CHARLIE SMITH HAD THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL. DIANE McCoy had briefed him well, telling him to wait in the barn until both of their visitors were inside, then quietly assume a position here, in the front parlor. McCoy would then enter the house and announce her presence, then they would deal with the problem.
"Drop the guns," he ordered.
Metal clattered across the wood floor.
Smith wanted to know, "You were the two in Charlotte?"
The woman nodded. Stephanie Nelle. Magellan Billet. Justice Department. McCoy had told him their names and positions.
"How'd you know I'd be at Rowland's place?" He was genuinely curious.
"You're predictable, Charlie," Nelle said.
He doubted that. Still, they had been there. Twice.
"I've known about you for a long time," Edwin Davis said to him. "Not your name, or what you look like, or where you live. But I knew you were out there, working for Ramsey."
"You like my little show at Biltmore?"
"You're quite the pro," Nelle said. "That round went to you."
"I take pride in my work. Unfortunately, I'm between jobs, and employers, at the moment."
He stepped forward a few feet, into the foyer.
"You realize," Nelle said, "that people know we're here."
He chuckled. "That's not what she told me." He motioned toward McCoy. "She knows the president is suspicious of her. He's the one who sent you here-to trap her. Did Daniels mention me by any chance?"
Nelle gave a surprised look.
"I didn't think so. Just supposed to be you three. Come to talk it out?"
"That's what you told him?" Nelle asked McCoy.
"It's the truth. Daniels sent you to get me. The president can't afford for word of this to get out in public. Too many questions. That's why you're the whole damn army."
McCoy paused.
"Like I said, the Lone Ranger and Tonto."
MALONE HAD NO IDEA WHERE THE MAZE OF CORRIDORS LED. HE had no intention of doing what he'd told Christl, so he said to Dorothea, "Come with me."
They retraced their steps and reentered the bath hall.
Three other doorways opened from the outer walls. He handed her the flashlight. "See what's in those rooms."
She gave him a puzzled look, then he saw realization dawn inside her. She was quick, he'd give her that. The first one revealed nothing, but at the second doorway she motioned for him to come.
He approached and saw Ulrich Henn, dead on the floor.
"The fourth shot," he said. "Though it was surely the first one Christl fired, since he represented the greatest threat. Especially after the note your mother sent. She figured you three were in league to get her."
"The bitch," Dorothea muttered. "She killed them both."
"And she means to kill you, too."
"And you?"
He shrugged. "I can't imagine why I'd be allowed to leave."
He'd let his guard down last night, caught up in the moment. Danger and adrenaline had that effect. Sex had always been a way to ease his fears-which had gotten him into trouble years ago, when he first started with the Magellan Billet.
But not this time. He stared back out into the bath hall, deciding what to do next. Lots happening fast. He needed- Something smashed into the side of his head.
Pain jolted through him. The hall winked in and out.
Another blow. Harder.
His arms trembled. His fists clenched.
Then his mind lost all awareness.
STEPHANIE ASSESSED THEIR SITUATION. DANIELS HAD SENT THEM here with precious little information. But the intelligence business was all about improvising. Time to practice what she preached.
"Ramsey was lucky to have you," she said. "Admiral Sylvian's death was a work of art."
"I thought so," Smith said.
"Bottomed out his blood pressure. Ingenious-"
"That how you killed Millicent Senn?" Davis interrupted. "Black woman. Navy lieutenant in Brussels. Fifteen years ago."
Smith seemed to be searching for the memory. "Yeah. Same way. But that was a different time, different continent."
"Same me," Davis said.
"You were there?"
Davis nodded.
"What was she to you?"
"More important, what was she to Ramsey?"
"Got me. I never asked. Just did what he paid me to do."
"Did Ramsey pay you to kill him?" she asked.
Smith chuckled. "If I hadn't, I would have been dead soon. Whatever he was planning, he didn't want me around, so I shot him." Smith motioned with the rifle. "He's back there in the bedroom, a nice clean hole through his no-good brain."
"Got a little surprise for you, Charlie," Stephanie said.
He threw her a quizzical look.
"That body ain't there."
DOROTHEA SLAMMED THE HEAVY STEEL FLASHLIGHT INTO THE side of Malone's skull a final time.
He shrank to the floor.
She grabbed his weapon.
This was going to end between her and Christl.
Right now.