The Price of Time Read online

Everyone had read about the goddess of dawn back when they founded the company bearing her name, but those details had long since faded from Felix’s mind. “Refresh my memory.”

  “Eos asked Zeus to let her lover live forever. But she forgot to also request that Zeus grant Tithonus eternal youth. Like many myths, it did not have a happy ending.”

  Felix quickly connected the dots. “Point being that immortality is bound to be less appealing to the elderly. I concede that I might not want to go on forever trapped in a wrinkled old sack with a failing mind and leaky colon. That’s two I’ve got to give you.”

  Pierce raised his glass. “The third group that came to mind is religious fundamentalists. People who believe that death is the doorway to God.”

  Score three for Pierce. “Huh.”

  They settled back into their chairs to mull over the implications in shared silence.

  Felix was only a few sips into it when his burner cell began vibrating. He pulled it from his pocket, glanced at the display, then showed it to Pierce before answering. “Hello, Tory.”

  “Good afternoon.” Tory’s phone voice was unmistakable. No accent per se, more like a sophisticated software program dialed to the Soldier setting. Cool, clean, and devoid of emotion.

  “I’m with Pierce. Okay if I put you on speaker?”

  “No problem.”

  “Hold on a sec.” Felix gestured toward the yacht’s sky lounge where it would be easier to hear. They took their glasses inside and sat at a small table. “Okay, go ahead.”

  “I’ve run into an issue with two replacements. David’s and Aria’s.”

  “What kind of issue?”

  “Interference.”

  Felix closed his eyes. He’d been dreading a call like this.

  “Pierce here, and I’m confused. I thought you’d already replaced David?”

  “I did, but the switch was detected. There was a freak coincidence with a man I’ve since identified as the replacement’s college roommate. He showed up in the wrong place at the wrong time and caught David impersonating his friend.”

  Felix voiced his frustration. “We know that. During the videoconference, you told us you solved that problem.”

  “I thought I had. I sent him over a cliff on a motorcycle. His survival was a million to one.”

  “But he beat the odds?”

  “He did.”

  “And then he resurfaced?”

  “He did that, too. When I was replacing Aria. In Virginia.”

  “In Virginia!” Felix felt his bowels turning to water. They’d been discovered. And they were being hunted.

  “It’s not as bad as it seems,” Tory hastened to say.

  “We’re all ears,” Felix said. “Please tell us why.”

  “Not knowing that the motorcycle man had survived, I used the same con for Aria’s replacement. The CIA recruitment ploy I told you about. Apparently, the survivor anticipated that repeat performance and set up a surveillance op at the hotel or restaurant or mortuary. I’m not sure which.”

  “Mortuary?” Pierce asked.

  Felix held up a hand. The others didn’t know the details of Tory’s disposal tactics, and he figured it was best to keep it that way. “Wait a minute, Tory. You’re saying this guy found Aria’s replacement through the replacement process itself, not some other leak?”

  “I am. I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’m confident that’s the only explanation.”

  “So he doesn’t know about us?”

  “There’s no way that he could.”

  Felix desperately hoped that Tory was right.

  Pierce chimed back in. “So who is this survivor?”

  “Zachary Chase was the college roommate of David’s replacement. His Social Security records show employment with the State Department.”

  “He’s a diplomat?”

  Tory paused a beat. “After seeing him operate, I think he’s a spook. The CIA runs its operatives through the payrolls of other government agencies.”

  “Let me get this straight,” Pierce said. “While a CIA agent is pursuing you, you’re doing a CIA recruitment con?”

  “Ex-CIA agent. He separated around the time I recruited David’s replacement, which I did near where Chase lives. Given their shared history, and Chase’s availability, it’s natural that they would hook up. And since the replacement thought he was interviewing for the CIA, and his buddy was CIA, it’s natural that they’d talk. It’s all an unfortunate coincidence brought about by shared geography.”

  Felix liked the sound of that, in that it had nothing to do with the Immortals as a group. It was bad luck. With any operation of size, you were bound to get a bit of that. “So where does that leave our operation?”

  “We’ve lost some time, but I think that’s it. Obviously, I won’t use the CIA con again, and Chase has no other leads, so I’m convinced that he won’t get any further.”

  “But he’s seen your face,” Pierce said.

  “He might as well have seen a ghost. My photo isn’t any more available for matching than yours.”

  Felix looked at Pierce, who gave a satisfied nod. “So what’s next?”

  “I have to start over with two replacements, and work without my favored con. But I’ll have things back on track soon.”

  Felix felt his digestion returning to normal. He took a healthy swallow of wine while Tory suffered in silence. “Please call Aria and David to let them know. They should hear about this from you directly.”

  “Will do.”

  “I also want regular updates.”

  “Okay. Speaking of updates, is there anything you want to tell me?”

  Tory had never used that phrase before, or spoken with a challenging tone. Had he heard about the murders? Felix looked at Pierce, who shook his head. “No.”

  “Nothing I need to know to do my job?”

  “Don’t you think I’d tell you if there were?”

  “I’m monitoring all of you, as you know. That’s part of my job. It’s integral to the satisfaction guarantee. Among other measures, I’ve set up Google alerts for all the new identities.” He paused there.

  Felix knew what was coming, but held his tongue.

  “I know Ries is dead. He’s the second member of your group to meet with a fatal accident in a month. What’s going on, Felix?”

  Felix looked at Pierce. The Eos investor was clearly running calculations parallel to Felix’s own—but at a faster pace. Pierce raised three fingers, then rubbed thumb to forefingers.

  Felix returned a nod. “We’re actually down three. Camilla also passed. Given the increased attention, we’re prepared to double your annual maintenance payment. We’ll make it an even million dollars for every year you keep all eyes off us. But this raise only applies if you complete your initial assignment in a timely manner and without further interference.”

  Tory had the tact not to ask for detail about Camilla, but he didn’t signal satisfaction either.

  Felix pressed forward. “Can you do that? Can you guarantee me that I’ll never get another call like this one?”

  This time, Tory did not hesitate. “I can.”

  “Good. Get it done.”

  39

  Capillary Action

  SLICED FROM THE STUMP of a giant sequoia, the round table in Aria’s library boasted nine matching chairs. Three were empty as the Immortals convened their emergency meeting. Those vacancies were the reason they had assembled.

  Attempts at the usual pleasantries had been made as people arrived and mingled, but the beverages imbibed had been nonalcoholic, and the conversations were notably stilted. Weather reports and stock portfolio performances didn’t cut it when people feared the Grim Reaper and were searching each other for scythes.

  Once the last Immortal arrived, Pierce held up a preemptive finger. “Before we get started, I would like to make one request.”

  Conversations halted and all eyes turned his way.

  “I don’t know how to put this delicately, so I
won’t endeavor to do so. If something should happen to David and Allison, the rest of us will lose our Eos supply. I was hoping that some arrangement could be made.”

  The room remained silent, but only for a second.

  “We worked that out long ago,” Lisa said, surprising everyone. “David and I selected two reputable compounding pharmacies, and gave each of them half the recipe, so to speak. Neither knows about the other. Neither knows what they have or why. But they know how to make their ingredient if asked.”

  “Can we get that contact information?” Pierce asked.

  “You’ll have it before I leave the island.”

  “Thank you,” Pierce said, taking his seat.

  Once everyone was settled, Aria took charge of her meeting. “I propose we stay seated until we have a theory or three, complete with action plans.”

  Lisa seconded and heads bobbed all around.

  Allison surprised everyone by speaking first, “I have a theory.”

  Five heads turned toward hers.

  “Remember all the controversy that arose when scientists first started stem cell research? For years, violent and vehement protests were a part of the nightly news. Although that faded as people became educated, it clearly demonstrated animus out there for any interference in ‘God’s plan.’ ” She ended with air quotes.

  “You think we’re being assassinated by religious fundamentalists?” Lisa asked. “That they somehow uncovered our secret and are now quietly trying to kill us?”

  “Probably just one assassin. Someone like that albino monk in The Da Vinci Code.”

  “I’m guessing you recently watched the movie?” Lisa asked.

  Allison blushed.

  Felix waded in. “While hate groups are certainly worth considering, and I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t explored that angle,” he nodded to Allison, “these aren’t terrorist attacks. Nobody is making a public statement. This is private. It is personal.” He looked over his left shoulder to redirect the conversation back to Lisa. “I think we need to be looking at people we’ve wronged.”

  All eyes turned to the former CEO.

  Lisa nodded to herself, then looked around the room. “Felix is talking about Kirsten Besanko.”

  “What about Kirsten? Why are all of you nodding?” Allison asked, glaring at Lisa. “Are you telling me— Did you— She didn’t die from an ischemic stroke?”

  Lisa didn’t flinch. “I poisoned her energy drink.”

  Allison gasped and shuddered, her words a tortured whisper. “Kirsten’s husband found her floating in the pool.”

  “We couldn’t ask her to leave her family behind.”

  “We could have brought Chuck with us. Just one more guy. Why are you all shaking your heads again?”

  David put an arm around Allison’s shoulder. “It wasn’t just Chuck, remember. She was pregnant. She’d unknowingly conceived before taking Eos.”

  Allison brought hand to mouth as her tears started streaming. “You knew what Lisa did?”

  Pierce noted with some surprise that David did not take the politician’s escape. “I didn’t know. But I suspected.”

  “And the rest of you?” Allison looked around the table.

  “None of them knew,” Lisa said.

  Allison bowed her head. “They just suspected. I was the only one naïve enough to fall for the coroner’s report.”

  “Where is Chuck now?” Pierce asked, trying to bring this back to a business discussion.

  “He’s remarried and living in Portland,” Lisa said. “He has three kids, two from his wife’s previous marriage and one of their own. The marriage looks healthy. I don’t think it’s him.”

  “You wouldn’t!” Allison said.

  “She had a brother,” David said.

  “ ‘Had’ being the operative word,” Lisa replied. “He died of pancreatic cancer.”

  “We have other enemies,” Aria said. “You’ve been sabotaging other research efforts for over twenty years.”

  Pierce noted her use of ‘you.’ He supposed that was fair. She’d just been denied an important vote because she wasn’t part of the original Eos team. “Our agents have always been blind. They never know who’s paying them to spy and sabotage.”

  “Maybe one of them figured it out,” Aria pressed. “They’re criminals, after all. Maybe it’s a type of jealous revenge, one team of researchers against another.”

  “Camilla wasn’t a researcher,” Pierce said.

  “Maybe Camilla’s death was an accident, a coincidence.”

  Pierce understood why Aria would want that to be true. But he also knew that tears tended to warp otherwise logical minds. To save their lives, he needed to dash Aria’s hope and refocus the conversation. “Given the fact that these people all sold out their colleagues for money, you can be certain that if one of them did divine who was paying them and why, they’d resort to blackmail, not murder.”

  “I agree,” Felix said. “It’s possible, but unlikely. It’s far more likely that our killer is someone associated with the replacement process. Regarding Camilla, that can’t be a coincidence.” He relayed the call from Tory, word for word, while Pierce nodded along.

  “So we know there’s been a leak on Tory’s end,” Lisa summarized. “And this friend who popped up twice is a CIA agent?”

  “Ex-agent.”

  “Even worse. That just means he’s freed from any constraints on conduct.”

  “Tory assures me he’s been left behind in rural Virginia without any leads to follow,” Felix said.

  “And in any case, he’s not likely to be the killer,” Pierce added. “He entered with David’s replacement, which was after Eric’s demise. I trust that in light of recent events, we’re all in agreement that Eric’s death wasn’t an accident?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “But where there’s one known leak, there’s reason to suspect more,” Aria persisted. “I want to grill Tory on the subject.”

  “I can arrange that,” Felix replied. “Let’s make that number one on our list. Other action plans?”

  “I’m in the process of updating security here,” Aria said. “I dismissed the workers for our meeting, but they’ll be back. I’m turning Seven Star into a fortress. You’re all welcome to return indefinitely if it comes to that.”

  Pierce looked around. He could think of worse prisons.

  “Any chance it’s Tory himself?” David asked.

  “I think it’s extremely unlikely,” Felix said. “We went to him, he didn’t volunteer. And we’re his golden ticket. His pension plan.”

  “And you’re certain he’s not involving subcontractors?”

  “Actually, I’m sure he is, but not in any meaningful way. Just driving jobs and programming gigs. Compartmentalized tasks with no connection to us or our status. For that matter, Tory doesn’t know who we are or what our status is so he couldn’t share that information even under subpoena or torture.”

  “I don’t actually suspect Tory. I’m just being rigorous.” David cleared his throat. “I think it’s one of us.”

  The remark struck with the force of a thunderclap. In a room full of big brainpans, David’s tipped the scale. He was the man most responsible for cracking the genetic code that halted aging. An unrivaled expert at exposing hidden patterns.

  Everyone’s eyes started roaming, looking for the fight-or-flight blush, waiting for David to stand and point a finger.

  Pierce didn’t observe any reddening.

  When it became clear that David would remain seated, Aria asked, “What makes you say that, David?”

  “It’s the simplest explanation. And statistics back it up. Most murders are committed by friends or family members.”

  Lungs exhaled as the tension broke. David didn’t know anything. He was just applying basic analytical rigor.

  Pierce looked up from a contemplative thought to find all eyes on him. “What?”

  “You’re smiling like a kid just handed chocolate cake,” Lis
a said.

  Pierce realized he was grinning. “I’m relieved.”

  Four sets of inquisitive eyes turned toward Pierce, as did one bemused smile.

  “Relieved?” Lisa asked.

  “Nobody reacted, just then. You can’t quell the capillary action of an adrenal rush. David just proved that the killer’s not one of us.”

  40

  Two Strikes

  THE BEST WESTERN had a double room ready for early check-in, so they heard the door lock’s inviting click within minutes of making the reservation. Both walked through the room with barely a sideward glance and straight onto the balcony. The weather was muggy, but the view was glorious. All the more so for Skylar, given her brush with death.

  Chase turned to meet her gaze.

  She felt a funny tingle. “Where do we begin?”

  “I’m going to begin in the shower. I’m dying to get this pomade out of my hair. Unless you want to go first?”

  She put her hand on the back of the closest lounge chair. “Be my guest. I’ll be very happy relaxing here for a while.”

  Skylar drifted off, waking only when there was a loud commotion on the beach below. She looked over to see Chase standing at the balcony rail. This was the first time she’d seen him in daylight, and with his normal look. She found it somehow comforting. His dark hair was a bit on the long side of corporate norm, and he had a day’s worth of stubble despite having just showered. No razor, she realized. The unshaven appearance gave him a carefree look that clashed with the intense intelligence she detected when he turned to look at her with eyes that were now more blue than gray.

  “What now?” she asked, feeling a flash of guilt but not knowing why.

  “There’s a mall about four miles inland with both an Apple and an AT&T store. I’m going to buy a phone and a laptop. If I’m able to pull Tom’s picture from the cloud, I’ll send it to my friend.”

  “They’ve got computers in the business center, but of course you already know that. What will you be using the computer for? Have you figured out how to backtrack to Tom?”

  “I have a theory,” Chase said, taking a seat.

  As he settled in, Skylar couldn’t help but recall the last time she’d done the same thing. Relax on a beachfront balcony with a handsome man. It was in Kona, after the World Championship triathlon. He was the third-place male, she the third-place female. That natural match was only last year, and yet a lifetime ago. A few deep lungfuls of superheated smoke had closed a door that would never open again.