Any Minute Now (46 page)

Authors: Eric Van Lustbader

BOOK: Any Minute Now

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Whitman smiled. “I thought I might find you here.”

“Knowing you,” she said, “I don't think it was anything but a sure thing.” She ducked her head. “I've been coming here almost every night sinceâ¦” Her voice trailed off, heading for a sob.

“Why here,” he said, “rather than her place?”

“I couldn't bear to be there.” She wiped away a solitary tear. “Not after what happened.”

“Thank you,” he said, startling her, “for coming to her defense.”

Her head turned toward him. “How did you know?”

He smiled, both at her and past her. “She was a very special person.”

“I miss her terribly.” A tentative smile broke out around the corners of her mouth. “Like during wartime.”

He nodded. “I understand.”

With anyone else, Julie would have assumed bullshit, but not with Whitman. She was certain he knew, just as she was certain he might be the only person alive that she could trust absolutely. “Knowing her changed me.”

“Sydny had a knack for that.”

“I'll be forever in her debt.”

Whitman considered a moment, as outside the nighttime world slid silently by them. Then he said, “If she were here, she would be angry with you for saying that.”

Again, he had startled her. “Really? Why?”

“She'd want you to celebrate the change, not feel any obligation for it. A gift, she believed, is as much a pleasure for the presenter as it is for the receiver.”

Julie wiped away another tear. “Dammit!” she said crossly. “Why don't I see any tears in your eyes?”

“I do my mourning in private.”

“Men,” Julie said, turning away to stare out the window, but it was clear by her tone that she was far from displeased. “Will you drop me off at home?”

“Later,” he said. “If you wish it.”

She turned back to him. “You mean I may not?” Her tone was now light, flirty, but not sexual.

He smiled.

“You should do that more,” she said.

“What?”

“A smile becomes you.”

*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *

“This building,” Julie said, as they pulled up in front of Charlie's place, “it looks like something out of a Hitchcock film.”

“
Vertigo
,” Whitman said.

“Of course!” She seemed as delighted as a child, staring at it as they climbed out of the car and went up the front walk.

Upstairs, the door to Charlie's apartment stood open. Charlie, Flix, and Lucy were waiting for them amid a celebratory atmosphere. There were drinks and platters of snacks to eat, even a balloon or two bumping up against the ceiling. And from the stereo speakers Hoagy Carmichael was playing “Star Dust.”

“Is it someone's birthday?” Julie said, as Whitman introduced her around.

“Sort of,” Flix said.

“Kind of,” Charlie said.

“But not really,” Whitman added.

Charlie laughed at Julie's expression of bewilderment, and fixed her a gin and tonic, after asking her for her choice.

“You're here,” Whitman said, when they had all gathered in a loose circle, “to bear witness.”

“Like me,” Lucy said.

“To what?” Julie looked from one to another.

“A naming ceremony,” Charlie said. “We have decidedâ”

“
You
decided,” Whitman said. He and Charlie were standing so close together their shoulders touched. For the first time in a long, long while he felt at ease. He was here while others took credit for bringing the treasonous Alchemists to justice. That was the way he wanted it. He shied away from fame, the limelight, being known. He lived in the shadows at the edge of the world, and he was smart enough to understand that was where he belonged.

Charlie laughed. “Okay, okay,
I
decided to give our team a new name. Whit is Foxtrot because”âshe indicated the speakersâ“what other dance could you choose that would please both Hoagy and Whit?

“I”âshe lifted up her old-fashioned glass of brown liquidâ“am Whiskey.

“And Flix here is Tango.”

“Yeah,” he said in mock horror, “but the Tango is the national dance of Argentina.”

With a look of surprise, he accepted the envelope Charlie handed him.

“It's a voucher,” she said, “for a dozen lessons at Tango Mercurio.”

“Wow, okay.” Flix shook his head. “Sure. Why not?” He looked at her gravely. “
Gracias, guapa
.”

“
De nada, compadre
.”

Flix gave her a nod so formal it was almost a bow.

“Anyway,” Charlie said, “did you want us to call you Mexican Hat Dance?”

Flix threw his head back and laughed. “Then we wouldn't be Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot.”

“Because,” Charlie said, lifting her glass to meet those of the others, “
what the fuck
surely defines us!”

And they drank as one, while the gorgeous melody of “Star Dust” swelled and swelled, for that moment filling their entire world.

A moment later, there came a pounding on one wall. “Hey,” a voice from the adjoining apartment yelled, “normal people are trying to sleep! Shut it down!”

“Later!” Julie called giddily.

“Never!” Lucy added.

“I'll call the freaking authorities!” the disembodied voice screamed.

“We
are
the freaking authorities!” Whitman, Charlie, and Flix cried in unison.

BY
ERIC VAN LUSTBADER

THE JACK McCLURE/ALLI CARSON NOVELS

First Daughter
(2008)

Last Snow
(2010)

Blood Trust
(2011)

Father Night
(2012)

Beloved Enemy
(2013)

THE PEARL SAGA

The Ring of Five Dragons
(2001)

The Veil of a Thousand Tears
(2002)

Mistress of the Pearl
(2004)

THE SUNSET WARRIOR CYCLE

The Sunset Warrior
(1977)

Shallows of Night
(1978)

Dai-San
(1978)

Beneath an Opal Moon
(1980)

Dragons on the Sea of Night
(1997)

THE CHINA MAROC SERIES

Jian
(1986)

Shan
(1988)

THE NICHOLAS LINNEAR/NINJA CYCLE

The Ninja
(1980)

The Miko
(1984)

White Ninja
(1990)

The Kaisho
(1993)

Floating City
(1994)

Second Skin
(1995)

THE JASON BOURNE NOVELS

The Bourne Legacy
(2004)

The Bourne Betrayal
(2007)

The Bourne Sanction
(2008)

The Bourne Deception
(2009)

The Bourne Objective
(2010)

The Bourne Dominion
(2011)

OTHERS

Sirens
(1981)

Black Heart
(1983)

Zero
(1987)

French Kiss
(1989)

Angel Eyes
(1991)

Batman: The Last Angel
(1992)

Black Blade
(1993)

Dark Homecoming
(1997)

Pale Saint
(1999)

Art Kills
(2002)

The Testament
(2006)

Any Minute Now
(2016)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric Van Lustbader
is the author of many
New York Times
bestselling thrillers, including
First Daughter, Last Snow,
and
Blood Trust
. Lustbader was chosen by Robert Ludlum's estate to continue the Jason Bourne series, and his Bourne novels include
The Bourne Legacy
and
The Bourne Betrayal
. He and his wife live on the South Fork of Long Island. You can sign up for email updates
here
.