Blood Trust (Jack McClure/Alli Carson Novels) - Hardcover

Lustbader, Eric Van

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0765329743 ISBN 13: 9780765329745

Publisher: Forge Books, 2011

Synopsis

It was once said that you must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible . . .

Alli Carson has been through her own personal hell. With her father, the President of the United States, recently dead and her mother in a coma from a terrible accident, she has poured herself into her training to become one of the best FBI agents at the Fearington Institute. Her inspiration and solace comes from the one man with whom she has ever felt a kinship, National Security Adviser, Jack McClure. But when Alli becomes the prime suspect in a murder at Fearington, a wide ranging investigation is triggered, involving local homicide detectives,  the secret service, the FBI itself, and Alli’s own uncle, the billionaire lobbyist Henry Carson.  And yet nothing is what it seems.

What follows is a treacherous journey that leads Jack and Alli into a complex web of lies and deceit. Using Jack’s unique gifts to see the through the labyrinth of manipulation, their investigation leads them into the dark heart of the international slave trade, tied to a powerful Albanian crime lord whose ability and influence in global terrorism grows with each day.

The two find themselves in the crosshairs of vast global enterprise, one that lurks in the shadows of power and has infiltrated Washington and their lives in ways neither of them could ever have imagined. And hidden deep among it all sits a terrifying criminal mastermind, someone fueled by a hatred that can never be quenched, and a mind that knows neither feeling nor mercy.

About this title

About the Author:

Eric Van Lustbader is the author of numerous New York Times bestselling thrillers and fantasy novels, including Last Snow, First Daughter, The Ninja and The Pearl series. Lustbader was chosen by Robert Ludlum’s estate to continue the Jason Bourne series, and his Jason Bourne novels include The Bourne Legacy and The Bourne Betrayal. Born and raised in Greenwich Village in New York City, Lustbader worked in the New York public school system and in the music business before turning to writing full-time. He lives in Manhattan and on the South Fork of Long Island with his wife, Victoria, who is also an accomplished author.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Gunn regarded Naomi with a vaguely ironic smile. “It’s public knowledge that I’m an investor in InterPublic.”

Naomi didn’t like that smile. “A major investor.”

“What can I say? I have a facility for making money.”

“Uh- huh. And what other things have you and Mr. Carson cooked up?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Naomi shrugged. “Maybe InterPublic isn’t the extent of your dealings together. Maybe there are deals that aren’t public knowledge.”

Gunn sat looking at her for a moment. “I do believe you’re trying to piss me off .”

“Not at all.”

“For what reason I cannot imagine.”

Now that they were talking at cross- purposes, it was time for Naomi to go. But before she did, there was one item left remaining on her agenda. She rose and headed for the door, before turning back.

“I’d appreciate the dossiers on the three men who were assigned to guard Alli Carter.”

Gunn appeared unfazed. “Bennett will hand them to you on the way out.”

She smiled. “A pleasure, Mr. Gunn.” Her smile widened. “That macchiato was so good I promise I’ll be back.”

 

 

“The Izmaylovskaya recruit,” Thatė said when Jack had finished explaining his storied past. “Their representatives go far a field—Albania, Romania, all of Eastern Europe, so I’m told.” He looked down at his hands, their long fingers laced together. “That’s how they found me.” He looked up. “Why should I say no? They offered me a home, training, a steady job, security— none of the things I had. It was everything I wanted— and needed.”

“I thought the grupperovka were all Russian nationals.”

“Once, maybe.” Thatė rose, got them two more beers, and sat back down. “But these days the families are under a shitload of pressure from the Kremlin. They gotta expand beyond Russia in order to survive.” He shrugged as he snapped off the bottle cap. “They don’t like it, but what the fuck else can they do. The fucking writing’s on the wall.”

The day had wasted itself in gray rain and intermittent spurts of sleet that rattled on the concrete sidewalks. Now, exhausted, day had given way to night, a darkness muffled in low clouds and swirls of icy rain. Far above, the sky was dully phosphorescent with the lights of the far- off prosperous sections of the city, but the glow did little here. Streetlights worked only intermittently; illumination was at a premium, which was just how the roving gangs liked it.

Jack checked his watch. “It’s almost show time.”

“Time to go, no?” Thatė glanced over his shoulder. “The girl’s awake.”

Jack turned. Alli was standing in the doorway, dried blood all over her. She looked even smaller than usual, almost like a child.

Jack . . .” All at once, tears rolled down her cheeks.

He rose and went to her, held her while she shook and sobbed. “It’s always worst the first time.”

He felt her freeze, almost as if her breathing had come to a halt. “He’s dead?”

“Yes.”

“I . . . I didn’t mean to, but he wouldn’t stop coming after me.”

“What happened?” Jack said gently.

After a shuddering breath, Alli described everything that had happened in her uncle’s study. How Rudy had waited until Uncle Hank and Harrison Jenkins had driven away before coming in and threatening her with the fire poker, how she had managed to get away and what had happened when she encountered the other two guards, how in her flight she had come across the cook lying on the floor of the kitchen, and how Rudy had followed her out of the house.

“There’s no doubt in your mind that his intent was to kill you?”

She shook her head. “When he came for me, he said, ‘There’s a fine spot for them to find you, curled in the fireplace with the soot and the ash.’ ”

“Was it just him, do you think, or were they all in on it?”

Alli, thinking back to how Conlon and the third guard had acted, said, “They were all in it together. I just think Rudy was the crew chief.”

The tears had dried on her cheeks, making tracks in the dirt. He could see that she had regained a good deal of her self- control. Just the fact that she could make these observations about her attackers was proof that she was heading for the right line of work at Fearington.

“It’s okay. You’ve done remarkably well.” He hugged her and gave her a gentle shove in the direction of the bathroom. “Now go wash up.”

He turned to see Thatė staring intently at him. “What?”

The kid lowered his head, stared at the fl oor between his feet. “Nothing.”

Jack sat down across from him and took a swig of his beer, which was now close to room temperature. “Spill it.”

Thatė gave a little laugh. He sounded like a hyena nervously cackling in the bush.

“How’d you get her to listen to you?” the kid asked. “You threaten her, or what?”

Jack considered the source of these questions. “I didn’t get her to do anything. Alli takes my advice.”

“So how you make her respectful?”

Jack tried not to show the alarm that sprang up inside him. “Thatė, she trusts me.”

“She trusts you?”

Behind the closed bathroom door, the water had begun to run in the shower.

Thatė frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“Why don’t you ask her?”

As the kid jumped up, Jack, laughing, reached over and pulled him back down.

“Not now.”

“Why not now?”

“Because she’d find a way to obliterate your nuts.”

Thatė looked at him askance. “You’re fucking with me, right?”

Jack shook his head. “She killed a man today—a professional bodyguard—and maimed two others.” He let the kid go. “You still want to try?”

Thatė shook his head. “Man, I still don’t know about you.”

At that moment, the bathroom door opened a crack, and, through a small cloud of steam, Alli said, “I need clean clothes.”

Jack looked at the kid, who inadvertently gave a classic double-take before making for the bedroom. Jack heard some drawers being pulled out. He and Alli exchanged looks, but he was uncertain of either her mood or what she was thinking until she breathed: “Emma . . .”

“What is it?” he whispered back.

Alli gave a tiny, violent shiver. “I feel her.”

Thatė reappeared with a stack of clothes: a pair of black stovepipe jeans, a black-and-white T-shirt with wig-out emblazoned across the chest, a hoodie, and a pair of sweat socks.

Alli sniffed at them.

“They’re just washed,” the kid said. “I know how to take care of myself.” He led with his chin. “Couldn’t do anything ’bout underwear.”

“No problem,” Alli said, taking the pile from him. “I’ll go commando.”

 

 

Naomi stood just to one side of the entrance to the Fortress Securities building, between two columns, hidden from anyone who came and went. She was scanning the dossiers of the three guards, hoping to find some link, some anomaly that might make something click. It was chilly, the evening clanking onto the city streets like a spent shell. Lights sent smears of illumination across the sidewalk. Headlights rolled toward her, then away slowly in the mounting rush hour traffic.

She had done her best to rattle Gunn’s cage. If there was something to what she had intimated she wanted to know about it. She’d made a shot in the dark, to be sure, but she was waiting for Gunn to emerge. If he had become alarmed by what she had said he would go see Henry Holt Carson in person; he was too good at his job to risk a phone conversation.

But it had been over an hour since she had left the Fortress offices and still no sign of him. She went back to the dossiers, her eyes anxiously scanning the text while part of her attention was secured in the periphery of her vision, waiting for Gunn. There was nothing, nothing, nothing, so she returned to the beginning and started all over again.

Halfway through she caught herself wondering how Pete was faring. Digging out her phone, she punched in his speed- dial number. He answered at once. Nothing to report.

“I got the Fortress dossiers,” she said. “If you’re free, we ought to go over them together.”

“Right. Two pairs of eyes are better than one,” he said. “Meet you in twenty at the office.”

She severed the connection, read a little more, continuing to spin her wheels, and sighed. Still no sign of Gunn. She checked her watch. Shit, maybe she had been wrong about him. All at once, her attention shifted. She looked forward to meeting with Pete, hopeful he’d spot something she had missed. Besides, she hadn’t eaten a thing all day.

She was about to pack up the dossiers in preparation for heading back to the office when a familiar figure pushed through the doors of the building and came briskly down the stairs.

Pete McKinsey passed not ten feet from where she stood, frozen in dismay.

 

 

Thatė pointed with his chin. “What else is on your iPod?”

He held the iPod out and the kid took it, plugged Jack’s Monster earbuds in, and scrolled down.

“Don’t know any of this shit,” he said a little too loudly, as people will when they’re listening to music in their ears. Then, apparently finding a song he liked, he turned up the volume. His head began to nod rhythmically.

Jack watched him for a moment. He had to remind himself that the kid was only seventeen. He spoke American street slang almost perfectly; a first- rate mimic. He turned from this thought as Alli came out of the bathroom. She looked fairly comical with the bottoms of Thatė’s jeans turned up in oversized cuff s. The hoodie came down almost to her knees.

“Don’t laugh,” she warned.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Jack said.

She came and brought a chair over to sit beside him. Thatė’s eyes tracked her but he was too deep in the music to pay much attention.

“What’s with the Lost Boy?” she said.

“We’re in trouble, Alli. The Virginia State Police have a warrant out for your arrest and I have no doubt your uncle wants to get his hands on us as well. Thatė provided a safe haven where no one would think to look for us.”

“Any port in a storm.”

“This is more than a storm,” Jack said seriously.

Alli hitched her chair closer to him and lowered her voice even though it was impossible for Thatė to overhear them. “I don’t understand. Uncle Hank hired those men to guard me. Instead, they tried to kill me. I mean, what the fuck?”

“My thought exactly. That’s why I spirited you away, that’s why I don’t want you to turn yourself in. Nothing about this situation rings true and until I can understand what’s happening I don’t trust anyone, and that includes your Uncle Hank.”

“You don’t think he would—”

At this point, I don’t know what to think. But the fact is I trust this young criminal-in-waiting more than I do anyone else.”

“Then we really are in trouble.”

Jack nodded.

On the other hand, we can’t stay here forever.”

“I don’t plan to,” Jack said. He brought her up to date. He told her about the killings at Twilight, how he’d found physical evidence linking them to Billy Warren’s death. He showed her the octagonal badge and Thatė’s identical pendant.

“The writing on them is Albanian, the icon of an underground club whose business makes even Thatė nervous,” he concluded. “That’s where I’m hoping we’ll find some answers about who really killed Billy, and why.”

Thatė chose that moment to come out of his music- induced trance. “Very cool shit,” he said as he pulled out the earbuds. “Old- school roots, man. People put ’em down, but not me. The blues is where hip-hop came from, you know?” Then he grinned at Alli. “So, vajzė e bukur, how you doin’?”

Alli glanced at Jack, who said, “He thinks you’re beautiful.”

She bared her teeth at the kid.

 

 

According to Thatė, the Stem was located in Chinatown.

“Best cover in the city,” he said when he saw the look on his companions’ faces. “Tons of tourists, no one looks out of place, hey?”

The moment they turned onto H Street NW, Alli felt an odd thrill of déją vu. As they passed Fifth Street, heading toward Fourth, she saw the big square sign of the restaurant toward which Thatė was leading them, and she gasped.

“What is it?” Jack said, bringing the three of them up short.

Alli shook her head. “I saw a take- out menu from this restaurant, First Won Ton, in Uncle Hank’s study.”

“His house is a long way from Chinatown,” Jack said.

Alli nodded. “I thought it curious myself.”

Jack turned to the kid. “The Stem?”

“In the basement, below the restaurant.”

Turning back to Alli, Jack said, “How well do you remember the menu? Was there anything written on it, anything circled, the way people do when they order?”

Alli concentrated. One of the things she’d been training toward at Fearington was full-memory recall of conversations and crime scenes. Clearly, her uncle’s study fit into neither category, but the item was so odd, so out of place that she had spent a moment staring at it. In fact, there was something that was circled.

“Spicy fragrant duck with cherry.”

Jack looked at the kid. “Mean anything to you?”

Thatė shook his head.

“Okay,” Jack said, “let’s move in.”

The restaurant, like many in Chinatown, was below street level. A flight of crumbling concrete stairs, dark with grease and city grime, led down to a glass door. A window to the right was filled with roasted ducks hanging by their necks on a series of metal hooks, mahogany-colored and glistening with fat. Below, metal trays held slabs of red-skinned spare ribs, ready for the fire.

Jack had thought about this foray long and hard; mainly whether or not he should take Alli. However, several factors were at play, all of them limiting his options. For one thing, he was reluctant to leave her behind in a strange house in a very bad neighborhood. Thatė was dealing in drugs. People like that were always targets of rivals or enemies. For another, he didn’t believe that Alli would allow him to leave her behind. Besides, she had proved herself in combat. He had to stop thinking of her as the introverted little girl he’d first met, incapable of taking care of herself. In the last year alone, she had grown by leaps and bounds. She needed to be taken seriously.

None of this, whether fact or rationalization, or some combination of the two, caused him to be any less concerned about her safety, but, for better or for worse, this was how it had to play out.

Inside, the restaurant was long and narrow, its Formica tables filled with Chinese families and a smattering of tourists busily consulting their travel guides for tips on what to order. No one paid them any attention, including the slim Chinese woman behind the cash register, who was drinking tea and sucking at her teeth. Waiters, exuding a cold frenzy, came and went between tables, laden with huge trays mounded with enormous dishes or piled high with platters of the dregs of murky, gelatinous substances.

“This way.” Thatė led them through the restaurant, into a narrow corridor that ended at the door to the toilet. Just before it, on the right, was a steep stairway that descended into the dank gloom of a subbasement.

The kid held out his hand and Jack gave him back his octagonal pendant, which he hung aroun...

About this edition

• Publisher: Forge Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0765329743
• ISBN 13: 9780765329745
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416