Eric Lustbader - Blood Trust

She lay back down, but knew right away that sleep was on some other continent. So she did what she always did when she couldn’t sleep—went to her desk, turned on the task lamp, and fired up her laptop. She was going to open her Web browser when she noticed a new folder on her desktop. It was titled “curio_cabinet.”

She felt a little thrill go through her. There had been a curio cabinet in The Little Curiosity Shop where all the most magical items were kept under lock and key. She scanned the folder with her security software, but it was clean. Also, it was encrypted. Every time she tried to open it, she was asked for a password. She thought for a moment, then typed in “TLCS.” That didn’t work. Then she thought of the curio cabinet itself. Of all the special items in it, the most magical to her was the book that opened a doorway to the Land of the Fayries. What was the name of that book? She screwed up her face in concentration. Ah, yes.

She typed in “Maeve’s World.”

Wham, she was inside the folder. Her heart beat faster. Could this mean what it seemed to mean? Then her heart sank. The folder contained only one minuscule file. But still … She opened the file and read:

HEY THERE, SIS. HOWZ TRICKS?

JACK COULD see the stars. They looked close enough to reach out and touch. The military jet Paull had had waiting for them in Brindisi was taking them all home.

Alli came and sat next to him. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a train.” He laughed softly. “Several trains, actually.”

She hesitated only a moment. “I wanted to thank you.”

He turned to her.

“You believed in me.”

“Annika believed in you.”

“You had faith in me, Jack. I never got that from my parents.” She frowned. “I suppose you think there’s something wrong with me because I haven’t grieved for them.”

“You grieved plenty for your father.”

She looked thoughtful. “Maybe I did.”

“And as for your mother.” He shrugged. “Perhaps that will come in time.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then it doesn’t.”

She was silent for some time. Then she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Every doctor who examines me tells me there’s something wrong with me.” Her eyes cut to his. “You know exactly what I mean.”

Of course he did. He’d been told the same thing when he was young.

“But sometimes I feel…” She turned her head away. “I feel as if I’m numb inside, as if I’ll never feel anything deeply again.”

Jack took her hand. “You know that’s not true.”

Tears trembled at the corners of her eyes. “I wish to God I did.”

Jack desperately wanted to help her, but in this instance he knew he needed to be patient, especially because right now she couldn’t be.

At that moment, Annika came by.

“Am I interrupting anything?”

Jack glanced at Alli and shook his head.

Alli leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “See you later.” Then she stood up and walked with Annika to another set of seats, where they sat down together.

For a time, Jack tried to think about nothing at all, but his brain, working out the last of the conspiracy, wouldn’t rest. Then his cell phone buzzed and he caught the call from Alan Fraine, the D.C. Metro Police chief.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news.” Fraine’s voice sounded thin and far away. “Pawnhill got away.”

Jack stared into the blackness of the night. “What happened?”

“We tracked him to Billy Warren’s apartment. He apparently found a DVD, but it was in a booby-trapped attaché case. The DVD was almost entirely dissolved by acid. Nothing usable was left.”

Jack thought a moment. “Billy must have stashed the incriminating data he’d found on Middle Bay’s servers. That’s why he was tortured and then killed.”

“So it was Pawnhill, not Dardan Xhafa, who did it.”

“Pawnhill hired McKinsey, who was nursing a grudge against Billy,” Jack said.

“Your boss, Dennis Paull, ordered all of Middle Bay’s files, records, and computer data confiscated even before he landed, but so far he tells me there’s no sign of incriminating evidence.”

“And there won’t be,” Jack said. “Pawnhill has had unlimited access to the bank’s data for the past week. He’s sure to have deleted it all.”

Fraine sighed. “Probably. But Paull claims he’s got some first-rate techs in data recovery. They may find something Pawnhill overlooked.”

Jack saw no reason to say what was on his mind. He didn’t think Mbreti had left even a single kilobyte to find.

“Well, one good thing,” Jack said. “You can get Heroe out of custody.”

“Really? How’s that?”

“Now that the data’s gone, there’s no longer a need for a cover-up.”

“I’m not so sure it will be that easy.”

“Chief, she’ll be sprung the moment you make the request, trust me.”

There was a slight pause, then Fraine said, “Do you know who’s behind the cover-up?”

“I have a good idea.”

“Then you’re going to need some help when you get home. These people play at the highest level.”

“I appreciate the offer, Chief. But go take care of your own. I’m better off handling this myself.”

“I owe you one, Jack. If ever you need me…”

“Yeah.” Jack laughed. “I know where to find you.”

“BREATHE,” ANNIKA said. “Breathe, darling.”

Alli shivered. “I … I don’t know how I’m going to live like this.”

“Like what?”

“Not feeling.”

Annika shook her head. “I’m not at all sure I follow. If you don’t feel anything why did you risk your life to save Liridona?”

“That’s not the same.”

“Why isn’t it the same?”

Alli was trembling uncontrollably now, tears running down her cheeks. And then she sobbed. “I miss Emma so much.”

Annika enfolded her, kissed both her cheeks. “I know.”

“No, you don’t know. I—”

“But I do know, Alli. If I were to lose Jack…”

She let her words trail off and Alli stiffened in her arms.

“You love him,” Alli whispered.

“Yes.”

Alli collapsed against her. “Then you do know.”

“I know your heart is broken.”

Alli buried her face in the crook of Annika’s shoulder. “You won’t tell Jack.”

“Of course not, darling. You will.”

Alli pulled away from her. “But I can’t.”

Annika smiled. “But you must. Don’t you see that the secret is a barrier between you. Telling him will bring the two of you closer. Besides, this is your authentic self. Embrace it.”

Alli wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “What if he doesn’t understand?”

“Jack?” Annika appeared deeply amused. “Dear God, girl, you must be joking.”

DENNIS PAULL met them when they landed in D.C. just shy of six hours later. While he was arranging for Edon and Liridona to enter the States, Henry Holt Carson showed up. That was a surprise, but one that Jack welcomed. Carson was at the heart of the conspiracy, Jack knew that much. It was the why that needed confirmation.

He approached Alli, but when he tried to put his arm around her, she shrugged it off her.

He was looking at his niece, but he addressed Jack. “You kept her safe from harm, I see.”

“She kept herself safe from harm.”

Now Carson did look at Jack. “I’ll never forgive you.”

“For taking Alli away,” Jack said.

“He didn’t take me away.” Alli’s tone was indignant. “He saved me from being arrested.”

“You wouldn’t have been arrested,” Carson said. “I would have seen to that.”