her advancing years she most objected to.
Another uniformed security man came out of the office behind Collingwood and whispered in his ear. Collingwood’s face twitched and I knew, in that moment, that they hadn’t got Sean and my father.
“Too fast for your rent-a-mob, were they?” I said mildly. “Shame.”
“Let me go after them,” Vondie said, breathless with the want of it. She reached under her short jacket and pulled a Glock 9mm out of a belt rig. “They won’t get far, I guarantee it.”
“There won’t be any need for that,” Collingwood said grimly, eyeing the pair of us. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about your father, Charlie, it’s that he’s an honorable man. I think if we offer him and Meyer the chance to trade themselves for you both, they’ll deal.”
“In that case,” I said icy, “you don’t know Sean half as well as you think. The only way you’ll get him in here is if you offer your own head.” I waited a beat. “Detached, preferably.”
“You’re in no position to be clever,” Vondie said, moving in on me with a sneer.
“You never were,” I said. “And you can’t go out looking for Sean and my father with all guns blazing, can you? We wondered why we weren’t picked up on the way down here. But you’re hiding from your own people just as —”
Vondie flipped the gun into her left hand and hit me in the stomach with her clenched right fist. I saw it coming just far enough out to brace, but she put some weight and venom behind it.
I staggered back, heard Terry shout, “For God’s sake, you can’t do this!” but I was concentrating more on staying on my feet at all costs. The pain was a tight crunch in my gut that radiated out in sharp, nauseating waves. I forced myself not to let it show on my face as I straightened.
“I thought so,” I said, as calmly as I could manage. “You punch like a girl.”
Vondie bared her teeth at me, might have gone for a second shot, but Terry stepped between us. She took my arms, steadied me, her eyes on my face. “Charlie, I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “You have to believe me. They approached me days ago, showed me pictures of Agent Blaylock and told me you’d killed her. That if you tried to contact me, I should play along and lead you here. It all sounded so damned plausible. I didn’t have a choice!”
“No choice?” I laughed, and it wasn’t a happy sound. “I would have thought when Storax are signing the checks, they’d have a say in how their hired help behaves, wouldn’t you, Terry?”
Her shoulders dropped. “You think they’re working for us?” she said, and I would have scoffed at the question, but I saw the sudden stillness, the awful realization as it hit her.
“Aren’t they?”
“No,” she said quietly. “We’re working for them.”
They separated us. It was the first thing they did.
Collingwood had me and my mother hustled out of the lobby and taken through into the security area. They had a holding cell back there, presumably used as a secure place to stash intruders until the local law enforcement arrived. Vondie opened the door and shoved my mother inside, twisting a painful lock onto her wrist when the older woman attempted to resist.
My anger flared afresh. I stepped forwards instinctively, but Vondie let go of my mother with a shove and yanked the barred door shut, separating us.
“Sorry,” Vondie said, smiling. “No family rooms in this hotel.”
The outer door behind us burst open and Terry elbowed her way through. She was struggling against the two security men who were trying, somewhat halfheartedly, to detain her.
“Collingwood, you can’t do this!” she snapped. “You’ve violated their legal rights. Even if you had any kind of a case against these people, it will never get to a courtroom if you deny them their right to legal counsel. I’ll stand—”
“You have a sister in San Francisco, don’t you, Terry?” Collingwood interrupted, his voice gentle.
Terry stopped, baffled. “Yes,” she said, frowning. “What—”
“How would you like her hounded by the IRS? How would you like your cousin’s work visa to the UK revoked and her deported in leg irons? How would you like your parents in Concord accused of harboring terrorists and thrown in jail?”
Collingwood jabbed a finger to emphasize each point, jolting her with every new threat, pushing her back. And when she was reeling, he paused, smiled at her almost kindly, let his voice turn coaxing. “You want to do your duty, don’t you, Terry?”
“Of course,” she said. “But—”
“Well, you’ve done it. Now let us do ours.”
For a long few seconds, Terry wavered, gaze skittering between us. She bit her lip, wouldn’t quite meet my eyes. Then, at last, she nodded slowly. “I’m sorry, Charlie,” she said, her voice low, and went out.
The two Storax guards had been standing, dumbfounded, listening to the threats Collingwood made against Terry’s family. They clearly had no wish for their own relations to come under that kind of official scrutiny. All it took to send the pair of them scrambling for the exit was for Collingwood’s gaze to swing in their direction. The door closed behind them with a grim finality.
“You choose your people well, Collingwood,” I said, bitter, aware of a faintly shiny taste in the back of my mouth. I faced him. “But if you’re not being paid by Storax to clear the way for the licensing of this new drug, what the hell
Collingwood didn’t answer right away, just jerked his head again and Buzz-cut closed in on me, the pickup driver keeping his injured leg at a safe distance. I must have just nicked him, otherwise he’d be on crutches.
I braced myself, glancing across at my mother, who was pale as death behind the bars.
“I’m not going anywhere without her,” I said.
Collingwood swung round, got right in my face.
“Come now, Charlie,” he murmured. “Do you really want her to see what we’re about to do to you?”
The soft words hit harder than Vondie’s punch to the gut. Before I knew it, I’d allowed myself to be dragged out, down a short corridor, into another room. It was empty with painted block walls, a concrete floor, and concealed lighting panels in the ceiling. It might have been a storeroom or an empty office, but it felt like a cell, or worse.
It was a reasonably sized space, but with Collingwood and Vondie, and the two men, it felt oppressively overcrowded in there.
Vondie set about searching through my pockets and quickly found the switched-off mobile phone. I’d emptied out everything else before we’d left Terry’s house. I thought of Sean’s phone and hoped that he was using it to call Parker right now.
The only thing I could do was give them both a little time.
Vondie showed the phone to Collingwood, who nodded back towards me.
“Let her turn it on, just in case.”
“Do you really think we’ve rigged it?” I asked. “Wow, you’re more scared of us than we thought.”
The pickup driver stepped up behind me and cut the PlastiCuffs. I flexed my hands a few times, then obligingly thumbed the phone into life. Vondie snatched it out of my hands and pressed a few keys, scowling.
“Nothing.”
“It’s called being a professional,” I said sweetly. “You should try it some time.”
“Where will Meyer have taken your father?” Collingwood asked, folding his arms and leaning against one wall.
I shrugged. “Who knows,” I said. “He could go anywhere. I hear Phoenix is nice this time of year.”
“How much have you told your boss?”
“Everything,” I said without hesitation. “We’ve kept him fully briefed and he’s making moves as we speak to have the pair of you hauled in for treason—if that’s a recognized crime over here. Back home, you’d probably be sent to the Tower of London and beheaded with an ax for what you’ve done.”
