Edge of Tomorrow (91 page)

She went to a table and jerked open its
drawer and withdrew a revolver. She spun and pointed it at Syd.

“I know Hatch is recovering. He will
never know I had anything to do with this. And
you
will be dead! He will come running to
me
for consolation! Now I’m about to
shoot a trespasser!”

The roar of the pistol was deafening in the
closed room. The countess kept pulling the trigger until the gun
was empty.

“OK, Sara, that should be enough,” said Syd,
who was unharmed.

Sara appeared from behind one of the drapes
and walked over to the countess and pushed her roughly into a
chair. She wanted to rip her head off, but Syd had warned her not
to be too rough. The library door opened and Count Karl von Braten
strode into the room with a major from the Austrian Army.

“Well, Elizabeth! I did not believe these two
when they came to me with such an outlandish accusation!” snarled
the count in German. “After I spoke with von Reitz, however, he
broke down and told me everything. I also heard your little
performance here!”

He switched to English and said, “I
apologize,
Fräulein
Steppe,
but your claims seemed so outrageous! I am certainly pleased that
you put blanks in that revolver.”

“Me, too, Count,” said Syd as she stood.
“What have you done with the other two?”

“Lieutenant Würtz is in custody, and I had
put Colonel von Reitz under house arrest until we played out this
charade. I have just been informed that he donned his dress uniform
and shot himself in the head with his service revolver! I suppose
he couldn’t face the considerable disgrace.”

Syd was happy with that piece of news. The
person who had actually shot Hatch was now dead.

“That leaves the countess,” Syd pointed out.
“What are your plans for her?”

“You need not worry,
Fräulein
. She will no longer harm
anyone. I will take care of this matter firmly and discretely,”
said the count.

Sara interjected, “Do you trust this guy,
Syd? I could break her scrawny neck right now! The bitch!”

“Now, Sara. We are in Austria, remember? I
trust the count. I think our work here is done. Come. Our plane is
waiting. Thank you for your help, Count von Braten. I’ll give Baron
von Hüber your regards.”

• • •

On the flight to Austria, Syd had
explained to Sara what she had pieced together. Seeing the two
German names on Soup’s list had caught Syd’s eye. The detailed
information that Soup had sent her confirmed that they were
officers in the
Austrian
Army! And Lieutenant Würtz was a helicopter pilot! Syd had
thought back to the scene by the pool when Hatch had been shot. She
remembered Hatch bumping her just before the first shot, and her
slipping just before the second shot. She realized that
she
—not Hatch—could have been the
target! Then she remembered
Elizabeth
! How angry she was that night in
Vienna! It all came together!

• • •

That evening at 5:30 P.M., Syd and Sara
visited Hatch again. The last 24 hours—over 20 of it in the air—had
exhausted both of them despite getting sleep on the plane. The jet
lag was horrendous, but in spite of it, Syd felt at ease for the
first time in days. She had an inner peace that flowed outward and
actually eased her facial features, and how she carried herself.
All known dangers had been dealt with. She could now focus on
tending to the love of her life, and begin planning the rest of
their lives together. She smiled at Hatch and took his hand. He
thought he actually saw an aura about her, then squeezed her hand
and smiled at her. Her inner peace—and intense love—flowed from her
hand to his, and he felt it, too.

Pacific Ocean, 30 Miles South of Tahiti

Saturday, March 23, 2002

2:00 P.M.

The diesel engine of the
La Mer
, a 66-foot, wooden-hulled
fishing boat, hummed monotonously as the boat headed west at 8
knots. The boat was at least 40 years old, but had been
well-maintained and its bright work sparkled in the afternoon sun.
The boat’s captain, Jean-Marc Chalon, was at the helm, guiding the
boat home for the day. Home was
Bora
Tiki
, Hatch’s island, which was 30 miles south of
Tahiti. The island was only seven square miles in size, but it was
lush and had plenty of fresh water. The south end rose up to 1000
feet and had a small lake which collected rain water in the rainy
season. Many springs fed a small stream that ran to the eastern
coast and entered the sea. That was where the small “village”
was.

There were three men and three women on
the
La Mer
today. Hatch was
buckled into a fighting chair on the stern, making one last try for
a Blue Marlin as they headed for home after a day of fishing. His
beard was full again—but trimmed—and he was wearing only swim
trunks. The scar on the chest of his well-tanned body was hardly
visible. He was back to full strength now, and his stint in rehab
was just a memory.

Jean-Marc’s 25-year-old son, Kopaka—called
Bob—was forward tying down the nets, readying the boat for port.
His 23-year-old sister, Akela, was on the port side gutting fish.
Their mother, a Polynesian woman, had died four years ago from
cancer.

They had caught several dozen Red Snappers,
and Akela was cleaning some of them for their dinner tonight.
Samantha Smart—the former Lady Morley, a.k.a. Judy Beecher—was
helping her, and they were chatting amiably in French, laughing a
lot.

Syd was stretched out on a lounge made of
aluminum tubing with white plastic webbing crisscrossed on it. She
had put a large, plush towel down before stretching out on it,
since she did not like the web marks on her body.

All three of the women were wearing
only bikini bottoms and sunglasses, including Syd. Her normally
lily-white breasts were now as tan as the rest of her body. She no
longer had strap marks. Syd and Hatch had arrived at
Bora Tiki
on February 16 to continue
their honeymoon—they had spent a week in Paris first. They found
Judy Beecher—now “Sam”—completely recovered from her wounds and in
very good health. She had lost 35 pounds and was slim and fit—and
topless. She had gone native months before, and had recently moved
out of the house Hatch normally used when he was there, and into
Jean-Marc’s house. They had found that they were very compatible,
and both enjoyed the sex. She also felt that Hatch and Syd should
have his house to themselves. She helped with tending the gardens
and manned the fishing boat several days per week. She was very
happy with her new life, and had no intentions of going back to the
stress-packed world of intrigue, guns, and double-crosses. Hatch
told her that she could stay as long as she wished.

When Syd first arrived on the small island,
she was self-conscious—and felt a little uneasy —about Sam and
Akela running around topless almost everyday. They did not pressure
Syd to join them—they didn’t mention it at all. After three days,
Syd ventured into uncharted waters and left her bikini top in the
house. She had massaged her breasts well with sun block and went
out into the hot sun to join the others for breakfast. Although the
men gave her a cursory look, that was it. After an hour or so, she
forgot all about it.

If the evenings were cool, they wore sarongs,
so Syd finally learned that the weather dictated what they would
wear—or not wear—more than modesty did. She couldn’t help but
wonder what Sara would think of her now!

• • •

Syd stretched her supple, tanned body
and adjusted her position on the lounge to get more comfortable.
She glanced over at Sam and Akela cleaning fish and smiled. She
wanted to be helping them—after all, she was good with a knife—but
they would not let her do much since she had discovered that she
was over a month pregnant. She thought that was silly, but
she
was
33 and wanted to make
sure all went well, so she let them have their way. She had stopped
drinking and smoking, and they were actually eating healthy food
since they had been here on the island—a lot of fish, fruits, and
vegetables.

She reflected back on how well things had
gone in her life since she and Sara had returned from Austria. The
first thing she had done was tell Hatch about her little lie and
begged for his forgiveness. Of course, he gave it. They had checked
with the Triple Eye Vienna office for information about the
Countess von Braten, and all that office had culled from the
newspapers was an announcement that the countess was indisposed and
had canceled all of her engagements. That was back in September.
Nothing had surfaced since.

• • •

Syd had brought Hatch home to Klaus
Haus on September 7, 2001. She and Mrs. C. had watched over him
like mother hens. He healed rapidly, but Syd didn’t have the large
party she had planned for him on September 12, his
49
^th
birthday. They did have a
small get-together with just family. That included, of course, his
parents, Syd, Sara, Mrs. C., and a few Triple Eye key people. Marty
Winsocki flew down with Jane Forbeson in her GS-IV. Syd was
surprised—even though Jane oozed sensuality—that she was not
jealous of Jane. Syd was secure in her position in Hatch’s heart.
The two women got along just fine.

On September 17, she started teaching at the
University of Miami. She had classes on Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday, so she spent Tuesday, Thursday, and the weekends at Klaus
Haus, and the others at her condo in Miami. She hated every minute
that she was separated from Hatch.

By September 24, Hatch was spending two or
three hours a day playing his piano and working on his musical.
That pleased Syd, and when she could, she sang his new songs with
him.

A bright day for everyone was the arrival of
Karen and Bruno from Monterra on October 2. Karen had completed her
work for the Prince on the Italy/Monterra conflict. Right after the
others had left Monterra, Karen had discovered a significant fact
in the lineage trees of the di Contis and the Carfagnos. A
granddaughter of Carla Carfagno (the alleged real di Conti girl)
had married twice. The first marriage was short-lived since her
husband was killed in a boating accident. This name change had
obscured her connection to the Carfagnos. Her second marriage in
1935, was to Salvatore di Conti (who was alleged to be a Carfagno),
who became Prince of Monterra in 1950. They had a son, Giuliano,
who was the current Prince. Hence, if the Carfagno letter was true,
the current Prince’s mother was a di Conti descendent, and so
should he be.

Karen convinced the Prince to secretly test
his DNA so they would know for sure. The results showed he was a di
Conti, so it did not matter whether the Carfagno letter was true or
false: either way, he was the true Prince of Monterra!

Since the lawyers for Italy were pressing the
Court for DNA tests, Karen went to the World Court on September 19
and surprised everyone by reversing her position and stating that
the Prince would submit to the DNA test on condition that, if he
was shown to be a di Conti, that the 1861 Treaty would be null and
void, and Italy would stay out Monterra’s business forever. The
attorneys for Italy were trapped. They agreed to Karen’s
conditions, and on September 28, when the new DNA results were
available, the Court ruled in favor of Karen’s motion. She had won!
Monterra was free from any future connection to Italy!

There were great celebrations in
Monterra, and the Prince gave Karen the Royal Order of Merit, which
was given to people who rendered exceptionally meritorious service
to the Crown. Since Karen had essentially
saved
the Crown, she certainly qualified. She
was now
Lady
Karen Steppe,
and also was an honorary citizen of Monterra.

The Prince awarded her a large monetary bonus
as well, and retained her as the Royal Attorney for International
Affairs. She received another huge retainer against possible work
she might be called upon to perform for the Crown. Her next task
was to petition for NATO protection for Monterra so the agreement
with Libya could be dropped.

Bruno and Karen stayed at Klaus Haus for
three days, then Karen said she had to get back home to San
Francisco. Bruno requested a temporary transfer to the Triple Eye
San Francisco office so he could be closer to Karen. They obviously
had become a couple. This request was, of course, granted. It was
not clear who actually granted the request, but Syd had called Jane
Forbeson, and the paperwork was magically taken care of. Sara had
to find a new Chief of Security, but that did not seem to bother
her. Looking for men always thrilled her. She wished Bruno much
happiness.

Syd placed herself between Hatch and his
businesses for as long as she could. She didn’t want him to have
any stress until he was completely healed. She discovered that
making multimillion dollar decisions did not bother her at all. It
was somehow like Monopoly money. She dealt with Marty at least once
a week, and approved things with a flip of her beautiful hair.
Business flourished.

The President of the United States called
“Bob” in late October about an airline highjacking in the Middle
East. Syd had told him that she was Bob’s secretary and would make
sure he got the message. She gave the problem to Sara, who got
online with the Istanbul HRT and they solved the problem with
professional ease. That proved that even the HRTs worked well
without Hatch and Syd’s hands-on involvement. After all, that is
what Sara had trained them to do. A gold star for Sara!