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

He shook his head. “No, we don’t.”

She nodded., “In that case, I guess you can leave then, right?”

“I guess so,” he said, frowning. He turned to the other two men and said, “I can give you a ride.”

“No need,” Garret said. “We’ll be fine.”

Jonas nodded and turned to leave. After a few steps, he stopped and did a half turn, looking back at Garret and Kano. “You will keep me apprised of your comings and goings, correct?”

“Of course,” he said. “I’m here to find my brother.”

“See that you stay in touch,” Jonas replied, and, with that, he walked out.

Astra turned to Garret. “Do you want to go to the coffee shop or up to my room to talk?”

“Upstairs,” he said immediately. “We also need to get our own lodging taken care of.”

Kano nudged him gently. “I’ll go ahead and give Charles a call,” he said, already on his phone.

“What room are you in?” Garret asked, as he turned to Astra.

“Room 212,” she replied, then led the way to the stairs.

Kano nodded to Garret, still on the phone, indicating he would join them soon.

Astra walked up one flight of stairs, then turned to the left. Garret followed behind her. “Are you doing okay?” Astra asked Garret.

“It’s been a rough few weeks,” he replied.

She shot him a glance. “I heard about the plane crash. Are you really okay? The reports varied wildly from one side to the other. I didn’t know what to believe.”

“I’m sure the intel was all over the place. I’m fine now though. A few extra metal pieces, some residual headaches, but I’m back to work.” He shrugged, as little could be done now but give his body time to heal. Too bad the bad blood between his brother, Amy, and Garret couldn’t heal quite so easily. He and his brother had barely spoken in the last three years. Same for Amy. “I wondered why my brother wasn’t there when I came out of the coma.”

“I’m thinking he didn’t know,” she said. “And even Amy seemed shocked, when I mentioned the accident.”

“Yeah, but that would imply that Gregg was in trouble even then.”

“It hasn’t been that long, has it?”

“Four weeks,” he said.

“Should you even be back to duty?”

“Good luck to anyone trying to tell me not to be,” he said, his voice hard.

She nodded. “Understood.”

“How are your parents?”

“Both are deceased,” she said, her tone short. “It’s just Amy and me now.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“We’ve never been close as a family, but, after her split from you, there was a rift between all of us,” she said, with a shrug.

“Understood,” he said. “You weren’t exactly happy about what she did, as I recall.”

“No, I wasn’t,” she said. “I’ve tried to talk to your brother about it a couple times, but he won’t discuss it. He always has this kind of haunted look on his face.”

“That sort of explains it,” Garret said, with a smile.

“I think Amy took him by surprise.”

“Yeah, she has that effect on people,” he said.

“In all fairness to the two of them, I honestly think what they have is something that they may make work.” He looked at her in surprise, as she shrugged. “I know. I wasn’t happy about how they started their relationship without your knowledge, but, now that I see them together, I think it’s a better match than the two of you were.”

“No doubt,” he said. “No way I want to be married to somebody I can’t trust.”

“That always meant a lot to you, didn’t it?” she said, as she unlocked the door.

He walked in behind her, as she tossed her purse and keys on the small counter, then headed to the small coffeemaker and set it up for a pot. She watched him as he surveyed the room. He was tall, dark-haired, lean, and looking a little stressed from everything he’d been going through. His color was a little pale, but, all in all, he looked almost back to full strength.

His gaze suddenly pierced through her. “So, do I pass muster?”

She nodded. “Sorry. I was just checking to see how physically exhausted you were. That was a major accident.”

“Well, I can tell you one thing. Anger, outrage, and the need for revenge are great motivators,” he said. “I’ll make it through.”

“I have no doubt about that,” she said, with a half smile. “No doubt at all.”

Chapter 2

Astra knew she shouldn’t say anything, but she’d never been any good at staying quiet. “That also doesn’t mean you should be putting yourself into more danger than you need to be.”

“And I won’t,” Garret said, his tone cool. Then got to the point. “So you obviously wanted me alone. What is it you wanted to say?” She hesitated, and he shook his head. “I don’t have time for games here, Astra.”

“None of us do,” she said. “It’s my sister too.”

“Got it. We’re both in a position of having to look for our cheating siblings. Siblings that we’re currently on the outs with.”

She gave a bitter laugh. “You could say that,” she said. “What I don’t know is what we’re supposed to do about it?”

“All that drama aside,” he said, “we still have to figure out what’s going on and try to help them.”

“I don’t even know where to start,” she said, raising her hands in the air.

“Where has Amy been living?”

“In Belgium was the last I knew,” she said, “but she was looking to relocate. I don’t know where. But the last time I actually saw her, she was in Paris.”

“So maybe we need to go there,” he murmured.

“No, that was a few years ago. I think she left Belgium because of some danger. I just don’t know what or why. She wouldn’t tell me,” she said.

“Listen, Astra. I get that you’re frustrated, and God knows your sister has an exceptional ability to do that to both of us. But, if she came from Belgium, then chances are that’s where we need