Dark Chant In A Crimson Key

been getting closer and closer to you every day, to uncovering the truth about a lot of things. After this Cornucopia thing in Switzerland went down, they used a computer to start combing through all your files one more time. This time they were taking another, very serious look at all the manipulations that went into the creation of our countess here, and her inheritance of R. Edgar Blake's castle and entire estate. Before too long, they're going to make all the right connections, and they're going to know that the story we made up to tell them is a lie. They already suspect it, and they strongly suspect a connection between you, Jan, and this castle. They wanted to send somebody over here to set up surveillance of this castle-somebody with expert sniper's skills to blow you away just in case you did happen to saunter into his sights. Like I said, I assigned myself to the job. In other words, Sinclair, the party's over. I can't go back unless I can say I've killed you, and offer some kind of convincing evidence. Otherwise, I'm blown. Now, you can certainly kill me as a partial solution to the problem, but I don't think you want to do that. Besides, they'll just send somebody else. You can close up shop here, but now I think they're going to concentrate on tracing and tracking Jan. If she doesn't go deep underground, which I don't think you want, she'll lead them to you. So if you two want to stay together, Chant Sinclair is going to have to die. I've gone to a lot of trouble, and taken considerable risks, to get myself into a position where I could not only deliver this message but make certain you took it seriously. So you're dead. Got it?'

Sinclair's response was to smile thinly, scratch his head. 'You do make a strong argument, Duane. I've got it.'

Insolers nodded, relief clearly evident on his face. 'You died here last night. You managed to kill off these Black Flame members, but you and Jan died with them. If we blow up the castle with all the bodies in it, there's no reason for the agency not to believe the report I give them. I may even say I blew it up. Whatever. It will work as long as you don't one day decide to go back into business.'

Sinclair put his arm around Jan, pulled her close to him. 'It sounds like a good plan, Duane,' he said easily.

Jan smiled at the man with the piercing gray eyes. 'Does this mean we're going to be able to live like normal human beings?'

'It looks that way, my dear. If Duane gets the rest of it right.'

Harper said, 'Black Flame is part of the rest of it. What about the rest of them, Mr. Insolers?'

'I'll do what I said I would, Harper. My guess is that within a week Black Flame will no longer exist; their operations will be shut down, their members and associates arrested or killed, and their finances confiscated.'

I cleared my throat. 'I'll want to deal with Emmet P. Neuberger personally.'

'You've got it. I'll put Frederickson and Frederickson on the CIA payroll as temporary consultants, and you and your brother can not only take care of your business with Neuberger but watch over my shoulder while I take care of the rest of it. Agreed?'

I nodded. When Insolers looked at Sinclair, he nodded.

'Good,' Insolers continued. 'Now, it's going to take me some time to make arrangements to bring in enough explosives to blow this place up, so I suggest that-'

'It's already been taken care of,' Sinclair said. 'There's enough C-5 planted in strategic places in the walls to bring the entire structure down. The wiring is in place as well, and all that has to be done is to connect it to a detonator and timer.' He must have seen the surprised look on all our faces, for he paused for a few moments, looked at each of us in turn, then continued, 'I always knew I would have to retire someday, and this seems as good a time as any. I also knew that one day somebody might connect me to Jan and this castle. Just as in Duane's plan, the plastique was put in place to cover our escape and make it appear as if we'd died in the explosion.'

'What will you do now?' Veil asked.

'Whatever we want to, I suppose,' Sinclair replied, smiling at Jan.

Garth glanced at me, then turned to Sinclair and Jan. 'Well, if you need a job, either as cover or simply because you feel like working, Frederickson and Frederickson can always use a good husband and wife team of investigators. Right, Mongo?'

'For sure.'

Sinclair raised his eyebrows slightly. 'An interesting thought.'

Jan sighed. 'God, we're sitting on so much money I literally don't know what to do with it now. As Countess Rawlings, I was always able to put it to good use. With the countess dead, I won't be able to do that anymore.'

'Cornucopia,' I said to Insolers.

'What?'

'Cornucopia. Once before, you and others phonied up old records and made new ones to create a countess and have her inherit R. Edgar Blake's entire estate. Something is going to have to be done with all the millions in Black Flame's coffers. Black Flame and Neuberger are going to be out of the picture. So why don't you arrange for Jan, under whatever identity she chooses, to manage the fund?'

Insolers looked at Jan. 'Would you like that?'

'Yes,' Jan replied eagerly. 'If I can gain control of Cornucopia I can roll over everything I inherited from the Blake estate and combine it with the Black Flame holdings to make (Cornucopia a real philanthropy.'

Insolers grunted. 'I'll look into it. You'll both need totally new identities.'

'That's my department,' Sinclair said as he rose, took Jan's hand, and helped her to her feet. 'Give us a half hour or so while

Jan and I decide who we want to be for the rest of our lives.'

Even from a distance of three miles, the thunderous explosion shook the ground. Insolers pulled our car off onto the shoulder of the highway. The car ahead of us-carrying a totally unrecognizable John Sinclair and Jan Rawlings, in possession of birth certificates, passports, and other documents identifying them as Richard and Elizabeth Commons, of New York City-also pulled over. We looked back as a flame-streaked black cloud of smoke from the ruined castle rose up to stain the azure sky.

'You took an awfully big chance just by coming here, Insolers,' I said quietly.

For a moment I wasn't sure whether the CIA's deputy director of operations had heard me, for he continued to stare out the window, seemingly transfixed by the mushrooming ball of flame and smoke behind us. But then he turned around and said in a mild tone, 'Why is that, Frederickson?'

'You've got to be kidding. You're the CIA's chief spiderman in covert operations. Your head's a hamper with all the nation's dirty laundry in it, not to mention a lot of other highly sensitive information that could benefit our enemies. Switzerland was crawling with operatives. What would you have done if someone had made and nabbed you?'

The man with the brown hair and eyes and rodent features shrugged, then smiled wanly. He seemed in an uncharacteristically mellow mood. When he spoke, his voice took on a vaguely professorial tone. 'Frederickson, I'd hate to disillusion you, or anyone else in this car, but you'd be amazed at how many of any country's so-called top secrets are pretty much common knowledge among members of the higher echelons in the international intelligence community. Cooked Goose was an exception, not the rule. The biggest headache for most of us is trying to keep our citizens from finding out how much bullshit is financed with their money.'

'Actually, I wouldn't be amazed at all.'

'Even if I had been picked up, I'd probably have been released as soon as the operative's superiors found out about it. If it took a mind to, the United States could totally shut down the intelligence operations of thirty or forty countries within seventy-two hours-maybe less. Being responsible for kidnapping any top ops officer would just create too much of a hassle for everyone, making it too difficult to conduct business as usual.'

'You may be right, Insolers,' Veil said. 'But just suppose you'd been snatched by some rookie terrorist who believed everything he'd just finished reading in his training manual, which had most likely been furnished to him by the CIA. Said rookie ties you up, then goes to work on you with heated tongs and chemicals. Then what would you have done?'

Insolers gave it a few moments' thought, once again smiled somewhat wanly. 'Probably tried to hold out until Chant Sinclair came to my rescue. Frederickson, are you and your brother really going to put him to work for you?'

'If it's what he wants.'