RENATA COULD HEAR THE FOOTSTEPS behind her. They slowed when she slowed, quickened when speeded up.
Bastard.
Molino? No, probably not. One of his men.
Keep calm. She had prepared for this eventuality and she would meet it with the same strength that Edmund had shown.
The hell she would. Edmund had been a martyr. She wasn't going to let them force her to do anything she didn't want to do. She was only twenty-three and had her whole life before her. She was going to live.
And there was only one man following her. It didn't have to be one of Molino's scumbags. He could be a masher or a thief. It was after midnight and this wasn't the first time she'd had men try to follow her the two blocks from her office to the lot where she parked her car.
But this man wasn't trying to get closer. He was keeping her within view but not attempting to make an approach. She didn't like that. Not at all. Okay, let's bring him out in the open.
She turned left at the next block and ducked into the vestibule of a shop.
He came around the corner a few minutes later, a heavyset man in his forties with thinning brown hair. He stopped cautiously, his eyes searching the street in front of him. His hand reached into his jacket pocket. She caught the gleam of metal.
A gun.
She didn't give him the chance to bring the gun out.
She jumped out of the vestibule and struck his arm with the edge of her hand. The gun dropped from his nerveless hand to the street. Then she followed through with a fist to his stomach.
"Bitch," he gasped. "I'll cut you to pieces, you-"
She gave him a karate chop to the back of his neck. He crumpled, but he had drawn a knife by the time he reached the ground. He lunged upward toward her.
Lord, she hated knives. She'd always had a horror of cold steel going into a body. She dodged to the left and then brought her palm crashing up under his nose. This time he didn't get up.
Dead?
Oh, yes. The splintered bones of his nose had entered his brain. She fell to her knees beside him and started searching through his pockets for ID and found a passport. Raoul Falbon.
"I saw a police car cruising a block behind us. I believe we'd better forget gathering the spoils and get out of here."
She stiffened, her gaze flying to the man who stood watching her a few yards away. She tensed, ready to spring, her hand moving toward the gun Falbon had dropped on the ground.
"Oh, dear." He drew a gun from his jacket. "I'm no threat but I really don't want to be treated to the same punishment as that poor fellow on the ground, Renata. Now shall we go? You don't want to talk to the police, do you? I certainly don't."
"Who are you?"
"Jed Harley. And I have no connection to Molino. To prove it, I'm graciously ignoring the fact that you're considering going for that gun on the ground. As soon as we have time to talk, I'll put my gun away. Deal?"
She shrugged. "Sure. I'd be very stupid to-" She dove forward in a roll and struck him in the knees and brought him down. The next moment she was on top of him.
"No, ma'am." He backhanded her and then bucked her off him.
Dizzy. She shook her head to clear it even as she dove for the gun beside Falbon.
He reached it before she did and threw it skittering down the street.
She bit his arm and reached for the gun still in his hand.
"Ouch. You little cannibal." He clipped her on the side of the head with the gun.
Pain. Ignore it. She came at him again and went for the jugular.
He grabbed her, spun her around, his arm around her neck jerking her head back. "Listen. I could break your neck. I don't want to do it."
"Because then I'd be useless to you," she said fiercely. "I couldn't tell you what you want to know."
"No, because my orders are to find you and keep you safe from Molino until you can talk to Neal Grady. Breaking your neck would be frowned upon." He added wistfully, "Though it might almost be worth it."
If she kicked backward, she might get him off guard. His grip had to loosen just a little and then she'd-
He sighed. "You're not going to give up, are you? I guess I'll have to resort to dire methods." He took her hand. "Stop struggling. You're getting what you want." She felt him closing her hand around something hard and metal. Then he released her and stepped back. "Okay, go for it."
She stared down at the gun he'd placed in her hand. "What are you doing?"
"You obviously have to be on top or you won't listen." He spread out his arms. "I'm at your mercy, Renata Wilger."
She frowned. "Is the gun empty?"
He smiled. "My God, I believe you're disappointed. Is it too easy for you? No, the gun has bullets and they're not blanks. What are you going to do now?"
She wasn't sure. The move had taken her by surprise. He had obviously meant to take her off guard and disarm her mentally if not physically. But she had never known a man who would take a chance like that.
"May I make a suggestion? I interrupted you while you were going through that deceased gentleman's wallet. Why don't you continue?"
"I have his passport and his name is Falbon. That's all I need to trace him."
"Then why not leave the scene of the crime and come with me to the Sheraton to see Grady and Megan Blair?"
"I don't consider killing Molino's men a crime." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Megan Blair? She's here in Munich?"
"At the hotel." His gaze narrowed on her face. "How do you know about Megan? Does that make a difference?"
She didn't answer either question. "Dammit, she shouldn't be anywhere near me. She might have led Molino here."
"Then tell her that yourself. She's not going to listen to me. I'm going to phone her." He slowly took out his phone, making sure that she could see that it was not a weapon. "Okay?"
She hesitated. Then she nodded her head. "But I won't go into the hotel. Tell her to meet us across the street in the park."
"Very smart. Then you can check her out and make sure that I'm not leading you down the garden path." He dialed the number. "Grady, I need you and Megan to meet me at the park across the street from the hotel in about an hour. I'll bring Renata Wilger." He listened for a moment and then smiled. His gaze wandered from Renata, still aiming the gun at him and then to the dead man crumpled on the street. "Oh, yes, I'm sure she's the right Renata Wilger."
HARLEY WAS WAITING UNDERNEATH a street lamp by a park bench when Grady and Megan came through the gates. He was alone.
Disappointment surged through Megan. "Where is she, Harley? Did you lose her?"
"No, and she didn't lose me." He took her arm and pulled her into the light. "Lift up your head."
"What are you doing?" Grady took a step forward.
"I'm not hurting her." He called out into the darkness. "Here she is. Delivered as promised. Come out, come out, wherever you are."
"That sounds like a children's game," Grady said.
"Hide-and-seek." Harley nodded. "But hopefully the seeking is over and she's not exactly hiding. She just doesn't trust us. That's why she has a gun trained on me. My gun."
"Your gun?"
"It's a long story." Harley called again, "Renata, you've had time to get a good look at Megan. Is it yes, or no?"
"How would she even recognize me?" Megan asked.
Harley shrugged. "Ask her." He was looking beyond her toward the bushes. "My dear girl, I understand your concern but it's really not polite to point guns at strangers. It makes them nervous."
"I'm not pointing the gun at them," the woman coming toward them said. "I'm just ready. How do I know that Molino isn't staking her out?"
Renata Wilger was younger than Megan had thought she would be. She was perhaps in her early twenties, small, slim, red-haired with a sprinkling of freckles over the bridge of her nose. Her brown eyes were glittering with fierce intensity as she stared at Megan. "And if you're not being used, you're either stupid or criminally negligent for coming here. Get the hell out of Munich and away from me."
What a little tigress. "You wouldn't have decided to come out of the bushes if you'd really thought Molino was using me to trap you. And I'm not going anywhere until I get what I want." She glanced at the gun Renata was holding at her side. "So give Harley back his gun and let's talk."
"Why should I want to talk to you? You've probably already ruined things for me here. I'm going to have to go on the run."
"Maybe not."
"She's right," Harley said. "She had another tail tonight besides me. She'd already disposed of him by the time I made an appearance, but his ID was Raoul Falbon. I sent a picture on my cell phone to Venable, that friend of Grady's at CIA headquarters, and he just got back to me. Falbon is for hire to the highest bidder, but he works extensively for Molino."
"Disposed of him?" Megan asked.
"I killed the bastard," Renata said bluntly. "What do you think? That I'd give him a tap and have him come after me again tomorrow? That wouldn't have been smart."
"No, it wouldn't," Grady agreed. "And now Molino will have to send someone else. It will give us a little time."
"Give me a little time," she corrected. "Thanks to you, I'll need it now."
"We didn't lead Molino to you," Megan said. "There was no way he could know the name of the person we're searching for. I didn't know myself until a few days ago."
"Then he found out from the same source."
Megan shook her head. "No way."
"Don't tell me that. You don't know what he'd do to get what he wants."
"Believe me, I do." She stared her in the eye. "I've been there."
"Bullshit. You've been safely tucked away in Georgia all these years. You don't know anything."
"How do you know that?" She remembered something else. "And how did you know what I looked like?"
"It's in the Ledger."
"What?"
"Photos. Reports. Your mother was found and documented when she was in her teens. After that we were able to keep track of both of you until you slipped away when you were fifteen. It took a long time, but Edmund was finally able to trace you when you were in your second year in medical school."
"Edmund…"
"Edmund Gillem." She was silent a moment. "He's not alive any longer."
Renata's voice was steady, but there was such a wealth of pain in those words that it shook Megan. She wanted to reach out in comfort but it would have been like comforting a wolverine. "No, he died in that trailer in Rome. He was very brave."
"He was a fool. I told him to run." She drew a deep, shaky breath. "Like I'm going to do."
"Too many people have run from Molino."
"Do you think I don't want to stay and take my chances to get that son of a bitch? I can't. Not now."
"Because you have the Ledger," Grady said.
"I didn't say that."
"No, that's true," Megan said. "But Edmund said it."
Renata went still. "You're lying. Edmund would never have told anyone. He would have died first."
Megan nodded. "You're right; he did die to keep anyone from knowing you had it." She added quietly, "And as he died, he prayed for you, Renata."
Renata stared at her for a long moment. "Oh, shit." She whirled on her heel. "Come on, let's walk, Megan."
"I take it Grady and I aren't invited?" Harley said. "Stay on the path so that we can keep you in view."
Renata didn't answer and Megan had to hurry to catch up with her.
Renata's hands were jammed into her pockets and she was looking straight ahead. She didn't speak for a few minutes and when she did, her voice was no longer steady. "You're a Listener?"
Yes.
"In the Ledger it said you probably would become one, but we weren't sure." She was blinking quickly to keep back tears. "Edmund bet me that you'd develop the talent in the next few years." She swallowed. "I told him he was crazy and that if you hadn't shown signs by now it was going to skip a generation."
"I wish it had."
She nodded jerkily. "But then you wouldn't be able to tell me about Edmund, would you? When was it?"
"Three days ago. In his trailer outside Paris."
Renata was silent again. "Was it… bad for him?"
She wouldn't lie to her. "Horrible."
"My God," She stopped on the path and closed her eyes. "I knew it. But I had to hear it."
"He was very brave and he was determined that no one else be hurt by Molino."
"He was such a fool. He'd agreed that even if there was even a hint of someone coming after him that he'd go on the run. But he didn't do it. When he came to see me three months ago, he said that it was just a feeling and it wasn't as if he could see the future. He laughed about it."
"But he felt uneasy enough to give you the Ledger." Yes.
"Will you give it to me? I promise I'll keep it from Molino."
She stared at her in astonishment. "Hell, no. Edmund died for that Ledger and he gave it to me for safekeeping. I'll never give it up." Her voice was vibrating with determination and passion. "Who do you think you are? You don't know anything."
"I'm trying to learn, Renata. Teach me."
"I don't have time. Just stay away from me. You're bad news."
"I can't stay away from you. I have to get Molino and he wants the Ledger. Grady says that Molino always stays in hiding and we have to draw him out. The Ledger may be the only way we can stop him."
"Then you'd better find another way. I won't risk the Ledger."
"It won't be a risk. We'd never let it-"
"No," Renata said curtly. "Back off."
Megan shook her head. "Okay, don't give us the Ledger. But don't run away from us. We'll protect you. God knows, we don't want anything to happen to you too."
Renata's lips twisted. "Because you're afraid then you'll never find the Ledger."
Anger suddenly flared in Megan. "Damn you. Is it too much for you to believe that I don't want you dead? Edmund must have cared about you. He prayed for you. He made me care about you. They tortured him, they did terrible things to him, and then killed him. I won't let anything else be taken from him. He wanted you to live and by God, you're going to live. If you run, I'll follow. If you hide, I'll find you."
Renata was staring at her in surprise. "I didn't mean that-Well, maybe I did." She lifted her chin defiantly. "But I have reason to doubt you. You're a stranger to me."
"Except what you read in the Ledger."
"That was bare bones. Edmund couldn't get a detailed profile on everyone. There are too many."
"Then I'll fill in the blanks. Because you've got to know me. You've got to trust me." She started walking again. "I won't let it be any other way. I don't want you to panic and dart away from me if there's any lingering suspicion. What do you know about Neal Grady?"
"I know he's been trying to find members of the family for a long time. He was CIA and he has a talent. Edmund thought it might be a good idea to approach him before he located any of us. He said that he thought he could talk to Grady. He liked what he'd found out about him."
"But he didn't do it."
She shrugged. "We're careful. We don't do anything on impulse. Edmund was going to give it another six months before he made a move."
What a tragedy, Megan thought. The two men had been gradually moving toward each other. If Grady had been two days earlier finding him, if Edmund had not been so cautious, that horror in the trailer might not have happened. "But he didn't have six months," Megan said. "How I wish he'd contacted Grady."
"He had to be sure. Grady wasn't the only one after us." Her lips tightened. "And it was through your mother that Molino found out that we even existed. That Tribunal Report on the family would never have meant anything to him if it hadn't been connected to Sarah."
"Do you expect me to apologize?" Megan asked. "Forget it. My mother never even knew about the Devanez family. She was just trying to survive and keep Molino's filthy hands off those helpless kids. And she went through hell doing it. So don't try to give me a guilt trip about your precious Ledger."
Renata was silent for a moment and then said slowly, "It is precious." She smiled faintly. "But so are children. And, you're right, I may have been trying to give you a guilt trip. I'm feeling defensive."
"No one is attacking you. You don't have to defend yourself."
"Yes, I do," she said simply. "It's a way of life with me."
Lately it had become a way of life for Megan too. She was beginning to feel a kinship with Renata Wilger. The woman was impulsive, distrustful, and from what Harley had said, violent, but she had cared about Edmund and she was willing to fight to keep his Ledger from being found. That last statement had possessed a poignancy that had touched Megan. "Then guard yourself from Molino. You're among friends here."
"Am I?" Renata looked away from her. "Do you trust Grady?"
"Yes."
"And Harley?"
"Yes. Though I don't know him as well."
"I don't trust any of you. So you might as well stop pushing me.:
Megan shook her head. "That's not going to fly. You will trust me. All right, we'll start at step one. You can't trust someone you don't know. You said you know only the bare bones about me? I don't like confiding in strangers. I'm a private person and it hurts me. But you're going to know as much about me as if you were my sister." She drew a deep breath. "And I have to start with my mother. She was kind and funny and she always made me feel safe. That was important to her but I didn't realize why until I…"
"GOOD GOD, THEY'VE BEEN TALKING for over an hour." Grady's gaze was on Megan and Renata, who were now sitting on a park bench several yards ahead of them. "What the devil are they saying?"
"I wouldn't presume to guess," Harley said. "And I'm completely without curiosity." He gave him a sly glance. "But I'm sure it's driving you crazy. You have to be in control and it's very hard when you're shoved out of the picture. However, I'd bet that Renata Wilger is proving to be a hard nut to crack. Megan is probably doing well to keep her from running off. I'm surprised she's being this patient."
Grady wasn't surprised. Megan was volatile in some areas, but she could be completely focused. "She wants the Ledger and Renata is the key. She's not going to let her walk away. What do we know about her background?"
"Father and mother both dead. Her father was German and her mother was a U.S. citizen. She spent most of her childhood in Boston with her mother. No brothers or sisters. She's been pretty much alone since she was thirteen except for a distant cousin, Mark Altman, who took her in for the holidays when the schools were closed. She's evidently on the genius level and got all the scholarships going. She received her doctorate in finance from Harvard two years ago and took a job with a brokerage firm, with whom she's been interning since she was sixteen. She's totally focused and been on the fast track with them." He paused. "It's going to be rough on her if she has to abandon the job and go on the run."
"It will be worse if Molino gets his hands on her," Grady said. "What about this cousin? Can Molino use him to get to her?"
"He'd have a hard time. Mark Altman was an agent for the Mossad, the Israeli secret service, before he retired." He shook his head ruefully. "And I have an idea he taught our Renata a good many things books couldn't teach her. She's a lethal little scorpion."
"I imagine those lessons could be the most valuable she'll ever learn. Was her father Jewish?"
"Yes. His grandparents were in the concentration camp at Auschwitz and most of the family immigrated to Israel after the war. He stayed in Munich but remained close to the family in Israel."
"Any family connection with Edmund Gillem?"
"Not as far as I know. Give me a break. I haven't had a chance to do any in-depth probes." His gaze went back to the two women. "But Megan may be doing it for me."
"Don't count on it. Megan seems to be doing all the talking right now." But even as he spoke Megan and Renata Wilger stood up and were coming down the path toward them. "At least your scorpion isn't running the other way."
But the expressions on both women's faces were wary, he noticed. Not hostile, not friendly, wary.
"She's not going to let us have the Ledger," Megan said. "But she's kindly consented to let us try to save her neck."
"I can save my own neck," Renata said. "But she said you were after Molino and I can't do that alone." She stared at Grady. "I want Molino dead. He has to die. I'll do everything I can to help make that happen. But if I believe that the Ledger is in any danger, I'm gone."
"Will you stay at the hotel where we can keep an eye on you?" Harley asked.
She shook her head. "But I'll be in touch."
"Do you have friends you can stay with, Renata?"
"Are you joking?" She shook her head. "If I stayed with them, I wouldn't be a true friend. Edmund told me years ago that he was going to give me the guardianship of the Ledger if things went wrong for him. He'd been watching me since I was a little girl. He'd stayed with us every time he came to Munich and it was like having a big brother. I thought he was just my friend Mark's friend, but then he told me I was going to be the Keeper. He said I was perfect. I had no family except Mark and he was pretty safe. I was such a bookworm that I didn't have time to make many friends. After he told me that I was going to take over the Ledger, I let those drift away." She turned away. "Don't worry, I've been preparing for this for a long time. I'll call you tomorrow after I'm settled." She didn't wait for a reply but walked down the path toward the park gates.
"What the hell," Megan murmured as Renata disappeared from view. "She gave up any friends she had because she knew she was going to have to shoulder the responsibility for the Ledger? She couldn't have been much more than a kid."
"Gillem must have really brainwashed her," Harley said.
She whirled on him. "He did not. He wouldn't do that. He cared about her. I know he did."
"Okay. Okay." He held up his hands defensively. "Just a comment."
"She had to want to protect the Ledger as much as he did. And it had to be hard for him to put her at risk." Megan started toward the park gates. "Evidently their whole world revolved around that damn Ledger."
"And still does," Grady said as he followed her. "And it seems that our world is beginning to be a mirror image. Coming, Harley?"
"Not yet. I'm going to give Renata a few more minutes and then go after her."
"What?"
"I planted a bug in her jacket on the way here." He took out a miniscule receiver from his pocket. "I originally meant to use it at her apartment but I didn't want to take a chance on her walking away from us into the sunset. I don't trust her."
"I spent a long time convincing her that she was safe with us," Megan said. "I'm not going to be pleased with you if she finds that bug and gets pissed."
"You'd like it less if she decided to take off and we didn't know where she was." Harley moved toward the gate. "Trust me. I'll be careful."
RENATA FLIPPED OPEN HER CELL PHONE as soon as she got into her car. Another moment later she had reached Mark in Berlin. "I had to kill a man tonight. Molino knows I have the Ledger. Megan Blair came after me and that tipped him. I'm on the run."
"Megan Blair…" Mark repeated thoughtfully. "You said she might be coming after you."
"It was one of three possible scenarios I ran. This result depended if she came together with Grady. She did. She wants to use the Ledger to trap Molino."
Mark chuckled. "Incredible. But, at least, she's got her goals right. Can you find a way to use her?"
"Maybe." She was silent a moment. "She's a Listener, Mark. She was with Edmund at the end. It was… bad."
"We suspected as much."
"But I didn't know." She tried to keep her voice steady. "She said… he prayed for me."
"He was praying that you'd be strong enough to keep the Ledger safe."
"I don't think so."
"Renata."
"I'm okay. It just came as a shock." She cleared her throat. "And you know I'll always keep the Ledger safe."
"Then find a way to use Megan Blair. Molino's coming too close."
"She's family, Mark."
"And this is Molino, Renata."
He was right, of course. Megan Blair had already jeopardized Renata's safety and the safety of the Ledger by coming here. She had to ignore her instincts to protect family members. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made. "I know we have to get him. I won't fail you."
"It's not me you'd fail, it's the family. I'm sure you'd never do that. Call me if you need any help. I'll come to you through hell and high water." He hung up the phone.
Yes, she knew Mark would always be there to help, she thought as she hung up. But his solutions were sometimes quick and deadly and she was reluctant to turn him loose on Megan Blair.
She'd try to work her way through it herself first.
IT WAS CLOSE TO FOUR A.M. WHEN Megan and Grady got back to the hotel.
"You can only sleep for a couple hours," Grady said as Megan moved across the sitting room toward her bedroom. "Renata bought us some time by ridding us of Falbon, but we don't know how much information he gave Molino. If Molino knows we're in Munich, then we'd better move out of the city."
"Not without Renata Wilger," Megan said. "I won't leave her. We can find another place here in Munich." She opened the door. "You wanted the Ledger. We're going to get it."
"And you want to protect Edmund Gillem's little protegee."
"He prayed for her," she said. "His prayers are going to be answered." The door closed behind her.
Lord, she was tired, she thought as she moved toward the bathroom. Harley's call had woken her from a dead sleep and she was now even more emotionally frayed than she had been before. The Ledger was beginning to take center stage in her mind as it was in the minds of the people around her. It was starting to take on mythical proportions and it was only a book, dammit. People shouldn't be willing to die for a book.
And people shouldn't be willing to kill for a book as Molino was doing.
What was she thinking? No matter how she tried to minimize the Ledger, it clearly had an impact on the lives of thousands of people or Edmund wouldn't have been willing to die for it.
She washed her face and started to undress. Stop thinking about it. Grab a few hours sleep and then get ready to move on.
No, before she went back to bed she'd call and check on Phillip again. It was probably stupid to keep hoping that there would be a change but she wouldn't give up.
Pandora had left hope in that box when she'd let all the other spirits out.
Well, she wasn't Pandora, she wouldn't be a Pandora, but she'd cling to that hope for Phillip with all her strength.