Garret's Gambit, page 9
She chuckled. “Sorry, I’m taken.”
“Oh, I know, dear,” he said, as he hopped out of the booth, lifted his arm to her, and said, “May I?” With a grace that she wasn’t expecting, and the charm that she had already seen twinkling through, he patted her hand, as he tucked it through his elbow and said, “Believe me. It’s very obvious, to anybody who cares to look.”
“I was hoping it wasn’t,” she wailed. “We’re definitely not in a relationship.”
“Oh, you are,” he said. “You’re just still doing the dance that’s as old as time, and nobody’s quite ready to get to the point yet.”
“It’s not that nobody’s ready,” she said in a dry tone. “It’s just that it’s complicated, and we’ve barely had two minutes to ourselves.”
“Very valid point,” he said, with a bright smile. “Hopefully, when this mess is all over …”
“Exactly, but I don’t know what that’ll take,” she said.
“Well, with any luck, tonight we’ll find his brother,” he said. As they walked out and headed toward the car, it came racing toward them, driven by Garret, Kano already in the passenger seat.
“Hop in,” Garret said, his tone curt.
They immediately scrambled in, as he took off down the road.
“Where to?” Astra asked.
“To Maggie’s place,” Garret said, “whatever and whoever Maggie is. I’ve got my team on it.”
Charles looked at him and said, “Hmm, the barmaid who served us was called Maggie.”
“Was that her name?” Astra asked, looking at Charles.
“That’s what her name tag said.”
Garret pulled over, grabbed his phone, and very quickly said, “I have her address.” As he peeled out again, picking up speed, Kano punched the numbers into the navigation app, while he started his own search.
“I’ll run the license number.” A moment later, Kano said, “Got it,” reading the name of the whiny guy. “He’s the one who took off with orders to keep looking after Gregg.”
“Interesting,” Charles said. “He’s a local lowlife.”
“He is, and he’s being used in this case as well,” Garret added, “but what he doesn’t realize yet is that orders have been given to deal with him tonight. Permanently.”
“Oh, dear,” Charles said. “That’s never good news.”
Astra sat back and watched as the men spoke in this half language they all seemed to be fluent in, but she was not. She understood enough to get the gist but not the details. Apparently the person who had been looking after Gregg until now was causing some sort of trouble and would be taken out of the equation. Gregg would get moved, and Maggie, whether she knew it or not, was about to become Gregg’s new landlord. “So can we go to Maggie’s?” Astra asked.
“Well, we really should step in earlier than that,” Charles said apologetically. “We can hardly allow the one guy to be murdered.”
“Right,” she said suddenly.
“That would be unfortunate, and he couldn’t supply much information dead, could he?” Kano laughed.
“I like the way you think,” Garret said. “It’s definitely refreshing to know that somebody doesn’t waste much time on the ugly side of life.”
“There’s no point,” she said. “When you think about it, that guy has already made his choice. He walked outside of a normal life, a long time ago. For all we know, he’s the one who kidnapped your brother.”
“Maybe,” he said. “Although he won’t do it twice.”
“Exactly,” she said, with a smile.
As they turned a corner, the GPS told them they were there. Garret turned to look at the buildings in front of them and all around. “You two stay here,” Garret said. “Kano and I will take a look around.”
They hopped out and disappeared, as she sank back in the seat and murmured, “They do that a lot.”
“Taking off on you?”
She nodded and smiled at him.
“It’s the business,” he said. “It really can’t be helped.”
Very quickly Astra saw them slide up to the front door of the target address. They knocked, but they got no answer. No vehicles were here either. “Do you think the bad guys waylaid this one on his way home?”
“Or maybe he stopped for a drink somewhere,” Charles said.
Right. As the two men at the front door eased it open, she asked, “Is this safe?”
“No,” he said. “It definitely is not.”
The men went in, and she waited on tenterhooks, until Charles reached over, patted her arm gently, and said, “It may not be safe, but these are men who do this work, day in and day out.”
“It’s not an easy life,” she murmured.
“No, but that’s something you need to realize, since that’s the kind of life you would be joining.”
She thought about that and nodded. “I guess that’s the difference between me and my sister. She wanted his brother to quit.”
“Pregnancy could be a part of that too,” he said.
“I know. She doesn’t like me mentioning it all the time, but it’s true.”
“Yes,” he said. “I get that. It’s hard though, isn’t it?”
She nodded in agreement and said, “It is hard to watch somebody you love going through a situation like that.”
“Why do I get the impression that you have loved him for a very long time?” he asked.
“Because I have. Ever since Amy brought Garret home that very first time. I knew it was wrong and that I couldn’t do anything about it, so I just buried myself in my work.” She laughed. “It actually turned out to be a good thing because we’ve helped put a lot of criminals behind bars and have found a lot of children and young women, releasing them from the purgatory they suffered in. I’m good at what I do, but I would definitely like to see life open to include Garret in some way.”
“No reason it can’t. You both need to understand that the kind of work you do is dark, definitely dangerous, and profoundly unpleasant. Even if it’s not physically dangerous, it’s dangerous in the sense of your mental health. So, as much as you’ll have to deal with what he comes home with, he will also have to deal with what you bring home.”
She gave Charles a smile and said, “Then neither of us are a good bet.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “So long as you’re betting on each other, you’ll be fine.”
She chuckled at that. “Well, we’re a long way from anything like that.”
“Not as long as you may think,” he said, then motioned out the car window. “Look. They’re already coming out.”
She stared in surprise. “Oh, that means Gregg’s not here, damn it,” she said, as both of the men slipped into the car.
“The house is empty,” Garret said.
“I’m tracking his vehicle,” Charles said, holding up his phone. “It’s parked outside another pub,” he added, then quickly gave them the address.
“Do you think the courier’s still alive?” Astra asked anybody in the car.
“I don’t know,” Garret said, “but what I do know is that my brother’s not being held here.”
“So the courier guy’s got another place,” she said. “Maybe we’d be better off staking out Maggie’s house, until they move Gregg.”
“Check the pub first,” Charles said. “Let’s make sure this gopher guy is even still alive, and then we’ll have to set up a stakeout at Maggie’s.”
“Not much fun,” she said.
“None of it is fun,” Garret said, “but it’s what we have to do. We’re close, really close, so let’s not screw it up now.”
“No,” she murmured. “I get it.” Just then her phone rang, and it was her sister. “No, I don’t know anything yet, and we are getting closer, yes.”
“Where are you?” Amy said, in tears. “I don’t want to be here alone.”
“Maybe not, but you’re safe there,” she said to her sister. At that, Amy started to cry again. “Look. We’ll be home soon,” she said, desperately trying to ward off a big scene. At that, her sister hung up. Astra sagged back in her seat and said, “I sure hope we find him soon.”
“I do too,” Garret said. “But did you ever consider that finding him may not result in the return of somebody who she thinks she wants?”
“Meaning, that he may not want to go back? Is that what you mean?” Astra asked.
“It’s definitely something we have to consider.”
“Well, I’ll consider it, if and when it happens,” she said. “When we find him, and he tells me that he’ll walk away from his responsibilities.”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Garret replied. “He’ll end up being part of the child’s life. I can’t see him doing anything but that. However, that’s no guarantee he wants to have a life with Amy.”
“And I think that would be devastating for her,” she murmured.
“Maybe so,” he said, “but it’s something we have to consider.”
“I hope not,” she said. “I’m not sure she could handle that.”
“We can handle far more than we’re aware of,” Charles said, with a smile.
“Maybe,” Astra said, “but my sister isn’t terribly willing to try. She wants the white picket fence, attentive husband, and three perfect kids.”
“And maybe she’ll get it,” Charles said. “We still have to believe in hope, in romance.”
“I’d like to just believe in happy,” she said, with half a smile. Before she realized it, they were pulling up to the second pub. “Are we going in to have another pint?” she asked Charles.
He looked at her and smiled. “Would you like one?”
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I’d love another one. Besides, these two guys aren’t dressed for it. We can go in and see if he’s there, at least.”
“I’ll go check out his vehicle,” Garret said.
They all got out and proceeded with their various assignments. When Astra and Charles were seated at the bar, each with a tall pint in front of them, she looked at hers and smiled. “I have to say that I really love the color.”
“These are both particularly pale ambers,” he said. “I usually prefer a good stout myself.”
She chuckled. “Not me,” she said. “I’m glad that you ordered a pale amber too. Don’t worry. If you can’t drink that, I will.”
His gaze widened, and she nodded, smiling. “I know. Most women don’t like beer, but that’s crap. I really enjoy a good beer myself.”
“Glad to hear it,” he said, as he pushed his over to her. “Because I won’t enjoy this one.”
She smiled, and, as soon as she had hers gone, she picked up his and turned to look around. “Have we heard from them?”
“No,” he said. “Not yet.”
She nodded. “Oh, that’s too bad.”
“What is?” he asked.
“They’re at the door, waving at us. And I’ve got this beautiful beer here.”
His gaze twinkled. She looked at him, looked at the beer, and said, “What the hell.” With that, she picked it up and threw it back. When she slammed down the glass, she gave him a grin and said, “Let’s roll.”
“Next stop?”
“Let’s hope it’s another pub,” she said, giggling.
Laughing and thoroughly enjoying himself, Charles escorted her to the front door, the two of them snickering like children.
Garret looked at her and said, “Did you just guzzle both pints?”
“No, not at all,” she said, trying for a straight face. “Why would you think that?”
“It’s what I saw,” he said.
“I don’t think ‘guzzle’ is the word I would use. Charles?”
“Never, my dear. Chug perhaps.”
That sent her into a fit of giggles and left Garret shaking his head.
When they were back in the vehicle, however, she was all business. “So, what’s going on?”
“We found the courier.”
“And?”
“He’s dead.”
“Where is he?” she asked, her voice sober.
“In the trunk of his car.” He twisted in the seat to look at Charles. “You want to call Jonas?”
“Of course,” he said, and moments later they heard Charles making the report to MI6. Garret sat back against the front seat, his face grim, as he mapped out a route to Maggie’s house. He showed it to Kano, who nodded. The trip was hard and fast, but the silence in the back seat worried him the most. He twisted to look back at her. She had a pinched gray look to her face. “You okay, Astra?”
She gave him a soft look and said, “Yes, I was on a nice buzz from the beer, but that news was enough to send anybody’s good cheer down the drain.”
“It is,” he said. “I wish you were back at Charles’ place, with your sister.”
She gave him a ghost of a smile. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”
“No, it wasn’t part of the plan, at least not part of your plan,” he said. “But it certainly would be nice for my plan.”
“Not happening,” she said, chuckling.
He shook his head. “Just saying, that’s all.”
“Maybe so, but it’s not happening, so don’t worry about it.”
“What do you want to do then? The next place could be bad.”
“It can’t all be bad,” she said. “I’m here. Charles’s here. We’ll hold down the fort, as you guys do what you need to do.”
He hesitated, and she reached her hand over the seat, closer to him. Garret immediately grabbed it and hung on.
“We’ll find him,” she said gently.
He squeezed her fingers and said, “I know. We definitely will. The question is, what shape will he be in?”
She winced at that. “We’ll hold on to the belief that he’ll be alive and fine, once he’s out of there.”
“Okay.”
She smiled. “Come on. We’ll make it through this.”
“We will.”
She stopped, then not giving herself the chance to bite back the words, she said, “I’m living in New York these days.”
“New York?” he said, with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you said France?”
“No, I was at a conference in France, when I last saw Amy,” Astra said. “I do travel a lot. That might be a problem.”
He gave half a snort. “I do a lot of traveling too.”
“New York is easy to get in and out of at least,” she said.
He glanced at her, and a smile was in his gaze. “Is this leading somewhere?”
Yes,” she said, carrying on bravely. “I thought maybe you’d like to go for coffee sometime?”
He chuckled. “If you’re asking me out on a date, the answer is definitely yes.”
She chuckled too. “Well, I’m still a bit old-fashioned and figured you should do the asking, but I thought coffee was safe.”
“How about we go out for dinner when we meet up in New York?”
“Is that a nebulous if and when?” she asked.
“Not necessarily,” he said. “When this nightmare is over. How’s that?”
“That is a definite possibility,” she said, and she let his fingers go.
“The other thing is,” he said, “since we both travel a lot, we could meet up in other places too.”
“I’d like that,” she said, settling back comfortably. “I’m due for a holiday in London.”
“Why London?” he asked.
“Because I like London,” she said, “and I’m still dealing with some family stuff.”
“We could both be dealing with a lot of family stuff after this,” he said. “There’s not just my brother but also your sister to consider.”
“Who could ever forget,” she said, laughing.
“It is what it is,” he said.
“I know.”
Just then Charles got off the phone, and the vehicle rolled to a stop. With both those things happening so suddenly, she looked around and asked, “Is this Maggie’s house?”
With no lights on in the car, they remained inside the vehicle, parked a couple houses from what looked like was probably the house where Maggie lived because it was the only one nearby with a garage.
“Supposed to be a space above the garage,” he said.
She pointed. “There?”
“That’s what our GPS is saying,” Kano said. “And it’s got the only garage in sight.” He looked at Garret. “We could be early.”
“I suggest we scope it out first,” Garret said, then looked back at Charles.
Charles smiled, patted Astra’s arm, and said, “We’ll sit here and wait.”
The men got out, walked down the street together, quickly disappearing from sight.
She sagged back against the seat. “How did I do?”
“I think you did brilliantly,” he said. “When you think about it, you haven’t had a whole lot of opportunity to get anything out there, so today was lovely.”
“It felt pushy,” she muttered.
“Guys like Garret, they don’t normally jump in. Especially in this case because of all the family stuff going on. In such a circumstance, a little pushiness may be required.”
“That’s what I thought,” she said.
“It was well done,” he said. “You’ll probably have to fine-tune it a bit though.”
“Yeah, he’ll leave it as nebulous, won’t he?”
“He might,” Charles said, with a chuckle. “But if he’s smart, he won’t …” and he let his voice trail off.
She smiled, settled back, and said, “No, he won’t be smart about it at all.”
“In that case,” Charles said, “you might want to up your game a little bit.”
She chuckled. “Not sure I know how to do that.”
“You don’t have to think about it, don’t rationalize it,” he said. “Just do what comes naturally.”
“I’ll have to think about that,” she said, as she yawned. “You know what? Sitting in a warm vehicle after all that beer, I’m about to crash.”
“Close your eyes,” he said. “It’s all good.”
“Says you. I’m not used to sleeping in a vehicle like this.”
“You’re also not used to being in a vehicle on a stakeout,” he said. “These things can be long and drawn out, so enjoy yourself while you can.”
