Broken Faith Read online

  Rhiannon had slipped into her narrative so completely that she ventured unconsciously to rest one hand against David's knee for a moment. He schooled himself not to disrupt the spell of the tale that had so wholly captured her attention.

  "Finally, Marius has had enough. He joins the Roma Party with his brother, and they're assigned to go around to the Gypsy communities telling them of their rights and teaching them how to vote. Immediately, the authorities start harassing the brothers. They're stopped, beaten, arbitrarily arrested, but still they keep up their political work."

  "Sounds like he and his brother were very committed to their cause," David offered. She instantly stiffened and drew back her hand.

  "You're not getting the whole picture. Marius wasn't the only one to suffer. The police went to his parents' house looking for him, and when his mother tried to stop them from ransacking the place, they beat her too. At the hospital, the doctor told Marius' father that it wouldn't be any loss if a Gypsy woman died. By four in the morning, she was having trouble breathing, but the nurse wouldn't do anything without a doctor's authorization. She died an hour later."

  "That's terrible," David said quietly. "No wonder he immigrated."

  Rhiannon snorted. "Hell, Ichabod, that's not the worst of it. After the autopsy showed his mother died of a clot on the brain, her husband was sent to prison for 'beating his wife to death.' Sometime after that, Marius and his family were walking home from a Roma Party meeting when four men came up and forced them into a car. They were taken to a fenced in yard where they beat him and raped his wife in front of their children, while they cried and begged for mercy. When they were thrown back out on the street, they realized they'd been in the backyard of a Secret Service building."

  David had encountered any number of things in his years in the ministry that still haunted him years later, but they were offset by more acts of immense human kindness that had reinforced his iron faith. Even so, Rhiannon's story left his whole face numb, which was just as well since he didn't think that any polite murmurings would be well received. She seemed the sort likely to toss the tea as well as the sympathy back at him. "What happened then?" seemed the only safe question.

  "I guess it was the last straw. Marius bought a fake Hungarian passport on the black market and a contact smuggled him out across the Hungarian border. Everyone figured that with him out of the country, his family would be safe, but the police came looking for him and when they didn't find him, they beat his wife up and raped her again. She hid out all summer until her family could get enough money to get her and the children out of the country."

  "So now they're together…here?" David asked gently.

  "Yeah." Then Rhiannon shook her head in frustration. "But don't you see? He failed them. If it was just him, on his own, giving everything for his political beliefs, then I could understand. But what he did hurt his family. His mother died, his father was put in prison, his wife raped and his kids terrorized, but he didn't stop. All he cared about was his little crusade. What kind of man puts that ahead of his family?"

  Sensing that they were nearly at the heart of what was bothering the young woman, David tentatively offered, "Maybe he felt he was doing what was best for them in the long run. You know, working for a better future where things like that wouldn't happen. Maybe he felt the price was worth it."

  Abruptly Rhiannon stood and paced in front of the small stoop. "Did he ever ask them if they were willing to pay the price? Or did he just make that decision for them?"

  "I don't think we can second guess what happened, not knowing him or the circumstances, but I'd assume that at least he and his wife talked it over and decided the cause was worth the risk."

  When Rhiannon stopped and turned back on him, David was struck by the anger in her eyes. "And what about the little kids? Who was looking out for them? They were the parents! They're supposed to be doing what's best for their children!"

  Her passionate declaration seemed to drain her, and she sank down again next to David. He regarded her with concern but before he could say anything, she mumbled, "It never does any good anyway. One man can't stand against the tyrants."

  "I don't believe that," David said firmly. "One man can stop a line of tanks."

  Rhiannon looked up at him wearily. "Only if the tanks choose to stop for him. Otherwise they keep on rolling and squash him into a puddle of nothing. Then what good is his noble gesture?"

  "It matters, Rhi, it matters." Unconsciously, he took the familiarity as he struggled to reach her. Her disillusionment sat painfully at odds with her youthful passion. "It matters because one man stood, and if he can, then more will stand after him, until so many stand up that the tanks can't possibly run over them all."

  A tiny unwilling smile quirked the young woman's lips and she cocked her head as she regarded her lanky companion. "You're okay, Ichabod. You're wrong, but you're okay."

  Startled, David found himself smiling back. "Ah, you're not so bad yourself, for a baby cynic."

  "Who're you calling a baby?" Rhiannon growled, but there was no heat behind it. He was about to tease her in return when her shoulders stiffened and she turned her head to stare down the street. Curiously, David followed her gaze and saw a motorcycle coming towards them. The young woman watched it intensely and relaxed only as it continued past them and up the street.

  "Problem?"

  Rhi shook her head. "No, I just thought it might be my neighbours coming back early. They're usually gone all day on Saturdays."

  "Not your favourite people, I take it?" He had the uneasy feeling she'd been prepared to bolt when the bike's roar came into earshot.

  "Not anyone's favourite people around here," Rhiannon assured him with a frown. "I had a bit of a run-in with them earlier this week, and I've been trying to avoid them ever since. I changed my route coming home and so far they haven't seen me."

  David hoisted himself upright from the casual sprawl he had adopted. "If you're really afraid of them, then maybe we should call the police or something."

  The young woman looked at him wryly. "We? You really are new around here. Trust me, there's nothing the police can do. Pike and Eddie are very good at covering their tracks, and they always have alibis."

  "Well we can't sit still and allow this to go on," David insisted. "Maybe I should call a neighbourhood meeting to deal with the issue."

  "God, Ichabod! You're such an innocent. Believe me, the people around here are too cowed to stand up to the King brothers. You call a meeting, and no one will come. You go to the police and maybe they'll run a patrol car through here once a night, but they can't do anything until a crime is committed. We don't fork over a lot of taxes around this area, so it's not like they're going to pay a whole lot of attention to a couple of neighbourhood bullyboys. You just don't get how it works down here."

  "This isn't the first inner city parish I've been assigned to," he argued, feeling his stubborn Scots heritage begin to make itself known. "Nothing worth having ever came easily, but that's what it's going to take. Do you really want to live like this for the rest of your life, scared of every street sound?"

  She looked at him sidelong, a glint of defiance resurrected in her eyes.

  "Not going to be living like this the rest of my life. A year from now, I'm going to be a million miles away from the King brothers."

  "And your family?"

  "Especially my family."

  David's every instinct wanted to pursue the remark, but something about Rhiannon had shifted and withdrawn. He sighed as the window of inquiry firmly closed and slid the latch, but consoled himself that at least she was still talking to him, which was a victory of sorts.

  "What about your family?" she asked casually. "You said you had a daughter."

  David was caught off guard momentarily, but shook his head at last. "They're all back east in Nova Scotia."

  "Why aren't they with you?"

  The blunt question disconcerted him, but David decided to answer honestly, to repay th
e trust she had given him, however limited. "Because my wife took my daughter and son with him when she left me ten years ago to move back to her home in Halifax."

  "Huh. So why she'd leave?"

  A little exasperated, David glanced over to see a small smirk on the young face-she knew how to interrogate just as well as he did. "She didn't like the assignments I was given. She got tired of raising our children in rundown neighbourhoods and decided to take them home to her folks."

  "Couldn't you have asked for better locations?"

  She was genuinely curious now, eyes alight and interest pricked, but it didn't make answering any easier. "No one else was willing to take those postings. Yes, I suppose I could've asked, but I felt the work I was doing was worth a few broken windows and stripped down cars."

  "Worth more than your family?"

  There it was-the question he'd asked himself a thousand times in the intervening years. When he didn't answer, Rhiannon snorted.

  "You're no better than Marius." She shook her head in disgust and stood up in a single, sharp motion. "I've got work to do."

  With that, she turned and went into the house, closing the door behind her before he had a chance to get another word in. David stared after her for a long moment, not really expecting the door to re-open, before he stood and walked back down the path to the sidewalk. Pulling the gate closed behind him, he started along the sidewalk, muttering, "Well, that went well." Behind him, a curtain fell back into place and a young woman climbed a narrow set of stairs to her room.

  Chapter Four

  THE THICK HAZE of cigarette smoke hung heavily in the air, diminishing even the bar's customary dim lighting. The shabby patrons were oblivious to the three men huddled around a table in a dark corner of the dingy establishment. Loud music pumping from a jukebox obscured most voices, but that didn't prevent the slight, neatly dressed oriental man with his back against the wall from glancing up frequently to ensure no one was paying any attention to their conversation.

  Gao Qui-jian had barely touched the beer in front of him while his companions were on their third of the last half hour. He frowned at his tablemates, mentally bemoaning the dismal quality of company his business demanded he keep. The smaller of his two cohorts, a greasy haired man with an ugly port-wine stain disfiguring his neck and jaw, scowled back at him.

  "So when's the next shipment coming in?" Pike asked, tipping his beer back for another swallow.

  "It will arrive Wednesday night, and you are to transport it Thursday morning on your regular run to Montana. However, your contact will be meeting you in Missoula rather than Kalispell this time," Gao calmly issued his orders in precise but lightly accented tones.

  "Shit!" Eddie protested. "Why the hell do we have to take 'em that far instead of dumping 'em in Kalispell like we always do?"

  Gao turned cold eyes on the hulking slack-jawed man sitting beside his older brother across the table. "Because you two fools created such a debacle last time you may consider yourself lucky that you're even allowed to take another shipment. How many times have I warned you not to tamper with the cargo, to simply deliver it to your contact and continue on with your business?"

  Pike and Eddie looked at each nervously. "Hell, we were only having a little fun," protested Pike defensively. "Wasn't no harm done. We let her go when we were finished. Besides, no way an illegal's gonna run to the cops."

  Closing his eyes momentarily in irritation, Gao snapped, "No, she didn't run to the cops, but she did run. She was so traumatized by your little bout of 'entertainment' that she bolted into the woods. The contact had to leave her there and take the rest of the cargo. She wandered into Kalispell a few days later and is now in INS custody. Luckily my sources tell me that she didn't know enough about her transport arrangements to damage us, however had your inability to control your baser urges jeopardized our business, I assure you that my associates would not have been pleased. If you wish to keep your heads on your shoulders, I strongly suggest you attend strictly to your instructions from now on!"

  Pike paled as Eddie swallowed audibly. Holding his hands up in conciliation, Pike tried to reassure Gao. "Yeah, yeah, no problem. We'll just pick 'em up and drop 'em off. You can count on us."

  The oriental man dropped a piece of paper on the table. "Here are the contact instructions for Missoula." He stood, plucking his jacket off the back of his chair. Eyeing his companions, he added icily, "And gentlemen, if I hear of any further transgressions, I will not run interference on your behalf again. I will go directly to the Chameleon's circle with a full report on your activities."

  The King brothers glanced at each other fearfully before Pike blustered, "She wouldn't care if we picked up a little action."

  Gao smiled mirthlessly, enjoying the sweat he could see breaking out on Eddie's upper lip. Leaning over the table he said in a low voice, "Perhaps not, but I do think she would take exception to you endangering her profits, don't you, gentlemen? And she really isn't very nice when that happens…or have you forgotten the fate of your predecessors?"

  Pleased at the reaction his words had elicited, Gao left the table and exited the bar. Automatically glancing about, he made his way down the street pondering the potential longevity of the men he'd just left. Hardened as he had become after years in the service of a powerful Vancouver-Hong Kong triad, even his dark soul quaked at the thought of crossing the woman known only as the Chameleon.

  More powerful even than Big Sister Ping, the reputed "Mother of all Snakeheads" who'd masterminded a global human smuggling ring for years, only a small cadre knew the Chameleon's true identity and they were ruthless in protecting that knowledge. He'd seen the punishment that had befallen those who had crossed her, and he had no intention of becoming one of their numbers, his flayed and vivisected corpse dumped on some lonely waterfront as a warning to others.

  Coming to a decision as he briskly strode along, Gao determined that if Pike and Eddie did not adhere exactly to their instructions this time, they would be eliminated. With a mental shrug, he dismissed their fate as irrelevant. Foot soldiers were easily replaced.

  * * *

  Tucking a plain white shirt into faded, close-fitting jeans, Marika walked into the living room and smiled at the sight of her furry companion happily curled up in a patch of late afternoon sun. Rolling her cuffs up her forearms, she addressed him.

  "Hey, lazy bones, think you can look after yourself for a few hours?"

  The cat stretched and yawned, casting a jaded eye on his mistress. Laughing, she scooped him up ignoring his protests.

  "Oh don't be giving me that," she scolded him affectionately. "You can take a moment out of your busy day to say good-bye. It's not like you're going to be short of sleep, heaven forbid."

  The woman strolled to her door, stroking the pet that was now purring under her touch. "I won't be that long, Spooky. Probably be home by midnight. I'm going to Lee and Dana's for a barbeque. They're having a big party and I promised I'd help out." Lifting her cat to eye level, she added pensively, "Your buddy will be there, Spook. I'll tell her that you said hi, okay?"

  Setting the gray feline down, she picked up her keys and purse off the side table. Opening the closet she perused her choices before grabbing a worn brown leather jacket for later in the evening. Noting with amusement that Spooky had already resumed his place in the sun, she left her apartment, locking the door behind her.

  Taking the elevator to the parking garage, she leaned against the back wall and contemplated the upcoming evening. She'd half wondered after her lunch with Lee if she shouldn't make an excuse to back out, but her large friend had dropped into her office early the next morning with a list from her partner of things to pick up for the party. When Marika had glanced uncertainly from the list to Lee, the older woman had grinned.

  "What? You thought she wouldn't put you to work? Heck, that's nothing. You should see the length of the list I got!" Lee started to leave but before she reached the door, turned and said seriously, "I hate that yo
u still see her, 'Rika, but I love you, and I'm not mad at you. Just don't hide from us, okay?"

  Marika shook her head ruefully. Her old friend knew her too well for comfort. Her first instinct had been to retreat but Lee had short-circuited that effortlessly. The big woman had done it again later in the week when she casually informed the lawyer that everyone on Dana's softball team would be at the party. When the blonde opened her mouth to speak, Lee shook her head and said, "Don't even think about it. You're going to see them together sometime and it might as well be when there's tons of people around and you're with friends."

  Grimacing wryly, Marika decided that Lee's perception was downright irritating at times. Sighing, she exited the elevator and wound her way through the rows of cars until she reached her black Lexus. Easing her car out of its spot and heading up the ramp to reach the street, she considered how she'd handle seeing her old lover, and now friend, with the woman's new lover.

  She and Terry had only been involved for a short period the previous year, but Marika had fallen hard for the warm, outgoing young woman. When Terry broke off their affair after only a month, Marika had tried fruitlessly to get her back. She knew she'd gone overboard, but having had that brief taste of what she knew a relationship could be, she'd had a hard time letting go. It had taken Terry angrily confronting her in a bar full of their friends before Marika finally accepted there was no hope for renewing their romance. It was only several months later when she'd happened across Terry, drunk and mourning an impossible relationship of her own, that they'd begun a true friendship.

  Marika had fully expected to be harshly rejected when she'd rescued Terry from her cups and taken her home to dry out, but she still had a deep reservoir of feelings for the young woman and couldn't stand by when she appeared to need help. When Terry cautiously accepted Marika's tentative offer of friendship, the blonde had ruthlessly reined in her romantic feelings and a warm bond had grown between the two women.