Iris Johansen - Deadlock

"Moscow. I arrived last night. You told me that you didn't want me to contact you directly." There was a faint mockery in his tone as he continued. "And you know I always obey you, Babin."

"You didn't obey me when I told you to get someone good to take down Garrett and collect the woman." Babin cursed long and fluently before he continued, "They're here. They came to my office today. They know about me."

"Really? I sent a good man, but you should have let me go myself. If you remember, it's what I wanted to do."

"Don't give me any I-told-you-so bullshit. You had orders to get the job done, and you failed me."

"I don't fail, Babin. You failed. You'll get the blame."

Staunton was usually not respectful, but there was a note of arro¬gance in his voice that Babin had never heard. "Blame?"

"Did you really think I didn't know about Joslyn? I'd never let myself go into any deal without being in control. I was very amused when you dribbled out your little bits of information to me. I knew everything you knew and more."

Shock made Babin go rigid. "You son of a bitch."

"But I can be generous. I won't even tell Joslyn how you've blun¬dered."

"You're the one who blundered. Now what are you going to do about it?"

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"I want you to find Garrett and the woman and take them out of the equation. I want you to protect me and make sure that he doesn't find out anything he shouldn't."

"I don't believe our agreement included me protecting you, Babin. You have guards to do that. I have other fish to fry. Did you find out where Garrett and Emily are staying?"

"No, I was caught by surprise. I thought you'd taken care of them. I didn't have time to arrange-"

"Then it was doubly your failure. I'll have to work all the harder to locate them because you fouled up."

"I did not-" But Staunton had hung up.

Bastard. Babin punched the disconnect button. He had not ex¬pected this degree of rebellion from Staunton, and he'd never suspected he knew that it was really Joslyn who was in control of the money. It made him uneasy that Staunton was trying to blame him for everything that had gone wrong. After all, it was Staunton who had failed to get the information from the woman, then let her be rescued.

Is Staunton trying to avoid a possible dismissal by trying to frame me?

For the first time, Babin felt a jolt of fear. His instincts were usu¬ally sound, and they were screaming that Staunton was about to knife him in the back. Mistakes and failure that could not be corrected would not be tolerated. Not in Staunton. Not in Babin.

Staunton would have to be eliminated. He had found Staunton, and he would find another killer to rid him of the son of a bitch.

He was driving up to his impressive front gates and could see the towers of the castle through the trees. He felt the familiar flush of pleasure the sight always brought him. No grand dukes, no Tsars, no Tsarina. This world belonged to Babin now. He had worked for it. He had lied and cheated and trampled over anyone who got in his way.

Just as he would trample over Garrett and that bitch.

Just as he would trample over Staunton.

THERE HAD BEEN NO SOUND from Emily's room for hours, and it was close to midnight. Is she asleep or just avoiding me? Garrett won¬dered. It could be either. She had been upset when she had left him, and their coming together last night might represent an emotional over¬load to her.

He would have to deal with that possibility later. Tonight he was just as glad that he didn't have to find a way to avoid her. That would have been extremely delicate.

He listened. Definitely no sound. I hope you sleep well, Emily. Time to make the move.

He glided across the room and opened the front door. The car was parked down the driveway, and Pauley was leaning against it.

He straightened as Garrett came toward him. "What the hell is happening? Dardon just told me to meet you out here."

"We're going hunting. Get in the car. You drive."

"Hunting?" he repeated warily. "I'm not really the outdoor type. I thought you might have noticed."

"I don't think it will require outdoor activity." He got into the pas¬senger seat. "But then again, it might."

"Look, you're not going to drop me somewhere by the wayside, are you?" He started the car. "I know you've been pissed at me, but just tell me, and I'll go."

"How could I drop you? You're the one driving."

"Well, it makes more sense than taking me hunting. I can't help it, you know. I'm irresistible to women. It's nothing I do."

"Pauley, shut up."

He was silent for a moment. "Where are we going?" "We're going to pay a visit to Babin."

"Oh." Pauley thought about it. "Violence and mayhem? I'm not good at that either. Wouldn't you prefer to have Dardon?" "With my whole being."

Pauley sighed with relief. "Then I'll turn around and go back." "I need someone I can trust to watch over Emily. That's more im¬portant than having him back me up. Dardon has his orders." "And what am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing that will get me in trouble. You may act as lookout or just as driver. I'll do the rest."

"Good," Pauley said. "That sounds relatively bloodless. Babin lives in a fancy estate. How do we get in?"

"We leave the car at the gate and climb the fence." He added straight-faced, "Hopefully, it's not electrified."

"Hopefully," Pauley said. "Look, I know that you probably know everything you could know about that estate. After all, it's a historical palace. I'd appreciate it if you'd get off my back. I'll do what you want me to do. I may not be good at it, but I won't say no."

Garrett studied him, then slowly nodded. "That's all I ask." He shrugged. "Dardon gave me a map of the place he got off the Internet, complete with security system. There's an alarm at the gate, but the fence isn't alarmed in any way. No electricity. The rest of the house has alarms, but it's a system that's twenty years old. It was installed by the former owner. I can get around it."

"I'm sure you can. You're sure you don't want to go back for Dar¬don?"

"I'm sure. I think you need a new challenge. It's good to stretch yourself occasionally." His smile was crooked. "You told me it was no effort at all being irresistible."

"STAY HERE, PAULEY." GARRETT checked his infrared detector. "Three people in the downstairs service quarters. One occupied bed¬room on the second floor. Two guards at two o'clock. They're not moving. Just stay here in the shadows and come and warn me if there's anything that-" "Come where?"

Garrett did a pass with the detector to make certain. "Bedroom. Second floor. I'll disable the side-door alarm and motion monitor." He moved toward the huge door at the side of the palace. "Don't move."

"Not a muscle." He tilted his head. "Do you know, I'm beginning to get a kind of zing from this. I'll be watching like a hawk. Trust me."

He wished he could trust Pauley, Garrett thought as he worked on disabling the security alarm. His response had surprised Garrett once he'd realized that he was going to have to go along with him. He might be able to trust his mind-set and willingness to help, but Pauley didn't have Dardon's experience. Well, he would have to do. Garrett needed to move forward quickly. Not only because Emily was on the edge and might go out on her own if he didn't show progress, but now that they'd exposed themselves to Babin, he might rush to cover his tracks before Garrett could convince him otherwise.

He made the final adjustment and swung the heavy door open.

No alarm.

It was strange that Babin hadn't updated the security. But maybe he had been so wrapped up in the past glories of the place that he'd assumed that everything was top-notch. Or maybe Garrett would get an unpleasant shock when he tried to get into the master bedroom.