Aces High (17 page)

Hagen wondered if perhaps he had been too hasty in deciding to raise racehorses. If he could manage to entice Prescott away from Daniel, and with that promising beginning rebuild his organization into what it had been…It wouldn't hurt, he decided, to test the waters with Prescott. One never knew, after all.

Hagen stood near the Ferris wheel, but at such an angle that he wouldn't be visible to a watcher on the fun house roof. He looked around, absently taking note of the costumed employees; there seemed to be more of them than usual, and he thought indulgently that they no doubt wanted a glimpse of the governor. He consulted his pocket watch, his cupid's lips pursing slightly, then looked at the Ferris wheel.

There had to be an accomplice, of course, or else how could Adrian be certain the governor would be seated in the correct car? He eyed the operator narrowly. A young man who looked cheerful and not in the least dangerous. But then, how many of them really looked dangerous?

Prescott had already disappeared around the fun house, and Hagen checked his watch again. The governor, he decided, should be coming into the park about now. He looked in the right direction and, within minutes, saw a man in a dark suit surrounded by unobtrusive bodyguards; the crowd milling about hardly noticed.

Hagen looked back at his watch until the sweep hand touched a number, then snapped it closed and returned it to the pocket of his vest. And, right on schedule, he saw Prescott coming back around the fun house with one hand on the shoulder of the man in front of him. The man's hands were behind his back, and he looked subdued.

Strolling toward them, Hagen studied Adrian curiously. So, he thought, the sketches had been right. A big man, over six feet, with prematurely silver hair. A very big man, in fact, as large as Prescott. In fact—Hagen stopped abruptly as the two men approached, and he had the uncertain sensation of the earth shifting beneath his feet.

But that was nonsense. Firmly he said, “Luther Adrian, I hereby arrest you for the crimes of international terrorism.” He blinked, staring at his captured killer. In a totally different voice he said, “What the hell—”

“He really doesn't look much like Adrian,” a cheerful voice said from off to the right. “It's just a wig, you know, and makeup.”

Hagen turned his head slowly and stared. There were two clowns with unpainted faces. He knew those faces. Josh Long held a whirring video camera on one shoulder, and Raven had spoken. Still completely blank, Hagen looked back at his captured killer. Skye Prescott was standing beside him with his arms folded and a smile of unholy amusement on his face—and the killer, whose hands were clearly unbound, was taking off his silver hair. The killer, Hagen realized, looked an awful lot like Skye Prescott.

“This damned wig itches like hell,” he complained. He sounded like Prescott too, but he drawled. He looked at Hagen and said helpfully, “I'm not Adrian.”

Hagen found breath. “The governor—”

“The governor isn't here either,” Josh Long told him, video camera still whirring. “The gentleman you took to be the governor is one of the hotel waiters. His bodyguards were busboys.”

“The bomb—” Hagen tried again.

“Modeling clay,” Skye Prescott told him gently. “You should have gotten an analysis, Hagen. That was careless of you.”

Raven strolled toward him, smiling. “What you don't seem to understand, maestro, is that you've been royally conned. Luther Adrian was never here. In fact, a couple of Daniel's men have him in custody some miles from here. With a little help from us, Skye tracked him down weeks ago.”

Hagen had totally lost command of the situation, but he wasn't about to accept it. With a fine show of rage, he roared, “How dare you people interfere with a federal operation!”

“Pretty when he's angry, isn't he?” a new voice commented with satisfaction.

Hagen turned his head slowly. They were all there, he realized. All of them. They had been practically under his nose for two weeks, all wearing costumes. There was Rafferty Lewis, and Zach Steele—the one who had just spoken—and Lucas Kendrick, all accompanied by their smiling wives. There was Kelsey. And Derek Ross, with a petite brunette who was clearly his wife. Hagen looked back at the two standing before him, and the bogus Adrian spoke.

“Twins,” he murmured. “In fact, you've been calling me Skye for the past week. But I'm Dane.” He slipped an arm around the giggling blonde dressed as a chorus dancer who had come out of nowhere to join him. “This is Jenny. My wife.”

“I hope you two are quitting,” Daniel said severely as he, Gigi, and Katrina joined the group. “You've blown your cover.”

Skye pulled Katrina into his arms. “We are.” He looked at Hagen with bright eyes. “You know Katrina, of course,” he said. “She's my wife.”

Gigi grinned. “Is she? I must admit, I wondered about that.”

Hagen glared at her. “You
knew
about this?”

“Of course I did,” Gigi told him calmly.

Hagen tended to respect deviousness, but he still wasn't prepared to go down without a fight. “You've stabbed me in the back,” he raged at her.

“You have used that line before,” she observed musingly.

What Hagen might have said to that, they were destined never to know. A sudden awareness made him turn his head slowly and stare at Josh Long. “You're taping this,” he said in a hollow voice of realization.

“Naturally.” Raven waited until her husband had turned off the camera and lowered it to his side, then said to Hagen, “I read somewhere that a former director of the FBI kept secret tapes and files in case he needed weapons against possible enemies.” She smiled. “Daniel isn't that ruthless. So we'll hold the tape, just to make sure you stop using people like pawns.”

For the first time, Hagen realized that Raven knew what he had planned to do. He cleared his throat and shot an accusing look at Daniel, but that distinguished gentleman shook his head.

“No, they didn't find out from me. Once they knew, I just confirmed it. You went too far when you tried to kidnap Long to try to persuade his friends to find Adrian for you.”

“Much,
much
too far,” Raven said sweetly. “Try anything like that again, and we'll hear of it. You know we will. And we'll release our tape to the media.”

“Blackmail!” Hagen said bitterly.

Josh looked at his wife with an expression of mild surprise. “How about that? He understands the concept.”

Hagen drew the shreds of his dignity around him and took half a dozen steps away from them. Then he stopped and turned back around, staring at Gigi. “Well?” he snapped.

She was standing with her hands linked before her, her expression serene. “Well what, John?” she asked gently.

“Are you coming with me?”

She sighed soulfully. “You still want me?”

His eyes narrowed. “Gigi,” he began awfully.

Gigi chuckled and went to him. Slipping her hand into the crook of his arm, she said consolingly, “Never mind. We'll raise horses, and you shall enjoy yourself planning strategy for the races.”

He led her away, and it was only when they were out of earshot that he said judiciously, “They did that very well. It's a pity they have so many scruples.”

She smiled at him. “Yes, John, it certainly is.”

Raven looked up at her husband. “John?”

“It does seem a prosaic name for someone like Hagen,” Josh agreed dryly.

A gleam entered Raven's eyes. “And speaking of names.” She took his hand and they joined the others, who were gathered in a loose group near the fun house. “Kelsey?”

Kelsey took one look at his ex-partner and decided he didn't like the expression in her eyes. “What?” he said warily.

“Your other name,” she said gently.

He glanced around to find everyone watching and waiting, curiosity on every face. Looking back at Raven, he half closed his eyes and muttered, “I suppose if I don't tell you, that high-handed husband of yours will dig out my birth certificate.”

“We've been very patient,” Josh told him.

Kelsey, realizing there was no escape, drew a deep breath and said imploringly, “Look, Elizabeth didn't even know she'd be Mrs. Kelsey until we signed the certificate!”

Raven's expression was stern. “Give!”

Kelsey, who was wearing the garb of a Mississippi riverboat captain, shoved his hat back on his rust-colored hair and glared at her. But, after a moment, he said explosively, “It's Tristan!”

Losing control of her expression, Raven exclaimed, “Tristan…”

Somewhat desperately Kelsey said, “He was a knight at King Arthur's Round Table.”

The others lost control then, but it was Teddy who found the perfect comment. Delightedly she exclaimed, “A dragon slayer!”

Just over a year later, Raven Long stood at the bedroom window of a secluded country house in New York State and gazed out on the moonlit night. She was waiting for her husband, who was down the hall persuading their five-month-old son it was time to sleep. It was a nightly ritual, and Josh was convinced that it was because their black-haired, bright-eyed son had somehow discovered that his name—Devlin—meant “fierce valor.”

Kelsey had suggested that the child was just mishearing his name, that was all. He heard “devil.” Raven had told him he was a fine one to talk of names, and Kelsey had grinned at her.

Raven was feeling content. She hadn't really known contentment until she had met Josh, but these last few years had convinced her it wasn't an illusion. She was her husband's partner and best friend as well as wife and lover, and her life was wonderfully complete.

“He'll rule the world one day,” Josh said suddenly as he came up behind her and slipped his arms around her. “And God help the world.”

She laughed. “And you want another one,” she teased.

Somewhat wistfully Josh said, “I'd like a girl.”

Raven turned in his embrace to smile up at him. “Yes, I know. If Maggie and Rebecca were the daughters of anyone but Zach, you probably would have kidnapped them.”

“Maybe it's just something about twins,” he mused.

Raven laughed again. “Do you realize we're in the middle of our own baby boom? There must have been a weird alignment of the planets or something.”

“Or something,” Josh said with a grin.

“Think about it,” she insisted. “Rafferty and Sarah already had Patrick, but in the last year, every one of us has become parents. Kelsey and Elizabeth had Steven just a few weeks after we got revenge on the maestro. Then Teddy had the twins, we had Devlin, and not a month later Luc and Kyle had Victoria. Derek and Shannon had Amanda two months ago—”

“And three weeks ago,” Josh finished, “Jenny and Katrina both gave birth within an hour of each other.”

Raven giggled. “I'll bet the hospital was going nuts. If Skye and Katrina hadn't been visiting Belle Retour because their house was in a shambles from the remodeling…You have to admit, the timing was perfect. The oddest thing of all is that although Dane and Jenny had planned Nicholas, Katrina swears she was on the pill when Adam was conceived. She says it was just
like
Skye to get her pregnant despite modern science.”

“Reminds me of the old joke,” Josh said.

“About the baby being born with a smile on his face and a pill clutched in one hand?” Raven smiled at him, then cleared her throat. “Speaking of which—our genes appear to produce determined offspring, darling. We'd better name this one Alexandra; she can defend the world from her brother.”

Josh blinked. After a moment he said cautiously, “Caviar again?”

“No.” Raven looked bemused. “Licorice.”

Some time later, having been carried to bed by her adored and adoring husband, Raven said thoughtfully, “Definitely a weird alignment of the planets.”

“Or something,” Josh agreed tenderly, holding his wife close.

Stealing Shadows

Hiding in the Shadows

Out of the Shadows

Touching Evil

Whisper of Evil

Sense of Evil

Hunting Fear

Chill of Fear

Sleeping with Fear

Blood Dreams

Blood Sins

Blood Ties

Once a Thief

Always a Thief

The Haunting of Josie

Amanda

After Caroline

Finding Laura

Haunting Rachel

On Wings of Magic

C. J.'s Fate

Something Different

Pepper's Way

If There Be Dragons

Illegal Possession

Rebel Waltz

Larger than Life

Time After Time

In Serena's Web

Raven on the Wing

Rafferty's Wife

Zach's Law

The Fall of Lucas Kendrick

Unmasking Kelsey

Outlaw Derek

Shades of Gray

Captain's Paradise

It Takes a Thief

Aces High

Golden Threads

The Wizard of Seattle

The Delaney Christmas Carol

PHOTO: © SIGRID ESTRADA

K
AY
H
OOPER
, who has more than thirteen million copies of her books in print worldwide, has won numerous awards and high praise for her novels. She lives in North Carolina.

kayhooper.com

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