain had crammed his huge frame into the back of the
Blackbird.
He’d broken one arm off one chair in the back as he sat, but otherwise, so far, there had been no serious damage to the plane.

Then, for the next three hours, as the jet sped west, Cain hadn’t said a word. He simply sat hunched over, staring into the night ahead.

Jean and Scott bad also remained outwardly quiet. But using Jean’s telepathic powers they had “talked” and planned most of the trip, running through any possible plan of action they could think of. In the end they came back to the exact point where they started. They had no idea why Robert Service had been flying in circles in Idaho. And they could only guess at the outcome when Cain caught up to him.

The sun was lighting the sky around them as they crossed over the Teton Mountains and into eastern Idaho. They were within two hundred miles of Boise, approaching the Snake River valley when suddenly things changed slightly.

“
Blackbird
.” Ororo’s voice cut through the silence of the cabin from the radio link.

Scott flipped a switch to turn his headset to the private channel, then with a glance at Jean said, “Go ahead, Storm.”

“Cyclops, we just got confirmation from the Boise airport that Service’s plane has taken off, headed west. He filed a flight plan for Portland.”

“Understood,” Scott said.

He flipped the communication system back to airport approach and then glanced around at Cain hunched over behind him.

Cain said nothing, his dark eyes still focused ahead.

Scott shrugged and turned back forward.
Guess we ’re going on to Portland
, he said to Jean telepathically through the rapport that husband and wife shared.

Guess we are
, Jean replied.

One thing’s for certain, we’re getting to see some country we'd normally never see.

Almost feels like a vacation,
Jean said with a telepathic laugh.

Almost,
Scott said.
Almost.

Wingate Toole stood behind his desk and watched as two of the deadliest humans alive walked into his office.

Kyle, who had been holding the door for them, stepped back, and his already pale face drained even more.

Toole nodded to the man who had a cloth mask over his face and a painted diamond over one eye-slit. He wore the traditional garb of the Assassins Guild and carried a

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large, gleaming sword that looked sharp enough to cut through steel.

Beside him strode one of the most beautiful and striking women Toole had ever seen. She stood at least six foot tall and wore a black bodysuit with blue armor-like scales on her arms and legs. The scales moved with her rippling muscles like a second skin and the effect was very attractive. A long cape was attached at her shoulders and flowed down behind her as she walked. Her blonde hair was pulled back and cascaded out over the cape.

Her name was Bella Donna and she was the head of the Assassins Guild.

Toole also had no doubt at all that at a moment’s whim, she could kill him without a struggle.

He also knew she wouldn’t. At least not yet. After she had heard what he had to say, he hoped she would never kill him. Only work with him.

And protect him from what was coming.

Toole indicated that Bella take the seat in front of his desk, but she shook her head and remained standing. The other assassin took a position to her right and slightly behind her where he could keep any eye on both Toole and Kyle.

Toole shrugged and dropped down into his chair, leaning back to look at her. ‘ ‘Thank you for accepting my invitation,” Toole said, putting on his best smile.

“The messenger said you have a business proposition,” she said. “I will listen.”

Toole nodded. “Fair enough,” he said. It was the most he had hoped for.

“As I know you are aware,” Toole said, “over the

past few years I’ve slowly taken over more and more of, shall we say, the
business
of our fine city.”

Bella said nothing, only stared at him, her dark brown eyes boring into him like drills.

‘ ‘The old days of a balance between the mob and the two guilds are almost finished. If I can move in, as I have done, someone else would shortly do the same if I am eliminated.”

Bella again said nothing, made no motion. She only stared at him, obviously trying to make him nervous. And it was succeeding admirably.

‘ ‘I propose a partnership of sorts between the Assassins Guild and my organization.”

“And what would my people get from such a partnership?” Bella asked.

Toole smiled at her. She had almost spit out the word
partnership.

“You would get the elimination of the Thieves Guild, and control of the entire city. Is there more that you would

expect?”

Suddenly, for the first time Bella looked slightly interested. One eyebrow raised just a fraction. If she had been a poker player, that would have been a deadly “tell.”

“Look, Bella,” Toole said, leaning forward and keeping both hands in plain sight on top of his desk. “I’m a businessman. I know business and how to make money and control this city with that money, from underneath and behind the scenes. I’ve proven that clearly to you and others over the past six months.”

“Go on,” Bella said.

“But I’m no good at the protection side. I’ve got a hundred men surrounding our position at this moment and I’m sure you and ten of your assassins could fight your way in here without the slightest problem.”

“You are correct,” Bella said.

“So,” Toole said, giving her the palms-up gesture. “To stay alive, I need you. And to solidify control of the city, you need me and my organization.”

“Assuming I agree with your assessment of the situation in this city, how do you see such a partnership working?” Again she almost spit out the word partnership.

Toole laughed. “I suppose partnership might have been the wrong term to use. You would be the leader, I would be your first lieutenant.”

Again her eyebrow raised slightly and Toole knew he had her. So he pushed forward. “You run the city and protect me and my people while I do the finances. Within a very short time the mob and the Thieves Guild will only be a memory.”

“And you will follow my orders?” Bella asked. “My interest is business and money,” Toole said, smiling at her while holding her stare. “As long as you protect me and my people, I’ll follow you to the ends of the universe. And make you even more powerful at the same time.”

Again her eyebrow raised slightly and Toole wondered if she knew she had such a clear giveaway of her emotions and thoughts. He doubted it.

She leaned forward, both hands on his desk. Her blonde hair fell over her right shoulder and he could feel the sheer power of her presence. ‘ ‘What exactly are you afraid of, Toole?”

He kept his gaze locked on hers. Then he sighed and shook his head. There was no point in lying to her. If what he proposed was going to work, she needed to know.

He took a deep breath and stood.

She also stood up straight facing him across the polished oak of his desk.

“Something is coming after me,” Toole said. “I have no way of knowing what, or even who it is. But I know.” He tapped the side of his head.

“And this
knowing
has you scared?” Bella asked. “Scared enough to give up control of your organization to me?”

Toole nodded. “Alive and second in command of the most powerful crime organization in the South is better than being dead.” He laughed. “Actually it’s better by a considerable distance.”

For the first time since the most dangerous woman in the Big Easy had come though his door she smiled. “Mr. Toole, your organization and courage have impressed me for the last year. I will give your proposal some thought.”

She offered her hand and he reached forward and took it. Her skin was firm and her grasp hard as iron. He returned her handshake, never taking his gaze from her eyes.

“I will leave a dozen of my people around your office, if you would like?” she said.

“That would be appreciated,” Toole said.

“I will return this evening,” she said.

Without another word she spun and started for the door. Kyle managed to get it open before she got there, and she and her guard went through without so much as a squeak of the floorboards.

Toole let out a deep breath. “Kyle, make sure our people know they will be joined by some
professional
help.”

“Yes, sir,” Kyle said.

As the door closed behind Kyle, Toole dropped into his chair with a giant sigh. Then slowly, softly, he started laughing to himself.

So far, so good.

Over Toole’s desk, Remy lay perfectly still, his ear pressed lightly against a small opening in the ceiling tile. He had managed to hear every word of the conversation between Bella Donna and Toole. And it had shocked him.

The Assassins Guild, to his knowledge, had never made a pact with anyone. And had no interest in controlling the business side of the crime world. Yet it was clear that Bella had liked Toole’s suggestions.