Critical Space Read online

  "She's got a point," Corry said.

  "Of course not." Moore sounded annoyed. "The story should be that Her Ladyship has fallen ill, food poisoning will do fine. I'm not asking for any grand fabrication."

  "That's not what I mean," Corry explained. "Drama's window is as limited as ours. She can't tease this out for too long, because as much as we try to keep the lid on, something's going to leak out. With all the media attention Her Ladyship gets, we can't have much more than twenty-four hours."

  "Maybe a little longer," Chester said. "I can be very convincing."

  "Good," I said. "Her life will depend on that."

  Chester smiled ice at me. "At least she can rely on me."

  The intercom went off again just before two, Scott Fowler asking me to please let him inside, and I responded by telling him instead that I'd be right down. I came off the button before he could ask why, told Moore I was going to be gone for a few minutes, and that if Drama called, to tell her I'd call her back.

  Chester, still slowly destroying my couch, didn't think that was very funny at all.

  Fowler was leaning against the side of the building as I stepped out, and the first thing he said was, "What the hell happened to your face?"

  "Keith caught me with a wild arm," I said.

  "Thought Moore bagged him."

  "Hey, I helped."

  One of his eyebrows rose slightly as he took another look at my jaw. "Why don't you want me coming upstairs?"

  "I can't tell you."

  "Why isn't Lady Ainsley-Hunter at the Edmonton?"

  "I can't tell you."

  "Why did you call Bridgett and try to pretend you were someone else?"

  That threw me for a moment.

  "Her cell phone identifies the incoming number." Scott tapped his forehead with an index finger. "Nothing escapes the ever-vigilant eye of the FBI."

  "You're thinking of the Pinkertons."

  "I'm thinking there's something going on and you're freezing me out. And I'm thinking there are a couple of reasons you might do that, none of them good, and one of them might have to do with the Backroom Boys." He shoved his hands into his pants pockets, frowning at me. "I'll ask again, and you can give me an answer."

  "No, I'll give you a response, and it'll be the same one you just heard."

  "What's going on, Atticus?"

  I looked him in the eye and said, "I'm in a bad position, Scott. I know you're on the job, but so am I, and right now I've got a situation with my principal that requires my discretion."

  "I'm listening."

  "She's upstairs right now. She's well protected. She's also got company."

  "Company how?"

  I didn't say anything, hoping he'd do the math for me. He did.

  "Male or female?"

  "I can't say."

  "You can tell me."

  I shook my head. "I can't, Scott. I've already said too much. She's afraid you'll report something back and that it'll leak out of the Bureau office and to the media..."

  "We don't do that kind of shit, Atticus, you know that."

  "I know you, Scott," I said. "She doesn't. She's used to dealing with the British tabloids, you understand? She's gun-shy, she's scared of being discovered, and my job is to protect not only her person, but her reputation. The thing with Keith this morning really rattled her, we got her back to the hotel, she told me that she wanted this arranged. She's young and in love, what can I say?"

  He searched my face a second longer, then looked up the side of the building, as if he might be able to see into my apartment windows. "And you're using your place instead of the Edmonton because it's easier to slip in and out unnoticed?"

  "There's a fear that some of the staff at the Edmonton could be bought. She's worried about photographs."

  He accepted that with a nod, but I couldn't tell if he was believing me. "So how long is this going to last?"

  "No idea. She had Chester cancel her appointments for today and tomorrow. Food poisoning."

  "That'll work for a while."

  "For a while. I'm hoping this won't last more than the night."

  He smiled slowly. "What, you don't like listening?"

  "What kind of guy do you take me for?"

  "The kind who likes listening."

  I laughed and he laughed, and then I said, "I need to head back up. I'll call you as soon as she's mobile again, all right?"

  "Do that. And you can tell her that her secret's safe with me."

  Chapter 12

  Bridgett arrived thirty-nine minutes after Scott left, just in time to help Natalie, Corry, and Dale unload the gear. Dale had driven over in the hardened Benz, but he came back driving his van, with Natalie following in her Audi. With the addition of Bridgett's Porsche, that gave us three cars in case we had to go mobile. Moore, Chester, and I sorted the equipment as it arrived, putting the weapons in the living room, the electronics in the office, and the radio gear in the kitchen.

  Once everyone was in the apartment, Corry set immediately to work getting the electronics in order, beginning by taking all our radios and swapping their batteries with fresh ones. Natalie, Dale, and Bridgett went back downstairs, this time to put tracking gear in all of the cars. The Porsche, the Audi, and my motorcycle would all be outfitted with tracers. Dale's van would be excluded, because he'd have one of the receivers, and that meant that the other receiver would be hooked up in the apartment. The nature of tracking -- unless one has access to, say, a spy satellite -- is that two units have to be used, otherwise it's impossible to triangulate the signal. Assuming that we would, indeed, be mobile at some point, the tracers would be vital.

  Nonetheless I was surprised when I found Corry in the bedroom, going through my underwear drawer.

  "Having fun?"

  "I didn't know you wore boxers. Well, not boxers, these are those mutant things, those boxer-briefs." He held up a pair and in all seriousness asked, "Are these comfortable?"

  "They're one of my favorites."

  "Good. I'm going to sew a tracker into the elastic."

  "That will make them less comfortable."

  "I want to be able to find you if you get lost." He pulled a spool of thread from his back pocket, and a small plastic box of sewing needles. "I'll let you know when I'm done, then you can model them."

  "Sure. Fine."

  He nodded and began threading the needle. "Like the silk ones, by the way."

  "They were a gift."

  "Sure they were."

  The last person who had commented on my silk boxer shorts had been Drama, and maybe because of that, I decided to let the matter drop.

  Dale, Bridgett, and I pghierred the weapons, cleaning all of the guns, then loading them one by one, making certain the safeties were set and that everything was working properly. Chester watched from the sofa, her legs drawn up beneath her as if she was afraid to set her feet on the floor.

  "Are you planning to go to war?"

  "You don't know Drama," Dale said. "This won't be enough."

  "God save us," she muttered, and then got up and headed into the kitchen.

  Bridgett was loading the Benelli when she stopped suddenly and grabbed my arm. I was chambering rounds into the Mossberg pump when she did it, and I nearly dropped the damn thing. As it was, I lost the box of twelve-gauge cartridges, sending them rolling around the floor and under my misbegotten couch.

  "Honey, could you please not do that when I'm loading a shotgun," I said.

  She ignored me, putting her hand to the back of my forehead like she had earlier in the day. Then she scowled and told me to stick out my tongue. I did, and the scowl stayed put, so I put my tongue back in place.

  "How are you feeling?" she demanded.

  "You mean aside from having been kicked in the face and taken a lungful of pepper gas?"

  "Yeah."

  "A lot better," I said, and then I realized why she was asking.

  Bridgett set the Benelli against the wall and got out of her chair, storming
down the hall like she was intent on doing someone harm. I went after her, found that she was in the mess of our kitchen, standing in front of the open refrigerator, with both Chester and Corry looking on.

  "Show me what you ate last night," Bridgett demanded.

  "I made oatmeal," I said.

  "Anything I should know about?" Corry asked.

  "What did you drink?" Bridgett asked. "Did you make coffee? Tea? Did you have a beer? Any juice?"

  My stomach suddenly felt as it had that morning. "Orange juice. I finished off the pitcher last night, made more this morning."

  Without comment, Bridgett took the pitcher and dumped the remaining juice out in the sink. Then she took the open half-gallon of milk and dumped that out, too.

  "I didn't have the milk," I pointed out, too late.

  "Yeah, but there was no way she could know you wouldn't, was there?" Bridgett snapped the faucet on so hard I thought she might break the fixture from the wall, running the water until no drop of milk or juice remained.

  "It's okay," I said.

  "It is not okay, all right?" She swung around and looked at me, and for a moment there was naked hurt on her face. "For fuck's sake, Atticus, that bitch broke in here and poisoned your fucking food."

  * * *

  A quick survey confirmed that no one had taken food or drink in the apartment since their arrival, simply because that had been the last thing on their minds. Bridgett noisily cleaned out the refrigerator and then announced she was going to do some shopping. Chester, who had stayed in the kitchen, watching Corry work, volunteered to go with her.

  "No way," Moore told her. "You're not leaving this apartment."

  I thought she'd get shrill again; instead, she got quiet, and that made her frustration all the more evident. "I'm not in any danger, and I'm not doing any good here. I'm just being bloody useless and getting in the way."

  "You're Lady Antonia's friend, and that makes you a target, Fi. You're staying put."

  "You are not my employer, Mr. Moore."

  "What Her Ladyship hired me to do extends to you. You're staying here."

  "For how long?"

  "For as long as it takes."

  The two stared at one another for a couple seconds longer, and then Chester turned and slammed out of the kitchen.

  "Maybe you should let her..." Corry started to say.

  "I'm not going to lose both of them!" Moore snapped.

  "You know what, I'll go alone," Bridgett decided. "I should be back in twenty minutes."

  I locked the door after her, then stuck my head into the bedroom, where Dale and Natalie were working with the sweep equipment. "Almost done?"

  "Almost," Dale said.

  "Soon as you're finished, we need to talk about Chester."

  On the monitor in Natalie's hand I could see the LCD readout cycling through frequencies in search of a signal that would indicate we were being bugged. She looked up from the screen to me, and her expression told me she knew not only what it was about Chester I wanted to say, but what conclusion I'd reached. Which meant she'd reached it, too, and therefore it wasn't just the bruising on her face making her appear so pissed off.

  "When we're done," she said.

  "Take your time," I said, and went back to the living room to load more guns.

  * * *

  "I know what you're thinking, Atticus," Natalie said. "Chester is a valid target, yes, she needs protection, yes, and that means she's got to be locked down until this is over. But I'm not the person for it."

  "You're the only person for it," I said. "If we go mobile we'll need Dale behind the wheel of one of the vehicles, and Corry will have to man the gear."

  Natalie pointed at Moore, who was leaning back in his chair with his hands folded across his chest. "Chester is his principal by proxy. He should do it."

  "Like bloody hell," Moore said. "She's my secondary principal, if we're going to be picky, and if there's a prayer of retrieving my primary, then I'm on that action. It's got to be you or Atticus. Since Drama has already fingered Atticus as a player, it's you."

  Natalie pivoted to face him, using both hands to indicate her bruised face. "I think this qualifies as a fingering, don't you?"

  "Well, maybe as The Finger."

  "Asshole!"

  Moore nodded placidly. Natalie turned back to me, eyes blazing.

  "You're the best one for the job," I said. "Even if it wasn't a question of vehicles and electronics, you'd still draw the straw, Nat."

  "That's crap."

  From the couch, Dale said softly, "Neither Corry nor I are as good at the close protection as you or Atticus."

  That gave her pause. She ran a hand through her hair, then seemed to remember it had been cut, and scowled. Then she said, "Well, I'm not going to be the one to explain it to her."

  We all looked at Moore, who said, "I'll do it, but after dinner. We've had one case of poisoning here already, no need to push our luck."

  * * *

  The meal helped ease the tension somewhat, and after that, Moore took Chester aside and spoke quietly to her, explaining she would be staying at the apartment with Natalie until we had a definite resolution to the situation. The two of them spoke for a long time.

  I made up the bed in the office and told Corry he should take it. No one had even broached the subject of heading to their own home for the night; we all expected the call to come during the darkness, and no one wanted to be out of the loop. Additionally, there was safety in numbers.

  "I called Esme," Corry said as he helped me make the bed. "She's taken Eddie to my mother's in the Bronx."

  "Dale might want to call Ethan."

  "He did at the office. Ethan said he wasn't going anywhere until Dale came home. They had a fight."

  "I didn't know."

  "Natalie told me about it while we were unloading the van." He plumped up the pillow, then dropped it on the bed. "This'll do me just fine."

  "As long as you're comfortable."

  "Speaking of, how's the briefs? The elastic loose?"

  "Surprisingly snug, actually. Get some sleep."

  "You, too."

  I left him alone, shutting the door after me. Bridgett was already at the kitchen table with Moore, and she informed me that everyone else was down for their naps. We stayed in the kitchen, by the phone, and tried to keep from getting too much on one another's nerves, and it was a challenge because all of us were caught between a tension that wouldn't let us consider relaxing and the boredom that sets in when all you can do is wait. I made coffee and Bridgett made tea, and for a while Moore seemed unable to decide which he wanted more.

  "Make up your fucking mind, dammit," Bridgett snapped at him.

  He had one cup of each.

  A few minutes after ten Bridgett stopped playing with the tin of Altoids she'd emptied hours earlier and said to Moore abruptly, "She's going to want Atticus to make the swap."

  Moore, who was field-stripping his Browning for the fourth time, stopped his hands and considered, then went back to reassembling the gun. "Could do, yeah. Been thinking it's what she's got planned."

  I put my back to the window, sitting on the sill. The closed blinds rustled against the glass when I bumped against them. "I don't," I said.

  "Then you're being willfully naive," Bridgett said.

  "You're making it personal, between Drama and me. We don't have any evidence of that."

  "She broke in here and poisoned you. She has history with you."

  "And with Dale," I pointed out. "And all of us except you and Moore and Lady Ainsley-Hunter and Chester..."

  "No, you were running the show when she last met you," Bridgett said, but it was less to me than it was thinking out loud, teasing out a train of thought. "She met you, she spoke with you, you're the one she made a connection with, however tenuous. Natalie's incidental, like she was in the elevator today. Using Keith as a decoy, that was to draw you out, not Her Ladyship."

  "You want to explain that last bit?"
r />   She looked at me curiously. "Again?"

  "For the first time. That's new."

  "I thought I had."

  "No, it must have been lost in the rush."

  "Keith had a backstage pass to the show this morning."

  "Legit?"

  "No, but a damn good forgery. Both Scott and I figured he'd made it himself, but the more I think about it, the more I think Drama picked him for the job. It would fit with what Keith told the cops when we took him to Midtown North." She began playing with the tin again, flipping the top up and down with her right index finger, snapping her fingernail against the metal. "His story was that he got a letter about three weeks ago saying that, as a member of Together Now in good standing, he'd been specially selected to meet Her Ladyship backstage at the show today. He swore up and down that he'd gotten the pass with the letter. We all thought he was lying."

  "To do what you're describing, Drama would have had to access membership lists for clubs all along the East Coast," Moore said.

  Bridgett shook her head. "The information is online. I've seen it myself, and we all know I'm not nearly as skilled as Drama is at these things. She could find it without breaking a sweat. Picks a chapter, starts searching through the names, sees if anything comes up. She found out that Joseph Keith had a thing for Lady Ainsley-Hunter, and was a little sprung in the head, to boot. So she wound him up and turned him loose."

  "But there was no way she could control what Keith'd do backstage. Not unless he was in on it with her."

  Bridgett snapped the tin shut again in annoyance. "Drama didn't need to know what he would do, she didn't need him to do anything other than be a warm body in the right place at the right time. If Keith had been backstage with nothing more than a smile and a bouquet of flowers..."

  "He actually had both of those," I said. She ignored me.

  "...you still would have gone lockdown, guns a-blazing. She counted on that, she knew his presence alone would force an evacuation, and she knew that you'd bring Ainsley-Hunter back to the Edmonton. Hell, she even knew when to expect you, since it wouldn't happen until after the show had ended. It's a lot of planning, but the way Atticus talks about her, I don't even think that would slow her down."