Whistler's Angel (13 page)

“Say you’re right. But with Claudia? I am not going to do that. You’ve got to know that can’t work.”

“What I know is that she might be good for you, Adam. I’m asking you to give it a chance.”

“Yeah, but for how long? She’s bound to snap out of it.”

“That could take a little while. In the meantime, enjoy.”

“Enjoy? Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I am. What’s your problem?”

“With Claudia that would be like…like child molestation. I can’t believe I’m hearing you suggest it.”

“Adam, she’s hardly a child.”

“Have you tried speaking to her?”

“I’ve spoken to her mother. Granted that Claudia’s had a change in perspective. But you’re looking for diminished capacity, Adam. Sounds to me more like it’s been heightened.”

Whistler paused to rub his face. This was out of control.

“Say you’re right,” he told his father. “You’re not, but say you are. Say Claudia and I ride off into the sunset. What makes you think that Aubrey and Poole will keep their end this time around?”

“For openers? They know they won’t get another chance. I’ll come after them with everything I’ve got.”

“Yeah, but...”

“I told Poole that I would have stayed on the sidelines if they hadn’t pulled that dumb-ass raid. I don’t need a war either. I have better things to do. All I wanted was to help you walk away clean. No one had to have been hurt on either side and Aubrey wouldn’t be in a wheelchair.”

“Aubrey? What wheelchair?”

“You didn’t know?”

“I’m the last to know anything. Someone got to him? When?”

“The night before last. Carved him up pretty good. So it’s not as if he’s getting a pass.”

“Yeah, but fill me in. Who’s this slasher we have? I know it wasn’t the twins.”

He said, “No, not their style. It was another old friend who caught Aubrey with his pants down. That’s no figure of speech. Caught taking a dump. Did some surgery on his lower extremities. Do you know if he has any kids, by the way?”

“No, he doesn’t. ”

“And he won’t. Consider him
punitivized
. This guy not only does not walk away, he doesn’t walk at all for quite a while.”

“Later, maybe. Not now.”

“But it is same friend who cut Briggs out in Denver?”

An appreciative chuckle. “She does get around.”

“The same one who went to see Aubrey and Poole?”

“No, that job called for someone with a bit more restraint.”

“But both of them are women. Do I know them? Have I met them?”

“Yeah, you might have. Years ago. They’re friends of a friend. You want to know names but they aren’t important. What’s important is that the other side
doesn’t either. They could kill the twins, and you, even me, but they’d still have to worry about ghosts.”

“Except Aubrey’s seen the one with the knife. So has Briggs. They both know what she looks like.”

“I doubt it. She’s quick. I bet they never saw it coming. And as long as we’re on the subject of friends, you’re going to need one yourself. They’ve agreed to this deal, but you’re right, they could rethink it. You’re going to want somebody watching your back, and what better protection could anyone have than a flesh and blood guardian angel?”

“That’s out of the question. Forget it.”

“Even then,” said his father, ignoring that response, “I think you’ll want to keep moving. You’ve piled up a pretty good body count, Adam. I mean before this. There are people who’ll remember. And Aubrey might be tempted to drop a dime and tell some of them where you can be found.”

Whistler asked, “Are you listening to yourself? Is this the life I’m supposed to offer Claudia?”

“Of course I’ve made it clear that if you’re harmed in any way, I’ll assume that Poole and Aubrey were behind it. Even so, an extra set of eyes couldn’t hurt.”

“Now it’s you who’s not listening to me.”

“About Claudia? Then go see her. Change her mind if you can. But we already know where her head is.”

“I won’t do this to her. And I won’t let her do it. This discussion is over, so let’s drop it.”

“Adam…here’s your choice. It’s her or the twins. You decide. Don’t make me decide for you.”

The good humor had left his father’s voice. Whistler knew better than to doubt that he meant it. This Claudia thing…it was completely absurd. But the thought of spending a year with the twins…

“Adam?”

“Just wait. I need to think about this.”

“N
ot by yourself. Think it over with Claudia.”

“
I’ll get you the time. You go back out and see her. She’ll be in the hospital for about

another week. After that, she’s coming here to convalesce.”

“
Coming where? To Geneva?”

“Did I mention that her mother will be coming here with her? I’ve arranged for their passports. They’re not terribly well-traveled. I should think this would be a nice treat.”

“When was all this decided?”

“They’ll be here for a month. Did I mention that you’re coming, too?”

“Hey, hold on.”

“Left to me, you and Claudia would come and you’d stay, but not being the kind of father who interferes, I will leave you to make your own decisions. We’ll
need to discuss where you two ought to go. Does she sail, by the way? Do you know if she likes boats?”

“
Okay, wait. You’re right. It
will
be my decision. Don’t give me this ‘
we need to discuss
.’”

“
Colorado girl…mountains…probably not. We’ll try her out on my boat
when she’s able.”

“What do boats have to do with any of this?”

“Just a thought. I might know where there’s a nice one.”

The boat in question was the yacht he now owned. It was a 46-foot Tartan,
custom designed, and was worth nearly half a million dollars. It had a range of five hundred miles under power and no limit to its range under sail. With a shoal-draft keel that drew only six feet, it could anchor close to shore nearly anywhere. It was light tan in color with red scrollwork added. The name on the transom was “Me & My Gal.” It was among the agreed-on reparations.

The man whose house Whistler watched, Aubrey’s brother-in-law, had been the previous owner. He’d had it for less than a year. The original owner was a Florida banker who’d been charged with laundering drug dealer cash and whose property had been seized and then auctioned. Aubrey saw to it that his brother-in-law was the only person making a bid. That bid, Whistler learned, was for five thousand dollars, an amount that would barely have paid for the dinghy,
let alone for the yacht it was on.

He did fly back to Denver; he went directly to the hospital. He was glad to find Claudia considerably improved. By then she was able to sit up in bed. All the tubes, save one, had been disconnected. The only sign of her wound was a cervical collar with bandages showing underneath. She would need to wear the collar for some time. She could eat, feed herself, but only soft foods. Her mother had brought her a white satin peignoir to replace the stark hospital gowns. Her hair, no longer matted, had been washed and brushed. A little makeup made her color look the way it had before. She smiled, pleased to see him, but seemed not at all surprised. She was toying with a half-eaten lunch.

Whistler had decided that he would be firm. This whole angel thing had to stop there and then. He would not let her waste one more day of her life
clinging to a man who almost got her killed her just because she heard voices in her head. He began by telling her the truth about his sister, of the hatred that
drove him to hurt many people who’d had nothing to do with her death. He told
her that he was a marked man himself. He told her that it was entirely likely that he’d have no future to share with her.

She asked, “Would you like my rice pudding? I’m full.”

“No, I wouldn’t. Have you heard a word that I’ve said?”

“I’ve been listening. And it’s sad. But what difference does it make?”

Her voice was still raspy and still a bit labored. Her expression, however, was untroubled.

“What difference?” he asked her. “It makes all the difference. Claudia,
it isn’t just those people who hurt you. The list goes back long before them.”

“Then, see?”

“See what?”

“You will need my protection.”

A sigh. “Yeah, but wait. Maybe I don’t deserve it. Were you listening when I told you…”

“That your past was less than wholesome? I already knew that. Those men

showed me photographs, remember?”

He blinked. “You mean those photos where I cut the throats of children? You actually believed that I could do that?”

“You didn’t?”

“No, damn it.”

“Well, good. I’m glad to hear it. That one was a lie. But if you hadn’t done some other things almost as brutal, what would have been the point in me saving you?”

She said this in the manner of a patient schoolteacher who was pointing
out an obvious fact. To him, her logic was clearly deranged. To her, it was unassailable.

V
ery well. He would indulge it. But he’d try a different tack.

“
By…saving me, Claudia, let’s be clear on what you mean. Does it mean
that you’ll be nagging at me to repent and become as saintly as you are? Because I’ll tell you right now, if that’s what you have in mind…”