“Good,” she said. “Then we can skip past the introductions and get straight to the good part. I know you drove Hiroshi Tamaki to the airport today but I don’t have a clue where he went after that. There’s no record of him having bought a ticket so he must have done it under an assumed name.”
Frankie swallowed hard. He knew that this was a bad situation to be in. Gravedigger was a killer and if he tried to play hardball, she might decide to move on to another goon in hopes that she could get the info she wanted. Hell, she might kill him no matter what he did.
But if he told her the truth and she let him live, Tamaki would have him shot like a dog in the street. He had men who were still loyal to him in this city and they wouldn’t allow this kind of betrayal to just slide.
“You’re thinking too hard. Tell me where he went.” The point of the arrow dug hard into his skin and Frankie felt something warm and wet ooze from the area.
“He’ll have me killed,” Frankie whined.
“You can die now or die later.”
Sudden hope flared in Frankie’s heart and he blurted out, “Would you protect me? Until you’d killed Tamaki, I mean? You’re going to do that, right?”
“I am going to kill him, yes.”
“So, you’ll put me up someplace?”
Gravedigger twisted the edged point, drawing a little ‘x’ into his flesh. Frankie squealed like a stuck pig. “Where. Did. He. Go?”
“Washington, D.C.!” Frankie hissed. “He got on a plane and flew to the capital!”
“Who went with him?”
“Locke. She’s almost always with him but she was acting crazy today. Different.”
“Anyone else?”
“Some old professor. I don’t know his name! And another guy, too.”
Gravedigger nodded as if she already knew some of that information. “Thanks, Frankie.” She stood up and studied him from beneath that hood of hers. “I’m going to do you better than you wanted.”
Frankie pushed himself up onto his elbows. “You are?”
“I could use someone like you. A driver who knows all the ins-and-outs of the city could be useful.”
“You want… to hire me?” he asked, scarcely believing this turn of events.
“I’m not paying you, Frankie. You’re working for free. Consider it public service to pay off the tremendous debt you owe to society.”
“But I have to eat!”
“You’ll continue to take jobs like usual. They pay you well, don’t they?”
“You want me to be a stoolie!”
“And, on occasion, a driver for me and my agents. You can say no if you want.”
Frankie saw her wrist twitch and he knew that a negative answer would not be accepted in a positive manner. He looked away, rubbing his chin. “I’ll do what I have to do. Are you just gonna contact me when you need me or is there some way I can call you?”
He looked up when she didn’t answer. To his amazement, she was gone, having vanished like a wraith.
GRAVEDIGGER SLID INTO the passenger seat, quickly removing her mask and letting it drop onto her lap. She pulled on an overcoat and looked over at Mitchell, who was already pulling the car back onto the city street. “Frankie’s onboard.”
“Good. He’s a talented bloke, from what I’ve heard.” Mitchell glanced at her. “Where are we headed?”
“Stop at the next phone booth you see and call the others. We need to book a flight to Washington.”
“Didn’t expect Tamaki to head to D.C.”
“I’m not sure what they’re up to but it can’t be anything good. Pandora’s with him and so is Doctor Craig. The old man that Bright Eyes reported on was confirmed by Frankie.”
“I’ve got a name,” Mitchell muttered.
“You do?” Gravedigger smiled. “You amaze me.”
“Can’t take the credit, though I’d love to. It was Li. She spent some time flirting with the desk clerk at the hotel and he finally coughed up the name Professor Potter. He’s done some government work but some of his crazier experiments got him blacklisted. He’s been looking to people like Tamaki for funding for awhile.”
“What kind of experiments?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Mind control.”
Chapter VIII: On the Precipice of the Abyss
Mortimer was not a happy man.
Despite Mortimer’s faith in Bright Eyes, Hiroshi had managed to escape the city and now Gravedigger’s team was forced into the role of pursuing the master criminal.
The former insurance investigator knew how important it was to strike when the opportunity presented itself. Who knew if Hiroshi would be in such a position again?
Silently stewing in his seat on the plane, Mortimer tried to calm himself. During his own tenure as Gravedigger, he’d had nearly as many failures as successes. The key was to never give up, to always follow through on the hunt. Charity was doing that and that meant that Mortimer himself might yet get a chance to redeem himself in her eyes.
Why is that so important to me? he wondered. He’d initially assumed it was a combination of boredom and curiosity that had led him to Charity’s side but the longer he was with her, the more he knew that wasn’t quite the truth.
He was lonely.
As a handsome man with a rather rakish bent, Mortimer had rarely lacked for female companionship. But over the years, women had begun to bore him. It wasn’t just the fact that their lives seemed so short in comparison to his own, though that certainly played a part. They lacked the emotional or historical understanding to truly understand him. Even if he told them the truth about himself, how could they really conceive of what it was like to die and be revived by The Voice? They’d never know the all-consuming fear of having a deadline for your soul to be judged, to lie awake at night and wonder if you were doing the right thing or if you were doomed to be condemned to eternal torment?
All people had those fears, of course, to one degree or another. But to know, beyond doubt that your day was coming, that added a whole new level of torment to your mind.
Charity understood. Of their entire group, only the two of them could truly know what being a Gravedigger was.
He desired her, not just for her beauty but also for her ability to empathize. He wanted to talk about their shared experiences and the changes those experiences had wrought.
“Such serious thoughts.”
Mortimer looked up as Li slid into the seat next to his. She smelled sweet and the floral scent lightened his mood. “I can’t help it. Knowing this guy is about to try and mind control the populace is pretty dark business.”
“And here I thought you were fantasizing about Charity.”
Mortimer’s jaw fell open and he blushed from the top of his head all the way down his neck. Li covered her face and giggled. Lowering his voice, Mortimer glanced up a few rows, where Charity and Mitchell were seated. Neither of them seemed to have heard Li’s words. “Why would you say that?”
“Well, she is very pretty and she seems more your type than I am.”
“I find you attractive.”
“Thank you but I wasn’t fishing for a compliment.” Li paused as two of the stewardesses walked past, followed by the copilot. She wondered if there was a problem in the back but if there was, she was sure they would have made an announcement. Mitchell, who had bribed one of the airport attendants to find one on short notice, had chartered this private plane. So far, the crew had seemed quite capable. “Everyone has their preferences,” Li continued. “You seem to like Western girls and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“So you thought I might be fantasizing about her because she’s white?”
“And attractive. From your reaction, I’d say I was right.”
Mortimer frowned, realizing that she’d just been playfully teasing him. His extreme reaction had not only confirmed her statement but had revealed the depth of his attraction. “I’d rather you kept this between us.”