Stranded With The Suspect

The blond brought his hand back out in the open and nodded to the bartender. “My friend thinks he’s so funny,” he said, his English very good, but definitely with a hint of a Russian accent.

The blond waited until the bartender had walked away before he spoke again, keeping his hands outside his coat. “Who are you?” he asked again.

“I’m a friend of Ms. Matheson’s,” Simon said. “Who are you?”

“You’re the man in the elevator.” Understanding lit his eyes.

“Who are you and what do you want with her?” Simon asked.

“I am also a friend.”

“That’s not what she says. She says she never saw you before.”

“She doesn’t remember.” He sipped his drink—something dark and thick in a small glass. “It was at a party, with a lot of people.”

“When? Where?”

“Why are you so interested?”

“It’s my business to be interested.”

The blond studied Simon more closely. He tensed again, eyes narrowed. “You’re a cop,” he said.

Simon didn’t deny or confirm, but met the blond’s glare with a hard look of his own.

“I don’t like cops,” the blond said.

“I don’t like people who bother Ms. Matheson. She said you asked her about Daniel Metwater.”

The blond contemplated the liquid in the glass. “Her boyfriend. He’s putting her up here, isn’t he?”

“What makes you think that?”

“I have a connection at the front desk.” He cut his eyes to Simon, his expression wary. “Are you after her for something—or is it Metwater you want?”

“Right now, I’m interested in you.”

“I’m a man having a drink in a public bar.” He drained his glass and set it down on the bar with a hard thunk. He pulled a heavy gold money clip from his pocket, peeled off a twenty and laid it on the bar. “Good night.”

“Leave Ms. Matheson alone,” Simon said.

“Watch your back,” the blond said softly, but loud enough for Simon to hear.

Simon started after him, only to be blocked by a group of men and women who pushed toward the bar. By the time he got free, he reached the door just in time to see the blond pushing through the glass doors of the hotel lobby to the street.

Simon returned to the bar and paid for his beer, then walked back into the lobby. A quick scan satisfied him that the blond hadn’t returned. But Simon had added the Russian to the short list of people who might be a danger to Andi.

He made his way back to the fourteenth floor and the room two doors down from Andi’s. His bosses were going to scream when they got the bill for the suite, but it couldn’t be helped. If Daniel Metwater—or the Russian—tried to get to Andi, they would have to get past Simon first.

* * *

SIMON’S VISIT HAD banished all hope Andi had of resting. Not that she had been sleeping much lately anyway. She missed having other women around to talk to—that had been one of the best things about joining the Family. An only child, she had never realized how comforting it could be to have other women around you—sisters who understood your concerns and were always willing to listen or offer advice. Casual acquaintances you didn’t live with could never understand you as well as family. A check of the clock showed it was only eight thirty, so she dialed the number for her former tentmate at the Family’s camp, Starfall. She would have to remember to call her Michelle, now that she had left the group and decided to go by her birth name once more.

“Hello?” Michelle answered.

“Hi. It’s Andi.”

“What do you want?” Michelle’s voice wasn’t exactly angry, but it wasn’t friendly either.

Andi grimaced. She had forgotten that the two of them had argued the last time they had spoken. “I heard they found Hunter safe,” she said. “I wanted to tell you how glad I am about that.” Michelle must have been half-crazy with worry when her little boy disappeared.

“No thanks to Daniel Metwater,” Michelle said. “He was the one who hired the guys who kidnapped him. And then Metwater tried to kill me. He tried to kill Ethan too.”

So it was true. Not that Andi had really doubted Simon’s words. “I heard,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Who told you about it? You’re not with Metwater now, are you?”

“No, no. I haven’t seen or spoken to him. Simon Woolridge told me. He’s one of the officers with the Ranger Brigade.”

“I know Simon. When did you talk to him?”

“A little while ago. He came to Denver—I guess he’s hoping he’ll catch the Prophet when he comes to pick me up at the hotel. But I don’t think he’s coming. Why would he risk it?”

“Besides the fact that he thinks he can get away with anything?” Michelle asked.

“Why did he try to kill you?” Andi asked. “Why would he want to kidnap Hunter? None of that makes sense to me.”

“I don’t know,” Michelle said. “Most of what he said didn’t make sense—but Ethan thinks it’s because I know something that could get him into trouble.”

“Ethan is the officer who was helping you?” Andi asked.

“Yes. He’s been great.” Michelle’s voice softened, her tone almost wistful. “I can’t believe how great he’s been.”

“What does he think you know that could hurt the Prophet?” Andi asked.

“I wish I knew what it was—I’d shout it from the rooftops.”

“Simon says he thinks I must know something that could hurt Daniel, too,” Andi said. “That’s why he hid me away here in Denver.”

“So, what do you know?”

“Nothing. I swear. I can’t think of anything.”

“You spent the most time with him and were closest to him,” Michelle said. “I’ll bet you saw a lot of things you shouldn’t have.”

“No.” In spite of all the time they’d spent together, she really didn’t know much at all about Daniel Metwater. He had kept her ignorant, changing the subject whenever she asked about the past or his plans for the future, or even what he did in the hours she wasn’t with him. She knew only what he wanted her to know, and that wasn’t anything beyond his public image as a sincere, wise teacher and leader.

“Stay away from him, Andi,” Michelle said. “He wants people to think he’s good and has their best interests at heart, but that’s not true.”