“And what difference did it make?” Catherine said. “The beast was dead.”
“It made a difference to my brother,” he said quietly. “And that made a difference to me. Before he died, Sean made me promise that if Zander managed to kill Abu Karr, I would try to keep him safe, that I would never leave him until the day he died.”
“But you said you didn’t know if he killed him.”
“I still don’t. But I had to try to find out. I had money. I told you that was easy for me. I hired ballistic experts, and they studied the shot that killed Abu Karr. It was done at an extremely difficult angle, and the shooter would have had to be a magnificent shot. I hired local private detectives, and they found people who had seen a man of his description in two of the villages that bordered the jungle. It took a long time to get the report because Zander is like a shadow figure. I bribed people in the CIA, and they confirmed that Zander was in Africa at the time. They’d even had an agent report that Zander had something to do with the uprising.” He shrugged. “No proof either way, and Zander would never admit to anything. So I was left with making the decision myself.”
“And you went to work for him.”
“I thought the chances were good that he’d killed Abu Karr, and I had to keep my promise. I figured that I might be able to find some more concrete evidence if I worked for him. So I changed my name and applied for the job of his accountant.”
“And did you find any other evidence?”
“No.” He made a face. “As Venable must have told you, Zander doesn’t confide in anyone, and he certainly wouldn’t leave records around concerning his ‘business.’”
“You fooled him all these years?”
He shook his head. “I think he found out soon after he hired me, but he never mentioned it. I’m sure that he knew that the CIA had spread rumors of a report about his possible involvement in the terrorist uprising. I believe the situation intrigued him.”
“I can see how it might,” Catherine said. “Twisted bastard that he is.” She smiled without mirth. “I told him that I was his bodyguard. There’s a certain black humor about the fact that you’ve been acting in that capacity all these years.”
“I wouldn’t have presumed to tell him that’s why I stayed. You have more courage than I do.” He paused. “You wanted to find out if you could use me in any way to manipulate Zander. You can see that the answer has to be not if it endangers Zander in any way.”
“Is that why you told me about your brother?”
“Yes, along with the fact that you’re desperate and in pain and I admire you. I didn’t want you to waste your time.” He held up his hand as she opened her lips to speak. “But that doesn’t mean that I won’t help you find Eve and Zander if we can find a way that is mutually acceptable.”
“Why?”
“Because I want Eve Duncan to live. And because Zander wants me to help you. He didn’t phone me just to send me to make sure you were all right after he took you down. He’s an expert. He’d know exactly what he did to you and how long you’d be out.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s true. And how does he think you can help us?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea. I believe Zander may be a little desperate himself at this point. It’s strange that I should think that … I’ll do what I can. I’m not totally—” He stopped at a knock on the door. “That’s probably Quinn and Gallo. I’ll go let them in.”
She jumped to her feet. “No, I’ll do it.” She ran across the room and threw open the door.
“Where’s Stang?” Joe strode into the room. “Did you question him?”
“Are you okay?” Gallo asked her quietly.
“Yes, I questioned him,” Catherine said. “He doesn’t know anything. Take it easy on him.” She turned to Gallo. “And yes, I’m fine. I told you that, Gallo.” She tried to suppress the intense physical reaction that she always had to Gallo. She hadn’t seen him for weeks, and the sexual tension was strong and heated. Ignore it.
“Then if you’re fine, I’ll tell you that you shouldn’t have lowered your guard with Zander,” he said coolly. “And that you were an idiot not to tell us where you were staying.”
“I wasn’t an idiot. I had a chance of manipulating the situation if I could keep control of Zander.”
“But you didn’t keep control.” Joe’s eyes never left Stang. “And now Eve’s probably worse off because you didn’t. And how do you know Stang doesn’t know anything?”
“You’ve dealt with me before, Quinn,” Stang said. “You know that Zander doesn’t confide in me. He didn’t tell me a word.”
“And you didn’t suspect anything?”
“Of course, I did. Zander was actually edgy. I even questioned him. He said he hated to wait.”
“He was waiting for word to get to Doane so that he could set up himself as bait for Doane’s ambush,” Catherine said. “He knew that Doane wanted to kill Eve in front of him. He also knew that Doane’s wife has to be there at the execution. Zander wanted time to kill Doane and get Eve away before Harriet arrived on the scene.”
“How, dammit?” Joe asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Stang says he always has a plan.”
Gallo muttered an oath. “That doesn’t help us.”
“It might help Eve,” Stang said quietly. “He doesn’t want her to die.”
“But he risks her life because he won’t trust anyone but himself,” Quinn said. “Arrogant son of a bitch.”
“Easy, Joe,” Catherine said. She knew the words were futile. He was as desperate and afraid as she was of the impetus Zander’s move might start in motion. “I may agree with you, but we just have to work around Zander.” She added grimly, “That’s what he was saying before he left. Backup. We have to find that cottage in case Zander and his wonder plan go down the tubes.” She brushed her hair away from her face. “He said we’d more than likely have between five and eight hours after Doane got his hands on him. He had to be thinking about the time it would take Harriet to get out here. We’ve got to make them count.”
“I haven’t been twiddling my thumbs trying to find that cottage,” Joe said. “When we were at the Marine Museum, I didn’t get any solid answers, but the curator did remember seeing a book on artistry in driftwood that had some unusual designs.”
“Headstones?”
“Not that he recalled, but he was fairly vague. I’ve been searching every Web site and publishing house in Washington State to see if I could locate it. No luck.” He frowned. “But I’m beginning to wonder if we’re off base.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve been assuming since the nukes are supposed to be in Seattle that the cottage is near Seattle. What if it isn’t? You couldn’t get any answer about land purchase from Langley. We can’t find any mention of driftwood that fits the description. Not near Seattle. Not in Washington State. Why not look south, across the Oregon border? Kevin would have been safer if his hideout wasn’t right on top of a target city. It couldn’t hurt to take a look.”
“Unless it’s a waste of time. Then it could hurt Eve very badly.”
“If you’ve got any other suggestion, I’m listening.”
She didn’t have any other suggestion. “We’ll try Oregon.” She moved back and sat down. “I’ll call Langley and set them to exploring the possibility of Kevin’s purchasing out of state. It might—” Her phone rang before she could dial. “It’s Margaret.” She accessed. “Margaret, may I call you back? Things are crazy here now and we’ve got to find a way to salvage it before they get worse.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear. This will only take a minute, Catherine. Jane asked me to call.” She paused. “I think we may have big trouble.”
CHAPTER
16
Chicago