head in Harper's lap. For a moment I thought Veil had gone ahead and killed him anyway, but then I noticed that he was still breathing.
'He'll be napping for a while,' Veil continued. 'Shall we tie him up?'
Garth, who was examining my neck as he gently wiped away blood with a clean handkerchief, nodded. 'We'll use his car, put him in the trunk. Mongo, it's with mixed emotions that I announce my suspicion that you're going to live. The slice is messy, but not deep, if it leaves a scar, it could be a hot topic of conversation at cocktail parties.'
Harper got out of the car, opened the door on the driver's side, and none too gently pulled Garth away from me. 'You tend to Insolers,' she said, her tone leaving no doubt that she was unamused, 'and I'll take care of Robby. I suppose you'd have thought it was
Garth raised his eyebrows in mock alarm, then winked at me before getting out and going around to the other side of the car to help Veil with Insolers. Harper slid onto the seat next to me, kissed me very hard and passionately, then resumed the job of gently wiping away blood until the bleeding finally stopped. I sighed, rested my head against Harper's ample bosom as I was fitted for a bandage and ascot.
Chapter Ten
The castle overlooking the western shore of Lake Geneva came complete with all manner of turrets and spires, and looked big enough to house your average army. It was six stories high, constructed of massive blocks of black stone, and was sitting on what looked to be ten or more acres of land in a country where real estate was so precious that it was sold by the square meter. The structure and its magnificently landscaped grounds were most impressive.
The security-if, indeed, this was the CIA's most precious asset-was considerably less impressive. There was a high stone wall around the whole complex, and a massive iron gate at the entrance, complete with television camera and a speakerphone mounted on one of the gateposts; but the television camera was pointed up at the sky, and the gate was wide open. There were no guards at the entrance, at least none that were in evidence. We entered the obvious way, simply by driving in the main entrance; no sirens sounded, and no guards jumped out from behind the bushes to challenge us.
Garth drove slowly up the wide gravel driveway toward the castle, past carefully tended gardens and lush, thick lawns. There were a number of gardeners at work, but none appeared to be security guard types; indeed, only one of them even casually glanced in our direction. We reached the circle at the head of the driveway. Garth drove halfway around, stopped at the foot of a flight of granite stairs leading up to a set of twelve-foot-high carved wooden doors.
'The CIA runs this place?' Harper asked, a note of incredulity in her voice.
'Sometimes the best way to hide something is to pretend there's nothing to hide,' Veil said, and when I turned in my seat, I could see that he was looking all around us. I couldn't tell from my angle, but I suspected he had again palmed his throwing knife.
Garth turned off' the car's engine, looked at me. 'Now what?'
'I guess I go up and knock on the door.'
'Great. You got an opening line?'
'It'll come to me.'
'Veil and I will come with you.'
'No. Harper, you with me?'
'I'm with you, Robby,' she replied, putting her hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently.
'Then I suggest that Harper and I go up to the door. We certainly appear harmless enough. You and Veil make a pretty threatening duo, especially at times like now when you're not wearing your party faces.'
Veil said, 'Not a good idea, Mongo. The two of you will be exposed and vulnerable when you get out of the car, and Garth and I won't be able to protect you.'
'We're exposed right now. This isn't exactly a tank we're driving around in. So far, nobody's come around to say boo.'
Garth shook his head. 'We don't know what's going to happen when you start asking questions.'
'I'll play it by ear. Look, no matter how many people go up there, the folks who run this place will get us all if that's what they want. It's best to start off as low-key as possible.'
'Robby's right,' Harper declared as she perfunctorily opened the door on her side and stepped out into the driveway.
I got out, took Harper's arm, and together we started up the flight of granite stairs. I looked down to check to make certain there were no bloodstains on my clothes. I had not been wearing my jacket during my joust with Insolers, and that covered my bloody shirt. A bandage and ascot fashioned from Insolers' shirt covered the wound on my neck. I decided I looked quite presentable for a man who'd come close to having his head lopped off a short time before.
'Can I help you?'
We halted on the third step, turned to our right, the direction the voice had come from. There was a large rose garden fifteen yards from the driveway, and now a woman stepped from it through a trellis. She was quite tall and slender, stunningly beautiful, with long brown hair and large, soulful brown eyes. She wore a heavy denim gardener's apron and held a large pair of pruning shears.
'We're here to see Countess Rawlings,' Harper said brightly, smiling. She made it sound as if we were no more than neighbors from down the road popping in for a spot of tea. 'My name is Harper Rhys-Whitney, and this is Dr. Robert Frederickson, the noted criminologist. We have a matter of some urgency to discuss with Countess Rawlings. Would you be kind enough to inform her that we're here, and ask if she could give us a few minutes of her time?'
The brown-eyed woman set down the pruning shears she had been holding, wiped the palms of her hands on her apron, then brushed back a strand of hair from her face. She glanced uneasily in the direction of the green Saab, where Garth and Veil were watching us intently, then looked back at us. 'I'm Jan Rawlings,' she said tentatively, her mouth forming a nervous smile. 'How can I help you?'
Now, I thought, there was an excellent question, equaled in profundity only by the question of what was going to be the first question I was going to ask. Harper solved the dilemma for me. 'We'd like to talk to you about a man named John Sinclair,' she said sweetly. 'Do you know him, Lady Rawlings?'
The woman's mouth dropped open, and she took a small step backward. She certainly did know him, I thought, and felt my heartbeat accelerate. There was no artifice in the woman; shock- and fear-were clearly evident in her large, expressive eyes. She immediately tried to recover and disguise her initial reaction, but it was an impossible task. She put both her hands to her mouth and turned her head away for a moment, obviously trying to collect her thoughts. Finally, she shoved her hands into the pockets of her gardener's apron, turned her attention back to us. 'No,' she said in a trembling voice. 'I'm afraid the name isn't familiar to me. I'm sorry. Has something. . happened to this man?'
If her first reaction hadn't given her away, her question surely would have. The fear I had seen in her eyes had not been for herself. I strongly suspected that Countess Jan Rawlings and John Sinclair were something more than just good friends. 'Lady Rawlings,' I said quickly, suddenly feeling sorry for this woman we had so thoroughly shocked by showing up on her doorstep, 'nothing has happened to him that we know of, but a great number of things have been happening to us. It's why we have to talk to him. People have been trying to kill my friends and me. I think John Sinclair knows who these people are, and he may know how to stop them. I promise you we can be trusted. If you want, I'll give you the names of some important people you can call to check up on me.'
The woman lifted her chin slightly, sniffed. 'I'm sorry, sir, but no purpose would be served by checking up on you. I'm sure you can be trusted, but I have nothing to entrust you with. I can't help you. Please leave.'
'Duane Insolers told us to come here,' I said, watching her carefully.
Her startled reaction was, if anything, even more pronounced than when Harper had mentioned the name of John Sinclair. 'No,' she said in a strangled voice. 'Oh, no.'
