No Place for an Honest Woman by Diana Deverell

Author:Diana Deverell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Sorrel Press
Published: 2014-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

13

“You want me to say you’ve done a good job, it’s fine if you quit. I won’t.” Gerry kept his eyes on me. “What you gave us last night was critical. We must keep your line of communication open.”

“What, are you saying I have to keep doing this for the rest of my life? Might not be a long time, the way things are going.”

“Cut the dramatics. This can’t continue. Krajewski’s source is bound to dry up soon.”

Krajewski’s source. “You think somebody outside of Abu Nidal is passing this stuff to him?”

“Nobody on the inside speaks directly to Krajewski. He has a middleman somewhere. A good one.” He ran a finger under his shirt collar, as though it were chafing. He glanced up at the ceiling. “If more attacks are planned and you miss the chance to prevent them . . .” He held out his hands, palms up, empty.

“Oh, it’s all up to me. Only Casey Collins can save the Free World. What if I say I won’t? You plan to threaten me with some new fate worse than death?”

He let his hands rest on the table. “I’m not holding a gun to your head. I thought you wanted to stop these guys.”

I stared at his hands. Each of the ten fingernails was neatly trimmed straight-across. They appeared competent, squared-off, solid. His tone matched.

Adrenalin swirled through my system. Telling me to quit fighting, start fleeing. Yet Gerry’s tired words cut through the urge. His logic was compelling.

“Yeah.” I didn’t raise my eyes from his hands. “I want to.”

“So don’t run out on us.”

I raised my eyes to his. I saw no mockery in them. “They better use my stuff right.”

Gerry stood and reached for the door-lever. “They promise they will.”

Back downstairs in my office, I kept my coat on. I rummaged through the bottom drawer of my desk until I found my back-up can of cocktail peanuts. Warmth and calories—the standard treatment to keep a person from going into shock. I needed both.

Watching Phyllis die. I shuddered.

Bella, accusation in her eyes. Too busy for me today. But, she’d be back.

Gerry. Protective. Chastising. Consoling. Coaxing. Whatever it took to get me through. Half the time so far out of character I wanted to embrace him. I wouldn’t have guessed the sincere act would work so well for him. It rang truer than his bad-guy routine. A stellar performance.

And not all lies. If I ran, someone would follow.

He’d slid past the consequences of staying in Warsaw. He hadn’t minimized the danger. He’d avoided the subject. He knew something I wouldn’t like hearing. I took another handful of peanuts and ate them one by one. What was I missing? Gerry wouldn’t tell me.

Maybe Krajewski would. I picked up my phone and dialed the number where I’d reached him before. I listened to fifteen rings before I hung up.

I called him four more times. No answer.

I spent the weekend in my apartment with my doors locked and windows tightly closed. I tried Krajewski’s number several times.

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