residences around the world. I couldn't take a chance that her telephone might be bugged.'
'Then you should have written her a letter.'
'Same answer; her mail is possibly being monitored, intercepted. And I didn't want to come here to see her; I'm watched, just as I watch other people. I felt I had to contact him in the field because Sinclair is definitely up to something. In the past, after an operation like the scam he pulled on Neuberger, he'd simply have disappeared- quietly come back here, or gone off with Jan to one of their other homes. But he's still out there, and he's leaving tracks all over the place, playing cat and mouse with Interpol and the Swiss authorities, not to mention all the people who want to kill him.'
I shook my head. 'What kind of tracks?'
'American spy satellites can not only hear a pin drop, Frederickson, they can usually see it-if they're aimed in the right place. Sinclair knows where they're aimed. He's been making telephone calls he knows will be heard, allowing blind mail drops he's used in his business for years to be exposed just so people will think he's trapped and panicking. He's neither. He's doing it on purpose. I think he may be the one doing the trapping, inviting-or sucking in-his enemies, or one particular enemy, for a showdown.' He paused, looked at the brown-eyed woman. 'Am I right, Jan? Is that what he's doing?'
Jan, now obviously troubled, slowly shook her head. 'I don't know. He hasn't been in touch since this all started.'
'Can you get in touch with him?'
The woman didn't reply.
'I considered it an unacceptable risk to try to contact you in any way, Jan,' Insolers continued. 'I did everything I could to keep these people away. I've been trying the best I could to contact him in the field; I was hoping that if I sent out enough signals, he might contact me, and I could deliver my warning.'
'Insolers,' I said, 'you seem to be forgetting the fact that you pointed me here.'
'I did not point you here, Frederickson,' Insolers replied tersely, impatience and a hint of anger in his voice. 'Not intentionally anyway. I was trying to send a signal through you. When you showed up in Zurich, I was absolutely convinced you were a part of his network, a friend who'd come to help him do whatever it is he's trying to do. With your background, you fit the profile of the kind of person Sinclair has crossed paths with, and befriended, over the years. These people are incredibly loyal to him. I wasn't about to swallow what I considered then to be a cock-and-bull cover story about doing donkey work for Neuberger. I was in a hurry to get in touch with Sinclair, and I made a snap decision that the fastest way was through you. I was wrong, okay, but at the time I considered it vital to convince you I wasn't an enemy. That's why I said the things I did. I figured that by mentioning Blake, I'd prove to you that I was on Sinclair's side. I couldn't imagine that you'd dig as deeply and as fast as you did into something that didn't mean anything to you.'
'If you were so certain I was Sinclair's friend, how did you know I wasn't also the betrayer you're so certain exists?'
Insolers laughed. 'You're not the betraying type, Frederickson. Your reputation truly does precede you. I was just trying to nudge you in the ribs to get you to see that I could be trusted. I nudged too hard, obviously, and too often.'
'What happens now, Duane?' Jan asked quietly.
Insolers sighed, glanced toward the curtained window. 'We have to get out of here. Now. I just hope it's not too late.'
'Why, Duane? Do you think you've been followed?'
'I don't know for certain that we haven't. If we were seen coming in here by anybody who may have been following us, they could have put things together. They may be waiting, either for Chant to show himself if he's in here, or, if he isn't, simply to show up. But if they decide to move on us, we could all die.'
'Where do you propose that we go, Mr. Insolers?' Harper asked. 'You may recall that they're after Robby too.'
'I'll take you all to a CIA safe house. You'll be protected there until this business is sorted out. Jan, you'll close down the castle, make it obvious to Chant that you're not here.'
'I pass,' I said. 'I can't afford to go into hiding, because there's nothing to be sorted out as far as I'm concerned. If the people hunting Sinclair can't get to him, they may just fade back into the woodwork and wait for another day. But they know where I live. You can take Har-'
'Don't you dare say it, Robby!' Harper snapped. 'Don't you
'We're out, Insolers,' Garth said evenly. 'But we appreciate the offer.'
'Jan?'
Jan Rawlings shook her head. 'If you have been followed and there are people outside watching my home, it's doubtful they'll let us leave. If there's nobody watching, I'm as safe here as I would be anyplace else. I won't go anyplace where Chant couldn't find or get in touch with me.'
'And if you're being used as bait?'
'Chant will know what to do,' she replied, then looked around at the rest of us. 'You're all welcome to stay here, if you like. I know you mean Chant no harm, and I believe he'll trust you. I believe he'd want me to extend this invitation. If he does get in touch, then Dr. Frederickson can discuss whatever it is he wants to discuss with him.' She paused, again looked at Insolers. 'I'll give Chant your message, Duane, but you're welcome to stay too, if you want. I'm sorry I spoke to you the way I did. I know you didn't mean any harm, and Mr. Kendry pointed out that you risked your life to try to keep this secret safe. You don't claim to be a friend of Chant's, but I know that he thinks of you as one. I do too. You've kept your part of the bargain over the years, and I appreciate that. Of all the people Chant has struck bargains with, you're the one who's always been in the best position to betray him. You haven't. Again, I'm sorry for the things I said.'
'There's no need to apologize, Jan,' Insolers said quietly, 'but I do thank you for your words. The reason I came to Switzerland is that I do consider you and Chant my friends. Talking to you is the same as talking to Chant, but I would like to stay a little longer to try to see if there's anyone else hanging around here.'
Veil said, 'If you wait until nightfall, I'll be able to find out if there are men on the grounds.'
Insolers looked at Veil, narrowed his lids slightly. 'Are you that good?'
It was Garth who answered. 'Oh, he's that good.'
Insolers nodded, and I turned to Jan Rawlings. 'Lady-'
'Jan, please. In the first place, as you already know, I'm not really a countess at all. Good grief. In the second place, if you're going to be my guests for an indefinite length of time, we may as well be on a first-name basis.'
'Then you'd better call him Mongo,' Garth said with a wry grin. 'He hates 'Robby,' and Harper's the only person who calls him that. But then, she knew Mongo before he was Mongo. There's Harper, Mr. Kendry is Veil, and I'm Garth.'
The woman nodded to my brother and Veil, then smiled at me. 'Then Mongo it shall be. I believe you were about to say something.'
'Actually, I was about to ask something. Jan, I think Insolers is right about John Sinclair purposely using himself as bait to draw in an enemy. It's one enemy, one group, in particular that I think interests him, and it's a bunch of Japanese assassins, possibly all members of a secret society. I believe the ties between them go back many years, and your man may see this as an opportunity to take care of business once and for all. Does what I've just said mean anything to you?'
Jan shook her head. 'Chant was born and raised in Japan, as you may know,' she answered, looking puzzled, 'but I don't know about any secret society of Japanese assassins. But then, I know there are a lot of things Chant hasn't told me. I suppose I really don't want to know. The one incident I was involved in with him was quite enough for me, thank you very much. I still have nightmares about those men.'
Her tone had the ring of truth, and she had already demonstrated that she had little skill at hiding her emotions or dissembling, but I looked over at Garth anyway, just to make sure. He nodded slightly. She was telling the truth.
'Jan,' I said, looking back into the woman's soft, brown eyes, 'does he have a mark on his body? It would probably be on his back, but not necessarily. It would be quite large, a combination of burn scars and a tattoo. It would look like fire burning black.'
Jan Rawlings' response was immediate, and as dramatic as when Harper had first spoken John Sinclair's
