Angel Eyes by Eric Van Lustbader Read Free Book Online Page B

bumblebee, its legs thick with pollen, took off from the center of a flower. "Someone is one step ahead of you.'' He glanced sidelong at Slade. ''Now there's a disturbing thought."
    "Jesus Christ," Slade said. " 'Disturbing' doesn't begin to cover that prospect. How does the word 'disaster' grab you?"
    The old man frowned to show his distaste. "You know I dislike words of that nature, Slade," he said. "They smack of defeatism. Defeat is for the weak-it is not for us. What we need now is a sound offensive strategy."
    "Of course," Slade said. "Every situation has its master, every speciality has its sensei. We need Tori Nunn back. We are lost in the middle of her field of expertise.''
    ''Yes,'' the old man said.''And you've volunteered to get her back yourself. I appreciate that, Russell. Just make certain it isn't simply a gesture."
    Slade suddenly saw how neatly he had been maneuvered into this personal involvement, despite his own conviction that personal involvement was dangerous and potentially lethal in the shadow world. In Russell Slade's opinion, emotion had no place in Mall business. That was a point he had tried to make over and over to Tori without the slightest success. It occurred to him-not for the first time, but now with increasing focus-that his sense of being in total control of the Mall was more illusory than real, and abruptly he felt the heavy yoke of servitude to this one man stamped upon his flesh like stigmata.
    "One must consider the method of Solares's death,'' Godwin was saying. "Whoever killed him didn't just put a gun to his head. They made a lot of noise. They wanted us to know right away all the way back east. Goddamnit, they wanted to embarrass us." He tore off an azalea blossom and, making a show of it, used the pads of his thumb and forefinger to squeeze the petals. "There can only be one response to that." He shook the flower, and the bumblebee dropped at their feet. "Go for the throat, that's what's called for." Godwin placed the beautiful, unbruised azalea in his buttonhole. "When you've been set back on your heels, it's the only strategy that's worth a damn, take it from me."
    Russell Slade, staring at the lifeless bee, wondered how he could free himself from Bernard Godwin's tyranny and still be privy to his secrets. He would discover who had murdered Ariel Solares in his own way but, being the brilliant administrator that he was, he would also devote himself to his own agenda. Why not? he thought. Bernard has his hidden agenda with his Soviet dissidents, why shouldn't I have mine?
     
    Tori awoke to the sound of a bobwhite. It was sitting in among the bougainvilleas which, if she turned onto her right side, she could see through the open jalousied window.
    For a moment she could not think where she was. Then she remembered: Los Angeles. Home.
    The huge bed seemed like heaven; she did not want to leave it. She stirred, and as she did so, heard the door to the bedroom open. She saw her mother come quietly in. She was wearing a chic silk and chenille robe, calfskin slippers. She carried a tray filled with food, juice, coffee.
    She smiled. "You're up, darling."
    How did I get here? Tori blinked into the sunlight, closed her eyes, and remembered ...
    ... the scents of cigar smoke and marzipan, exhaust fumes and expensive suntan oil. Decaying earth and mold. Light and shadow, a crazy quilt of images, a jumble of sound . . . The squeal of a rat. . . the stench of fear as they were buried alive . . .
    / don't want to be back.
    ... the aromas of love, an intimate steam, a delicious dissolving of defenses, an intoxicating wine taken in through the pores of the skin. And then ... a death's-head blossoming, and the stench of fear again, coming to claim her ... plastique detonating, destroying her lover, shattering her aerie, her newfound peace; her sanctuary.
    I don't want to be back.
    "It's so wonderful to have you home again, darling," Laura Nunn said as she set the tray down across her daughter's