Iris Johansen - Deadlock

Irana reached out and gently touched the bishop's cheek. "He didn't get a chance to pray. He told me he wanted to pray."

"We've got to get out of here." Garrett was pulling Irana to her feet. "The housekeeper knew you were with him, and she must have seen Emily, too. Staunton was using a silencer, or she would probably have run out here when she heard the shot."

"So I'm now a murder suspect?" Irana's eyes were glittering with moisture. "He said I was a messenger, but I don't think that's what he meant. I don't believe he expected-" She broke off, then said wearily, "Or maybe he did. I don't know…"

"I know we should get out of this garden," Garrett said. "We'll go out the garden gate and-"

"My God." A heavyset, red-haired man in his late forties stood in the doorway. "What have you done?"

Garrett stiffened warily, his hand moved to his jacket pocket. "Who are you?"

"Wait," Irana said. "Joslyn. The bishop said he was on his way."

"You've murdered him," Joslyn said dully. He moved toward the fallen man. "I warned him that he shouldn't see-"

"You're the one who murdered him," Emily said coldly. "Staunton pulled the trigger, but you hired him."

"Staunton did this? Yes, I can see him-" He fell to his knees be¬side the bishop. "Dimitri…"

There were tears in his eyes, Emily noticed. For a moment she felt a flicker of sympathy, then pushed it away. "What did you think he'd do? You hire a cobra, and you don't expect him to strike as many peo¬ple as he can reach? How much extra did you give him for killing Joel Levy?"

"I didn't know." He looked down at the bishop. "Neither of us knew. I told Babin to get someone who could do the job. I didn't think he'd-"

Emily couldn't stand any more. "Let's get out of here." She turned toward the gate. "I don't want Irana to get in trouble because his pet killer decided to-"

"Wait." Joslyn got to his feet. "I'll go in and talk to his house¬keeper and tell her that you've left the residency. Then I'll send her home for the weekend. She shouldn't be back until nine or ten Mon¬day morning."

"You can do that?" Garrett asked.

Joslyn nodded. "She knows Dimitri and I are very good friends. I've had dinner here at least once a week for the last ten years."

Garrett gazed at him without expression. "And then what?"

"And then I'll carry my friend to his room and say a prayer and leave him there." He gazed down at the bishop. "He told me he wanted to make peace. I knew that meant he wanted to confess his sin, our sin. I ran here to stop him. I wanted to protect him. I didn't do it, did I? I was protecting him from the wrong people. I didn't know Staunton would-" He shook his head. "But that doesn't mean that I wasn't at fault."

"You're right," Emily said. "You've been like Pilate, washing his hands of blame."

He shook his head. "Not anymore. Not since I found out the ugli¬ness I unleashed." He met her gaze. "You're angry. I'm sorry. I hurt you."

"Yes, you did," Emily said. "You hurt a lot of people." She glanced down at the bishop. "And so did he."

"Attack me," Joslyn said. "Not Dimitri. He only wanted to save the hammer, save the children. I could have said no. But I'd spent too much time in Ethiopia, seeing the devastation hunger could do to children. He trusted me. I could have paid more attention to what Babin was doing. I could have been more careful."

"That's not what Bishop Dimitri told me," Irana said. "He said that he took full responsibility." She added quietly, "And I believe he did make peace before he died."

"This isn't the time for shuffling blame," Garrett said. "If you're going to talk to the housekeeper, go do it." He took Irana's arm and nudged her toward Emily, who was standing by the gate. "You go on to the car. I'll stay and help him move Bishop Dimitri to his room."

"The car?" Emily repeated. She was remembering something else Staunton had said. "Staunton knew where we were. He told me so. It's not logical that he would have been waiting for us here. Could he have bugged the car?"

"It's possible," Garrett said grimly. "No, it's damn probable. We just rented the car that Dardon used to drive Irana here this morning, so it's more than likely the car we've been using since we arrived hei in Russia was bugged. Dammit to hell, I wasn't careful enough. I tol Dardon before I left the farmhouse that night that he had to be sure t check the car out after we came back from Babin's, but it didn't hap pen. All any of us could think about was getting Pauley to find Iran; We knew we had to move fast and-" He stopped and shook his heac "That's water under the bridge. Damage control. Go get in the a that Dardon rented today. We'll abandon the other one." He turne back to Joslyn. "Hurry, let's get this taken care of." Joslyn nodded and moved toward the house.

DARDON WAS HURRYING DOWN the street when Emily and Iran arrived at the car. His hair was mussed, and his breath was coming i short pants. "I didn't get him. He had a car parked in the next bloc and was driving off when I got around the house." He looked behin her. "Where's Garrett?"

"In the garden," Irana said. "Bishop Dimitri is dead."

"Shit." Dardon headed for the gate. "Garrett may need help." H disappeared into the garden.

Irana opened the rear car door. "Get in. I don't like the idea of yot being out on the street. Staunton may be on the run, but there migl be someone else who-"

Emily got into the car. "You're right, but I imagine his man, Bor| hasn't had time to get here from New York. That was probably wh Staunton did the killing himself." She shuddered. "Though I'm sui he enjoyed it. You should have heard him on the phone. He was- She stopped and steadied her voice. "And actually I'm not his targi right now. He wants me to be last. He made me think it was you 1 was going to shoot. And he has a list."

"And who is on it?"

"Everyone who knows about the treasure. He admires Mikha

Zelov very much. He says he was very efficient. Kill everyone and leave no witnesses."

"And that's why he killed the bishop."

"Yes." Where was Garrett? She was still caught up in the panic caused by Staunton's words. Perhaps she should go back and see what-

She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Garrett coming out the gate, followed by Joslyn and Dardon.

"Dardon, you drive." Garrett got into the passenger seat. "Joslyn, where's your car?"

"Around the corner." He stood watching as Dardon got into the driver's seat. "Thank you for your help. It bought me a little time. I'll have to make arrangements for my family before I go to the police."

"Don't be in a hurry," Garrett said. "Maybe we can work some¬thing out. The Russian government isn't going to be very lenient about this. That billion dollars is going to look very good to them. They need money, and they like to set examples."

He shook his head. "Make peace, Dimitri said. I don't know how else to do it." He stepped back. "Again, I'm very sorry. I wish I could make amends, but I know that-"

"Don't let him go," Emily said. She leaned forward, glaring at Joslyn. "This isn't over for you. You can't walk away and bribe your way out of a Russian jail. I won't let you."

"I have no intention of-"

She turned to Garrett. "He's on Staunton's list. He has to be. Staunton's not going to let him go to the police. He's going to kill him."

"I'll take my chances," Joslyn said. "Though I'm surprised you'd care.

"I don't care. You'd deserve it," she said fiercely. "But I'm not go¬ing to let Staunton kill anyone else. That's what he wants to do. Kill and kill and kill again." She whirled on Garrett. "We're not going to let him do it. Do you hear me? Not one more death. Not one more person in pain. This is where we draw the line. This is where we stop him. Joslyn wants to make peace? Then let him help get rid of that killer. That's the only way to make peace." "Joslyn?" Garrett asked.