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

a heavy sigh and sank against him. He tucked her up even closer and murmured against her hair, “I promise we’re doing everything that we can.”

She nodded. “I know,” she whispered. “I’m just really glad my sister isn’t here.”

“I am too,” he said. Just then somebody’s phone went off.

She looked around, but it was coming from the front seat. “Charles, is that your phone?”

“It is, indeed.” He tossed it to Kano, giving him a number to unlock the phone.

Kano said, “It’s your house.”

With that, Charles gave him another number to dial into the security system.

Kano was reading now. “According to the printout, the front door’s been opened.”

At that, Charles’s gaze shifted, looking at Kano in surprise.

“From the inside,” he said grimly.

“Amy,” Astra cried out. “Damn it.”

“Yes, Amy has left the building.”

“Why would she do that?” Astra asked. “I thought we left her leashed inside.”

“Unfortunately it was always a possibility,” Charles said.

At his tone of voice, she sank back, looked at him, and asked, “In what way?” Nobody wanted to say it outright. She turned and looked at Garret head-on. “You expect my sister is a part of this?”

“We’re not sure what we’re expecting, but Charles left the door available as an option to see what she’d do,” he said. “But she needs to have a damn good reason why she left secure surroundings.”

“How about the fact that we left her alone?” she said.

“And why is that?” he said, sending her a hard look.

She shrugged. “Because I didn’t want to be left behind. I wanted to be out here, to see what was going on. Besides, it was good for Charles to have somebody here.”

“Yes,” Garret said, “but it was also good to have you at home, with her.”

“If you’re thinking that I could have kept her in the house, I think you’re wrong.”

“Really?” Charles asked.

“Yeah, my sister’s always been the one to do things her way.”

Garret thought about that for a long moment, then nodded. “Good point,” he said. He looked at Charles. “Do you have any way to track her, once she’s left … left the building?”

“Yes,” he said, “at least for a little bit.” He added, “I wish I could set it in motion.”

“Tell me,” Kano said. “Just walk me through it.” After a little bit of difficulty and backtracking, finally he managed to get it set up.

“Where is she?” Garret asked.

“Heading down the street, completely unconcerned.”

“Can you see her now?” Astra asked.

“The video’s old,” Kano said, “as in a few minutes ago. I’m not seeing her in real time, but probably a ten-minute delay.”

“Ten minutes is not very much,” she muttered.

“No, it’s not,” Kano said. “Now it looks like she’s stopped and is flagging down a vehicle. Unfortunately it looks like she knows whoever it is because she just waved and got in.”

“Shit,” Astra said, sinking back. What was her sister up to? She knew better than to get into a vehicle with a stranger. But the alternative scared the crap out of Astra.

“Okay, Astra, listen to me carefully,” Garret said. “So I know she’s your sister, and I know you love her, but … do you trust her?”

She was in a daze, when she turned to look at Garret. “I guess you’re asking if she could be a part of this. I would never have thought so before, but I don’t know how to explain her actions.”

“Neither do I, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an explanation,” he said.

“I figured you’d be the first one to believe the worst of her.”

“Maybe,” he said, “but I’m not sure that applies in this case. She’s young and irresponsible, and she really wants him out of the industry. What lengths would she go to, to make it so that he wanted out as well?”

She stared at him. “Please tell me that you don’t think she staged the whole kidnapping, just to teach him a lesson?”

“I don’t know what to think,” he said. “And it has us completely sidetracked from something pretty important.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “You’re right. It has, hasn’t it?”

“Yes. So I dearly hope it’s not all in vain.”

“I would hope not,” Charles said. “I know I keep bringing this up, but pregnant women—”

“It had damn well better not be because of that,” she murmured in a hard voice. “That gets old very quickly.”

“Yes,” Charles said, “for all of us.”

*

Garret didn’t know what to tell Astra; he had no real way to reassure her because this was a really worrisome addition to their situation. “It’s also possible,” he said, “that Amy might have just called an old friend and decided to spend the evening out.”

“Yeah, she would do that too,” Astra muttered, staring out the window. “She doesn’t really see much around her, other than herself.”

“And she also knows that evenings out are a diminishing resource for her, and something she won’t maintain since she is pregnant,” he said quietly. “At some point, she’ll need to stay home with a baby.”

“Yeah, I don’t think anybody bothered to tell her that,” she muttered.

“But she wants the baby, correct?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “Definitely.”

“So then we have to trust that she won’t do anything that’ll put the baby at risk.”

She nodded. “And again, I hear you. I just don’t like this new development.” At that, she realized that the vehicle was still going strong. She leaned forward and asked, “Do we have any idea where this guy is going?”

“No, not really,” Charles said. “I mean, he’s heading back toward the center of London. That can mean all kinds of things.”

“And how do you avoid having him see you?”

“That’s a good question,” he said. “So far, he’s not showing any signs of suspecting somebody’s on him. But then again,” he added, with a bright smile, “he’s not really paying attention. He’s on the phone.”

“Well, that’s good. Any distraction for him is good for us,” Garret said.

She agreed. “What if I call my sister?” she asked.

“Go for it,” Garret said. “Play dumb, and see if she tells you where she is.”

Realizing it would probably be another