47,500 words
Kris Longknife’s Bloodhound
A novella
By
Mike Shepherd
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
An early look at Kris Longknife – Defender
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
An early look at To Do or Die
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
Chapter 1
Kris Longknife stood alone in the middle of her prison.
So what else was new?
That her prison was an admiral’s in port cabin didn’t calm the roiling of her emotions. Her mouth was dry and her stomach seemed ready to leap out of her mouth.
She had failed.
Not only had she failed to meet with her Grandfather Al, she’d almost gotten her best friends killed.
Jack killed!
They were just getting to know each other and one of her wild goose chases had damn near gotten Jack and Penny gassed!
What was even a Longknife doing with Serin gas! Much less using it on three stories of his penthouse offices.
Kris wanted to scream.
What she really wanted to do was crawl back into Jack’s arms and pretend the world wasn’t there.
Better yet, pretend that she hadn’t just turned herself over to Musashi justice. Justice that could end with her kneeling, waiting for the headsman’s cut.
The back of her neck itched. She didn’t scratch it.
Instead, she took three deep breaths, rolled her shoulders to get some of the tension out and smiled at this, her pursuer. Her Javier.
Wardhaven Bureau of Investigations Senior Chief Agent in Charge Foile even looked the part. Tall and rail thin, he wore a tan raincoat cinched in at the waist and a brown fedora hat. The hat came off immediately as he entered her borrowed quarters.
The agent had the somewhat dazed look of a civilian who had just been lead through the maze of passageways, ladders and hatches that was a warship. The look vanished as he spotted Kris. His eyes narrowed and Kris find herself facing an appraisal more calculating than she was used to. He paused as their gaze locked.
Kris struggled to keep her face bland if not innocent. She found herself fighting the need to blurt out her entire life story to those hawkish eyes.
She kept her mouth shut and swallowed hard.
The agent stepped forward and gave Kris a slight bow from the neck. “Lieutenant Commander, Her Royal Highness Kristine Longknife, I presume,” he said with just a twitch of a smile at the corner of his lips.
His gentle formality gave Kris her opening to fall back into her royal persona. She offered him her hand. “After tonight, I may be back to just Kris. I’m not even sure the Longknife applies.”
Foile took the hand. For a moment, Kris thought he’d bend and kiss it. Instead, he shook it.
“Your father had me chasing after you for the last several days,” he said. “I doubt he would do that if he planned to disinherit you.”
Kris had to smile at that. The agent was so innocent of the internal workings of the family that spawned her. “Don’t be too sure. Water seems to be a lot thicker than blood where my family’s concerned. Now,” Kris said, and pointed him at an overstuffed chair, “you said you had questions.”
Foile settled into the offered chair without breaking eye contact with Kris. Upon reflection, she took one across from him. Unfortunately, that left Jack alone on the couch.
No more cuddles tonight, did not come out in a sigh.
The agent did not let the silence go long. He steepled his fingers, eyed her over them and said, “May I first say that you have led me on quite a chase. No matter where I was, you’d just left. Professionally, I must admire you.”
“I had a lot of good help,” Kris said with a light chuckle. “Jack here, and Penny. She’s asleep in her new quarters. At least I hope she’s getting some rest.”
The agent canted his head a tiny bit. “And others?” he said evenly.
“No one helped us,” Kris said, keeping her words even and her face bland. No doubt the agent would take her answer for a lie, but good people did not deserve to be dragged down into this, her latest fiasco.
Foile raised an eyebrow.
Kris recognized that eyebrow. She’d suffered under it from her Grampa Trouble and, on rare occasions, from her father, the Prime Minister. She’s met it from quite a few Navy officers. She’d learned to keep her mouth shut and not even blink.
Today, she folded her hands in her lap and waited patiently for this to pass.
When the silence had stretched and was in danger of bending, the man gave just a hint of a smile and spoke. “Your father asked me to catch you before you got yourself killed and others with you. I did not catch you, but you seem to have not gotten yourself killed.”
Kris breathed a sigh of relief that the eyebrow thing was over and gave Jack a wide open smile from her heart. “I’m rather well practiced at that.”
Agent Foile seemed to settle back into his chair, as if she’d passed some sort of test. Then he went on.
“There is the matter of why you almost got yourself killed this evening. I asked your father about that and he told me to forget it. He strongly hinted I should forget the entire last week.”
Kris shrugged. “I imagine so. Father does tend to want to forget problems he can’t solve,” she said softly, trying not to let any bitterness slip into her words.
“I’m having a hard time forgetting you risked your life just to talk to your grandfather. And the extent he went to avoid you.”
Yeah, right!
But Kris needed to dodge, not play into some trap this wily agent no doubt was setting. “Sarin gas. That was a bit extreme. Are you sure he gassed the place?”
Agent Foile shrugged. “I told you what I was told. I did not check out the facts, and you did kind of trash the building in your exit.”
Kris allowed herself a hearty laugh. From the couch, Jack joined in. It was good to hear him laugh.
“Yes,” Kris admitted, “that exit was spectacular even by my standards. I hope everyone got out of the building. We restored power to the elevators.”
“Yes, I know,” the agent said. “From what I heard, the place was empty when you left the building.”
Kris breathed a sigh of relief at that. But before Kris could enjoy that for a moment, the agent was back at her.
“But what was so important that you risked your life to see your grandfather?”
Kris raised both eyebrows and answered his question with one of her own. “And why was he so intent on not letting me get a word in edgewise?”
To her surprise, the agent’s answer was an even, “Exactly.”
Kris leaned back in her chair, weighing the options that answer seemed to open up to her. She glanced at Jack; he raised an expressive eyebrow of his own.
She eyed the agent again. “Are you sure you want to know?”
The agent didn’t even flinch at the question. He answer was as even as she’d ever heard. “I pursued you for four days. I forced myself on your father, the Prime Minister, and I came all the way up here and managed to crash your present security. By the way, are you seeking political asylum?”
That twist surprised Kris, but she had her answer already prepared for whomever asked it. “I’ve turned myself in. I expect I’ll be facing a Musashi court in a few days.”
Maybe she should have left it at that. Maybe the agent had intended to flinch away from the larger question. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut.
But then, when have I ever?
“But back to your question. Once again, I must ask you, do you really want to know the answer? If I tell you, you will likely never sleep as soundly as you have.”