Free Dark Matter by Greg Iles Page A

that. They almost certainly knew I was here now. If they were outside, they had probably photographed Rachel and would be trying to figure out what she was doing here.
    "Maya looks like she could use a walk," I said brightly.
    Lu Li started from her trance.
    "I'll be glad to take her out for you," I added.
    "No. Maya no need—"
    I cut her off with an upraised hand. "I think the air would do us all good."
    Lu Li stared at me for several moments. "Yes," she said finally. "Is good idea. Me inside all day."
    Looking around for something to write with, I saw a message pad by the telephone. I went to it and wrote, Do you have a portable tape recorder? Then I pulled off that sheet and wrote my cell phone number on the next page.
    When Lu Li read my question, she walked back to Fielding's study and returned with a Sony microcassette recorder, the type used for dictation. I put it in my pocket and led both women to the glass doors that opened onto the patio.
    Maya followed us out but stuck close to Lu Li, who attached a leash to the dog's collar. About a hundred meters through the woods lay the University of North Carolina's outdoor amphitheater. On two previous occasions, Fielding had taken me there to talk.
    "I know Andrew swept the house," I whispered to Lu Li, "but I still don't feel safe talking inside. I need to speak to Rachel alone for a few minutes. I want you to go back inside. Lock the doors, but leave Maya with us. We're going to walk through the woods to the amphitheater. We'll be back very soon. I have my cell phone, and I left the number on your message pad. If anything strange happens, call me immediately."
    Confusion and worry wrinkled Lu Li's face. "You need Maya?"
    "For cover. You understand? An excuse to walk out here."
    She nodded slowly, then knelt, whispered something to the dog, and retreated into the house. I picked up the whimpering bichon and walked swiftly across the backyard to a narrow path that led through the woods. Rachel struggled to keep up as branches began to pull at our clothes.
    "What are we doing?" she hissed.
    "Keep quiet. I have to talk to you, and I don't think we have long."
    I wasn't sure of the source of my fear, but I knew it ran deep. Without being aware of it, I had shifted the dog to my left hand and drawn my gun with my right.

CHAPTER 7
    "Ritter's here," said Corelli, his voice sounding tense in Geli's headset.
    "He's already got the laser trained on the front window."
    "What's he hearing?"
    "Definite sounds, but no conversation. Like one person moving around the house. They could be in one of the back rooms."
    "Change position and put the laser on a back window. Hurry."
    "Right."
    Geli could hardly stay in her chair. Something was going down at the Fielding house, and she had only one way to know what it was. A minute passed, then Ritter's deeper voice said, "Nichts."
    "You're not getting anything in back?" she asked.
    "Nein."
    "They know where the bugs are, and they've plugged them."
    "Ahh," said Ritter. "How could they know that?"
    "Fielding."
    "That bastard," said Corelli. "He was always playing games with us."
    Geli nodded. Around Trinity, Fielding had acted like an absent-minded professor, but he was the sharpest son of a bitch in the place.
    "They've probably left the house," Geli said. "Fielding and Tennant did that twice before. Walking Fielding's dog. I'm going to put a team in the woods."
    "Nein," said Ritter. "Tennant will hear them."
    "You have a better idea?"
    "I'll go alone."
    "Okay, but I'm setting up a perimeter. Tennant could be trying to run."
    "I don't think so. It's a stupid way to run. And Tennant's not stupid."
    "Why stupid?"
    "When you run, you don't take women with you. You move fast and light."
    Geli smiled to herself. "Tennant's not like you, Liebchen."
    Ritter laughed. "He's a man, isn't he?"
    "He's American and he was raised in the South. I knew guys like him in the army. Born heroes. They have this romantic streak. It gets a lot of them killed."

    "Like