Iris Johansen - Final Target

Karlstadt's lips thinned. "Then you'd better not disappear until I have the merchandise verified."

"I'm sure you intend to have us followed until you finish the verification." He paused. "Oh, did I forget to tell you that you'll receive only half tomorrow? The other half will be sent to you in Johannesburg."

"What?"

"Merely a safety precaution. Naturally, you'll transfer half the money tonight to the Swiss account number I gave you. We'll wait for the other half tomorrow at the park."

"And what if you decide to take, the first half and leave me in the lurch?"

"That's the chance you take. However, we both know Travis has never broken his word in a deal, and he'd be a fool to cheat you. He knows you'd never give up searching for him, and he likes civilized pleasures too well to want to hide in a third-world country. The only question you have to ask yourself is: Does Travis have the merchandise?" He smiled. "And I'm sure you've verified that information."

"He has it." Karlstadt's voice was harsh. "The Russians wouldn't be after him if he didn't."

"Aren't you lucky to be dealing with Travis instead of those unreasonable Russians?" He turned away. "I'll see you in the morning, Mr. Karlstadt, and I'll check the Swiss account tonight."

"Van der Beck."

"Yes?"

"I've been hearing troublesome rumors in the last few hours about your Mr. Travis. Rumors about U.S. Secret Service and CIA involvement."

He'd been hearing them too, but he'd hoped Karlstadt wasn't that deep in the loop. "I'm sure they're completely untrue."

"I don't care what Travis has done to irritate the Americans. I just want you to know it must not interfere with the deal. I would find that very annoying."

"He wouldn't allow that to happen." He paused. "Good night, Mr. Karlstadt." He walked rapidly from the bridge and down the street. He could feel Karlstadt's gaze on him, but he didn't look back. Karlstadt enjoyed his little games of intimidation and would have been entirely too pleased if he knew van der Beck was uneasy.

And there was no doubt he was uneasy. There were too many strings to this deal Travis had handed him. He could handle Karlstadt, but the business with Henri Claron was making him nervous. He was getting too old to keep all these balls in the air.

He looked up at the sky. Travis should be only hours away by now, and soon he could turn the whole business over to him. Travis was young and as sharp as van der Beck had been when he'd worked with Travis's father. God, that seemed a long time ago.

Only a few more hours…

"You're here."

Melissa could feel Cassie's delight and excitement envelop her in the sanding darkness. "I seem to be. Though it took me long enough to get here. It takes a while to get the knack."

"Are you going to stay?"

"No, I'm just visiting."

"Oh." Disappointment. "Lonely."

"We've gone through that. You don't have to be lonely."

"Not if you stay." A pause. "We're not…together. We need to be together."

"No, we don't. We're friends and we can stay apart and still be friends."

"Better together."

Melissa could feel the effort the child was making to draw her closer, to absorb her. Jesus, she was strong. "Stop that or I'll have to go away."

"You're going to go anyway." Sorrow. "You told me so."

"But I'll come back if you don't make it sad for me."

"Together isn't sad." But the effort to merge ebbed and then stopped.

"For me it is. I want to be your friend, like your mama and daddy."

"Gone."

"They don't have to be gone."

"They can't come into the tunnel."

"But you can come out."

"Gone." Melissa could feel Cassie's panic, like the fluttering of a captured bird. "They can't come in."

And Cassie wouldn't face coming out. But she could become accustomed to the idea. Jessica thought constant reminders helped and used them in therapy.

"Together." The strongest pull yet from Cassie.

It took several exhausting minutes for Melissa to fight her off. When she finally broke free, she felt limp. "That's it. I warned you. Good-bye, Cassie."

"No." Sorrow. Panic. "Stay. Won't do it again."

" Maybe I'll stay for a little while. But it's boring in this tunnel. No trees, no lakes. Nothing pretty …"

"Safe."

"Boring."

" Not if we find the Wind Dancer. He'll make everything - What's wrong? You're scared." Panic. "Are the monsters coming ?"

" No." Melissa tried to close out her fear. "No monsters. And we don't need the Wind Dancer. Would you like me to tell you about my home, Juniper? You saw only the one room, but there's so much more. There's a pond and willow trees and an arbor where purple clematis climb …"

"Mellie." Jessica was shaking her, Melissa realized drowsily. "Wake up. We'll be landing in a few minutes."

That jarred her wide awake. She sat up and opened her eyes. "Amsterdam?"

"No, Antwerp. Some small airport in the backwoods that Galen said is used by drug traffickers."

"Wonderful. Just the kind of people I always wanted to associate with."

"He arranged to have a van waiting for us to drive to Amsterdam." Jessica was frowning as she studied her. "You were sleeping awfully hard. I had trouble waking you."

It didn't surprise her. She had been totally exhausted when she finally managed to leave Cassie. She still felt drained. "It's been a rough night." She got up and headed for the bathroom. Why hadn't she told Jessica that she'd reached Cassie? She had always hated keeping things from Jessica, but lately she seemed to be doing nothing else. Later, maybe. She hadn't really accomplished anything, and Jessica was having enough problems with Melissa's involvement in Cassie's nightmares. Melissa could imagine how she'd freak if she told her about the casual visit to Cassie in a normal sleep state.

Casual? She'd have to work up to casual. Just controlling the bond with Cassie had been a gigantic effort.

Travis and Sean Galen were waiting when she left the bathroom.

"Sit down," Travis said. "We're on the final approach."

"Where's Jessica?" She sat down and fastened her seat belt.

"Up front with Cassie. She wanted to be there in case the kid woke up and showed any signs of anxiety."

As if Jessica could tell if Cassie was anxious, she thought sadly. The only thing Melissa had gotten a gut feeling about was the Wind Dancer. For her sister, it was like working blind. "Okay, so tell me how you're going to work this, Travis. I trust you do have a plan to keep us from getting shot on sight."

"No, I left that up to Galen. If you get shot, blame him."

"The hell I will." She leaned back in the seat. "Galen?"

"I've arranged to stash the three of you in a small farmhouse outside Amsterdam. I've contacted a few of the guys I use when I'm in Holland and they'll meet us and act as escort. We stay at the farmhouse and protect you while Travis goes and conducts his business."

"How long will that take, Travis?"

"If it takes more than eight hours, then we're all in trouble. The CIA won't be spinning its wheels. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd staked out every airport in Holland."

"More trouble," Melissa corrected him. "Then what happens?"

"I see what I can do about prying the Wind Dancer from the Museum d'Andreas."

"There's no way."

"Galen?"Travis asked.

"Difficult," Galen murmured. "It will take money. Lots of money. You actually want to steal it?"

"Borrowing would do. I'd need at least four hours to give Cassie a chance to respond to the statue."