High Stakes: A Wild Cards Novel by George R. R. Martin
“She’s telling the truth,” Lonnegan said.
“Shut up, you unnatural creature!” the Russian hit man ordered, his attention and his gun wavering between the two women.
“What?” Lonnegan said, baffled.
“Woman police!” he exclaimed. “Is unnatural! Here or in Mother Russia. No woman tells me what I can do! I spit upon you useless creatures.”
Lonnegan groaned. The man was stark mad, the Angel thought. Mad, drunk, and as dangerous as hell was real.
“I am telling the truth,” she said, trying again. “He’s in the hospital.”
“You put my Andrei in the hospital!” he cried, revising his accusation. “Which one? I will go to him!”
“Hey!” Lonnegan barked. “Over here, Rasputin.”
The Russian veered crookedly, focusing on her. Stevens was crouched on the floor, hand clapped to his upper right arm. One of Mendelberg’s wild shots had clipped him. He was grimacing, but was much more cogent than Mendelberg, who stood in place, wide-eyed and chest heaving, still pulling the trigger, which was clicking away uselessly.
“Look at me,” Lonnegan ordered. “Your pal is safe and sound. We can take you to him.”
The hit man tried to spit, but nothing materialized out of his only somewhat substantial mouth.
“Useless, unnatural woman.” He leaned toward Lonnegan, now floating an inch or two off the floor. “This goddamned country is full of them.”
“You drop your guns,” Lonnegan said, “and we’ll take you to Andrei.”
A crafty gleam came into his bulging eyes. “Of course.”
“You try to trick us,” Lonnegan warned, “and you’ll never see Andrei again. I’ll track your ass down and make sure you spend the rest of your life in some Siberian ice cave.”
“Nothing can hold me.” He drifted toward Lonnegan like a drunken ghost, the gun in his right hand, still insubstantial, pointing right at her. “But first, before I go see my beloved Andrei, I kill the bitch who put him in the hospital.”
He whirled, solidifying his body and his weapons, but Lonnegan had kept his attention long enough for the Angel, as silent as a ghost herself, to release her sword and drift across the thick carpet until she was close enough to grab his wrists. She forced one arm up and one down. The hit man yelped and squeezed off two shots, one into the ceiling and one into the floor. Both fortunately flew off harmlessly, startling but missing those in the apartments above and below Mendelberg’s.
She twisted his wrists. Two cracks came simultaneously. The Russian howled and dropped both weapons. She head-butted the Russian into oblivion before he could focus to fade out. She looked at Lonnegan and nodded. The cop nodded back.
Mendelberg made a strangled noise and collapsed to the carpet in the open doorway where she stood. Her body was shaking all over and the Angel could see frothy bubbles running down the side of her chin.
“She’s having a seizure,” the Angel cried, and rushed to the captain’s side. As gently as she could, she pushed her gauntleted hand between Mendelberg’s jaws. Lonnegan joined her, holding her neck so that she couldn’t bash her head. Fortunately, the thick carpeting had so far prevented any serious damage. Her heels tattooed the floor.
There was a commotion in the open doorway. Maseryk burst into the apartment, glaring, pistol out.
“Freeze!” he shouted, and looked around uncomprehendingly.
Ray strolled into the room, accompanied by a gaggle of other cops.
“How’s it going, Angel?” he asked.
“Fine, Billy. Just fine.”
“Of course it is,” he said. He glanced around.
“Hey,” said Michael Stevens, “I’m bleeding over here.”
Nothing had been resolved by the time Wally left to pick up Ghost, and Joey headed out to pick up dinner. And no doubt to pick up a couple of toe tags as well.
Michelle looked at her phone. There were eleven messages—from Klaus, from Barbara, and even one from Juliet. She went into Adesina’s room. There was something obscene about that cocoon sitting on the bed, surrounded by the normal things found in a child’s bedroom. The bed adorned with pink floral sheets and stuffed animals. Posters of ocelots on the wall and even one of Joker Plague. Michelle had introduced Adesina to Drummer Boy once, and Adesina had liked him, but he was too old for her to have a crush on. Michelle couldn’t figure out why the poster was there, but sometimes she just didn’t understand her daughter.
There was a knock at the front door, and Michelle went to answer it.
Jayewardene stood in the hallway, the hall light shining on his bald head.
She stared down at him, bewildered that the UN Secretary-General was standing on her doorstep.
“Are you going to invite me in?” he asked. He said it lightly, but Michelle could tell he was vexed. Manners were important to him. Right now, she really didn’t care about his desire for protocol.
“I don’t know,” she replied tersely. “Depends on why you’re here. Actually, you know, I don’t care why you’re here.” She started to close the door.
He stepped into the doorway. “I am here about the Talas mission.”
Michelle shook her head. “This is insane,” she said. “I told Barbara and Klaus—I don’t know how many times—I can’t go.”
“Michelle, I understand, you’re worried about your daughter, but sometimes there are things that are bigger than the small realm of our personal lives. This is one of those times.”
Michelle cocked her head to one side and gave him her very best are-you-fucking-kidding-me look. “This is my family,” she said hotly. “Nothing takes precedence over that.” Then she pointed at the TV. The sound was still off, but the coverage of Talas was playing. “No one knows anything about what’s going on there! This could be some random bullshit. Or yet another PPA situation. You know how to handle those. You can do that without me.”
“Invite me in, Michelle,” he said. “I can’t stay out here. I don’t have any security with me.”
Michelle stepped back to let him in. “Whose goddamn fault is that, Jayewardene?” Normally, she would have done the polite thing and invited him into the living room and made her shitty tea and served some cookies on her cracked and mismatched plates. But this wasn’t normal and she’d had it with everything Committee related.
“We need you, Michelle,” he said earnestly. “You’ve had experience with this sort of fieldwork. You can lead and you can follow orders. You’re a team player and we need you to help with the new recruits we’re sending along.”
“Oh, God, you can get any number of other aces to help.” She was utterly exasperated. “You know what, let me show you why I can’t leave.”
She turned and left him at the front door, not bothering to see if he was following her. Once he saw Adesina’s condition, he would stop bugging her about this stupid mission.
“This is what my daughter did to herself, Jayewardene,” she said, pointing at the cocoon in the bed. “I thought it was PTSD, but now I have no idea what caused it. I don’t know when she’ll come out of it. I don’t even know what she’ll be when she comes out of it. Can you tell me I should leave my baby alone right now?”
Jayewardene stood in the doorway. The corners of his mouth were turned down and his brow was furrowed. Then he looked at her with such compassion Michelle almost burst out crying. That wasn’t what she expected from herself or from him. “I’m very sorry, Michelle,” he said softly. “It must be awful to see her like this.”
And then she was crying. She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. “I just can’t believe you want me to go!”
Jayewardene gave a heavy sigh. “I wish it hadn’t come to this.”
“Come to what?” she asked. Her nose was running, and she grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand.
“I’ve seen you there,” he said. There was a heaviness in his voice.
“Well, what the hell does that mean?”
“It means I have a wild card,
Michelle looked at him blankly. There had never been the slightest hint that Jayewardene had a wild card. “And what does yours do?” she demanded. “You’re obviously not a joker, unless you’re hiding some kind of prehensile tail under that suit.”
“I’m a precog,” he said. It sounded as if it was a relief for him to tell her. “I see glimpses of the future. And Michelle, my visions are always right.”
“I suppose you’re going to tell me you had a vision of me in Talas.”
“Yes,” he said. “But more importantly, your daughter was in my vision, too. The only way you can save her is to go.”
“Oh, bullshit,” Michelle said. She brushed past him as she stalked out of Adesina’s room. “I can’t believe you’re telling me this. This is a new low even for the Committee.”
“Michelle!”
She stopped. He’d never used that tone of voice with her before. She hadn’t even known he possessed such an angry and commanding timbre.
“Do you think I would reveal my power unless it was absolutely necessary? Do you understand the implications should this become public knowledge? Only a handful of people know about my ability. And now you are one of them. Do you think I do this lightly?”
She was taken aback. She’d been so caught up in her own indignation she hadn’t really considered what his wild card meant. In his position he would be considered dangerous. Knowing the future was incredibly powerful—even if it was as he described, just bits and pieces, but always right. And how many people would like to get their hands on that ability? How many others would kill him to prevent what might be revealed by his power?
But he’d offered her some hope. She could go to Talas and maybe help Adesina. It was something she could do. Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Michelle went and answered it. Joey was back with groceries. Two zombie dogs were with her, both large mutts. They seemed pretty fresh—hadn’t begun to smell yet.
“We have company,” Michelle said as she let Joey and the dogs in. Joey put the bags on the table and walked into the living room.
“Jayewardene,” she said. “This is pretty fucking weird.”
“Hello, Miss Hebert,” he said. “It’s so very nice to see you again. I trust your visit has been pleasant.”
Joey snorted. Formal politeness never impressed her. “Jayewardene. I guess y’all decided to send in the really fucking big guns.”
“Indeed I did,” he replied. He looked back at Michelle. “What do you say? Will you help us? Will you help your daughter?”
The zombie dogs lay down on the floor and stared up at Michelle. Joey stared at her for a long moment, too. “What the fuck is all this about? What did he say?”
Michelle looked away for a moment, then looked back at Joey. “I can’t tell you how, but he says the only way to help Adesina is for me to go to Talas.”
“That sounds like an incredible amount of bullshit,” Joey spat. She jerked her thumb at Jayewardene. “Why would you believe anything those fuckers say?”
Michelle exchanged a long look with Jayewardene. His expression was closed, and she knew he was waiting for her to make a decision.
“Joey,” she said, turning away from Jayewardene. Her voice was low and urgent. “I need you to trust me. Really trust me. You know I’d never leave Adesina unless I thought I could help her.”
“What did he tell you?” Joey demanded. She had a stubborn expression on her face that Michelle knew all too well. “Tell me!”
Michelle ran her hands through her hair. “I told you already,” she said more forcefully. “I can’t tell you. You know I would if I could. Please, please trust me.”
Joey glared at Jayewardene. “I don’t know what the fuck you said, and my girl wouldn’t leave if she didn’t think it would help. But I’ve got my eye on you. You know the dead are everywhere.”
“Miss Hebert, I respect you and your power more than you know,” he said with a slight bow. “And please know that were this not imperative, I would not be asking it of Miss Pond.”
Joey snorted. “Oh, you are one slick motherfucker, Jayewardene.” She sighed and took Michelle’s hand. “I can stay and take care of the niblet. And just so you know, I’ve never seen you do anything but what you thought was fucking righteous.”
A surge of relief went through Michelle. She knew Joey would protect Adesina with her life. “Thank you,” she replied, squeezing Joey’s hand. “And I’m going to call Wally and see if he can help out, too.”
“I can do it by myself,” Joey said. The dogs hopped to their feet. “You know I can.”
“Good grief, of course, I know it. But it never hurts to have someone else just in case.”
Joey petted one of the dogs. Michelle tried not to be completely squicked out by it. “Yeah, Wally’s a good person.”
“Then it’s settled,” Jayewardene said. “How soon can you be ready?”
“I have a bug-out bag in the closet,” she replied with a shrug. “Started one right after my first mission for the Committee.” She went to the hall closet and pulled out a regulation military duffel bag. Inside she had clothes, some rations, water, a first-aid kit, and a solar battery charger for her phone. There were some odds and ends in there, too. Leftovers from previous missions.
She dropped the bag and went to Adesina’s room. She kissed the top of the cocoon, and tears welled up in her eyes. “I’ll be back soon, baby,” she whispered. “Aunt Joey’s gonna take good care of you.”
Joey was standing in the doorway when she looked up. Then Joey was in her arms kissing her. It was surprisingly tender.
“Don’t be a fucking idiot out there,” Joey said when they broke apart. “I need you back in one piece.”
Michelle laughed in spite of herself. “What are the odds I’m not coming back in one piece? It’s like you don’t know me.”
Joey took Michelle’s head in her hands and held it still. “I’m not kidding,” she said earnestly. “I need you.”
“I need you, too.”
“Now get the fuck out of here and go save your daughter.”
The Angel and Billy Ray found an empty lounge down the corridor from the conference room. They looked out the large picture window upon New York City, spread before them in the darkness, glittering like the stars strewn across the sky.
“Been a long day,” Ray said.
The Angel put an arm around his waist, laid her head on his shoulder. “We did good today,” she said.
“Yeah.” He inclined his head to touch hers.
“What’s wrong?” the Angel asked.
Uncharacteristically, Ray sighed. He was in a mood that the Angel had rarely seen in the years they’d been together.
“I don’t like this,” Ray said. “You know I want to go with you, but the agency ain’t going to run itself. I can’t pick up and go when I want to anymore. Not that I really want to this time around.”
The serious tone in his voice disturbed her. “Why not?”
“I’ve been everywhere—including that freaking alien dimension back when we first met—and I’ve seen lots of weird shit go down. Thought I’d seen damn near everything, but now, I’m not so sure.” He turned to face her and put his hands on her narrow waist. She entwined hers and rested them on the back of his neck. His intense green eyes, almost on a level with her own, were shadowed with an uncertainty that the Angel had never seen before. “It smells bad to me. You’re going into a totally uncertain situation and I ain’t too sure that Sir Galahad is the guy who should be leading you into this particular crapsack. But what can I do?”
“Don’t worry, Billy. The Lord will watch over me.”
“He damned well better,” Ray said, “and I’ll be waiting in the wings in case he fucks up. You just call me and I’ll be there. Screw SCARE.”
“Billy,” she whispered. She put a gloved finger against his lips. “Don’t blaspheme.”
Then they were kissing, pressed hard against each other, holding each o
“Get a room, you two.”
They broke off the kiss and turned their heads, Billy wearing the scowl that meant he was really annoyed. Bubbles was standing in the open entrance to the lounge. She was beautiful, the Angel thought, taller than her and slim as, well, a model. Graceful and elfin, like all those lovely blondes in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies.
“I always seem to be interrupting you two, don’t I?”
“You don’t have to enjoy it so much,” Ray growled.
Bubbles wiped the little smile off her face. “Sorry guys. I don’t, really. Klaus sent me to find you, Sheeba. We’re heading out to the airport.” She turned to go, stopped, and looked again at them, the grin back on her lips. “I guess you have time to say good-bye one more time.”
She turned and walked away.
“Not the way I’d like to,” Ray said in a low voice.
“I know what you mean.”
He put his arms around her waist again. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, carefully. “When you get back. Maybe we should change it up a little.”
“Change?” she said.
“I’m getting tired, Angel. I’ve saved the world I don’t know how many damned times, and, fuck, it just needs saving again by the next weekend. How much is enough?”
“Maybe you need a vacation.”
“Yeah, a long vacation.”
“How about in beautiful, sunny downtown Talas?”
She was gratified at the smile that lifted his craggy, slightly mismatched features. “Maybe,” he said.
“Good-bye, darling.”
She kissed him again, a quick kiss this time because she didn’t think she could just walk away from another long one.
He let her go. She turned and walked away. She looked back as she left the lounge. He was still watching her. He lifted a hand and she blew him a kiss and then went down a branch of the corridor and was gone from his sight.
The tarmac stretched out into darkness from the yawning, huge mouth of the hangar, the lamps lining the taxiway blurred in fog. The eastern horizon was lightening as dawn approached. Around the Committee’s private Concorde, workers were loading the last of the equipment and supplies. The Committee team, with the exception of Klaus, was already on board. The pilots could be seen in the cockpit, making last-minute checks.