Infernal

4

When Jack returned from hailing Gia and Vicky a cab, he found Tom back at the table, reading the Times.

"Tom?" It took an effort, but he managed to keep from shouting. "The deal was you'd stay one night. What are you pulling here?"

Tom put down the paper. "Self-preservation."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've been found out. Terry says federal marshals have been at the house looking for me. They know I'm gone."

Jack couldn't rein in a burst of fury.

"You've got feds on your trail? That means when they find you they find me! And if they charge me with harboring a fugitive…"

Jack could see his world going down in flames. The web of secrets that cocooned his identity, his work, his whole damn life would fall apart under federal scrutiny.

"What do you mean, 'when' they find me? They won't. They won't know where to look. Terry thinks I'm on my way to Bermuda right now, not already back. They'll be chasing their tails. And as for tracking me here, they don't even know I've got a brother, let alone what city he lives in."

"But Terry knows."

He nodded. "Yeah, Terry knows a few things, but nothing of any use. If she rats me out—which she might—she'll tell them I've got a brother named Jack who lives in New York. But unless I've misread things, you're not listed anywhere under your own name, are you."

Correct.

Jack nodded.

"Thought so. That means in order to find me they've got to find you, and since you aren't findable, ipso facto, neither am I."

Jack stared at his clueless, bastard brother a long time before responding.

"You know, Tom, I've got a great idea. Let's play a game. It's called Cain and Abel. You'll be Abel…"

Tom laughed. "You worry too much. We're safe."

"I want you out of here. Today."

"And what? Feed me to the wolves? If I register anywhere I'll be found. Look, as soon as your pal Ernie has my new identity I'll be gone, out of your life for good. But until then, I need a hiding place. So you've got to let me stay, bro."

"Cool it with the 'bro' bit, okay? It suits you like a Kangol cap."

Tom frowned. "Kangol?"

"There—you've made my point."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Just put me up till Ernie delivers. Is that asking so much?"

Jack hated this, but didn't see a way out. "Okay. But when Ernie delivers, you go."

He grinned. "Deal! Oh, one more thing. Promise me you won't mention my troubles to Gia, okay? I'd rather she didn't know."

"She already knows you've got legal problems."

Tom's face fell. "Oh hell."

"I didn't go into detail—she didn't want me to—but if she asks, I'll tell her what she wants to know. No holding back."

Jack's holding back the truth had once nearly destroyed their relationship just as it was beginning.

"Fair enough, I guess. I hope she doesn't ask. And by the way, thanks for volunteering to sit for Vicky tonight. I think Gia's going to have a really good time."

"And you? You're doing this out of the goodness of your heart, I suppose."

Tom laughed. "You ought to know me better than that by now. Just as I'm sure you know I'm crazy about your woman."

"Hardly a great intuitive leap. But I don't think of her as my woman. I don't think Gia is anybody's woman. She's just Gia."

"Well, she is carrying your child. Which leads to a question that's been bugging me." Tom waved his hands before him. "Now, it's not my intention to offend, but I've got to ask: What the hell does a bright, beautiful woman like Gia see in you?"

Jack had to smile. "Damned if I know."

He'd come to realize that it's often better not to probe too deeply into these things, but he'd decided that they were good together because of the way they complemented each other. Yin and yang.

Gia was strictly above ground, the product of a Catholic family in the Midwest, a believer in motherhood and apple pie. Jack lived underground, in a separate world, a mirror image of Gia's.

But somehow they'd found each other, somehow they'd bonded. And soon their child would be born.

The turmoil that prospect was causing in Jack's life had been swallowed up by his father's death. But it hadn't gone away. It remained a ticking bomb, with a timer set for March—three months away!

In order to be the child's legal father, to claim her should anything happen to Gia, Jack had to establish an above-ground identity, one that would sidestep the questions of where he'd been for the past fifteen years and why he hadn't paid a cent of taxes during all that time.

Ernie could help a guy live below the radar, but what Jack needed was out of his league.

So Abe was working on it, but progress was slow. The Holgate glacier moved at a brisker pace.

Half a year ago Jack had foreseen none of this. Hell, a year and a half ago he'd seen no hope that he and Gia would ever be together.

They'd been on the outs then—way out. Jack realized with a start that he and Gia most likely would still be on the outs if a mad Hindu named Kusum hadn't come to town to keep a century-and-a-half-old vow of vengeance. He'd brought them back together and they hadn't been apart since.

Tom said, "All right then, answer me this: Why aren't you two living together?"

"None of your beeswax."

Tom jabbed a finger at him. "No, No, Nanette, right?"

Jack didn't know what to say. He'd never seen No, No, Nanette. And didn't plan to.

"I'll have to take your word for it."

Time to call Ernie. Tell him he needed a rush job on Tom's new identity.