Page 62 of The Atlas Maneuver

“You having fun?” Cassiopeia asked him.

“It’s definitely more than I bargained for.”

“And that’s something new?”

He smiled. “Each time still amazes me, though.”

“We’ve got a mess here too,” she said. “You want to tell me why we are still in this? What’s really going on here?”

He needed to tell her everything. No. He wanted to tell her everything. There was a time when they jousted, dodging around the truth, holding back far more than they ever revealed. That song and dance eventually led to a breakup, which they’d both taken badly. Luckily, they came to recognize that they needed eachother. More than either one of them wanted to admit. So they made a pact. No more secrets.

“You’re right,” he said. “There’s something you need to know.”

CASSIOPEIA LISTENED ASCOTTON EXPLAINED ABOUT THE WOMANKoger had sent him to watch.

Kelly Austin aka Suzy Baldwin.

From the past.

She’d not seen that one coming and didn’t know how to handle the information. Jealousy was not her thing, and Cotton had never given her any reason to doubt. He’d told her about his youth and the mistakes, and all about an encounter with another woman from his past that happened recently in Poland. Like there, this was not a scenario that warranted irrational emotions. It seemed that Kelly Austin had managed to dig herself a deep hole. Clearly, her life was on the line. And something big was unfolding. Koger needed Austin, and Austin needed Cotton. But she had to say, “I know we never talk about feelings. But you have to be experiencing something.”

“I am. Mainly shame and confusion. Neither of which is helpful here. I was young and stupid when I knew Suzy Baldwin. I ended it. And never made that mistake again. I also became someone else. Someone better. Or at least I like to think so.”

She heard cracking in his voice. Rare. But she appreciated the fact that he felt close enough to share what was going on in his head.

That was a tough thing for them both.

“I never knew that Cotton Malone,” she said. “And I’m glad. I would not have liked him. But I love you. So do your job and take good care of her. Koger says she’s important.”

“Apparently so. I need to talk to him.”

“I’ll tell him to call you. But we have our own mess here to deal with.”

“I look forward to a report.”

“Same with me from you.”

“Oh,” he said. “I love you too.”

KELLY SAT ON THE EDGE OF THE BED. SHE’D MANAGED ONLY A FEWhours of sleep. One thought kept racing through her mind.

Who tried to kill her yesterday?

It definitely wasn’t the bank.

No way. And not the Japanese. They’d made their play afterward and wanted her alive. That left the only likely suspect. The CIA. But why? She’d come to them. Told them things they had no idea existed. Offered them everything. So why kill her? Probably because they’d decided to expunge the situation rather than exploit it. The gold was gone. Bitcoin was beyond their reach. So just get rid of it all, along with all the key players. She’d badly miscalculated on the CIA, thinking they were on the same page as her. Clearly, they were not.

And the Japanese?

They just made a bad situation worse.

Time to cut her losses.

Cotton had left, saying he was going back to the van. He’d managed to get her wallet, passport, and cell phone from the café after she was abducted but, in all the confusion yesterday, her passport had slipped from his pocket. It could be in the van so he’d gone to check and get them some breakfast. Fifty euros had obtained him the use of thegasthausmaintenance man’s car for a couple of hours. Cotton had removed the battery and disabled her cell phone as a precaution. So she gave the same guy fifty more euros from her wallet in return for the use of his cell phone.

And he’d obliged.

She tapped in the number. One she’d called many times. Two rings and it was answered by Catherine Gledhill.