Iris Johansen - Final Target

"I have some in a Swiss account, but those accounts aren't altogether safe from CIA snooping."

Melissa turned to Galen. "Can you raise the money?"

"Not enough. I can tap some sources, but Deschamps is a dangerous man and wells tend to dry up when you're as hot as we are."

"Then it has to be Andreas." She got up and put her cup down on the end table. "We have to find a way to deal."

"You have a suggestion?"

"Give him what he wants."

"Cassie?" Travis asked. "What about her nightmares? We can't send her back in the shape she's in now."

"Then we have to give him a Cassie on her way to recovery." Her gaze went to the bedroom door. "Jessica told me to help her. She probably meant for me to save her from Deschamps, but Jessica died trying to bring Cassie back. One of the last things she said to me was how close Cassie had been to coming back." She blinked back tears. "She was so happy that Cassie-Oh, shit." She was silent a moment before she could continue. "Cassie's coming back. I'm going to see to it. And we might as well find a way to screw Deschamps by doing it."

" It's a long sho"t Travis said.

"I'm going to do it." Melissa headed for the bedroom. "You just make sure that Karlstadt and all the rest of the baggage around you don't get in my way."

"I'll try to oblige."

"Oh, and I want a set of keys to that new van."

"Is that necessary?"

"You're damn right. Cassie's keeping me tethered, but I'm not going to be any more of a prisoner than I have to be."

"I'll have a set made today. Galen is going to have a small car picked up in town by one of his guys. I'll see that you have keys to that car too."

"Thanks."

"What are the odds she'll be able to help Cassie?" Galen asked Travis when the door closed behind her. "The kid seems almost comatose to me."

" I don't know. She has…responses."

"But not when she's awake."

Travis shook his head. "Jessica seemed to sense a response. Like I said, it's a long shot. But maybe it's just as well that Melissa's going to be absorbed with Cassie. It will be safer than having to chase after her while she scours Europe for Deschamps."

"And leaves you free to make a deal with Karlstadt."

"Yes." He paused. "But it will also give you time to track down another missing piece of the puzzle for me."

"And what is that?"

"Henri Claron's widow, Danielle. She disappeared the night of Claron's death. She grew up in the same village as Cassie's nanny, and she may have known more about Deschamps than just his identity. If we have her, we may not need Andreas or anyone else."

"You believe she's still alive?"

Travis shrugged. "It's a chance. Since her body's not been found, she may have gotten lucky."

"And we may get lucky." Galen turned away." I'm on it."

"Cassie?" Melissa whispered as she gazed down at the child. "I know you're not sleeping. Answer me."

No response.

Melissa hadn't expected it, but she had felt obliged to try Jessica's method. Jessica had been the voice summoning from the ramparts. Melissa had been the guerrilla behind the lines. Cassie had become accustomed to dealing with both of them.

But now there was no Jessica with her gentle voice and persuasive words, and Melissa had to take her place.

Good God, how was she going to do it? It was impossible. She was as different from Jessica as night and day. She wasn't even sure that Jessica's soft approach was the right way to bring Cassie back. The child was strong, perhaps stronger than Melissa had been at that age. She had willed herself away from the world, and persuasion wasn't working. Perhaps if they had the time…

They didn't have the time. Melissa had to follow her own instincts, and they were not leading her down an easy path.

Poor Cassie.

"I'll be back. You can play possum while I'm taking my shower and brushing my teeth." She moved toward the bathroom. "Then we're going to talk, Cassie."

It took Melissa two hours to break through the barriers Cassie had erected against her.

"It's about time you stopped hiding from me," Melissa said. "And why did you go deeper? It was almost too dark for me to find you."

"I didn't want you to find me."

Not good. "Why not?"

"You're…different now. You make me feel funny."

"I am different. That doesn't mean that I'm not your friend. People change."

"Not in here." She paused. "Why did you change?"

"My best friend was taken away from me."

"That wouldn't have happened here."

"Yes, it would. It happened because you were here." She added deliberately, "So it's partly your fault, Cassie."

"No, I didn't do anything."

"You hide away and close your eyes."

"I'm afraid."

"We're all afraid. You have to fight what you're afraid of…or people get taken away."

Silence.

"Jessica was your best friend, wasn't she? She's…gone?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. I've been missing her."

"So have I."

"The monsters took her?"

"Yes."

"I'm not to blame." A pause. "Am I?"

"We didn't fight them hard enough."

"They're too strong."

"They're not too strong. They'll fade away if you face them."

"Won't do it. Blow me apart like they did Jeanne."

"I'll be there to keep that from happening."

"Won't do it." Withdrawal "Goingaway…"

"I'll follow you. I'll find you and bring you back. I can do it now whether you're awake or asleep."

"Why are you being so mean to me?"

"You have to come back. It's what Jessica wanted most in the world. She wanted you back in the world and not afraid any longer."

" Have to be afraid. The monsters …"

What could she say to that? Melissa thought wearily. No one knew better than she did that there were real monsters waiting for Cassie. "You're more afraid now than you will be if you face them. I promise we'll fight them together. I'm your friend, Cassie."

"I thought Jeanne was my friend." Betrayal. Distrust. Hostility.

"She only pretended. I don't pretend. I believe you know that."

"I don't know it." Panic. Terror. "You want to let the monsters into the tunnel."

"They can never come into the tunnel. You're imagining them only so that you have an excuse to stay here. If you faced them, they'd vanish like a puff of smoke."

"No, they come and chase me…"

"They won't do it any longer. Travis and I have stopped them." She paused. "And on the outside the Wind Dancer has stopped them. Didn't you feel it when you were looking at him? You were so happy. For just an instant you were outside and yet you knew you were safe."

"I'll find him again."

"Not in the tunnel. He has no reason to be in the tunnel. He's not afraid and he doesn't want you to be afraid either."

"How do you know? He took me away."

"Because you needed to be away until you were strong enough to come back and face the monsters."

"I'm not strong enough."

"Yes, you are. Think about it. Jessica told me that you made up all kinds of adventures with the Wind Dancer. Were you ever afraid?"

"They were only stories."

"But weren't they about duty and saving the good guys and punishing the bad?"

"Maybe."

"Well, that's what life's about too. It's not about curling up in a tunnel. Think about it."

"I won't think about it. I'm afraid and I won't come out. I'll go deeper so the monsters won't hurt me."