Alias Smith And Jones. Kylie Brant
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his arms on the table and leaned toward her. “You can’t help the fact that the fishing group decided at the last minute to book with someone else. And there’s really no reason why that should concern you. But me, I’m still kinda wondering. So while we’re waiting for the wire transfer to go through tomorrow, I think I’ll mosey over to Ranachek’s and see if one of the group wants to be a little more forthcoming.”
Either she was a world-class actress or she really hadn’t had anything to do with the canceled charter. There was only a flicker in her eye—there and gone so quickly he couldn’t be sure he’d seen it at all. “Suit yourself. But I think your time would be better spent getting your ship ready for the charter you do have. And since it seems to mean so much to you, I’ll agree to one and a half times your normal fee, for the first three days only. That’s how long the other charter would have lasted. I have to warn you, though. I’m going to expect exemplary service, and if you fall short in any way at all, I’ll be deducting a suitable amount from what’s owed you at the end.”
“Honey, my service is always exemplary.” Satisfied, he reached over and caught her hand in one of his, unmindful when her eyes widened and she would have pulled away. Solemnly he shook it, cementing their bargain, certain that she knew more than she was saying about the canceled fishing outing, or she’d never have offered him more money.
And he was equally sure that despite the inflated fee she’d agreed to pay him, he was still the one who’d gotten hosed on the deal.
Analiese paced her motel room, the specially made phone to her ear. It looked like a normal cell phone, except that a regular one would have been useless on an island without even one transmitter tower. This unit relied on waves from a government satellite to transmit signals to a totally secure line in a location that was kept secret even from her.
“C’mon, c’mon, pick up,” she muttered with each stride she took, and then stopped, relieved when the familiar fussy voice answered. “Sterling? Did I wake you?”
There was silence, then a long-suffering sigh. “Analiese. I trust this is urgent.” It didn’t escape her attention that he hadn’t answered her question, nor was she surprised. He was too well trained to give away even that much about his whereabouts.
All she knew of the man was the sound of his voice, which had helped paint the mental picture she had of him. From his proper British accent she had an image of a slender man in his midfifties with impeccable tailoring and a David Niven mustache. The reality was likely to be just the opposite. For all she knew, the accent was affected only for his phone conversations as a way to maintain his cover. “Have you had any word from Sam yet?”
His hesitation was its own answer, and desolation swirled in the pit of her stomach. “As I said before, I’ll contact you when—”
“You still don’t know where he is,” she said flatly. Her nerves churned and clashed like grating gears. And despite Sterling’s effort at an impassive tone, she knew he was as worried about her brother as she was. Or else he would never have called her at home several days ago to inquire, oh so discreetly, about the last time she’d spoken to him.
“I know the waiting is difficult, but I have no doubt that Sam will work himself free of any sticky situation he might have encountered.” If he’s able. Although the words remained unspoken, they eddied between them. “The best thing you can do is remain at home and wait for—”
“I’m on Bontilla right now.”
His sharply inhaled breath was evidence of more emotion than she’d ever heard from him. “Analiese, listen to me carefully. I want you to go home immediately.”
“I was able to hack into Sam’s computer files and trace him this far,” she said recklessly, stopping before the window to stare out at the waves with a sightless gaze. She didn’t bother to tell him that she’d been chipping away at her brother’s computer security for over two years now. While a great deal of it remained maddeningly encrypted, she’d pieced together enough to have a good suspicion that his cover as an international lawyer hid a career much more dangerous, much more covert. And that Sterling knew every detail about it. “I’ve set up a charter to go to Laconos tomorrow.” She thought, but couldn’t be sure, she heard a low groan coming from the other end of the connection.
“I don’t think that would be prudent.”
She whirled from the window, concern suddenly turning to anger. “I don’t give a damn about prudent, Sterling. My brother has been missing two weeks, and you don’t have the faintest idea where he is. Now, unless you’re about to tell me that you’ve got a search-and-rescue plan lined up, you’d better get used to the fact that I’m going in.”
“And just what is it you think you can accomplish there?” Sterling’s voice was harder than she’d ever heard it. “Sam has years of experience handling difficult matters while you…you’ve done only occasional courier work, which, I might add, would be totally against your brother’s wishes if he were to find out.”
“I’ll let you worry about that, since you’re the one who enlisted my services on those occasions.”
“A fact I’ve often regretted.”
If she weren’t so anxious about Sam she would have been offended. As it was she pressed her hand to her stomach in an effort to calm the nerves there. “You aren’t sending anyone in after him, are you?”
“I had some inquiries out a few days ago,” he admitted. “I learned nothing.”
She winced at the news, but if anything it made her more determined. “Then it’s not going to hurt for me to poke around a bit.”
Silence stretched, so long that she began to wonder if they’d been disconnected. When Sterling spoke again, there was a note of resignation in his voice. “It has to be done discreetly, or you could jeopardize his position if he’s still on the island.”
Analiese clutched the phone more tightly, aware that she’d just received as clear a go-ahead as she was going to get. “I can do discreet.”
Had she been talking to anyone else she would have sworn she heard a snort in the man’s voice. As it was, she attributed the sound to a cough. “Quite so. Listen carefully, then. You are not to swerve one iota from my directions….”
It was more than twenty minutes later before she pressed the button to end the conversation. Twenty minutes of directives, dire warnings and commands. She was on a fact-finding mission only, Sterling had repeated again and again. And the scope of her investigation centered solely on the whereabouts of her brother.
When the man wasn’t issuing orders, he was filling her in on a bit of history that might or might not affect her brother’s case. She’d listened because she thought it wiser not to mention what she’d discerned from Sam’s files. She had a pretty good idea of what her brother’s mission had been and, despite Sterling’s silence on the subject, an even better idea of the reason behind it.
She tucked the phone back into her purse and noted, a bit distantly, the unsteadiness of her hand. Among the details she’d failed to share with Sterling was the fact that Jones’s name had figured in her brother’s files for the past several years. And that she had reason to believe that Sam had used the man’s charter service to cross to Laconos. It was clear from his notes that the two had some sort of relationship, and she was concluding that her brother trusted Jones on some level.
What she didn’t know was the exact nature of their relationship. Or just how far she could trust Jones.
Chapter 2
Analiese went to the island’s largest bank the next morning and arranged to transfer money from her newly established account in the States—the one in Ann Smith’s name. As she completed the transaction she regretted more than once her agreement to a higher fee. Jones had been taking advantage of the situation, but she was no pushover. No, it had been her own guilty conscience that had led her to pay the inflated price.
It