Garret's Gambit by Dale Mayer (book club books .TXT) 📗

“Of course you can,” Garret said, with a sigh. The three men got inside, Jonas driving, with Garret and Kano taking the back seat, but the car was not moving.

“What are you here for?” Jonas asked.

“To talk to my ex-fiancée,” Garret said in a hard voice. “You got a problem with that?”

Jonas twisted around in the front seat to look back at him. “Why the hell would you want to do that?”

“Apparently she has some information for me,” he said. “I don’t know if I believe her or not because I don’t trust her.”

“Nice relationship,” he said.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“That’s Amy, huh?”

Frowning, Garret looked at him and asked, “How do you know that?”

“Hey, we’ve got sources too,” Jonas replied.

“Sure, you do,” Garret said, rolling his eyes. “The bottom line is, I’m not exactly sure what it is she wants to tell us or even if it’s coming from her or someone else. But, either way, what difference does it make to you?”

“Well, for one thing, she’s gone missing,” he said, “and her sister’s here, raising hell.”

“What do you mean, Amy’s gone missing?”

Again came that look from the front seat. “Just what I said. She’s gone missing.”

“Who reported her missing?”

“Again, just what I said. Her sister,” Jonas replied. “Do you know her?”

“Astra, yes,” Garret said. “I do.”

“Good, because we need to talk to her, and she’s not being very cooperative.”

“Huh, it’s almost like she knows you,” Garret said.

“Funny. We need to find out if she knows anything about her sister’s disappearance.”

“If she’s the one who called it in, then she’s probably already told you everything she knows,” he said.

Kano looked at Garret. “Who is this Astra?”

“Amy’s kid sister,” he said.

“How much of a kid sister?”

“Four years maybe,” he said. “I don’t remember exactly. She was there when it all blew up. I told her that I was walking, and she just shrugged and said that she would too.”

“Interesting take on it.”

“Yeah, Amy and Astra don’t get along very well,” he said. “So it’s interesting that she’s the one who called it in.”

“Maybe,” Kano said.

“Let’s go have a little talk with her, shall we?” Jonas said.

“What are we, inseparable now? But, if I don’t have a choice, then I don’t have a choice,” Garret said. “Let’s get on with it. But, Jonas, it would have been nice if I’d had a choice.”

“Dream on,” he said. “You know how we feel about giving you too much of a choice.”

“You didn’t have to meet us here.”

“Not to worry,” he said. “We’ll drop you off at Charles’s later.”

Garret settled in his seat and said, “So you’ll put Charles in the spotlight over this too?”

“Of course not,” he said. “The way we get along with Charles is that he keeps us in the loop.”

“And did he tell you that we were coming?”

“Doesn’t matter if he did or didn’t,” Jonas said cheerfully, as they pulled up in front of a hotel. “We would have heard from other channels.”

Garret looked at the hotel and asked, “Astra’s here?”

“Yes.”

“And you expect our presence to loosen her tongue?”

“It’s worth a try,” Jonas said.

“You’re not treating her like the family of a missing person, which I find interesting. You treat all your crime victims this way?”

“Why would she be a victim?”

“Well, her sister’s missing. Yet you think she has intel that she’s not giving up? Isn’t that counterproductive? The sister would want you to find Amy. So what gives, Jonas?”

“Yeah, I don’t understand that either,” Kano said. “Something else is behind this.”

“There is,” Garret said, “no doubt. But Jonas here, he likes to play things close to the vest.”

“It’s the only way to operate,” Jonas said.

“Not true,” Garret said.

“With you guys, it is,” Jonas said. “You are nothing but consistent—consistently right in our way.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Garret said. “It’s not likely to stay that way.”

“Says you, but we need something to break here.”

“Twenty-four hours already gone by?”

“Almost,” Jonas admitted.

“Well, I’m glad that she’s deserving of at least that much attention,” he said. “Anybody mention my brother?”

At that, Jonas got out of the vehicle and leaned down, looking at him with a frown. “What about your brother?”

“Well, apparently he’s missing,” Garret said. “That’s why I’m here to talk to Amy. She supposedly had information on his disappearance.”

At that, Jonas started to swear.

“What’s the matter?” Garret said. “Did you think you were the only one with access to intel?”

“I was hoping I had access to the right information, at least,” he said, “but you guys keep hiding stuff from us.”

“I’m not hiding anything,” he said. “I was sent over to talk to her. I only found out my brother was missing moments before we got on the plane that landed here.”

“How long has he been missing?”

“Our intel is a little short on that,” Kano said smoothly. “But we’re looking at thirty-six hours, possibly forty-eight.”

“Which means not very long, and, knowing you guys, maybe he’s not missing at all.”

“Maybe not,” Garret said. “I don’t know much, but I for damn sure wouldn’t have made this trip on the back of another if I’d thought something wasn’t behind it.”

“Good point,” Jonas said, as they all got out of the vehicle and walked into the lobby.

“Is Astra expecting us?” Garret asked.

“No,” Jonas replied.

“So how do you know she’s here?”

“I called ahead, while I was waiting for you guys.”

“And don’t tell me. I can guess. She still doesn’t know that you’re here, right?”

“I don’t know if she does or not,” he said. “It would be really nice of you guys to help us out though. I understand no love is lost between you and your ex-fiancée, but, if her sister can lead us to answers on your brother and Amy, that would be worth your while.”

“I still want to know why you’re tracking Astra, the sister,” Garret said, feeling the hair on the back of his neck going up at the thought. “She’s not in this industry.”

“Says you,” he said.

“What does that mean?”

Jonas hesitated, then shrugged. “Our intel says she’s pretty high up in the