Part 13 (1/2)

I stood there in the street, the cell phone at my ear, weighing what I should do. I believed Darius. Finally I said, ”Okay, I'll go. Do you want me to meet you someplace?”

”Yes. From Twenty-Third Street, walk down Broadway to the Strand bookstore at Twelfth. Wait on the corner. I'll drive up in a Ford Taurus, blue. Fifteen minutes.”

”How do you know where I am?” I said, feeling shaken.

”Just an educated guess, Daphy.” He laughed.

But doubts crowded into my head. Was it an educated guess? Was he watching me? Had he followed me? Had his people followed me?

”See you soon. Better get walking.” he said, and clicked off.

I grabbed a cab. Hoofing it for eleven blocks in these boots would kill my feet. Men don't think about those things. They have no clue. They actually think shoes should feel good.

I stood on the street corner at Twelfth Street, hugging myself against the cold. The snow had become a light drizzle, and the streets were wet with rain. I was in a state of high anxiety and kept moving around, stamping my feet and scanning the traffic. I had a lot of questions to ask Darius. I just didn't know if I would or could or should-or if he'd answer if I did. Asking Darius a question was like throwing sand against the wind. The wind blew it right back again.

A dark blue Taurus pulled up and stopped. I hopped into the pa.s.senger seat. Despite all my suspicions about him, my hormones trumped my reason. I leaned over, and he gave me a quick kiss on the lips. He smelled of sandalwood and citrus. His long hair was clean, his face freshly shaven, his muscular arms and chest defined by a Ralph Lauren sweater in black cashmere. He wore a single Native American earring that dangled a bear claw from a short chain and was studded with a piece of turquoise. I had to admit he looked good. No wonder my brain didn't work very well around him.

”Hey,” he said. ”It's good to see you.” He pulled out into traffic, and after some maneuvering to get onto a westbound street, he headed for the Lincoln Tunnel in Midtown.

”Hey, you too.” I said, suddenly grinning like an idiot. I caught myself, told myself to be cool, took a deep breath, and said, ”So how far is Exeter. Pennsylvania?”

He laughed. ”I figured you'd know where Bonaventure went. It's only about three hours away, maybe less. We'll be there by ten.”

”Shouldn't we discuss some sort of plan before we pull up into the driveway and go knocking on the front door? I mean. I know why I want to go there. I don't know why you do.”

”Why do you want to go?” he asked, avoiding my question.

”I believe he killed Herr Schneibel and took that New Guinea witchcraft art I told you about. I intend to get it back. Period. And you?”

”I have some unfinished business with him,” Darius said, his jaw getting tight and his eyes sliding off mine and staring straight ahead.

He obviously wasn't going to tell me anything. I felt like I couldn't trust him all over again. I got very quiet and stayed that way through the tunnel. Shortly after we came out in New Jersey, the lighted skyline of Manhattan lay before us on the other side of the Hudson. I looked toward the place where the Twin Towers once stood. I remembered that Darius and I were working on the same side to prevent another tragedy like that one. ”Darius,” I said. ”I have to ask you about something. Will you answer me?”

As we headed through heavy traffic toward Route 3, which would take us westward, Darius kept his eyes on the road when he answered. ”I'll try, Daphne. I can't promise. It depends. But ask anyway.” His voice was gentle.

”You said you did get into Bonaventure's apartment last night, right?”

”Yes, I said that. And yes, I did get in,” he said, and glanced over at me.

”You said you did what you needed to do, right?”

”Yes,” Darius said, and didn't add anything. He sounded as if he were being interrogated on a witness stand and I was the prosecutor.

I took a deep breath and said, ”Did you kill Issa and Tanya?”

”No,” he said. And that was it, just plain no no. It was what I wanted to hear, but was it true? I went on: ”Were you there when they were killed?”

He didn't answer quickly. He put the car on cruise control and fiddled around for a minute. Then he looked at me hard. ”Yes, I was there.” I gasped. ”But there wasn't anything I could do to save them,” he added.

My voice was louder, more insistent, when I asked, ”Do you know who killed them?”

”Yes,” he said in a flat, toneless voice.

”Well, who? Tell me, Darius!”

He absolutely refused to look in my direction, although I had moved closer to him and my face was just inches away. He said, ”I can't answer that. Next question.”

I felt sick inside. Then I asked, ”Did you take the diamonds?”

”No, Daphne, I did not take any diamonds. And I say in all honesty that I never laid eyes on a diamond, an emerald, any kind of gem whatsoever. I didn't swipe the silver either.”

He didn't seem to know about the missing valise. I went on: ”Can you tell me now why you needed to get into Bonaventure's apartment?” I hoped he'd give me an answer I'd believe.

He looked at me then, and suddenly grinned. That threw me completely off guard. ”What are you smiling about?” I said.

”Girlfriend, where did you you get Bonaventure's address?” get Bonaventure's address?”

I frowned. What was he asking me that for? ”I used a reverse directory to identify the phone numbers I found on the speed dial of Bonaventure's hall phone.”

”Bingo! So did I.”

I felt like I had to connect the dots. ”You mean you needed to get into the apartment to get phone numbers?”

”Among other things.”

Yes, I thought, and he had no intention of telling me about those other things. He expected me to be satisfied with a small part of the truth. I felt hurt by Darius's games even though I told myself I shouldn't let them do a number on me. ”Darius, I'm not stupid. You didn't just go in there for phone numbers. And are you telling me that none of the U.S. intelligence agencies knew the location of Bonaventure's country place?”

”That's exactly what I'm saying. Daphne. My agency didn't. Yours didn't. n.o.body even knew he had a country place in the U.S. until he mentioned it to you and we picked up the conversation with the bug you planted. That's not as crazy as it sounds. He could be using a place belonging to someone else. He could have bought it using a lawyer and a dummy corporation. Believe me, Exeter, Pennsylvania, is not a town where international arms dealers normally hang out. I don't know what he's doing there or why he went there. But I know he is is there. That's all I care about.” there. That's all I care about.”

”Do you know if he brought a truck or a van? Do you know if he could possibly have brought an art collection with him?” I pressed.

”No, I didn't have access to any of that information. Sorry.”

I made a disgusted sound, sort of like ”pah,” and said, ”You act as though you know everything.”

He raised his eyebrows and looked at me. ”Do I detect some hostility, Miss Urban? As a matter of fact, I know only what I have to do. I don't care about anything else. As for the art, wasn't it just a phony deal you set up? And why do you care so much that Bonaventure has it?”

”First of all, the deal wasn't a fake,” I said with sadness in my voice. I explained to Darius about Schneibel's collection. I told him that Bonaventure could use the statues to bend others to his will. Bonaventure could make others sick if they didn't do what he asked; he could even kill them without lifting a finger. What else could he do? I wasn't sure. Maybe some kind of ma.s.s hypnosis that could give him hundreds of followers, or even millions. Bonaventure could be king of a country, and that wasn't far-fetched at all. Saddam Hussein controlled Iraq without black magic. But with the masks, Bonaventure might someday take over the world. When I finished talking, I watched for Darius's reaction. J didn't believe those statues and masks had any powers. I wondered how Darius would react.

”So,” I said as I finished my story, ”I intend to destroy the art if I can. Will you help me do it?”

Darius had listened very carefully to me. ”If these things can do what you say they can do...”

”They can, Darius, they can. I don't know it you believe in occult powers, but they exist, Darius. That I know.”