Long After Midnight (21 page)

“You were only gone—Oh, what the hell.” He threw himself into a chair. “Get it out of your system.”

“I can’t.” He poured coffee into two mugs, brought one to Kate, and pushed her down in the other chair. He took a sip from his own cup before he said, “Not without breaking your neck. Why are we here?”

“Because Noah would want you here,” Tony said. “He came to Washington because I’d drawn up some documents for him to sign.”

“The patents,” Kate said. “I told him I didn’t want them changed. I told him—”

“One document was the patents.” Tony looked at Seth. “The other document was a new will leaving all his possessions, including RU2, to you, Seth.”

Seth froze. “What?”

“You heard me. He decided he hadn’t made adequate provisions for protecting RU2 in case something happened to him. So he left it in your hands.”

“
My
hands?”

“I told him he was crazy. I told him you were the last person he should trust with anything important.” He smiled crookedly. “He wouldn’t listen. Noah never listened to me.”

“
Goddamn
him.”

Kate stared at Seth in shock.

“I won’t take it.” He hurled the coffee mug against the far wall. “He can take his RU2 and shove it. He couldn’t catch me in that trap when he was alive, and I won’t let him do it to me now.”

“A nice adult display of gratitude,” Tony said sourly. “Now why don’t you pull out a gun and shoot somebody?”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“Well, I did what Noah would have expected of me.” He leaned back in the chair. “What do you want to do?”

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to find Ishmaru and gut him.”

“About RU2?”

“I don’t want it. I won’t take it.”

“You mean you don’t want the responsibility.”

“Can you blame him?” Kate said. “For God’s sake, find a way to let him out. He doesn’t have to die too.”

“The will’s iron tight. He’s got it whether he wants it or not.” Tony smiled. “If I’d known you’d be this upset, I wouldn’t have argued with Noah.”

“I’ll sign it over to Kate.”

“You can’t. It’s yours for life.” Tony was obviously beginning to enjoy himself. “I guess that means you inherited me too. What are your instructions? Shall I call a board meeting to—”

“Damn you to hell.” Seth tore open the door and slammed it behind him.

“Drink your coffee,” Tony told Kate. “He’ll be back once he cools down. Jesus, it felt good to needle him for a change.” His smile faded. “I guess that’s pretty immature. Noah’s dead. I shouldn’t be—” He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m human.”

“Yes.” She lifted the cup to her lips and found her hand was shaking. She carefully set the cup on the table beside her. “Why Seth? Why did Noah will everything to Seth?”

“That’s what I asked him. He said Seth could do the job.” He grimaced. “If he doesn’t decide to sell RU2 to some Colombian drug lord.”

“He wouldn’t do that. He blew up the cabin to make sure no one would get hold of it.”

“Who the hell knows what Seth will do? He’s always been a wild card.” He shook his head. “It was a mistake. Everything’s falling apart. Noah’s dead and we’re helpless. RU2 is heading for the trash heap.”

She jumped to her feet. She couldn’t handle this and she couldn’t sit here any longer. She felt as if she were being smothered by the heavy blanket of his words. “I need some air. Tell Seth I went for a walk.”

“I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t very tactful. I’m having trouble dealing with—”

The door closed behind her, shutting out his words. She drew a deep breath, but it didn’t help. She still felt the heaviness dragging her down. She jammed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and started walking toward the highway, her mind spinning.

Noah’s dead.

RU2 is heading for the trash heap.

Ishmaru.

Joshua.

Seth is a wild card.

We’re helpless.

Helpless . . .

Two hours later Seth met Kate as she was returning to the motel.

Relief rushed through him. “I can see how you’d have trouble taking Tony for very long, but couldn’t you let someone know where you were going?”

“I didn’t know.” She shot him a cool look. “And I didn’t see you handing out maps when you stormed out in your little tantrum.”

“It wasn’t a tantrum. I was—” He shrugged. “Okay, I lost it. Tit for tat. But you should have—”

“You said it was safe. Was that a lie?”

“No, but you never—” He stopped, studying her. When he had last seen her, she had been wooden, lethargic, almost dazed. She was not like that now. Her eyes were bright, her lips firm, and her manner cutting sharp. It was as if a wind had blown over her, clearing all the cloudiness away.

But leaving what behind?

“For how long?” she asked.

“What?” He was so absorbed by the change in her that he’d lost track of the conversation. Safe. She was asking how long they’d be safe. “I don’t think we left any trail, but there are usually loose ends somewhere. A few days maybe.”

“And then we run again?” She emphatically shook her head. “No way. I’m through scurrying and hiding and standing by and watching Ishmaru kill people I care about. I’m tired of that asshole threatening my family and not being able to do anything about it.”

He smiled slowly. “You’re angry. I haven’t seen you this angry since that first day at the cabin.”

“I wasn’t angry then. Not like I am now.” She walked faster, her words coming fast and vibrating with emotion. “I
won’t
be helpless. Tony said we were helpless, but that’s a lie. You’re only helpless if you give up. I’m not giving up and neither are you. Do you hear me? You won’t sell RU2 to some scum of a drug lord and you won’t run away from this.”

He lifted a brow. “And what would you do if I did?”

She stared at him. “Haunt you, hurt you, whatever is necessary. I won’t let you go. I need you. I’m not going to be a victim anymore.”

“Even if it means dragging me kicking and screaming along with you.”

“I
won’t
be a victim,” she repeated.

He considered her for a moment. “You need a shower and a few hours’ rest. We’ll talk when you’re not so upset.”

“I’m not upset. Everything’s crystal clear for the first time since this started.”

“We’ll talk later.”

She shrugged. “It won’t make any difference.” She walked on ahead of him as they entered the motel parking lot.

He watched her moving purposefully, back straight, stride strong.

Strong and bold and burning bright.

No, it wouldn’t make any difference. Not to the Kate he was looking at now. No softness, no uncertainty, just rage and determination.

And Seth knew from experience there was no more lethal combination.

ELEVEN

C
ome in.” Kate was toweling her hair dry when Seth knocked on the door six hours later.

“I told you to lock your door,” Seth said as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

“I locked it while I napped. I knew you’d be coming soon, and I was in the shower.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“Okay.” She threw the towel aside and ran her fingers through her damp hair. “I’ll remember next time.”

“You’re being very meek.”

“I’m being sensible. You know more about this. I’ll learn from you. I told you I needed you.” She sat down on the bed and drew her terry robe closer about her. “I’m damned well not going to do anything that will get me killed.” She met his gaze. “But I’m not hiding anymore.”

“What about Joshua and Phyliss? Are you going to risk them?”

“Of course not. I’ve been thinking . . . Noah said that they were most at risk when they were with me.”

“That’s true.”

“Then if I become visible, they can’t be anywhere near me.”

He shook his head. “You won’t allow Joshua out of your sight.”

Her hand clenched on the tie of her robe. “I will if it will save his life.”

“It’s not necessary,” he said roughly, “I’ll get Ishmaru.”

“And after you kill him, Ogden will send someone else. I want this over. We have to go public with RU2.”

“You go public. I don’t want anything to do with it.”

“No, you just want to go and gut Ishmaru and then disappear into the sunset. I’m not going to let you do it.”

“And how are you going to stop me?”

“I’m not going to have to stop you. You like Joshua. You’re not going to let him die. You’re not that callous.”

“I let Noah die. He was my best friend.”

“And you’re so angry with yourself that you want to kick everyone in sight.”

“Maybe.”

“Not maybe.” She shook her head wearily. “Look, I don’t care what you do after RU2 is accepted and my family is safe. You can go to Tibet or back down to South America and get scalped by a headhunter. That’s your choice. I just have to have your help now. Will you give it to me?”

“I’ve been to Tibet. It doesn’t appeal to me.”

“Will you help me?”

He looked down at the floor. “Since you put your plea in such caring terms, I don’t see how I can refuse.”

Relief surged through her. She hadn’t been able to believe Seth would abandon them, but she couldn’t be sure. As Tony had said, he was a wild card.

“But Ishmaru is mine. No questions, no arguments. I’m taking him down.”

“No arguments.” She shuddered. “I stopped you once when you had a chance to kill him. I wish I’d let you do it.”

“It was my mistake. I knew it was the wrong thing to do when I left you.” He shrugged. “But you were already scared of me, and I knew Noah was more afraid of not getting what he needed from you than he was of Ishmaru.”

“He told you that?” she whispered.

He nodded. “He told me everything that was going on with RU2. It was the intelligent thing to do. Keeping your allies in the dark is a good way to get them axed.” He moved over to the coffeemaker on the bureau. “Coffee?”

She nodded absently. “Then you know everything that Noah knew.” A sudden thought occurred to her. “About me too?”

“Most things. About your background, the way you thought.” He didn’t look at her as he poured coffee into the mug. “Don’t worry, he didn’t tell me how you were in bed.”

Shock went through her. “He told you he went to bed with me?”

“Not exactly. I just assumed . . .” He shrugged. “You were a matched set. Throw a man and woman together and you get combustion.”

“Well, the combustion never occurred. We were too busy to—It would have gotten in the way.”

“RU2 again. How clinical and practical of both of you.” He smiled. “You know, Noah was a damn fool.”

She felt a ripple of disturbance. “It wasn’t only Noah’s sole decision.”

“But you were alone and vulnerable and not obsessed with RU2. I’d bet a nudge would have sent you over.”

“This is none of your business, Seth.”

“I’d have nudged and damned the consequences.” He moved across the room and handed her the mug. “But then, I’m philosophically opposed to denying myself.”

“Enjoy the moment?”

“Right.”

“Well, Noah had other priorities.”

“I know. Like saving mankind.” He held up his palms and pretended he was weighing. “Saving mankind? Sex?” Suddenly he fell to his knee with his left hand on the floor. “Sorry, Kate.” He sighed. “Sex wins every time.”

She hadn’t smiled since last night, but she found herself smiling now. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I just wanted to establish the fact that I’m not Noah. I’ll never be either a monk or a saint, and I’m definitely not a white hat. Not black either, but maybe a dirty brown.” He sat on the floor and crossed his legs tailor fashion. “I won’t try to spare you or use you, and I’ll be as honest as I can. Which is more than you got from Noah.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“He didn’t tell you that you were wanted for murder in Dandridge.”

“What?”

“The officer in the black-and-white. You were supposed to be unbalanced and angry at the police department because of your ex-husband’s death.”

She shook her head. “That’s crazy.”

“No, it’s a very clever way of keeping you tied up and discredited if you try to go public with RU2. Some nice sums must have changed hands.”

“No one could possibly—Alan must have tried to tell—It doesn’t make sense.”

“The charge wouldn’t hold water, but it’s an obstacle. It makes sense.”

He was right, she realized dazedly. They had done the same thing to Noah after the plant explosions. Implicate the victim—that was their strategy. “How long did Noah know this?”

“Since the night you arrived at the cabin. He needed you to work on RU2, and he was afraid you’d bolt back to Dandridge and try to clear yourself.”

“I might have.” She moistened her lips. “But he had no right to keep it from me. It wasn’t right.”

“He needed you.” He shook his head. “We both loved the bastard, and there’s no use blaming him now. He just got caught up into something that dwarfed everything else around him.” His lips thinned. “He’s even trying to protect it from beyond the grave.”

“Yes.” The shared patent, the will. Seeming acts of kindness and generosity but chaining them both to RU2. Chaining her, at least. She doubted if anything could chain Seth for long. Well, it had to be long enough to make sure Joshua and Phyliss were safe. “I don’t blame him. He meant well.”

“Saint Noah.”

She had called him that, she remembered with a pang. “He was a good man.”

“The best.” He glanced away from her. “But he wasn’t a saint, he was human like the rest of us. He made mistakes.”

“What kind of mistakes?”

“He sat on his hands and waited until Ogden marshaled his forces. Now it’s going to be all the harder for us.”

“We had to complete the formula for RU2.”

“And I could have been in Washington cutting the ground from beneath Ogden.”

“You had to protect Joshua.”

“There were other solutions, safer solutions. Noah just wanted to keep you happy so that you’d work harder. He knew stashing Joshua near you would do that.”

“Safer solutions?”

“We were in the middle of the woods. It’s hard to keep watch over anyone.”

“You did it.”

“But I’m bloody wonderful. It’s not the way I would have handled it, but Noah was running the show. He’s not running it any longer.” His gaze shifted back to her. “And neither are you, Kate. If you want me, it’s got to be my way.”

She stiffened. “The hell it will.”

“I won’t say I won’t consult you. You’re smart and you’re savvy about RU2. I’m just telling you that I won’t take a backseat again.”

He meant it, she realized with frustration. “I don’t like backseats either. I let Noah handle everything and now I find myself wanted for murder and—”

“Choose, Kate.”

She stared at him a long time before she reluctantly nodded. “As long as I can see sense in what you’re doing and it doesn’t threaten my family.”

“Good.” He rose to his feet. “Now get dressed while I go get Tony. We have some strategy to plan if you’re going to go public. It’s not going to be pretty.”

“The apocalypse,” she whispered.

“What?”

“That’s what Noah called it.”

“He tended to be negative after the explosion at his plant.” He moved toward the door. “It’s not the apocalypse.”

“What is it then?”

“Just a war,” he said wearily. “Just another war.”

“You’re going to go public,” Tony repeated. “Without Noah?” He cast a glowering look at Seth. “With him?”

“That’s right,” Kate said. “And we’ll need your help.”

“You’re making a mistake to trust him.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I’ve promised her I won’t sell RU2 to my friendly local drug cartel,” Seth said. “I wonder what put that idea into her head? That sounded remarkably like you, Tony.”

“It was.” He glared at Seth. “You’ve always been bad news.”

“Well, I’m your bad news now. You’ve got to work with me.”

“I don’t have to do shit.”

“You’d rather Noah died for nothing? You’d rather Ishmaru skips away?”

Tony was silent.

“Come on,” Seth said quietly. “Noah was your friend. You may not believe I’m capable of taking Noah’s place, but you know I can get Ishmaru.”

“Maybe.”

Seth stared at him.

“Okay, you’re good at what you do.” Tony shook his head. “What the hell. Things can’t get much worse.”

“I take it that’s an affirmative?”

“What do you want from me?”

“A hell of a lot. First, information. What’s happening with Longworth?”

“I told Noah about the bill he introduced.”

“Nothing else?”

“How the hell do I know? I’ve been occupied for the last twenty-four hours.”

“Fill me in on the patent situation. Have you filed?”

“Not yet. Noah brought me the final procedure when he came to change the patent to include Kate. The documents are in a safe-deposit box.”

“I want you to go back to Washington and file them. Do you have someone in the patent office you can trust to do it confidentially?”

“Hell yes. I have someone in every patent office here and every major country in Europe. Noah had me on the road for the last six months.”

“Why Europe?”

“He knew that it might not be possible to overcome the opposition here. It’s easier to get a drug approved abroad.”

“Then why didn’t he plan to file there?”

“You know Noah. He was patriotic as hell. He wanted the U.S. to have the benefits. It takes years for the FDA to accept foreign drugs.”

“His people . . .” Kate murmured.

“Yeah,” Tony said. “That’s what he said.”

“We’ll file in Europe,” Seth said. “Which country is best?”

“Holland. Amsterdam’s average rate of approval is three months to the FDA’s three years.”

“And the pharmaceutical companies in Europe haven’t had a chance to mobilize against RU2. We’ll go for it.”

“No,” Kate said.

They turned to look at her.

“We try Noah’s way first. We try to protect his people. Our people.”

“It’s not smart,” Seth said. “We’ll all be a hell of a lot safer in Holland.”

“You said you could keep Joshua and Phyliss safe.”

“But you’ll be exposed, a target. It’s not smart.”

“I don’t care if it’s smart. Those butchers who killed Noah are trying to stop RU2 dead in its tracks. I don’t want them to get what they want.” She smiled bitterly. “So your challenge is to keep them from hitting the bull’s-eye. Noah died for RU2. We have to try to do it his way.”

He gazed at her for a long moment. “Four months. If we don’t make big strides in that time, I’m not going to let you beat your head against the wall. Noah wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t have set up the mechanism if he didn’t think there was a risk of RU2 not being accepted here.”

She nodded. “Do you think I don’t know the problems? I want testing to start as soon as possible, and even if we manage to stop that bill from going through, the FDA is going to be supercautious. But we can at least try to get rid of the obstacles Ogden’s put in the path.”

Seth turned to Tony. “Go ahead and file in Washington.”

“You want to keep it secret?”

“Only for twenty-four hours. I don’t want any convenient fires destroying records until we go public.”

“And how do we do that?” Kate asked.

“The
Washington Post.
” He asked Tony, “Who’s smart and hungry?”

“Zack Taylor, Meryl Kimbro . . . you name it. Everyone wants to be a star.”

“You choose, then.”

“Meryl Kimbro. She’s more open than Taylor.”

“Arrange a meeting for Kate and me tomorrow night, nine o’clock.”

“Where?”

“Any hotel.” He raised a brow. “Disappointed? I’m no Deep Throat, and parking garages are too damp and gloomy.”

“A parking garage might impress her more.”

“She’ll be impressed enough when Kate gets through with her.” He took Kate’s elbow. “Get stirring. When the papers are filed, call me on your digital.”

“Where will you be?”

“Near here. We have some security arrangements to make.”

“Much good that will do you. There won’t be any place safe when you open that can of worms.”

“Not for us. Joshua and Phyliss.” He held open the door for Kate. “And you’re wrong. I know a safe place.”

“Where is this safe place?” Kate asked as they walked toward Phyliss and Joshua’s room.

“It’s kind of hard to explain. I prefer you see it.” He stopped outside the door. “I want a moment alone with Joshua.”

“Why?”

“He’s not going to like you leaving him. But I think he’ll accept it more easily if the news comes from me. Take Phyliss for a walk and explain things.”

“I should be the one to tell him.”

“This isn’t a case for maternal duty. Do what’s right for the kid. You can talk to him later.”

She gave up the battle. Maybe he was right. He certainly had Joshua’s complete confidence. “How long do you need?”