Chapter Nineteen

Nicki got up early the next morning to make time for a long run. When she returned, she found Fenwick preparing a full breakfast.

“It being Sunday,” he said, “I took over for the cook.”

Nicki noticed two places were set on the terrace.

“I didn’t know my mother was home,” she said.

“Yes, Miss. She arrived late last night.” He gave Nicki a quick wink. “About an hour before you did. I took the liberty of telling her you’d retired for the night.”

“Thanks for covering for me, Fenwick.” She glanced at the clock. “I’m sorry about breakfast, but I’ve got to go. Soon I’ll be able to sit down with you and enjoy all these great meals.” She explained about Mac. “The croissants look terrific, by the way.” She took two for the road.

“What shall I tell your mother?”

“Tell her I’ll be here for dinner tonight. This time, I mean it.”

Fenwick raised an eyebrow.

“I promise.”

Nicki rapped lightly on Mac’s door. “It’s me. And I’ve brought someone along.”

“Come in,” he said.

“How are you, Mac?” asked Peter Byron.

“I’m, uh…okay. But what are you doing here?” He looked at Nicki. “I thought you were bringing…some other people.”

“For such a brilliant guy, Mac, you can be pretty clueless,” said Nicki. “Mr. Byron is a CSIS agent.”

“What?” Mac pulled himself up, then hunkered down again when a sharp pain hit his stomach.

Nicki handed him a glass of water. “Sure you’re up to this right now? We can come back later.”

“I’m okay.”

“Your friend here gave me a call,” said Byron. “She knew that I’d been watching you.” He sat down in a chair next to the bed and pulled another over for Nicki.

Byron took out his wallet and showed him his identification. “I guess you know I’m going to have the RCMP bring you in for questioning. You will be arrested.”

Mac nodded, then gave Byron a full account of what he’d done.

“So you turned over the discs to Quon?”

“I did,” admitted Mac. “But Yin got them back. I don’t know how, but she did.”

Byron turned to Nicki.

“Are you aware of what kind of a guy you’re dealing with here? Quon will track you down. I guarantee it.”

“I’m not afraid of Quon.” She handed Byron her cell. “He’ll be in jail soon, anyway.”

Byron played a portion of what she’d taped.

“I’ll have the RCMP arrest him today.” He took another look at the video. “I’ve been after this guy for months now but didn’t have enough proof to haul him in.” He tucked the phone into the inner pocket of his jacket. “I do now.”

“But what about Dr. Aisin-Gioro?” asked Nicki. “If you arrest Quon, how can we find out who he’s working for? Without that information, we’ll never locate the professor.”

“We’ll offer Quon a plea deal. He’ll talk.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“That’s the chance we’ll have to take.”

Nicki wasn’t about to take any chances.

“Suppose I tell you I know who Quon’s working for, but I don’t have any direct evidence?”

“I’m listening,” said Byron.

Nicki sat down next to him. “The manager at Haddon Heights. Trent Newman.”

Byron laughed out loud.

“What makes you say that?” he asked.

“A few things,” said Nicki.

Byron continued to laugh.

Nicki became defensive. “Okay, a lot of things,” she said. “Like erased surveillance footage and a Mandarin dictionary. And the fact that he tried to kill David Kahana a second time.”

Byron was still smiling.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Newman is one of our agents.”

“What?” cried Nicki.

“Yeah. He’s been working on Quon’s case with me for a while now.”

Nicki was flattened. Embarrassed even. And it showed.

That’s why Newman had Byron’s e-mail address. How stupid of me!

“Look,” said Byron, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. You’ve done Newman’s job for him, for heaven’s sake. He’ll be very pleased with the evidence you’ve collected. As I am.” He patted his jacket pocket. “We’ll replace your phone tomorrow.”

Nicki got up to leave.

“See you later,” she mumbled.

She opened the door and T’ai walked in. “Margo called me,” he said. “She told me everything, Mac.” Then he looked at Nicki. “You okay?” he asked.

She took off.

“Are you tired, Nicole?” Mrs. Haddon asked her daughter. “Have you been doing too much judo, dear?”

“I’m all right, Mother,” replied Nicki. “And it’s kung fu.” She pushed her dessert around on the plate.

“I can tell something’s bothering you,” said Mrs. Haddon. “If it’s about your friends at the delicatessen, I fixed that after you called me in Hawaii.”

“Thanks, Mother.”

Mrs. Haddon summoned the maid to bring her another cup of tea. Just as she’d finished pouring, Fenwick came into the dining room to tell Nicki’s mother that she had a call from San Francisco.

“Tell whoever it is that I’ll return the call shortly, Fenwick.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“So are you going to stay in Toronto, or are you returning to Honolulu?” Nicki pulled her chair out from the table to stretch her legs for a minute.

“I’ll be here for a few days, then I’m meeting your father in Rome. We’re hoping to open a new location in Tuscany, but we have to deal with the Italian government, of course. The usual red tape.”

Nicki nodded politely but hadn’t heard a word her mother had said. Her mind kept swinging back to Newman.

I don’t care what Byron says. I don’t trust that man.

“What do you think of the manager downtown?” she asked her mother.

“Trent Newman? He’s all right, I guess. Does his job.” Mrs. Haddon poured cream into her cup from a silver service. “Why?”

“You don’t have his job application kicking around, do you?”

“It’s probably in my desk at the hotel,” she replied.

“Do you know if he’s a Canadian citizen?”

“Sure he is,” her mother answered. “He was at our Vancouver location, before he came here.” She thought for a second. “But he was born in the United States, I think.”

“Let me guess. Honolulu, right?”

“I think so.” She took a sip of tea. “Yes, I remember now. One of his references was from his days at the Pink Lady.”

“The Royal Hawaiian Hotel?”

“Yes,” said Mrs. Haddon. “It was years ago, but that’s where he started out. As a bellhop, something like that.”

Nicki shook her head.

“What’s the matter, dear? Why do you care if he came from Hawaii?”

Fenwick interrupted.

“I’m sorry, Madam,” he said. “But there’s another call. This time it is…well, it’s urgent. It seems there’s a problem downtown.”

“There is?” she said, getting up from her chair. “What kind of a problem?”

“I don’t know, Ma’am. They didn’t divulge that information to me.”

“Oh, all right. I’ll take it.” Mrs. Haddon went to her study.

Nicki handed her plates to the maid and headed out onto the terrace. She watched clouds form in the sky. The Don River Valley was at its greenest at this point in the summer, especially before a thunderstorm when the colors of the forest stood out brilliantly against the dark gray background.

Nicki was deep in thought when the sound of the television through the screen door grabbed her attention.

The six o’clock news was under way, and the first story was the arrest of Quon. She ran inside and turned up the volume.

The RCMP have made an arrest as a result of a prolonged investigation into technological espionage activities involving several countries.

Quon’s photo flashed on the screen.

More arrests are expected.

Nicki clicked off the television and returned to the terrace.

Fenwick followed her out. “Do you know something about the arrest?” he asked.

Mrs. Haddon slid back the glass doors and joined them outside.

“Nicole, that was the concierge at the hotel.”

By the expression on her face, Nicki and Fenwick knew something was up. Something big.

“It’s Trent Newman,” she said. “He’s disappeared.”

Everything rushed into Nicki’s head at once.

The vase.

T’ai’s uncle.

Hawaii.

Newman’s friend Kimo, the cop.

“Of course,” she said under her breath.

“Of course?” Fenwick raised an eyebrow.

“Mother,” said Nicki, “you were right when you said that something was bothering me.”

“Oh?”

“I really should have stayed in Honolulu. I need to get back for an important…uh, competition…tomorrow afternoon. Do you think you could get the pilot to file a flight plan for me tonight? I know it’s last minute, but this would mean the world to me.”