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“You’ve been watching too much television,” he said. He had less of an accent now, along with his different look. She wondered if he had a different name as well.
“Who wants to kill me and why? And why should you care?” Please, she thought. Just say something, anything that I can keep with me. Something to let me know I’m more than a hindrance.
But she knew what he was going to say. He’d said it far too many times. He didn’t care—he simply felt responsible, and she didn’t want to hear it.
He rose, silhouetted against the moonlit window, and for a moment she was afraid someone would shoot him. But the light was much too murky—the snow must have picked up while she was unconscious, and even if she could see out, as long as the lights were out no one would see in. He moved toward her, out of range of the windows, and to her astonishment he sat down on the floor next to her bed.
“Monique survived,” he said softly.
“You told me she was dead. That she was shot in the face.”
“That’s what I saw. But the night was chaos—I must have been mistaken. All that I know is that she survived, and she’s coming after you.”
“Well, you can protect me from one single woman, can’t you? You’ve done it before.” The memory of Maureen’s body, facedown in the snow, leeching blood, was still etched in her brain, and she shuddered.
“She’s not coming alone.”
He was leaning against the bedside table, hands propped on his knees, seemingly at ease. “But why?” Chloe asked. “If she wanted to kill someone, why wouldn’t she want to kill you? I was just an innocent bystander.”
“You still are. And she has every intention of killing me when she can find me. I’m just a little harder to track. So she’s having to make do with you.”
“Lucky me,” she muttered. “Always someone’s second choice.”
“I’m sorry, would you rather have half of Europe after you? It’s easy enough to arrange.”
“And how would you do that?”
“Simply by staying with you.”
She turned to look at him. He’d said the words offhandedly, and she knew he had no interest or intention of being around her a moment longer than he had to. If it had been up to him he wouldn’t have seen her again. Hadn’t he said that earlier?
“So why does she want to kill me? Apart from the fact that I think I called her a skanky bitch. Why should she bother, I don’t matter to her.”
“No,” he said, “you don’t.”
“Then why?”
“Because you matter to me.”
His face was hidden in the moonlight, his words without inflection, and she almost thought she’d misheard him. “I don’t understand.”
“What’s to understand? Monique knows me well enough to recognize that the best way to hurt me is to hurt you. Simple logic. She’ll be here in a few hours.”
“A few hours? Then why don’t we leave?”
“For one thing, the snow is piling up, shutting down the highways. It won’t stop Monique, but it might slow her down a bit. Anyway, this is the safest place we can be, for now. I’ve improved the security system, and we have the advantage. They’re coming into unknown territory, whereas I’ve had time to check things out thoroughly. I’ve even managed to set a few surprises to welcome them. I was considering sneaking you out of here ahead of time, but you’re safer with me.”
“So you’ve always told me.”
“I have, haven’t I?” he said wearily. “Once Monique is finished you won’t have to see me again. Consider it a reward for following my orders.”
“Are you going to kill her? If you have to?”
“I’m going to kill her whether I have to or not,” he said. “And then I’ll be gone.”
“Where?”
He shrugged. “Where I belong, I suppose. Back to the Committee. It’s all I know how to do, and I’ve been well-trained to do it. It would be a shame to waste such expensive education and talent.” His voice was light.
