Choke Point (30 page)

She shrugged, looking sulky and shut down. “Just thinking about my father.”

But he could see it was more than that. “And…?”

“And I’m tired, let down, and pissed off.”

Uh-oh,
he could already feel the heat of that famous Rynerson temper. “So…? Atherton wasn’t there?”

She stopped, eyes flashing, her fuse officially lit. “Oh yeah, he was there all right. The scumbag is working with them.”

He tried to look appropriately surprised, without overdoing it. “You’re sure?”

“Don’t give me that crap, Simon. I’ve had all night to think about it. You knew something.”

He shook his head empathically—“No, absolutely not!”—but knew she wouldn’t let him wiggle around the truth on this one. “I had a few suspicions. Nothing more.”

“A few suspicions?”

“That’s right,
suspicions.
”

“Then why did you let me go?”

Though he couldn’t have stopped her, not with one arm, he had been asking himself that same question all night. “Because you’re a pain in the ass, Rynerson, and I thought it would be a good way to finally get rid of you.”

“I’m serious.”

“And I’m not going to be your whipping boy for what he did. I tried to talk you out of it.”

“You could have told me about your
suspicions.
”

“Come on, Kyra, the guy just asked you to marry him. You would never have believed me.” Her eyes seemed to confirm it, so he hammered another nail, staying on the offensive. “You would have accused me of being vindictive and insensitive.”

She opened her mouth, clearly intending to deny it, then turned and continued toward the rocks and the opening to the cave. “It was never that serious.”

“It seemed pretty damn serious to me.”

“He was a good dinner companion, nothing more.” She reached the rocks, stopped and turned. “Okay, I admit it, I was
hoping
for more. I wanted Tony Jr. to have a man in his life. And with my father…” She leaned against a large boulder, out of words—defeated.

“Kyra, for god’s sake, you know better than that. TJ’s never going to be happy unless you’re—”

She cut him off. “Don’t say it. I know it was stupid. I was trying too hard, for all the wrong reasons. But, hey, I realized it wasn’t right…that he wasn’t the man for me. I turned him down, remember?” She rolled her eyes, a look of relief. “At least I wasn’t sleeping with the guy.”

Simon smiled—couldn’t help himself.

She gave him the fisheye, though it was obvious her anger had dissipated. “You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”

Only a little.
“Of course not.”

“You never liked him.”

“What’s not to like? Rich, successful, good-looking, well educated…okay, you got me there, nothing to like.”

Just as quickly as her anger had died, it flared back. “The fucking bastard! He made a fool out of me!” Tears welled in the corners of her eyes and she brushed them away with the back of her hand.

Using his good arm, Simon pulled her against his chest. “He fooled everyone. The State Department. Your parents. All of us.”

“Not you.”

“Of course he did. Until a couple of days ago, it never even occurred to me that he might have a different agenda. I’m just now putting the pieces together.”

She stepped back. “I’ve been thinking about it all night. It doesn’t make sense. What pieces? What did you see that I didn’t?”

“Just little things. Some inconsistencies. Nothing remarkable.”

“What things?” she demanded. “I want to know.”

He hesitated, working it into an order that made sense. “Some of it’s in retrospect. I didn’t put it together until after he left.”

“Such as?”

“The attack at Madame Chiang’s. When I found the gun, I realized the attack had something to do with me. That someone wanted me out of the way. Buy why? If something happened to me, another courier could have been brought in. I’m not indispensable…it didn’t make sense.”

“But now it does?”

“It may sound stupid, but I now think Atherton thought we were more than friends.”

“Oh.” She hesitated, thinking about it. “And why is that stupid?”

It was not a question he expected. “Well…because we’re buddies. We don’t think of each other like that.” Embarrassed, he hurried on. “Anyway, I now think he wanted me out of the way. At the time, of course, I only knew there was an information leak.”

“And that’s why you decided to move the crest early?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s what I don’t understand. If he’s been involved from the start, why did he get on the plane? He must have known about—”

“No,” Simon interrupted. “I don’t think he did. These guys are mercenaries. Atherton said it himself. Something he was very quick to point out, in fact. It’s my guess, he’s the one who hired them.”

“But…?” She faltered trying to put the pieces together.

“He was probably trying to protect his identity. Everything could have been handled by e-mail or phone. No personal contact. There’s only one reason he would have gotten on that plane—he didn’t know it was going down, and they didn’t know he was the man who hired them. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

She lowered herself onto a rock, her expression skeptical. “Even so, he would have been putting himself in harm’s way. Just being near you and the crest.”

“That’s right, and I think it bothered him. Plenty. It was the only time I ever saw the man nervous. I didn’t think much about it at the time…just thought he hated small planes.”

She nodded. “I remember that. I thought the same thing.” She cocked her head to the side, dragging a memory out of the closet. “Remember that conversation I told you about…the one between Robbie and the skinhead guy?”

“Yeah.”

“He told Robbie he had just gotten off the phone with the client. But he didn’t. He tried to call someone, but no one answered.”

“Now we know why.”

“Apparently so.” She glanced at the sky. “Maybe we should move inside.”

He followed her gaze upward—the stars had faded to a few random light specks—but he was in no hurry to crawl back into that damp, closed-in space. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

“Fine with me. I’m so pissed, I’m not even tired. So, what else? What other
inconsistencies
did I miss?”

He realized she was now internalizing the anger—outraged that Atherton had fooled her so completely. “It always bothered me that he was so anxious to give up the crest and attempt to negotiate our way out of here. It felt wrong, this instant bravery and willingness to walk into the hands of men who wanted to fill his lungs with seawater. If they were so interested in the crest, why sabotage the plane?”

She nodded. “Good point. I still don’t understand what it’s all about.”

“I’m guessing, but when it comes to Atherton, I think it’s all about money. There are lots of people, governments even, who would pay a fortune to see the Alliance fail. He’s obviously well connected in this part of the world…he would have known where to peddle the information.”

“What’s that have to do with me? Why the mad rush? The proposal…?”

He hesitated, knew he needed to be careful, but she offered up the answer before he could think of a delicate way to express it.

“I guess that was about money too.”

“Probably. He saw an opportunity and tried to take it. Probably thought he could destroy the Alliance, and end up married to the golden child.”

She made a contemptuous sound, like spitting a bug off the tip of her tongue. “I’m no child.”

No, but certainly golden—in more ways than one, and she didn’t even know it. “He must have realized time was running out…that he needed to make a move.”

“So he popped the question.”

“Right.” And they both knew the result of that. “Enough about Atherton. What did you find out? Did you get close enough to hear anything?”

She took a deep breath and let it go, as if trying to mentally erase the man from memory. “They’re concentrating on this side of the island. They’ve got sensors all over the place. It doesn’t sound good.”

Exactly as he expected. “I’ve got an idea…” He let the words hang.

She pulled up her legs, planting her feet on the edge of the rock, and wrapped her arms around her knees. “I’m listening.”

“It’s risky.”

“Risky is my middle name.”

True enough, and just what he wanted to hear. “Do they have any special security around their camp?”

“Not really,” she answered. “They think they’ve got us trapped on this side of the island. What do you have in mind?”

“Stealing one of those Zodiacs. Is that possible?”

She sat quietly, staring out at the dark sea, but her mind elsewhere, obviously picturing the camp in her mind. “Maybe,” she answered, her voice as distant as her thoughts. “They pull them out of the water at night. How far depends on the tide.”

“I was thinking we might be able to steal one and disable the others.”

“Disable how?”

“Cut the gas lines…?” He purposely let the question hang, wanting to get her involved in the plan—as committed to the idea as he was.

She shook her head without hesitation. “They’d smell it. They’re camped pretty close to the water, and the wind is usually blowing in. Be safer to puncture them.”

“Whatever works.”

She nodded slowly. “You’re right, it’s risky, but I like it—simple and straightforward.”

“That’s me, Simple Simon.”

She cocked her head, a yeah-right expression. “We wouldn’t be able to start the engine until we were quite a ways from the camp. Otherwise they’d hear us and…” She ran a finger across her throat.

“Good point.” One he had already considered. He held up his bandaged arm. “I’m afraid you’ll have to do the heavy lifting.”

She feigned a look of disgust, her tone sarcastic and teasing. “I have to do everything.”

“The curse of being a Rynerson.”

She glanced again at the sky, which was growing lighter by the minute, and jumped off the rock. “Maybe I can do something to improve our odds.”

“How’s that?”

“Where’s that cargo bag?” She started toward the cave, not waiting for an answer. “I saw some things that might help us.”

Things?
“What kind of things?”

“It’s going to be light soon. I’ll explain when I get back.”

“Back from where? Where are you going?”

“Hunting.”

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY-SEVEN

An Island in the South China Sea

Saturday, 14 July 14:31:14 GMT +0800

Though still hidden behind a layer of gray-white clouds, the sun seemed to be gaining strength, the storm slowly giving way. Simon retreated deeper into the rocks, ahead of the tide, which had begun its relentless march up the sand. Where in the hell was she?
Hunting
—what did that mean? What if she didn’t make it back before the tide came in?

He was still chewing over the same questions, the water over his ankles, when she appeared between the rocks, the cargo bag slung over her shoulder, a dark silhouette against the leaden background of the sky. “Sorry it took so long.”

He took a shallow breath, hiding his relief. “I didn’t notice.”

“You’re a lousy liar, Leonidovich.” She plowed her way toward the entrance to the chamber. “We need to get inside, there are two guys in a Zodiac working their way up this end of the island.” She ducked beneath the overhang of rocks.

Simon snapped on the flashlight and followed. “What do you mean by ‘working their way’?” He focused the light on their tree ladder.

“You know what I mean.” She started to climb.

Unfortunately, he did. “Are they staying in the boat, or actually walking the shoreline?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “They were both in the boat, but I didn’t stick around to watch.” She tossed the cargo bag onto the ledge, then backed down. “Once the tide’s up, we’ll be okay.”

“Right.”

She stepped back into the water. “Just take it slow. No hurry.”

He handed her the light, waited for her to refocus the beam, then started to climb, an awkward maneuver with only one hand. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I did.”

“Which was?”

“A nice patch of Psilocybe Aucklandii.”

“Ah, my favorite.” He edged his way upward. “What is it?”

“Mushrooms.”

“Great. I love mushrooms.”

“They’re hallucinogenic.”

“Even better.” He paused to catch his breath, the air so dense and muggy it was hard to swallow. “I prefer to be stoned out of my mind when they drown me.”

“You always start joking around when you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared. I’m appropriately concerned.”

“Whatever.”

He inched forward, hugging the wet tree with his legs. “So, what’s with the mushrooms?” As if he couldn’t guess. “And don’t tell me you’re going to try and sneak it into their food.”

“It would give us a nice edge.”

He looked down, but could barely make out her features in the reflected light. “Forget it! It’s too risky.”

“Don’t get your testes in a twist, Leonidovich. I wouldn’t try anything unless the opportunity was right.”

Opportunity was right!
She made it sound like a business investment. “There’s isn’t going to be an opportunity…not unless they eat at two in the morning.” He reached up, found the broken-off stub of another branch, and pulled himself onto the ledge. “We’re going to be stuck in this damn place until midnight.”

“I realize that, but you never know what’s going to happen. So I grabbed them. End of story.” She put the mini-flash in her mouth and began to climb.

Within a minute they were both sitting directly over the entrance, the cargo bag between them. She reached over and gave his hand a little squeeze. “Ready?”

“For what?”

She snapped off the light and Simon instantly felt the chamber close around him.
Shit.
He leaned forward, staring down at the shadowy light reflecting off the water beneath the overhang, and tried to ignore his growing sense of claustrophobia. “Spooky.” His voice echoed through the darkness, sounding unnaturally tight and ghostly.