Devious Minds (15 page)

I sighed and closed my eyes to feel the soft warm washcloth against my skin. That was just what I needed. Feeling better, I turned my attention to my poor knees. Ick. Some of the blood had dried, and the cloth stuck to my skin.

I took off my boots, then used wet tissues to loosen the blood, and got my leggings off to do a more thorough job. It only stung a little, and now that they were clean, they didn’t look so bad. I just needed some ointment to finish the job.

Feeling more presentable, it was time to face Ramos and tell him what was going on. I gathered my stuff and opened the door, only to find him talking on the phone in the sitting room. It reminded me that I needed to call Chris, but what was I going to tell him? Hi honey, I nearly died, but Ramos saved me, and now I’m in his fancy hotel room? That didn’t sound so good. In fact, he’d hate anything I had to tell him about tonight.

Was now one of those times when I shouldn’t tell him everything? Or... maybe I could just wait and call him later. If it was midnight here, that meant it was about four or five in the afternoon there. Since he might still be in court, I could call now and leave a message that I was fine. I could tell him I’d call him back tomorrow with the excuse that it was after midnight here, and I was going to bed. That would work, right?

Before I chickened out, I set my things down beside the bed and placed the call. My elation grew when after the fifth ring he hadn’t answered. Maybe this was my lucky break. I needed one after the night I’d had. I opened my mouth to leave a message, but he picked up.

“Shelby,” he exclaimed. “I’m glad you called, I was getting worried. How did things go?”

“Um... well... not the best, but the good news is that I’m all right. What about you? How’s the trial going? Did you get Oliver to confess?” I hoped by asking that, he’d get distracted and let me off the hook.

“What do you mean you’re all right? Did something happen?”

Damn. It didn’t work. “Well... yes, but like I said, I’m all right. I got separated from Blake, but I got in touch with the man he wanted me to call if that happened. Right now I’m safe and just waiting for him to call me back. So if he calls, I might have to call you back. So tell me about the trial? What’s going on?”

I heard him let out a breath before he answered. “Okay. I can see that you don’t want to tell me for some reason, so that means you’re probably in trouble.”

“Uh... I was... but I’m not anymore.”

“Good.” He waited for me to continue, but when I didn’t, he let out a breath. “The trial’s going well. We spent most of the day going over the forensic accountant’s testimony, so the case will either be dismissed, or the jury will acquit Victoria. Either way is a win.”

“What about Oliver? Did he ever show up?”

“Yes. He was here earlier, but I don’t know where he is now. Um... I’ve got to get back in there. It looks like the judge is going ahead with the last few witnesses, so hope for an acquittal from the jury. Be safe Shelby. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“And call me soon with all the details. I want to know what’s going on.”

Before I could answer, he disconnected. I sighed. It was good that I didn’t have to explain everything right now, but at the same time, I kind of missed telling him. Still, I was glad everything was going so well with the trial. At least that much was working out right.

Ramos ended his phone call and came to my side. “Can I get you anything?” he asked.

“No.”

“All right, then why don’t you come with me into the other room and sit down. I need to know what’s going on.” Ramos sat on the small couch and motioned me to sit beside him.

“Okay.” I leaned against the other end and pulled my bare legs and feet up under me, then pulled the pillow away from the corner and hugged it against my chest. I wasn’t sure if it was for comfort, or to keep a safe distance between me and Ramos.

“Everything was going great until we met with Blake’s former protégé, Mason, at a café. I guess he’s gone rogue or something, and Blake wanted to know what he was up to. Well... that turned out to be quite a lot. In fact, I think there’s a biochemical weapon involved that could go off soon.”

Ramos’ eyes got big, and he swore in his mind but didn’t interrupt. I continued with the rest of my story, telling him Blake’s thoughts about the connection with the conference on climate change.

I ended with being taken to the house, and how I’d found out that the leader, Cypher, was acting like one of the men so no one would know who he was. “It’s a good thing Cypher was thinking in English, since the others weren’t, or I wouldn’t have picked that up.

“Anyway, to save myself, I kind of made up that I knew their plans because one of them was a traitor and had contacted me. That didn’t go over so well. Then I kind of insinuated that I knew who Cypher was, since by then I did, so I could make a deal with him and stay alive.

“He never let on to the men, but he managed to talk the supposed ‘leader’ into something about a cave and torture. It was in French, so I don’t know for sure, but I think he wanted to get me alone and torture Blake to make me talk. That’s when he sent me outside and you rescued me.”  

Ramos shook his head, thinking that he didn’t know how I did it, but I was in way over my head with this one. “So, let me get this straight. You think this Cypher guy has a bomb that he’s going to release during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, and it’s happening... when?”

“Well... it was Blake that was thinking that. I don’t know what day the conference is, but it makes sense.” I held the pillow tight but couldn’t stop the shiver of dread that passed over me.

“Here,” Ramos said. “Let me get you a blanket.” The way I was holding onto that pillow brought out the protective instincts in him. Although he’d wanted to pull me into his arms to comfort me, he didn’t trust himself, thinking I looked too damn sexy in my short skirt and bare legs. He got the spare blanket out of the closet and draped it over me.

“Thanks,” I said, wishing I could put this blanket around me and then cuddle up with Ramos. That might not be over the line, right? Just then, my cell phone rang, and I fished it out of my pocket. “Hello?”

“Shelby? This is Gabriel Dumont. Are you someplace safe?”

“Yes.”

“That is good. I have news. We made it to the house; in fact, I’m here now. The men cleared out before we arrived, but we found Blake and another man in the cellar.”

“Oh... yes, that would be Mason,” I said. “He was with us. So are they okay?”

“Ah... this other man, Mason, I’m sorry to tell you this, but he is dead.”

“Oh no. What about Blake?”

“He is alive, but it doesn’t look so good. I think the men, or the terrorists, as you called them, left them both for dead, but we came and they had to leave in a hurry. An ambulance just took Blake to the hospital, so I have hope that he will survive, but it will be a close thing.”

I inhaled sharply. This was terrible. “Okay. What can I do?”

“I would like to talk with you as soon as possible. Do you know what this is all about?”

“I have a pretty good idea.”

“Then we need to meet. I can come to you if that is better?”

“Sure. Um... just a minute.” I turned to Ramos. “Can he come here? I need to tell him what’s going on.” Ramos pursed his lips, thinking that he didn’t exactly trust the guy, but there wasn’t anywhere else we could go that he thought would be safer.

“Yes. Tell him we’re at The Saint James Hotel, room two-ten, and to come alone.”

I repeated this to Gabriel and disconnected. “He’ll be here in about fifteen minutes. It looks like they killed Mason. And Blake... he must be in bad shape. He’s still alive, but they just took him to the hospital. I sure hope he pulls through.”

“Yeah,” Ramos said, although he wasn’t exactly sincere about it, mostly because it aggravated him that Blake had gotten me into this mess. If he and Manetto had been home, this never would have happened. Then he wondered again how Chris could have let me go. He thought Chris was smarter than that. So what had happened?

“Uh... I can explain that,” I said, and I told him about my involvement with Chris’ trial, ending with Blake’s offer of the forensic accountant to solve Chris’ case. “He just made an offer that was too good to refuse. Kind of like what Uncle Joey does.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Ramos said reluctantly, but he had to admit it was true.

“I also don’t think Blake thought meeting with Mason would be dangerous. To him, it was just a routine information-gathering type meeting.”

“That doesn’t excuse him from putting you in danger, which is why I’m a bit concerned about Gabriel. How do we know we can trust him?”

“We don’t, but that’s a chance we have to take. I mean, if there’s a bomb out there, we need to stop it if we can. It could kill thousands of people, and I don’t want that on my conscience.”

Ramos agreed, but he didn’t have the same kind of sympathy as me. Sure, it would be nice to stop it from happening, but not if it killed us at the same time.

Before I could tell him that I didn’t want it to kill us either, a knock sounded at the door. “You stay put,” Ramos said. “I’ll get it.” He was thinking that he wanted Gabriel intimidated, so he wouldn’t ask me to do something that would be dangerous.

I sighed. Why did all the men in my life think they had to protect me all the time? It wasn’t like I did this stuff on purpose, and most of the time I could take care of myself. Of course, without Ramos, I would probably be dead right now. I shoved that awful thought away and watched as Ramos opened the door and let the Frenchman in.

Gabriel’s hair was long, dark and wavy with a touch of gray on the sides and at his temples. He had a narrow face and dark eyes, with a five o’clock shadow along his jaw. He wore a blazer over a gray shirt and dark slacks. He saw me on the couch and hurried over.

“Bonsoir Mademoiselle,” he said, taking my hand in his. “Thank you for allowing me to come so late. But this is of the highest importance, yes?”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Please sit down. Do you know any more about Blake’s condition?”

“Oui. He is in surgery right now, so that is good. We hope for the best.” He sat beside me on the couch, and Ramos sat in the chair across from us. I hadn’t introduced him, but that was because he didn’t want me to.

“Are you with the police?” Ramos asked.

“I am with the DGSI, the General Directorate for Internal Security,” Gabriel said, glancing at Ramos. “A French counter-terrorist organization.” He turned his gaze to me. “I’ve worked with Blake before on several occasions. His intelligence gathering has been most valuable to our country. I have not heard of you, however. Are you new with the agency?”

“No... I’m not an agent or anything like that. I just have a skill that he thought would help him, and that’s why he brought me.”

“Ah.” He glanced at me with expectation, but when I didn’t explain, his brows drew together. “And what is this skill? Why exactly did he bring you?”

Crap! I hadn’t thought about this at all, but I had to tell him something. “Well... I have... uh... premonitions about things. It’s like a psychic ability, and I used them to help him solve a case a few months ago. I think he wanted my help to know what Mason was involved with. But we had no idea it would turn out like this.”

Gabriel nodded, but his thoughts were spinning a mile a minute... in French, so I had no idea what they were. Even the expression on his face was one of polite interest, rather than shock or surprise. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Ah. So... what did you find?”

“Well... I... uh... know who Cypher is, and I’m pretty sure he has plans to detonate a bioweapon.”

This time his eyes widened, and more French thoughts spilled from his mind. If I had to guess, I’d say he was swearing... a lot. He stood and began to pace before he got under control, then turned back to me. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“All right. Tell me everything. From the beginning.” He sat back down and listened intently, while I explained how Blake and I met with Mason and that I’d picked up the name Cypher from him. Then I continued with the men waiting for us at Mason’s place, before ending with what transpired at the house.

“And you know all of this because of your premonitions?” Gabriel asked.

“That’s right,” I answered.

He glanced at Ramos. “She is lucky to have you watching over her, I think. Do you work for Blake too?”

“No,” we both said at the same time. Ramos and Gabriel glanced at me with brows raised in surprise. “He’s my personal bodyguard,” I explained. “You can understand why I’d need one, right?”

Ramos’ lips twisted in a wry smile, while Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “Oui, I am beginning to understand that.” He turned his gaze to Ramos. “It is a full-time job to keep her safe, yes?”

“Pretty much,” he offered. “Only I almost didn’t get here in time.”

“Then... I hope you will stay, because I think that in order to stop this bioweapon and find and identify Cypher, I will need her help. If you are here, I won’t have to worry about protecting her, nor will I have to explain about her ‘special abilities’ to my people.”

“You’re just worried that no one will believe you,” I said. His embarrassed smile let me know I’d gotten that right, and I hadn’t even read his mind. Go me. “So that makes me wonder. What makes it so easy for you to believe me?”