Heart of the Assassin

CHAPTER 45

"How can you drive in this slop?" said Baby as the rain beat against the windshield, the wipers barely able to keep up. "It's raining cats, dogs and every other animal on the ark."

Rakkim leaned forward, blinking in the glare from the oncoming headlights.

Baby gnawed a pork rib thick with meat, takeout from a barbecue joint about ten miles back. "Might as well look for a motel. Even if we made it to the airport tonight, no way they're going to have flights leaving for Miami in this mess."

"You're probably right."

"Baby's probably right? That's a first." Seat tilted back, Baby propped her long legs on the dash. She tugged at her short shorts, the inside of her tanned thighs glowing in the red light from the instrument panel. "I must be getting to you, Rikki."

Rakkim glanced at her, then back at the road.

"You can admit it." Baby scraped her front teeth along the curve of the rib, peeling off meat. She had a tiny smear of barbecue sauce above her lip. "I won't tell anyone."

Rakkim smiled.

"I saw that," said Baby. "I got you now."

Rakkim reached over, snatched the last chunk of cornbread from the basket in her lap. She went to slap his hand, but he was too quick.

Thunder crashed in the distance, lightning zigzagging across the night. The rain came down even harder now-a red neon sign flashing Kim's Cabin shimmered through the downpour as though it were underwater. Like one of the inundated restaurants in New Orleans that Moseby had talked about, sea urchins pincushioning the stools and counters, moray eels curled up in the open cash registers. Rakkim was sorry he never had a chance to dive in the sunken city. Moseby promised to take him some day, promised to show him the spots-shopping mall grottos alive with iridescent fish, and coral reefs festooned along miles of parked cars. Beautiful, terrible things, Moseby had said. Never going to happen now. Another thing Rakkim was sorry for.

"I wish we had been able to get Moseby to a real hospital," said Baby. "I wish he was here with us now."

"I…I was just thinking about him too."

"Really?" Baby shook her head, choked up. "I didn't know him like you did…but the man…he made an impression."

Rakkim watched the wipers slap back and forth, the rain coming down so hard he could see the fat droplets falling through the high beams. "Moseby told me this story once…about when he was first courting his wife. It was love at first sight, for him anyway. Annabelle was more practical."

"Women have to be." Baby's tongue snaked out, licked the barbecue sauce from above her lip. "We give in to foolishness, the consequences are much worse than for a man."

Rakkim cracked his window, just enough to let the cool, moist air in. "Moseby was a shadow warrior…sent to check out reports of the Belt manufacturing biotoxins in the delta." He shook his head. "He found out within two weeks it was a pharmaceutical plant. Most dangerous items coming out of it were these aphrodisiac pills made from stingray cartilage-Chinese men swore by them." He could barely see the road. "Moseby said they worked too." He drifted off, listening to the rain, steering by instinct more than anything else.

Baby put her hand on the back of his neck. "I like hearing how folks fell in love."

Rakkim felt the heat of her touch as the wipers kept their steady stroke back and forth. "Moseby was supposed to be invisible, the kind of person you notice only after they're gone…but after he saw Annabelle he started showing up where she was…always being in the right place at the right time. One thing led to another. Moseby had a good cover job, salvage diver, and he was patient, never pushy, had that deep voice…drove women crazy…but Annabelle, she was tough, and her father was even tougher." Far ahead of them, taillights blinked in the rain. "Moseby made her a deal. Told her to hide one of her earrings in her house. Hide it anyplace she wanted, and he'd find it within one hour. If he couldn't do it, he'd leave and never come back, but if he found it…she'd marry him."

"Just one hour?" said Baby.

"Took him ten minutes." Rakkim looked at her. "Annabelle cheated. Her eyes led him right to the earring. He knew she would if she really wanted to marry him."

"I like that story," said Baby. Thunder clapped closer, seemed to be right inside the car, the air sizzling, and Baby cried out, clung to him.

Rakkim put his blinker on, turned off into the Castaways Motel parking lot, barreled through a huge puddle, water shooting out both sides of the car.

"Leo!"

Leo jumped, tripping over his own feet. "You scared me."

"Pardon me, it's just that I've been hoping to run into you," said the Old One.

"Well…this must be your lucky day," said Leo, his face still red. The afterwork crowd in the Zone broke around them, security blimps ringing the sky over Seattle. Leo was edging toward Wally's Game Emporium. "Harry Voigt, right? Harry Voigt Investments. Geneva, Shanghai, Nairobi."

"Very good, Leo. Not that I'm at all surprised at your memory." The Old One listened to the music pounding from the Kit Kat Klub, felt it through his shoes. It had been too long since he had been in the capital. He might keep it the capital of the reunited nation when the time came. From the palace he planned on building, he would look out at the snow-covered mountains…

"How did that encryption problem work out for you?" said Leo.

"Everyone was quite impressed with your solution," said the Old One. "Overwhelmed, actually. I wish you could have been there."

Leo blushed.

"I really hope you'll consider coming to work for me," said the Old One. "I like to think that one of the secrets of my success is my ability to recognize and nurture talent, the best and the brightest. I can guarantee you, Leo, that you will never feel unappreciated were you to work with me. Note, I didn't say work for me. I see us as equals, collaborators, as it were. We're adults, aren't we, you and I?"

Leo's face shone like the full moon. "I guess…yeah."

"Of course we are, and that's the beauty of our friendship: I respect you. You don't mind if I consider you my friend, do you? I hope I'm not being presumptuous."

"No…no, it's nice. Most people…I get on most people's nerves."

"Nonsense." The Old One clapped Leo on the back. "I've heard Hop Singh's has the best noodles in the Zone. Let's get dinner and discuss adequate compensation for your service." The Old One hooked his arm in Leo's, the two of them strolling down the crowded sidewalk. "I'm sure your father is generous, but a man who wants to be married needs his own money."

"That…that's true." Leo sniffed. "So did you actually try out my solution on your encryption yet?"

"Not yet," said the Old One as the crowd parted before them, "but any day now."

Rakkim lay in the bathtub, bubbles up to his chin, listening to the thunder. The light in the small, blue tile bathroom was dim, the water warm, and he half closed his eyes, giving in to the fatigue in his body. Been days since he had slept…He heard the door between his and Baby's adjoining rooms open, started to get up, then sank back under the bubbles, recognizing her footsteps. "Did you get lost?"

Baby stood in the door to the bathroom wearing a long-sleeved shirt, white lace panties peeking out from between the shirttails. Her hair was still damp from her shower. "I was just checking on you."

"I'm alive and well. No danger of drowning."

Baby walked over, sat on the side of the tub, trailed a hand in the water. "Nice to meet a man who enjoys a bubble bath. Shows confidence."

"Why don't you wait for me in the other room?"

The rain beat down on the roof of the motel room, thunder echoing. "You modest, Rikki?"

"That's right."

"You shouldn't be. Not with me." She scooped bubbles out of the tub, made herself a mustache, drew one on him too, and he let her. "I've seen you naked before, remember? I bathed you when you were in the field hospital."

Rakkim blushed. "I was unconscious then. I'm wide awake now."

"Why should that make a difference?" Baby lowered her eyes. She looked too young to have stopped Gravenholtz from beating him to death, too shy to have defied the Old One. "You…you have a really nice body, Rikki. I liked looking at you while you slept…liked taking care of you."

"Baby…you should go back to your room."

Baby shook her head. "I don't like my room."

"We'll switch then. You can have this-"

"That's not it." Baby played in the bubbles, her hand hovering just above him. She was looking into his eyes and he felt himself sinking into the depths of hers. "I…I don't like being alone."

Rakkim tried not to look at her but he couldn't tear himself away. He felt himself stiffen, grateful for the bubbles hiding his arousal.

"Please, Rikki?"

"I'm not very good company."

"No, you don't understand," said Baby. "Thunderstorms scare me. Have since I was a kid." Thunder rattled the windows and she flinched.

Rakkim put his hand on her shoulder, soapsuds on his knuckles. "Let me get dressed and we'll watch TV."

"My mama had a boyfriend when I was seven or eight, a real mean son of a bitch. He used to tease me…" Baby wrapped her arms around herself, trembling. "He said…he said God liked to strike pretty little girls with lightning bolts, liked to burn them to a crisp to teach them a lesson for their nastiness." She rested her head on the cool side of the tub, her hand drifting through the water. "I know it's not true, but I still…I still can't abide thunderstorms."

"Go back to your room and I'll join you as soon as I get out of here," said Rakkim. "I'll stay with you until you fall asleep."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Baby handed him a bath towel, discreetly turned her back on him until he stood up and stepped out of the tub.

Lightning crashed closer, almost in the room with them, and Baby screamed, clutched at him, nails digging into him. The towel was somewhere…on the floor, as she pressed herself against him, whimpering into his chest.

"It's okay," said Rakkim, holding her close as the rain pounded on the roof. "I'm right here."

Baby kissed him, tentatively at first, then eagerly, and he kissed her back. Baby tore off her shirt, buttons popping, rolling across the tile, kicked off her panties, as naked as he was now, her hands on him, her lips on him…

Rakkim pulled away, shaking his head. "This…" He couldn't catch his breath. "This is a mistake."

Thunder shook the windows again and Baby didn't flinch this time. She barely reacted, her eyes on him, one arm hooked around the small of his back.

"Sorry…I'm sorry." Rakkim disengaged himself. Grabbed the towel off the floor. "We can't do this."

"Speak for yourself," said Baby.

Rakkim walked into the room, and Baby followed him. He pulled on his pants.

Baby lay on the bed, nude, watching him. "You don't know what you want, do you?"

"It was my fault," said Rakkim. "I shouldn't have kissed you back."

"But you did." Baby stroked her belly. "Doesn't that tell you something?"

"It tells me I'm human."

"Oh, you're a lot more than that, Rikki." Baby patted the bed. "Come on over and talk to me. I promise not to bite." She held out her hand. "Come on. We can still talk, can't we?"

Rakkim sat on the edge of the bed. Her damp hair curled around her long nipples. She caught him looking and laughed. He smiled too. "Maybe we should get back in the car. It's safer."

"I'm tired of safe and sane," said Baby. "Tell me you don't want to make love with me."

"If I did it would be a lie," said Rakkim.

"So…" Baby ran a fingernail down his bare back. "What's the problem then?"

"I told you. I'm married."

"So am I…technically."

"Why don't you go get dressed and we'll get back on the road?" said Rakkim. "It's late, and what with the storm, maybe the traffic will have thinned out."

Baby pulled a pillow under her head, stayed where she was. "Either Aztlan stopped jamming our communications, or the Belt found some way to override their signal, because I got through to Miami loud and clear before I came in here. There's been a change of plans."

"What's going on?"

"You still want me to go back to my room?"

"No more games," said Rakkim.

"Fine." Baby glared at him. "Lester's not going to Miami with the cross. He's on his way to Seattle…to join the Old One. So that's where we should be headed."

"What's the Old One doing in Seattle?" said Rakkim. "If war comes with Aztlan, that's the last place he should want to be. Miami is neutral. Why would he leave?"

"Makes no sense, but Daddy's no fool," said Baby. "So if he's there, he must have important business."

"Daddy?"

"Shoot, I call all older men daddy." Baby scratched her ankle.

"I never heard you use it like that before."

"I called the Colonel daddy. You're not careful, I'll call you daddy too."

"You didn't say it the same way to the Colonel," Rakkim said quietly. "Different inflection."

"You're making a big deal out of nothing, silly."

"I once made a big deal when a man said dinner instead of supper," said Rakkim, "because it told me he wasn't from where he said he was. That nothing saved my life."

Baby stretched out a leg, wiggled her toes. "You keep this up, I'm going to be afraid to say anything to you."

"Daddy? It's a strange thing to call the Old One, that's all," Rakkim said, cool and calm inside as a mountain lake. "I met him once, and he had all these young men surrounding him, but no women. Yet, you stayed with him in Miami for a year. That's strange too."

"You think too much, Rikki."

Rakkim shook his head. "No…that's not my problem."

"Quit looking at me like that." Baby pulled the sheet around herself.

"It's just…Daddy, the way you said it…with that certain tone, that very distinctive inflection," said Rakkim. "When his sons spoke to him, it was Father, very respectful, very formal…but Daddy? That's as intimate as it comes. That's the kind of thing a daughter-"

Baby blinked back tears. "You're ruining everything, Rikki."

"What am I ruining, Baby?"

"We could have been happy, you and me," said Baby.

"No…I don't think so."

"Something's not right with Daddy, just like you thought, and Ibrahim doesn't have the balls to hold it all together."

Rakkim slipped off the bed, started putting on the rest of his clothes.

"Don't do this, Rikki." Baby got out of bed, trembling, put her hands on him. "I took care of you. I could have left you, could have taken the cross, but I didn't. I stayed."

Rakkim nodded.

"Doesn't that mean anything?"

"Yeah," said Rakkim, "but I'm still not sure what."

"Daddy's right about most things, but I didn't need him to tell me you were something special. So am I, Rikki, I'm special too." Baby put her arms around his neck. "Between the two of us…there's nothing we couldn't do."

Rakkim slowly untangled himself from her. Stepped into his boots.

"Don't do this," said Baby. "Please? You're making a big mistake."

Rakkim stepped outside into the rain, closed the motel room door behind him. He could hear her crying inside. In a night of surprises, it was the most surprising thing of all.