Heart of the Assassin

CHAPTER 21

Senator Derrick Chambers slept with a night-light on. A small night-light in the shape of a sailboat, just like the one featured in his campaign ads-Chambers upright at the wheel, his sandy hair rippling in the sea breeze as he headed into the dawn. Captain Courageous. Rakkim switched the light off, the room almost completely dark now, except for a thin strand of moonlight that edged between the thick drapes. Plenty of light for Rakkim's Fedayeen eyes to see, but the senator would be blind. Terrible state for a man who needed a night-light.

Chambers sighed, turned over in bed. He was alone and Rakkim was grateful for that. The papers said his wife and children were in Hawaii while he attended to legislative matters, but there were always other possibilities. Not tonight, though.

Rakkim peeled back the hood of his stealth suit. Skintight, the material instantly mimicked any background color or pattern, rendering the wearer nearly invisible. The military used a slower version for night infiltrations, one that absorbed the infrared used by night-vision devices. Industrial spies and saboteurs used gadget-enhanced Chinese versions. Fedayeen assassins used the simplest-type stealth suit-no laser refraction, no sound-dampening capability, no auxiliary-light absorption. Anyone other than an assassin would get himself killed trying to get by with one. Rakkim had found it in a Level 6 security locker at the Fedayeen academy after he killed Darwin. It fit him perfectly.

He moved slowly across the room. Barely stirring the carpet. His heartbeat steady. He hovered over the senator, watching him breathe. He could count the hairs in his eyelashes in the darkness. He slipped out his knife, rested the flat of the blade across the man's lips.

The senator opened his eyes.

"Don't worry," said Rakkim.

The senator's eyes widened in the darkness.

"I'm going to remove the knife, but I want you to keep your voice down. I know the room is wired to alert your bodyguards if the sound level goes over ninety decibels, so we're going to have a nice conversation, you and I, like a couple of civilized gentlemen. Is that okay with you?"

The senator nodded.

Rakkim took the knife away.

"I can't see you," said the senator.

"It's all right, I can see you."

"What…what do you want?"

"Just what I said. A nice little conversation."

"May I sit up?"

"Sure." Rakkim waited until the senator shifted to an upright position, then sat down on the bed facing him. "Is that better?"

"Can I please put on a light?"

"I prefer the darkness."

"Yes, well, some of us don't have the advantage of night-vision goggles." Chambers cocked his head, listening. He was tall and handsome, lightly muscled, his chest waxed smooth in the modern style. "How…how did you get past my bodyguards?"

"That's my job, Senator. I'm good at my job, just as you're good at yours."

"What you're doing is a federal offense. Do you understand that?"

"Having a conversation is a crime? What a world we live in."

"Is it money…is that what you want?"

"You know better than that, Senator. I'm here at the request of a mutual friend."

"A friend?" The senator moistened his lips in the darkness. Squinted. "If a friend sent you, why won't you turn on a light?"

"I've always found that people speak more openly in the dark, and it's very important that we have an honest discussion, Senator." Rakkim saw Chambers's hand stray toward the medallion around his neck. "Please don't do that. If you attempt to summon help, I might have to do something rash." He saw Chambers carefully place his hands back on top of the sheets. "Thank you, Senator."

"I…I take a certain pride in being a rational man," said Chambers. "I'm sure we can come to some kind of accommodation."

"I'm not interested in an accommodation, Senator. I'm simply here to get some answers."

"I don't…I don't understand."

"This is a very…precarious time for all of us." Rakkim watched the senator's erratic breathing, trying to get a read on him. "So much planning has gone into your appointment to secretary of defense-"

"How did you find out about that?"

"Please lower your voice."

"I asked-"

Chambers went silent as the tip of Rakkim's knife lifted his chin. "Are you capable of lowering your voice, Senator?"

"Yes," whispered Chambers, barely moving his lips.

Rakkim watched a single drop of blood run down the blade of his knife in the darkness. "Good." He removed the knife. "I know about your appointment because I work for the man who secured it for you."

Chambers dabbed at his chin with the sheet. "If you work for the president…"

Rakkim laughed softly. "Don't insult me, Senator. You know who I work for."

Chambers shook his head. "I don't…I truly don't."

Rakkim sighed, let the weariness fill the room. "Fine. You're a cautious man, and that's to be commended. Up to a point. As a cautious man you may be interested to know that someone has been looking into the deaths of those two aides of yours."

Chambers looked perplexed. Rakkim still couldn't tell if Chambers was involved with the Old One, or if he was just the good modern that he seemed to be.

"Any idea who might be making those inquiries, Senator?"

"I assume State…State Security."

"It wasn't State Security."

"Well, then I don't know." Chambers started to speak, stopped himself for a moment. "Why should that concern me anyway? Sandor died of a heart attack. Alexander was killed in a car accident."

"I know how they died, Senator. I killed them."

"I…I beg your pardon?"

"'I…I beg your pardon?'" mocked Rakkim. "I'm trying to help you senator, but you're making it difficult."

Chambers smoothed the sheets. "I really don't know what you want me to-"

"Who do you think is trying to derail your appointment?"

Chambers continued to smooth the sheets. "The Black Robes despise me. If I have any enemies, it would be ibn-Azziz."

Rakkim jabbed Chambers lightly on both sides of his chest, his hand moving so quickly that the second puncture was made before the senator gasped from the first one. "Ibn-Azziz is not your enemy. He's an errand boy, just like you." Rakkim watched a drop of blood form on each side of Chambers's chest, a second set of nipples, black and shiny as obsidian in the darkness.

"Please…I don't know what you want from me."

"I want to know if you have any loose ends you haven't told us about. Something that could become a problem if the wrong people discovered them."

Chambers stared into the darkness.

"You're going to have to help me," Rakkim said gently, "because I can't allow even a potential loose end to interfere with our master's plans."

"Who…?"

"A great deal of effort has been put to bear for your advancement," said Rakkim. "Now it's time for you to do something in return."

Chambers wiped at the blood on his chest.

"Senator…" Rakkim's voice was barely a whisper. "If you don't tell me what the loose end is, that means you're the loose end."

"Could…could you put on a light, please?"

"Not just yet."

Chambers dabbed his eyes. "There was a boy…one you don't know about. I had almost forgotten him myself…no, no, that's not true." He shook his head. "This is very difficult."

"Take your time, Senator. I've been told I'm a good listener."

Chambers laughed. "By whom? The men you're about to kill?"

"Tell me about this boy you had almost forgotten."

Chambers trembled, the sheets rustling against him. "His name was Louis. I cared very much for him. The others were just…diversions. They didn't even know my name. Louis, though, he was different. When the Black Robes scooped the others up, I stayed silent, but I didn't want anything to happen to Louis. I couldn't bear that…so I warned him." He looked around, trying to find Rakkim's face in the darkness. "I haven't seen him in years. I've had no contact of any kind."

"Please keep your voice down."

Chambers took a deep breath, exhaled slowly. "Louis cared for me very deeply. Tell the Old One that I know Louis would never do anything to hurt me."

"Unless?"

"Unless…it was absolutely necessary. Unless he had no other options. You shouldn't blame Louis, you should blame whoever backed him into a corner."

"Why don't you get dressed? We'll go someplace and discuss the matter."

"It might not have been Louis. It could have been my two aides, Alexander…or Sandor." Chambers breathed so rapidly he was almost panting. "All those years they were in my employ, you would have thought there might have been some…some discretion. The more I think about it, I don't think Louis is responsible."

"Get dressed, Senator."

"I…I prefer to stay here."

"Get dressed."

Chambers's teeth chattered, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat.

"Senator," Rakkim said softly. "Would it help if I turned on a light?"