Simon Hawke - The Timekeeper Conspiracy

"I'm afraid that killing Taylor is not a simple matter," Bennett said.

Andre smiled. "Nor is killing me."

Jimmy Darcy and Tonio Valenti had seen Bennett and the woman enter the house on the Rue St. Honore. They had seen Bennett brandishing his laser.

"What do you think they did with Silvera?" Tonio said, scratching at his several-days'-old growth of thick black beard. Both he and Jimmy were dressed as common laborers.

"Could be they've taken him into custody and turned him over to other agents, maybe even clocked him out," said Jimmy. "Could be he's dead."

"That one chest seems pretty heavy," Tonio said. "What do you think they've got in there?"

Both men exchanged quick glances.

"This is really stupid," Jimmy said, beginning to test the waters. "There's absolutely no good reason to kill those two."

"Boss's orders," Tonio said. "Besides, they got Silvera. One way or another," he added, a bit more softly.

"So they got Silvera," Jimmy said. "Silvera screwed up. He never should've taken out that agent."

"He was the opposition," Tonio said.

"Christ, use your brain," said Jimmy. "They've probably got agents crawling over half of Paris; you really believe we can take them all on? What's the point? The only thing that matters is the plan and they have no idea what it is."

"Yeah, but maybe they can guess," said Tonio.

"Maybe, but I doubt it. Even if they do, so what? Stopping it won't be so easy. Even if they do stop it, we've still got the plate. We cut and run and start all over in another period. And this time, there won't be any infiltrators to tell them where we are."

"That bastard never had a chance to-"

"How else could they have found out about it? He must have lived long enough to leave a message."

"C'mon, Taylor left him with his guts all over the goddamn floor," said Tonio.

"Maybe that's just the point," said Jimmy. "Taylor didn't finish the job."

"Yeah, maybe."

"He thinks an agent known as Mongoose may be running the TIA operation," Jimmy said.

"Yeah? So?"

"The way I understand it, Taylor's got a pretty heavy grudge against him. It just makes me a little nervous, that's all. Taylor seems to want to get his hands on that guy pretty badly."

"You saying Taylor might be putting his vendetta or whatever ahead of the operation?"

"I don't know. Is that what I said?"

"No, not exactly. It's what you're not saying that interests me. Ever since that sex-change operation, he's been acting pretty strange."

"You noticed."

"Don't pussyfoot with me, son. Say what's on your mind."

"How long have you known Taylor?"

"Not as long as you."

"How do you feel about him?"

"What do you say we cut through all this crap?" said Tonio. "Either you level with me or you don't; make up your fucking mind."

"I think you know what I'm getting at."

"Yeah, but I want to hear you say it."

Jimmy nodded. "All right. Taylor is a pro. Unlike you and me, he's getting paid a bundle for this. I don't know how much, but I know it's pretty heavy. He makes all the right noises, but when it comes right down to it, he's an outsider."

"He's been with the organization for quite a while."

"He's worked for the organization," Jimmy said. "It's not the same. He's still an outsider. A very well-paid outsider."

"They have handed us our tools…" said Tonio.

"Yeah, sure. But it helps to know that you're using the right tool for the right job."

"You don't trust him."

Jimmy didn't reply for several seconds. "You realize he's crazy, don't you?"

Tonio chuckled. "Don't let Freytag hear you say that."

"Well?"

Tonio stared at him. "He's a paranoid schizophrenic most of the time, except when he's a psychopath. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, that answers my question."

"And you want to know what I'm going to do about that."

"Yeah."

"Absolutely nothing."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I heard you, but I didn't understand you. You agree with me about Taylor and you're going to do absolutely nothing?"

"You bet. It's like you said, Taylor is a pro. I'm just an amateur. Going up against Taylor would be dangerous, but going up against Taylor and Freytag would be fucking suicide. Taylor I've got my doubts about, but I know for damn sure that Freytag doesn't give a good goddamn about Professor Mensinger, the Timekeepers or the time wars. Freytag's a mercenary and Taylor is his paymaster. Neither you nor I nor both of us together can afford to buy him off and, frankly, I'd rather go up against a dozen Jimmy Darcys than one Freytag. So I'm simply going to pretend this conversation never happened and if you're smart, you'll watch yourself. Besides, he might be madder than a mayfly, but with Taylor, there's a hell of a lot more chance of this whole thing coming off than without him. Okay?"

Jimmy nodded grimly. "Okay."

"Terrific. Now what do you say we go and get the job done? It's dark enough to slip in there without drawing attention to ourselves. We'll make it nice and quick and there's one less thing to worry about. All right?"

"Sure," said Jimmy. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Let's go and kill poor old Doc Bennett."

Simon Hawke

The Timekeeper Conspiracy

"Just make sure you subdue the woman first," said Tonio. "She's an agent and she'll be the one to give us trouble."

Walking normally, they crossed the street and headed toward the house, going past it and then doubling back behind it. There was no back door, but they had been at Doc Bennett's house before and they knew the best way to break in. It didn't take them but a moment. They entered the house silently, weapons at the ready, listening for noise, the sound of conversation, footsteps, anything. There was no noise.

"Watch yourself," whispered Tonio.

It didn't take them very long to discover that their quarry had fled. The house was deserted and they saw that Bennett had taken care to destroy all of his equipment and supplies.

"We waited too long," said Tonio. "We should have moved in earlier."

"But how did they get out?"

"Obviously there's a way out of this house that we don't know about. Looks like Doc didn't tell us everything. Lucky for him."

"They must have just left," said Jimmy. "It took time to burn up all that stuff. Some of this slag is still hot."

Tonio had left the room and started searching the other rooms on the first floor. Moments later, he called Darcy into the library.

"Take a look at this," he said, indicating the chest on the floor in the center of the room. Most of Andre's clothes were still in it, several items hanging over the sides of the open chest, others on the floor around it. "Looks like she left in a hurry and repacked to travel light. But why repack in here?"

"The bookshelf," Jimmy said. He pointed to a space upon the shelf where several books were missing, having been placed upon the desk. Jimmy went over to the shelf and reached into the empty space, feeling around with his hand. "Jackpot," he said, as a click sounded and the shelf swung away to reveal the door behind it. He aimed his laser at the lock. "This should only take a second," he said and pressed the firing stud. The beam of light shot out for a moment and then he switched it off. He tapped the door with the palm of his hand and it swung open.

"Hold it right there!" someone said in English. Jimmy bolted through the door. Tonio made the mistake of reacting. He started to spin around and fire, but nothing happened. There had been a brief flash of light and he heard a thump on the floor at his feet. Wondering why his laser hadn't fired, he looked down and saw his hand, still holding the weapon, lying on the floor.

He came to and found himself sitting in a chair, tied down securely. The room he was in was dark, the windows shuttered and covered with blankets so that no light seeped in. He could just barely make out several figures in the room, one of them seated backwards on a chair several feet in front of him.