On The Run by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online

had it taken care of,” Les North told Crane as they strode through the airport terminal in Birmingham. “Tallanville has no air service. It’s just a small Southern town, a dot on the map. That’s why we steered Grace Archer there eight years ago.”
    “Well, evidently someone found that dot,” Crane said grimly. “Why wasn’t I informed of this situation?”
    “After Congress tied his hands, your predecessor, Jim Foster, was hoping it would just go away. Marvot had a few senators in his pocket and he’d manipulated several lobbyists to persuade more members of the House to come down on us like a ton of bricks,” North said as they exited the terminal and headed for the rental-car parking lot. “Foster wasn’t much for initiative.” He added with no expression, “I’m sure you would never have let it slide.”
    “You’re damn right I wouldn’t. I would have pushed ahead and brought everything out into the open. They love to blame the agency for their own waffling. That’s the only way to keep our butts from getting spanked by those politicians.” He got into the passenger seat of the Buick North indicated. “I’m a firm believer in Murphy’s Law. Something was bound to happen if the situation wasn’t resolved.” He opened his briefcase and pulled out the dossier he’d had his assistant dredge out of the files. “Archer should have been forced to work with us and not allowed to opt out.”
    “That’s easy to say. And how were we supposed to do that?”
    “Threaten to take away her protection.”
    “And lose any hope of having her assistance. She’d already lost a hell of a lot and was pretty bitter.”
    “It’s astonishing how bitterness can fade away when you put their life on the line.”
    What a son of a bitch, North thought. “Do I have to remind you that she was working with us, Crane?”
    “According to her dossier there was some doubt about that. Her father was a double agent and she worked hand in glove with him.” He was scanning the dossier. “Born in Los Angeles, California, to Jean Dankel and Martin Stiller. Mother died when she was three, and her father pulled up roots and went to Europe and took the child with him. He moved in and out of several criminal enterprises and got his hands very dirty indeed. He traveled around Europe and Africa doing gunrunning and whatever other scam he could promote.” He shook his head. “He took the kid with him wherever he went, and it’s a wonder she lived to grow up. At one point they were in Rwanda and she was shot by the rebels and left for dead. The Red Cross worker who found her tried to take her away from her father, but Grace refused and ran away when she got the chance.”
    North nodded. “Martin Stiller was a complete charmer and he evidently loved her and was good to her.” He added sarcastically, “Not good enough to give her up and send her to live with her maternal grandfather in Melbourne, Australia. She spent her summers with him on his horse farm, but every fall Stiller was there, picking her up and taking her back to whatever hellhole he was living in at the time.”
    “And how did he come to our attention?”
    “He came to us and peddled us some information about Hussein. It turned out to be legitimate and we used him for the next few years. We suspected he was double-dealing but we couldn’t prove it. So we were just careful what information we gave him.”
    “And the woman?”
    “She wasn’t much more than a kid at the time. Agent Rader was the contact with Martin Stiller, and he said Stiller’s daughter was a pleasant enough kid. She took correspondence courses and was bright enough to be accepted at the Sorbonne.”
    Crane was still scanning the dossier. “No criminal background on her. We accepted her for agent training when she was twenty-three years old.” He glanced up. “With a background like that, why the hell was she hired?”
    “We justified it on a special-case basis. She spoke eight languages