Chloë (8 page)

Much
to Chloë’s relief, the trip was quick and relatively calm.  Either that or
she was just too sleepy to notice!  She was still mostly dry and the sun
was cleanly above the horizon as they hit the calm waters of the river delta.

“So
where are we going exactly?”

“Well,
if we hug the shore to the right, we’ll hit a little border town of the
Altshea.  If we paddle over to that little island on the left, however,
we’ll make it to Trevor’s house.  Trevor used to work with both my father
and my uncle Edward.  He’s retired now.”

“Retired. 
But can he still help us?”

“Oh,
oh yes!”

Heather
neatly tied the boat up to a small dock and helped Chloë out before recovering
their packs.  It was a picturesque setting with a stone path up to a nice
house in the distance.  Playing outside was a little boy of about five or
so.  He quickly spotted the pair and waved and ran up.

“Hi! 
It’s Heather right?  Is your dad here too?”   He was a pleasant
youngster—hyper, but not near so much as Heather, thus there was some sense of
propriety in the universe.

“Hi,
there.  It’s Kevin right?   No, it’s just us two.  Is your
dad up yet?”

The
boy laughed. “No, I’m William.  Kevin is bigger than me!  Mom and dad
are back in the orchard.  Come on, I’ll take you!”

Heather
laughed. “Sorry, little William.  It’s been too long.  Please, lead
on.  We need to talk to your father at once.”

The
trio circled around the house to find several long rows in a manicured
orchard.  Fruit trees ran down the middle while hearty grapevines lined the
perimeter.  Nestled in the center was an elegant stone gazebo where two
figures sat enjoying the sunrise and eating a light breakfast.  They trio
was quickly spotted and was cheerfully waved closer.  It was a pair; the
man appeared to be in his early fifties while the woman was in her late
forties.  Both were cleanly dressed and had a professional air about them.

“Heather! 
How are you doing?”  grinned the male as he rose to join them.  “How
did you get here?  Your father in tow?”

Heather
just laughed.  “No, Trevor, father isn’t here.  Yet.  We rented
a boat at the old mill place.  I’m doing well, but Chloë here, well, we
have some problems.   Oh yeah, formal stuff:  Chloë, this is
Trevor and Gillian.  Trevor used to work with both my father and my uncle Edward.”

“Chloë
Amsterval, I presume,” interjected Trevor as he shook her hand.  “You’ve
made a bit of news on the side, young lady.  Is there still a problem that
hasn’t been solved through official channels?”

“Delighted
to meet you,” offered Chloë more than a little nervous at being so thoroughly
recognized.

“Well
we are
here
rather than the police…,” laughed Heather.  “Isn’t that
hint enough?”

Trevor
nodded lost in thought for a bit before turning to his wife, “Gillian, weapons
free?”

Gillian
just smiled.  “By all means help the young lady, just stay out of the
center of the storm.  There are too many youngsters that want to be in the
middle!”

“I’ll
stay on the island.”

“Then
do whatever you can.”

Trevor
nodded to the two girls with a grin.  “She does work hard to make sure I
stay retired.  Let’s get inside.  So tell me, what is going on that
you were up before the sun without your father in on it?”

“We
were visiting Edmundshire when things tipped, so Dad wasn’t around. 
Forwarded a letter to him when we left.”

“Edmundshire?”
frowned Trevor, “The chief constable there is an idiot…”

Chloë
laughed lightly, “That is what Heather said.”

“What? 
Just because it is snipy it can’t be true coming from me?” teased Heather.

“So
what happened?  Someone tried to snatch her off the street again?” 
asked Trevor in a calm tone that hinted both professionalism and experience.

Heather
nodded to Chloë who then spoke up, “They said my governess, Anna, survived the
wreck and they had her.  I had two choices, come back with them to get
Anna to a proper hospital back home or meet them in the Altshea lands,” she
handed Trevor the slip of paper with the address on it.  “Meet them
tonight with three million in cash and they would turn Anna over to a local
hospital and leave me alone.”

“Odds
are they’ll try for both; snatch you and the cash…,” mused Trevor.

“That’s
what Heather said!”

Heather
blew a raspberry and just rolled her eyes.

They
walked into a large study where Trevor quickly found a seat in front of a large
computer terminal.  “Take a seat, girls. Let’s see what we can figure
out.  That location is a rough but not unreasonable side of town.  I
know the CI there so maybe we can get things done under the radar, so the bad guys
don’t get spooked.”

“CI?” 
asked Chloë.

“Chief
Inspector,” offered Heather.  “So you think the rank and file cops won’t
be of help there?”

“Nah,
they are
probably
fine.  There are just two concerns: one, there
aren’t that many cops in that area in the first place, and two, when dealing
with hostage situations you deal with firm facts not ‘probables.’”  He
paused as Gillian walked into the room.  “You don’t know of someone who
could pass for Jake Ellington do you?”

Gillian
rolled her eyes, “
Here? 
I don’t think so.  Can’t you call and
get Jake to recommend someone.”

“I
think I’ve run out of favors with him…”

“This
isn’t a favor for you, it’s a favor for the young lady,” replied Gillian.

Trevor
laughed and fired off a message on the computer.  “Did they offer proof of
life yet?”

Chloë
blinked, “Um, no.  That didn’t come up.”

“Amateurs
or they don’t actually have her,” groused Trevor.  “I hate amateurs: they
are so unpredictable.  Heather, you going to be her escort?”

“That
was the plan, sir,” nodded Heather.

“Good. 
You are unassuming and will throw them off-guard.  We will pull the cash,
stash it in parts well in advance.  Why don’t you go catch some proper
breakfast and I’ll see what I can do,” offered Trevor.

Gillian
nodded to the two girls and smiled.  “Come on; the kitchen is this
way.  You have been on the road for a few hours already I should
imagine.  Let’s get you some hot food!”

Chloë
stood up and started to leave with the others, “But what of the cash? 
When should I try to hit the Nedej bank and pull the money?”

Trevor
grinned.  “Don’t worry about the cash; we aren’t going to let them get
away with it anyway.  I don’t take kindly to kidnappers!  Much less
those withholding medical aid.  Go on, enjoy breakfast.  This is like
old times…  Need to poke some people at the DSS!”

Chloë
quickly rejoined Heather and Gillian and they made their way to a very large
and modern kitchen.  Gillian quickly set about cooking breakfast for the
pair of girls while they sat at the kitchen table.  Heather kept trying to
help, and Gillian kept shooing her away, so Heather relented and sat next to
Chloë at the table.

“Um,
ma’am, so are you into spies and secret police like your husband?”

Gillian
laughed softly. “Trevor was not really into either.  He served two years
in the army in a volunteer unit with the Shukurae; that is where he met
Heather’s father, Llewellyn.  He later transferred to the Altshea
Diplomatic Security Service, the DSS, for some ten years or so before serving
again with the Shukurae.  The second time he was in planning and
operations rather than as a soldier in the front lines.  There he served
with Heather’s uncle Edward.  It was when they were taking a paid
assignment, usually those are simple private security jobs that were mostly
seen as a break and breather for the troops, that we met.  On
that
mission, I met him and we fell in love and got married.  So he resigned
from the DSS and was a consultant, as it were, for various groups and agencies
until he finally completely retired.”  She let out a small laugh. “I, on
the other hand, was just a music producer and promoter.  Their team was
trying to protect one of my clients.  It was all quite a story.”

“Her
client was Tatiana.  She and Zoe married my uncle Edward,” offered
Heather.

Chloë
laughed.  “It does sound like quite a tale!  Music—it does tend to
tie that family together.”

“Yes,
quite so!” replied Gillian as she brought them a pair of hot plates.  “Eat
up, there is more if you want.  Not a problem at all.”

Chloë
gracefully wolfed down her food.  It is an art to eat that quickly and
still be elegant about it, but it was something Chloë was good at: elegance and
manners.  Food met her stomach well; it wasn’t that the food Maria and
Gwen cooked was inferior, it was just that the style and flavor palate of Gillian’s
was familiar, much more like what she grew up with.

 
Gillian smiled broadly.  “It seems breakfast was well received.  I
hope it has something to do with my cooking and not the fact they you two have
been up for two or three hours already.”

Chloë
grinned.  “It was wonderful, ma’am!  Any time of day.”

“Well,
you two may want to wash up and change your clothes.   Those look a
little warm for the lowlands and we are expecting bright and clear skies
today.”

The
two girls nodded appreciatively and were quickly shown to the spare rooms and
bathrooms.  They started to clean up just as Gillian brought in a large
rack of clothes.  “Here, dig through these.  If you are going to be
going into the borderlands, you’ll want to look like locals.  Your normal
clothes will make you stick out.”

“That
is wonderfully helpful, ma’am, but we don’t want to impose on your hospitality
any more than we already have,” replied Chloë diplomatically.

Gillian
just laughed and turned to Heather, “This is your cue girl.”

Heather
looked confused for a second and then finally caught on, blowing a
raspberry.  The three all laughed at that.

“No
worries, young lady, just dress up and do me the favor of staying safe,”
replied Gillian.

Chloë
bobbed politely.  “Thank you, ma’am.”

Gillian
departed, and the pair soon found new clothes to wear.  Far more
traditional attire, it somehow lacked the charm and perfect fit of the Highland
clothes.  Changed, and with their bundles repacked, they rejoined Gillian
in the living room just as Trevor arrived himself.

“Ah,
a change of clothes.  Good thinking, dear. Well…,” began Trevor with a
mischievous grin, “the DSS wanted in, front and center, on this one.  No
bad thing—they are pros and this is their bailiwick.  They just want to
keep Llewellyn on the sidelines, if they can.  He tends to make a mess of
things.  Trees and all.”

Heather
laughed. “Well, Dad does like the trees, doesn’t he?”

Chloë
was more than a bit confused about the tree comments, but that wasn’t her first
concern.  “They want to sideline Llewellyn?  Is he not effective?”

Trevor
laughed.  “Oh, he is incredibly effective.  If he was down there, you
would be one hundred percent safe and they would be either captured or killed,
not a question.  The
concern
is that he will make sure you are
perfectly safe, even if that means a few buildings fall down and he trashes
every piece of electrical equipment for a kilometer or so.”

“I
wouldn’t want them to wreck the city on my account!” blurted Chloë.

“Precisely.
That is why the DSS is going to take charge.  Come about noon, they’ll
have a gravsled come pick you two up and take you to shore.  From there,
it is high speed maglev across to the next canton and then normal monorail to
the rendezvous point.”

Chloë
nodded.  “So, um, we just go along with the ride?”

“The
DSS will feed you two information on what to do and expect when you get there,
don’t worry.”

“So
now it’s hurry up and wait?” asked Chloë, deflated.

“Well,
we could go rummage through Gillian’s music collection while we wait,” offered
Heather.

“It’s
large, I take it?” asked Chloë.

“Massive,”
grinned Gillian.  “One of the advantages of being in the music business
for so long.   Come on, the den makes for a good listening
room.  And it has a pretty view.”

Chloë
beamed at Gillian.  It was a welcome distraction indeed.

Noon
came and things moved almost exactly as Trevor had outlined; the only deviation
was that a repuslar airship greeted them and took them to the city train center
rather than a simple gravsled.  The high speed maglev was a joy to travel
on; efficient and quiet, it blazed across five prefectures and two cantons in
record time and complete comfort.  They were traveling business class
rather than first class, but even that was exceptional.  They had a
layover for several hours at the new city; it was going to take an hour to
reach the initial rendezvous, but that wasn’t scheduled until late that night.

As
they crossed the lobby of the train station an older gentleman all but ran over
Heather.  He quickly apologized and went about his way.

“Are
you all right?” asked Chloë.  “That was quite an accident there!”

“Oh,
it was no accident,” smirked Heather as she straightened herself out.

“You
mean that man deliberately ran into you?  How rude!”

“Nah,”
grinned Heather as she motioned to a nice restaurant at the edge of the
lobby.  “Shall we eat?”

“Eat? 
Um, sure, that place looks looks nice enough.  Did Trevor give you money?”

“Of
course, that and things are in motion,” she replied with a cryptic grin. 
“Come on, food.  And no one expects you to help with the dishes there.”

Chloë
laughed, “Was I that bad helping back at your home?”

“Nah. 
Well, not once we put you on towel duty and not in the sink!”

“I
am so terribly sorry about that,” offered Chloë sincerely.

Heather
blew a raspberry over her shoulder at Chloë as she approached the receptionist,
“Table for two, please.”

“Under
what name would we find the reservation?” came the snooty response.

“Um…
,” began Chloë.

“Heather. 
Heather Reinhold.”

“Ah,
very good, young lady.  Your table is in the overlook by the
waterfall.  Is that acceptable?” came the suddenly less snooty response.

“Yes,
that would be lovely.  Thank you.”

“This
way, please.”  The receptionist led the pair of girls deep into the very
ritzy restaurant and up a large set of glass stairs to a very secluded corner
that was lined with plants on all sides with a large
large
glass window
which revealed to be the underside of a decorative waterfall.  He helped
them with their chairs and then departed.

“Heather
Reinhold?” asked Chloë.  “Where did that come from?”

“Trevor,
of course.  But that isn’t the fun part.”  Heather grinned as she
pulled a small data pad out of her pocket.  “The guy that almost ran me
down?  Reverse pick pocket.”  She fired up the small device and
provided a paw print for ID.  It quickly responded, and Heather read it to
herself before summarizing to Chloë.   “We pick up a case at the
lockers at the next stop.  It has a half of a million in cash in it. 
We use that to buy proof of life.”

“Um,
so that older man was from the DSS?”  Chloë laughed. “It’s like a spy
novel!”

Heather
grinned broadly. “So, does that
finally
start to make it more fun and
less scary?”

Chloë
giggled. “A little bit, I guess.  So, then what?”

“We
eat!  I thought that was obvious!”

“No,”
began Chloë.  “I meant what do we do after the whole ‘proof of life’
thing?  Aren’t they going to be a little torqued that we only showed up
with a sixth of what they asked for?”

Heather
shrugged, “Not my problem if they are amateurs.  Everyone knows not to buy
things sight unseen.  Besides that much cash right under their noses will
definitely get them salivating.  They may have a hostage, but the goal is
for us to be setting the terms and conditions.”

“And
if they try to mess with the DSS’s plan?”

“Then
I get to break a few kneecaps!” offered Heather with a sinister grin.

Chloë
laughed, “I thought you were going to do that anyway!”

“Maybe,”
grinned Heather as she looked across the room.  “Ah, good, the waiter
. 
Foooooooood!”

The
pair of girls soon found themselves relaxing in the pleasant room and watching
people from afar through the great glass windows.  They had time to spare,
and the room was far more relaxing than waiting in a train depot.  Well,
that and two rounds of dessert didn’t hurt either.

“We’ve
got time to kill. Do you want to hit some stores or a museum or something?”
offered Heather.

“You
aren’t worried about our safety?”

Heather
just grinned and shook her head, “We are in a nice city on the nice side of
town in broad daylight.  Oh yeah, we’re being shadowed by the DSS…”

Chloë
let out a good laugh.  “Right, like the last part of that was so
unimportant!  I have no idea.  I think shopping would be a little
trite, so what about something cultural or fun.”

“Well,
there is an aquarium that has some amusement park rides as well.  How does
that sound?”

“Amusement
park rides?” asked Chloë seriously confused.  “Was something lost in
translation there?”

Heather
laughed.  “Well, either something was lost in translation, or you just
simply have no idea what I’m talking about.”

Chloë
grinned and just shook her head.  “Okay, I’m game.  It sounds like
something new to try.  If it doesn’t pan out, the aquarium sounds fun for
a little while at least.”

Heather
grinned, “Then let’s!”