Fire and Ice (The Ice Series, 5) - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Anne Stuart loves Japanese rock and roll, wearable art, Spike, her two kids, Clairefontaine paper, quilting, her delicious husband of thirty-four years, fellow writers, her three cats, telling stories and living in Vermont. She’s not too crazy about politics and diets and a winter that never ends, but then, life’s always a trade-off. Visit her at www.Anne-Stuart.com.

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Reno bounded up the stairs, two at a time, and pushed open the door to the deserted apartment, only to stare directly into the barrel of a Glock.

Peter Madsen slowly put his gun away. "What the hell are you doing here? I could have shot you."

Reno grinned. He knew Peter thought he was the most annoying, most flamboyant operative ever to work for the Committee, that covert organization of ruthless do-gooders, and he did his best to live up to that image. He brushed an invisible speck of lint off his leather jacket and kept his sunglasses firmly in place in the darkened room.

"I trust your instincts," he said, closing the door behind him and strolling into the apartment. His pointy-toed leather cowboy boots echoed on the parquet flooring.

"How do you ever sneak up on anyone when you're so damned noisy?" Peter said.

Reno gave him his most annoying smile. There was nothing he liked better than to irritate the Ice Man. "I manage," he said. "I thought you might need a little help."

"When I need help, I'll ask for it."

Reno shrugged. "Just trying to do my duty, boss. Isobel's really gone, hasn't she? Our fearless leader has disappeared, leaving you in charge."

"Yes." Peter glowered at him. "And don't call me boss. It's not my idea you're here."

"Not mine, either. You think she went with Killian?"

"I expect so."

"Aah, true love," Reno said. "For good?"

"I hope so," Peter said.

"Why? So you can take over running the Committee?" Reno wandered over to the window to look out into the wet winter afternoon.

"Hardly. I'm passing this off to the first person qualified."

"Then why?"

Peter shrugged. "Because this kind of life demands too high a price. Isobel and Killian stayed too long?they earned the right to get out of it."

Reno snorted. "You don't seem the sentimental kind to me."

"And you're such a great judge of character?"

Reno merely smiled his catlike smile. "So explain this to me," he said in his deliberate English. "Why are we still in hiding? Why have my cousin and his wife disappeared somewhere in Japan? Thomason is dead?any contracts he put out should be canceled, and the Russian mercenaries should have lost interest. Mercenaries don't work without money, and their source of income has dried up. We should be ready to move on to new things, not wasting time cleaning up old messes."

"Maybe the Russians haven't heard. Maybe they've moved on to other things, but our intel is spotty. Either way, I'm not about to take a chance. We've lost too many operatives to risk it. Besides, I'm rather fond of your cousin."

"So am I. I also think he could hold his own against half-a-dozen retired Russian operatives," Reno said.

"Probably. But we're not going to find out. They stay hidden until we know it's safe.You got that?"

Reno didn't respond, changing the subject instead. "How is Mahmoud doing?"

"Fine," Peter said gloomily. "I'm supposed to bring home a PlayStation Three. The kid's a ruthless, soulless assassin, so Genevieve's plan is to get him blowing up virtual heads instead of real ones. No thanks to you."

Reno laughed, heartlessly. "I'll give you a list of games."

"Christ," Peter grumbled.

Reno looked around him. "So why don't we move the offices in here? There's plenty of room. Or even better, why don't I move in?"

"For the same reason we're out of Kensington. It's been compromised, and so has this place. The house in Golders Green will be fine for the time being."

Reno made a rude noise.

"You don't like it, you can come out to Wiltshire and stay with us," Peter said.

Reno could imagine just how much Peter would like that, and he was almost tempted to accept the invitation, just to annoy him. But then he'd have to put up with Genevieve's mothering, and at twenty-seven he had no more need of a mother than he'd had at seven. He did very well on his own.

There was a muffled sound of an electronic beep, and Peter yanked out his PDA, staring at the incoming text message. "Shit," he said. He looked at Reno, who was doing a piss-poor job of hiding his curiosity. "We've got trouble."

If it wasn't the first time Peter had come up with the word we, it was close to it. "What's up?"

"We've got word from one of our informants in America. It's about your cousin."

Reno froze, dead serious now. "You said they were safe."

"They are. Even I don't know where they've gone. That's the problem. Taka's sister-in-law, Jilly, decided to make a surprise visit. So while Taka and Summer are somewhere safe, hiding out, the girl could be walking straight into danger. And I don't have anyone to send in.?"

"I'm going." Reno's voice was flat, implacable.

"You can't. You were kicked out of Japan for the time being?"

"My grandfather kicked me out, not the government. I can go back anytime. The Toussaints are back on their mountain, half your operatives are dead or missing. I'm your only real choice."

"Are you asking my permission?" Peter said.

"Fuck, no. I'm going. You can send someone else but they'll just get in my way."

"I don't have anyone else to send and you know it. I still haven't heard what happened to MacGowan."

Reno nodded. "So it's up to me. How long ago did Summer's sister leave?"

"They're not quite sure." He took a long look at Reno. "I think Taka wanted to be very sure you didn't get anywhere near his wife's sister."

"Taka wants a lot of things. He thinks he knows best. Right now he's gone, and there's no one else. You try to stop me and I'll kill you."

"I doubt it," Peter said. "And I don't think you want to waste time trying. I'll see to transport for you. Not that I approve, but trying to stop you will take too much time. I'll send backup as soon as I figure out who's left alive."

"I don't need backup."

"I'll send backup," Peter said.

But Reno was already gone. Out into the late winter night, into the ice-cold city. London was at its darkest in the last few weeks before spring came, and during the months he'd lived there it had never once felt like home. He was heading to the nearest airport, back to the land of his ancestors, whether his grandfather approved of his return or not. He wasn't going to let anything happen to his cousin's sister-in-law. He wasn't going to let anything happen to the tall, shy-looking teenager he'd seen only once and should have forgotten all about, the one who popped up into his dreams at the most inconvenient times.

He was going to find Jilly and send her back where she belonged before she got hurt.

And then he could forget all about her once more.

The jet lag shouldn't have come as a surprise to Jilly?she'd seen Lost in Translation too many times. She'd staggered off the airplane in a sleepless daze, and it was sheer luck she'd made her circuitous way from Narita airport into Tokyo and into one of the cute green cabs. She handed the address to the driver, then sat back, closing her eyes.

Where the hell were Summer and Taka? She'd left half a dozen messages on her sister's cell phone and heard zip in return. If she'd had any sense, she never would have gotten on the plane to Tokyo until she heard back from them, but right now she wasn't in the mood to be sensible. She was running, running to her big sister, who'd hug her and tell her everything would be fine.

And in the meantime she'd finally managed to get her butt to Japan. She had all the practical reasons?she hadn't seen her sister in three months, there was an extraordinary exhibit of Heian-era pottery at the state museum, and if she was thinking of switching her doctoral studies in archaeology from Mesopotamia to early Japan, then an almost pitch-perfect (according to the reports) exhibit of Heian life was a necessary part of her studies. It didn't matter that the exhibit would be there for years?she hadn't discussed the change with her advisers and the sooner she made the decision the better.

So Japan, now, was a necessity. If it happened to coincide with the occurrence...