“So someone else then?”
“I have many enemies.”
“Has Lord agreed to buy you out?” he asked.
“That is why we are going to see him. To receive his answer.”
“You told me you lowballed it, but I still hope you’re getting a lot of money,” he said.
She looked at him curiously. “Why?”
“Well, for one, it’s worth a lot of money. And, second, you might need the resources if he does becomes an adversary.”
“Again, Dillon-san, it will not matter. He is too powerful, honey badger or not. I cannot create an alternate truth. I must accept reality.”
“Then you’re just ceding victory to him?” he asked.
She looked over his brawny physique. “What would you do when confronted with someone that you cannot defeat on your own?”
Thinking of Shock, Nash said immediately, “I’d find someone who could help me to beat my enemy.”
She looked out the window. “I have been all over the world, many times. But if I had my wish I would never travel anywhere again.”
“What would you do then?”
“I would have a little place where I could do my artwork and tend a small garden.” She turned back to him. “When I was very young, Hiroko-san managed a garden at our home in the countryside in southern Kyoto. My mother did not care for such things, but my father grew up in a place called the Cotswolds in England, and his family had a large kitchen garden. He graciously allowed Hirokosan to also have one. As a little girl I would work with Hiroko-san caring for the flowers and the herbs and the vegetables. I had my little spade and a bucket and a pair of blue gloves and ‘Wellies’ that my father bought for me. I would go there early in the morning and work until I was quite weary and sweaty. But I adored every minute. It was just me, Hiroko-san, and the earth. It was truly. . .glorious.”
As Nash watched and listened to her he wondered how this seemingly soulful, thoughtful, and introverted person could have become what FBI Agent Reed Morris had first described to him as a global criminal who had no compunction about killing anyone. It was as though there were two vastly different people occupying her body and mind.
And which is the real one? Or is it both?
“You really cared for your father, didn’t you?”
“He was. . .a good man. Who had different priorities in life from his wife. But then we both became . . .”
“Became what?” asked Nash.
“It is held deeply in the past and matters no longer.” Steers looked away, seeming to realize that she had revealed too much.
He broke the silence. “After the sale of your business, will you go after that dream of tending to a kitchen garden and devoting more time to your artwork?”
She glanced at him. “If I get the chance, perhaps, yes. And what will you do, Dillon-san? Once this is all over.”
Nash sat back and drew a shallow breath. He was confused and conflicted by everything.
No, just by her, really.
“I. . .I might travel a bit.” He then blurted out, “And then I might come and see if you need help in your garden.”
He had no idea where that had come from. His mission was to bring this woman to justice, not plant tomatoes with her.
She stared at him, her wide, deep eyes seeming to swell like a fruit ripening at fantastical speed.
She then looked away. “I trust you can do far better thanthat, Dillon-san.”
“That may be your opinion. But I don’t have to agree with it.”
“Perhaps you should. You will find me dangerous company, I am sure.”
