Iris Johansen - Deadlock

He opened the door a tiny crack. He didn't get a surprise.

Okay. Move fast before Babin woke and could get his hands on a weapon.

He threw open the door and darted across the room toward the bed.

Babin wasn't there.

He'd rolled off the bed as the door opened and was clawing fran¬tically at the drawer of the nightstand.

Garrett encircled his neck with his arm and jerked him backward. The next moment Babin was on his back, Garrett on top of him, his knife pressed against Babin's throat. "I thought it over, and I decided that we needed to talk a little longer." He reached up and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. He wanted to see expressions. Babin's face was flushed and full of venom. No fear. That wasn't good. He pressed the tip of the knife a tiny bit harder, and a rivulet of blood ran down Babin's throat. That was better. A trace of fear flickered. "Of course, if you choose not to tell me what you know, I could just kill you. That would be good, too. Emily would like that."

"That bitch."

He pressed a little harder. "I wouldn't talk about Emily in those terms if I were you. It annoys me."

Babin's dark eyes were blazing with rage. "You can't do this to me.

This palace is full of guards. Any minute one of them will find out you're here."

"You have four guards on the ground. Two near the gates. Two on the west side of the palace. My men will take care of them." Yeah, sure. That was the bluff of the century. "You have servants, but I doubt if they'd come to your rescue. No, it's just you and me, Babin." He added softly, "And soon it will be just me if you don't talk. These are such grand, majestic halls. Do you want your spirit to be haunting them with the Grand Duke Igor's? No, somehow I think you won't be allowed any earthly territory. Straight to hell, Babin."

His expression changed, hardened. "I don't know anything. I told you the truth."

"Emily knows you were at that hut in the mountains. Staunton made a slip."

Babin's lip curled. "That son of a bitch. I knew he was out to get me.

"So you do know him. Now we're getting somewhere." He leaned forward. "Listen closely, Babin. Emily wants revenge, but I may be able to convince her that she doesn't need your head as well as Staunton's." He added, "If you give me something that I can work with."

"You're not going to kill me," Babin said. "That would be stupid. You'd still end up in the dark, knowing nothing."

"True. But there are always more ways than one to find out any¬thing. You only appear to be the most convenient at the moment."

Babin shook his head, then yelped as the knife cut across his neck with the motion. "Look, take that knife away. And when my guards come, I'll tell them to let you go. I won't be vindictive."

Hell's bells, Babin was so full of his own pomposity and agenda that Garrett wasn't getting through to him. "But I'll be vindictive. Listen carefully, Babin. I want to know everything, but there are a few things that could save your life. I want to know who pays you and Staunton. I want to know why Nicholas Zelov came to Russia and why he went away with money to burn. I want to know where to find Mikhail

Zelov's Book of Living. I want to know what's hidden in Zelov's ham¬mer. And I want to know about the Rasputin amulet that Nemid had hidden away. If I find out all of those things, then I'll give you a re¬prieve." He held Babin's gaze, and said softly, "I want very badly to kill you. I'm getting impatient. Can you see it?"

Fear at last. Stark fear. Babin swallowed hard. "Why should I be¬lieve you?"

"Maybe you shouldn't. That's up to you. On the other hand, it might not be smart for me to kill you now in case there was a little de¬tail I might need to know later." He said softly, "But it would have to be a very small detail, Babin. You'd better not hold back."

He moistened his lips. "I'll have to think about it. Will you let me sit in that chair?"

He was stalling.

In spite of his panic, the bastard was still hoping for a rescue. And the more time that passed, the better the chance that the guards would find Pauley and raise an alarm. "I like you where you are. By all means, think about it. I'll give you two minutes."

IT'S NO USE, EMILY THOUGHT. She couldn't sleep. She had been lying here for hours, and her mind wouldn't shut down. Not only her mind, her emotions were so charged that she couldn't sort one from another. Garrett.

The thought of him was a beacon in the darkness. In all this con¬fusion and depression all around her, she could trust Garrett. They were working together, and though she didn't agree with everything he said or did, she knew that she could rely on him.

And she knew that when he held her, she felt safe and alive.

She needed that feeling after staring into that pig Babin's face and knowing that he was oblivious to anything but his own selfish greed.

She shouldn't go to Garrett and use him just because she wanted to push away the darkness and feel that same sense of beauty and Tightness that she had last night. That would be selfish, too.

To hell with it. She needed him, she wanted him, and she'd make sure that he'd use her as much as she used him.

She swung her legs to the floor, got out of bed, and moved toward the door. Bare feet again. She didn't want to stop and put on shoes. She wanted to get to Garrett. Oh well, it was only a few yards to the lean-to, and it wouldn't hurt her to-

She stopped in surprise as she left her room. Dardon was sitting at the kitchen table, working at his computer. He quickly looked up and smiled. "Can't sleep? Neither can I. How about a cup of coffee?"

"Coffee? The caffeine would keep you awake."

"I'm not going to sleep anyway. Might as well enjoy a nice jolt of Java. Did you know Garrett likes his with vodka?"

"He told me."

"Sit down." He got to his feet. "I'll make it."

She shook her head as she moved toward the front door. "I'm go¬ing to see Garrett."

"Emily." She looked over her shoulder to see Dardon standing there and shaking his head. "I knew that something would go wrong. Nothing is ever easy."

She froze with her hand on the doorknob. "What's wrong? Has something happened to Garrett?"

"No." He made a face. "But he's not here right now."

She turned around and stared at him. "And where is he, Dardon?"

"Come back and sit down. I'll make that coffee."

"Where is he, Dardon?"

"He decided that he needed to get Babin to talk before the bastard could marshal his defenses and maybe pull in any big guns."

She wasn't even shocked. She'd known when she'd seen Dardon's expression where Garrett had gone. God, she'd hoped she was wrong.

"I'm sure that scum has big guns on his payroll anyway. He hired

Staunton, didn't he?" She felt a sickening panic at the thought. "Maybe Staunton will be-"

"I imagine Garrett will be glad if he does run into him, but he's not expecting it," Dardon said quickly. "He can't see Staunton acting as watchdog for that slimeball."

Neither could she, and it was the only good thing she could see in the situation. "Why didn't you go with him?"

"He didn't want me." He turned away and ran water into the cof¬feepot. "He said that Pauley would do."

"Pauley?"

"Pauley's a good enough guy." Dardon still wasn't looking at her. "And anyway, Garrett likes to work alone on a job like this. He says it's safer not to have to trust anyone. You can react faster if some¬thing-" He added immediately, "But nothing is going to go wrong."

Anything could go wrong. For all she knew Garrett could be dead now. "How long has he been gone?"

"About four hours."

"And he hasn't called you?"

"I didn't expect it." He put the coffeepot on the burner. "He told me to call him if there was something that went wrong, but he-" "Look at me, Dardon."