On The Run by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online Page A

fluently, she was bright, psychologically sound, and seemed genuinely patriotic. She also had one valuable qualification we needed at the time. She was amazingly good with horses from the years spent with her grandfather. We needed her for one specific job and we figured we could get rid of her later if she didn’t work out.” He paused. “She did work out. Her marks on the initial training were some of the highest ever posted. But we needed to mature her fast for this job. So we sent her to Kilmer.”
    “My assistant couldn’t find a dossier on this Kilmer.” He frowned. “But I found one of the old fogies in the office who’d heard of him. He was very vague.”
    Old fogy? Jesus, North was only fifty and had just a few gray hairs. But he was also probably an old fogy to Crane, who was in his thirties and sleek and tanned as a tennis pro. He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. “Kilmer was a very valuable asset to the CIA, and everything he did was top secret. Some of his missions would have been considered questionable to the administration, and Foster decided that if there was no record of him, there’d be no leaks. The people who needed to know knew who he was and how he could be contacted.”
    “That’s absurd. Foster must have been an idiot. It’s no wonder the agency was in such chaos before the shake-up. Operating like that could cause mass confusion.”
    “Oh, I believe we managed to keep confusion to a minimum.” He added, “And Kilmer didn’t end up dead in the water.”
    “Who is this Kilmer? The agent who knew about him spoke of him as if he was some freakin’ legend.”
    “A legend?” North repeated as he drove out of the parking lot. “Yeah, I guess that’s as good a description as any.”
    “Legends are fairy tales. Talk to me.”
    He shrugged. “I’ll tell you what I know. He was born in Munich, Germany. His father was a colonel in the U.S. Army; his mother was a translator. His parents were divorced when he was ten, and his father got custody. He believed in the iron hand and raised Kilmer in that school. He went to West Point and did well but quit when he was in his third year. He was a brilliant strategist and his teachers were sorry to see him go. He batted around the world for a while and invariably ended up in a guerrilla unit of some sort wherever he was. He finally formed his own military unit and hired himself out for special jobs. He earned a fine reputation. Years after he formed his team we hired him for a number of tricky missions and found him invaluable.”
    “Until the Marvot job.”
    North nodded. “Until the Marvot job.”
             
    W ake up, baby.” Grace shook Frankie gently. “It’s time to get stirring.”
    “It’s too early,” Frankie said drowsily. “Ten more minutes, Mom. I’ll do my—” Her lids flew open. “Charlie!” Her eyes filled with tears. “Charlie . . .”
    Grace nodded. “It’s true. There’s nothing either one of us can do to change it.” She wiped her own eyes. “I wish there was. But we have to go on, Frankie.” She tossed the covers aside. “Go wash up and brush your teeth. There’s a change of clothes for you in my knapsack. We have to get going.”
    Frankie gazed at her in bewilderment. “Where are we going?”
    “Back to the farm. It’s almost ten now. We have livestock to feed and water. Charlie wouldn’t want them to suffer, would he?”
    Frankie shook her head. “I forgot about them.”
    “Charlie wouldn’t forget. We have to do what he would have wanted.” She brushed her lips across Frankie’s nose. “I know you want to ask questions, to talk, and we will. But there are chores to do first.”
    Frankie nodded. “Chores. Darling.” She headed for the bathroom, and her movements held a hint of purpose. “I won’t be long, Mom.”
    “I know you won’t. We’ll grab a muffin downstairs in the coffee shop and be on our way.”
    The door slammed behind Frankie, and Grace drew a breath