Under Darkness Part 17

"No, I mean J's people. The agency. They have to be in this building somewhere."

"Does it matter?" she asked, pulling out a lipstick and putting it it on without a mirror. "Any on my teeth?" she asked, showing me her pearly whites and fangs. on without a mirror. "Any on my teeth?" she asked, showing me her pearly whites and fangs.

"No, you're good. And yes, it matters. It's the kind of thing I want to know."

"We don't have time to snoop tonight. We're already fashionably late," she said.

"Not fashionably," I said, stepping out of the elevator. "Vampire late. Let humans worry about being on time."

J's manner was so frosty, the temperature in the conference room dropped ten degrees as soon as I stepped through the door.

"Madder than a junkyard dog," Benny said under her breath as we took our seats.

Cormac and Rogue were there, Audrey wasn't. Guilt darkened my mood. We'd left her alone with Khan. Could something have happened to her?

Benny noticed too. Before we could say anything, J spoke. "I can't contact Agent Greco. Do you know where she is?"

Benny jumped in, chattering. "Audrey? She rendezvoused with us in the ladies' up at that there hotel, you know, the Palace. The Khan person she met... well, he gave her the... the... well, ah... the letter, you know. She pa.s.sed it off to us, but she wanted to keep surveillance on the guy. She had him talking real good and everything. She thought he might be going to meet somebody. She stayed behind at the hotel."

J's brows drew together. "You haven't heard from her since?"

J would be apoplectic about Audrey's getting involved with Khan. Any way you looked at it she had compromised herself. Benny and I had to protect her if we could.

"No, sir. But I'm sure she's jist fine. She's probably jist sitting there at her computer, like she does. Forgot the time. She'll be along shortly." She turned to me with questioning eyes.

"That's right, ain't it, Daphne?" Benny added.

"Yes, exactly. She said she wasn't going to let Khan out of her sight."

J shuffled some papers. "She needs to learn to stay in cell phone contact," he said to himself. He looked up.

"We have to get started. I'll talk with her later about it, a.s.suming she shows up. If not..." He looked around the room. "I have heard earlier tonight that there is an influx of vampire hunters into New York City. I understand that all of you may be targeted. I trust I don't have to tell you to be cautious."

My heart squeezed. I hadn't even considered that Audrey might have run into hunters. I just figured she was with Khan and currently occupied. They were in the stay-in-bed-a-week phase of their relationship.

But anxiety was gnawing at me. I thought about excusing myself from the meeting to head up to the Palace. If Audrey was there, great. If not, I needed some answers from Khan. I gave Benny a worried look.

I should have saved the angst. Just then the door from the hall banged open and Audrey rushed in. Her hair was tousled and her cheeks were pink. She looked as if she was wearing one of Khan's shirts and maybe his jeans too. It was written all over her: She had been well and thoroughly f.u.c.ked. Recently. Like, right before she came to the meeting.

Been there, done that-I should know.

I also noticed that her color was high for a vampire who didn't ever eat enough. But then, I thought, maybe she had dined on Khan last night. Or this morning.

"Sorry I'm late ," she said in her high little voice. "My cell phone died. Just wouldn't hold a charge. I stopped by the Sprint store to get the battery replaced."

Yeah, right. This was a woman who had been charging her battery since we'd left her last night.

Audrey took the chair on the far side of Benny. I saw Benny lean close to her and give her a vicious pinch on the arm.

I could hear what Benny said too: "Y'all better call us next time. You like to have scared us half to death."

J wasn't deaf either. "We're relieved to see you, Agent Greco. Agent Polycarp is right. With the situation as volatile as it is right now, we need to stay in close contact."

"Of course," Audrey said, blushing deeply and ducking her head. "Won't happen again."

Immediately J got down to business. He reported that negotiations would soon be under way for the return of the Intrepid Intrepid. Audrey would continue to act as the liaison on the matter. A formal reply was being prepared for her to take to Khan.

Her complexion went from pink to scarlet.

"How are they going to return the relic if it's lost and they don't have it? Fake it?" I asked.

J explained that experts were duplicating the bottle from museum artifacts. Maybe the hair that had originally been in the bottle was totally bogus, like the slivers of wood that supposedly came from the cross of Jesus, but it didn't matter. The hair that was returned had to match the period and the DNA likely to be found in the region. It might have to withstand the scrutiny of carbon dating. The replacement strand was being obtained from a mummified corpse from the Middle East, which had been found in storage at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"Now we come to what the rest of you need to be doing. Find the ship and find it fast," he said, echoing my thoughts exactly.

"But why?" Audrey asked. "As soon as the hair and Ha.s.san Omar are returned, the ship will be returned."

The room went silent. She glanced around at the rest of us. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Rogue shook his head. "Now, what do you think the odds are that the ship is coming back in one piece?"

"Why, excellent." Her voice rang out with confidence. "Shal-Mr. Khan told me that his uncle and the Pakistani government have guaranteed that the terrorists will turn over the ship and the crew unharmed. He was given a.s.surances that they would act in good faith."

I didn't know what J was thinking. I hoped he chalked up her response to inexperience and naivete. At any rate, he answered her without suspicion.

"Agent Greco, it may well be that Shalid Khan sincerely believes that. You seem positive that he does. But we are dealing with terrorists here. We can hope that the exchange goes off as promised, but we need to be prepared if it doesn't Our priority will be to find the ship."

"But what if we do find the ship?" she asked. "What then?"

"Do you mean will the relic be returned? Of course. Ha.s.san Omar as well. The State Department will apologize for the unfortunate mistake. Believe me, n.o.body wants this hot potato. It's an international crisis waiting to happen.

"Until the exchange actually takes place, you need to convince Mr. Khan that he has our full cooperation. Gain his trust as much as you can. Can you handle that?"

"Of course," Audrey replied. "Mr. Khan is a reasonable man. I believe he has been completely open with me so far."

"Excellent," J said. "The official response to the terrorist demands is being prepared. Did Khan give you a way to reach him?"

"Naturally. I made of sure of that. He's waiting for my call."

"You've been staying right on track, Agent Greco. Make sure you stay in close contact with me. Otherwise, just continue what you were doing."

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes. Benny wasn't so diplomatic. The librarian had it bad, and that wasn't good.

I told J we wanted to speak to Mr. Saud, the tire guy. He raised an eyebrow and tried to tell us that whatever information Mr. Saud had would be relayed to us. He'd get a report for us.

Rogue stretched his long legs under the table, leaned back in his chair, and lazily fished a toothpick out of his shirt pocket. J should have figured out by now that all the signs were there that he was about to get some flak from the other alpha male in the room.

"Well, now," Rogue said, "I'm sure those experts at interrogation have done a bang-up job. But I'm with my friend Daphne on this. We need to talk to Mr. Saudi Arabia. Ourselves."

"I don't think your request is possible," J said, tight-lipped and hard-eyed. "I a.s.sure you Mr. Saud has answered all questions."

"He hasn't answered mine," Rogue replied.

Both Benny and Cormac jumped in, supporting Rogue and me. Audrey kept stealing glances at her watch and stayed out of the discussion.

J looked around. "All right. I'll see what I can do."

"And we need to know what was found out about the Belgium Belgium," I added. "Do you have anything on that?"

J shuffled through his papers and pulled out a report as he talked. If any cloaking equipment had been on the ship, it had been removed. The forensics people said more than one a.s.sailant did the shootings using .50-caliber rifles. Probably an 82A1 semiautomatic. The U.S. Army used them. So did terrorists. They had the power to kill a man from a mile away. They'd been used at practically point-blank range on the ship. "Anything else?" he added.

"Yeah," Rogue said. "I'm not sure I buy that nothing was found on that ship. And I saw equipment in Mr. Saudi Arabia's tire store myself. So what's the truth? You know how they made the Intrepid Intrepid disappear?" disappear?"

Benny hopped in. "Really, we need to know, J, su-sir. It might help us find it, you know?"

J let out a deep breath. "Look, I'm no scientist. And I don't know what was found and what wasn't. And what I do know is top-secret. Anything I say at this point you never heard."

We all nodded.

"From what I understand, the Intrepid Intrepid was probably made invisible by a process involving plasmons. Frankly I don't understand what the h.e.l.l a plasmon is. It has something to do with the movement of light particles, or photons on the surface of an object. And theoretically, if something can excite those plasmons with a lot of energy, like a huge surge of electricity, they will cancel out the visible light or radiation coming off the object. At that point the thing-in this case, a ship-becomes invisible. was probably made invisible by a process involving plasmons. Frankly I don't understand what the h.e.l.l a plasmon is. It has something to do with the movement of light particles, or photons on the surface of an object. And theoretically, if something can excite those plasmons with a lot of energy, like a huge surge of electricity, they will cancel out the visible light or radiation coming off the object. At that point the thing-in this case, a ship-becomes invisible.

"That's what happens in theory. As far as we knew it happened only on Star Trek Star Trek when the Romulan ship disappeared. Never in reality. If it's been done with the when the Romulan ship disappeared. Never in reality. If it's been done with the Intrepid Intrepid it's a huge breakthrough in cloaking devices. it's a huge breakthrough in cloaking devices.

"And since this process requires a constant source of energy-and a great deal of it-there's a good chance the ship can't remain invisible for extended periods of time. Its generators, even if boosted somehow, can't sustain that kind of production. As the ship loses power, it will be visible more and more frequently."

"So somebody will spot it," Rogue said.

"Yes," J agreed. "And you need to find that somebody and get to the ship before the terrorists decide it's time to blow it to kingdom come."

With that, J turned to Audrey and handed her an envelope. "The formal response to take to Shalid Khan."

"Good. I've arranged to contact Mr. Khan at eleven," Audrey said, and was out of her chair before any of us.

"Just hold a minute, girlfriend," Benny said, rising herself and putting her hand on Audrey's arm. "We need to get our movements coordinated, if you know what I mean."

Audrey opened her mouth to speak. Closed it. Looked over at me with an anxious face. She obviously had something to say and couldn't say it in front of J. She was learning her ABCs of having a forbidden affair.

Welcome to the club, I thought. "You can give us an overview of your plans on our way, okay?" I suggested.

She nodded yes and looked relieved.

J said he'd be in contact, and the rest of us decamped.

Downstairs in the Flatiron's dark, silent lobby beyond the bank of elevators, we held our own ad hoc meeting. Cormac and Rogue agreed with Benny's a.s.sessment that the Intrepid Intrepid was relatively close to the city. Although Rogue felt talking with the tire guy might narrow the search, he and his best bud were heading back to the waterfront, seeing if any boaters or longsh.o.r.emen had anything else for us. He would meet me at Charlie's at four a.m. unless we got rained out. was relatively close to the city. Although Rogue felt talking with the tire guy might narrow the search, he and his best bud were heading back to the waterfront, seeing if any boaters or longsh.o.r.emen had anything else for us. He would meet me at Charlie's at four a.m. unless we got rained out.

Benny walked over to the lobby doors to get better cell phone reception and put in a call to Lieutenant Johnson. As I watched her speaking into the phone and giving the lieutenant the hard sell in order to convince him to meet with us, I hoped that our entente cordiale entente cordiale with the New York police still held. with the New York police still held.

Meanwhile I pulled Audrey in the other direction. "Spill it. All of it."

I saw her chin lift ever so slightly, and she said in a fluty voice, "I like Shalid. A great deal. We spent the night and day together. Indoors, of course. I found it... I found it illuminating."

"I gather that. You're lit up like a lightbulb. My point is, are you able to handle the situation?"

She paused. Her mouth trembled. Her voice wobbled. "I don't know what I am going to do. Naturally he doesn't suspect I'm a vampire. He thinks I'm an international model who is working undercover for the U.S. government. He has expressed regret that I'm not Pakistani and I'm not a Muslim."

"That's the least of his worries," I muttered, shaking my head.

"I told him I'd consider converting," she said.

"That's thinking with a clear head! Why would you say something like that!" The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"So we could keep seeing each other. It's important to him."

"Audrey, Audrey, Audrey," I moaned. "You're a spy and he's your informant. If you sleep with him, the point is to get secrets out of him. And that's a best-case scenario. At worst you're sleeping with a terrorist. But the real issue is, in case it slipped your mind, you now being an international model and all, you're a vampire. Religion aside, how long do you really think you can keep seeing him?"

"I don't know. But I can't give him up. I can't. I've never... I've never felt this way before."

"Oh, my G.o.d," I groaned. "It's like a bad movie."

Benny came over in time to hear what Audrey said. "Girlfriend! Y'all need to get hold of yourself, y'hear? You ain't in love with him. You're just a little starstruck. And it's the danger. Whooee. That will supercharge any s.e.x, you know. The excitement has gone to your head. You need to get back with your own kind and get some perspective."

Audrey sniffed and wiped a tear away with her fingers. "You mean go back to a vampire club?"

"No! I mean find some librarians, and find them right quick."

Audrey actually agreed with Benny, which shocked the h.e.l.l out of me. n.o.body could have talked me out of being crazy about Darius when he was still a human and I was a runaway train headed for a major wreck. Back then I had derailed big-time.

Audrey was a more sensible woman.

As it turned out there was an American Society for Indexing convention going on in Manhattan. Audrey had signed up months ago.

"It's a librarian thing," she told us. She checked her watch. She confessed she had an appointment for a manicure and wash and set. She said she'd cancel it and go over to the Marriott East Side to the ASI welcome reception instead. She could hang out there for a couple of hours before she went to see Khan at eleven.

Being among all those indexers, a staid and intellectual group, she explained, should bring her back to reality if anything could. "They have a workshop on taxonomy that really interests me too," she added, looking dreamy.

I glanced over at Benny. She widened her eyes and mouthed back, Whatever Whatever.

Lieutenant Johnson had taken his grumpy pills. He drove across Twenty-third Street and picked us up in front of the Flatiron Building. The rain had stopped, but the wind still blew. I felt chilled despite its being summer. We climbed in the backseat of the unmarked police car, as usual a white Chevy.

Johnson barely looked at us. I could see the tension in his shoulders. His hands gripped the steering wheel as if he were strangling it to death. His discomfort at having two creatures such as us behind him must have been enormous.