Secret Sisters

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  “I’m the ace profiler, remember?” Jack’s voice was raw. “I’m the one who is supposed to be able to see the pattern. But I missed all the clues with Ingram . . . and with someone else. I was a fool.”

  “I understand all that. But you didn’t shoulder the responsibility for a failing company that wasn’t, in fact, failing, just because you made a mistake. Who were you trying to protect?”

  There was a long silence. She began to despair. And then he shrugged.

  “I told myself I wanted to protect Victor’s wife and kids. They all loved him. He was their larger-than-life hero. In the end, I couldn’t destroy that image. It was all they had left.”

  She caught her breath. “If it wasn’t about money, what was it about?”

  “Victor and I were both on the FBI consulting team. Victor was good with the computer stuff. Very good. He thought he was the smartest guy in the room, and most of the time he was. It was his idea to go out on our own and set up a corporate security company catering to the high-tech industry. I was ready to quit the profiling. I wanted to be in control of my own business.”

  “You’d had enough of profiling the monsters.”

  “I was so eager to get free that I jumped at the idea of partnering with Victor. He was the wizard with the online stuff. I was the one who could figure out motives and see the patterns. We should have made a great team. And we did, at first.”

  “What happened?”

  “Everyone has a weak spot. Victor’s turned out to be a woman. She was very beautiful and she was working for some very bad people. Somehow she got Victor to give her access to some of our clients’ secrets.”

  “Industrial espionage?”

  “Yes.” Jack went to stand at the window. “And fool that I was, I never figured out what was going on until that spearfishing trip in Mexico.”

  “But in hindsight?”

  Jack glanced back over his shoulder. His mouth twisted in a humorless smile. “In hindsight, I did see the pattern—small stuff. Anomalies that Victor easily explained away. Remember, he was the tech genius, not me. So yeah, I saw the pattern and I refused to accept what it was telling me. But I was starting to ask more questions and Victor was getting very nervous.”

  “So he suggested the spearfishing trip.”

  “He was the one who wanted to check out the underwater cave,” Jack said. “It had already been explored. There was a guide line toward the bottom of the cave. As long as we kept a grip on the line we would be safe. He motioned for me to go first with the flashlight. And then he took a shot at me with the spear gun. I got lucky. The spear hit my tank. That’s what saved my life.”

  Jack stopped talking.

  Madeline moved to stand very close to him. She put one hand on his arm. His battle-ready tension told her that he was reliving the scene in his mind. She did not speak. She did not take her hand off his arm. It was the only comfort she could offer in that moment.

  After a while Jack started talking again.

  “I turned around in the water and finally accepted the reality of what was happening. Victor planned to kill me. But what he hadn’t planned on doing was missing the shot. He had no backup plan. Victor never had a backup plan.”

  “Because he was the smartest guy in the room.”

  “He started to panic when he realized he had missed the shot. He dropped the spear gun and grabbed his knife. He swam toward me. I went low, trying to get beneath him. And then I switched off my flashlight, thinking it would make me less of a target. Everything went . . . very, very dark.”

  “Ingram didn’t have a flashlight?”

  “He had one on his belt, but he wasn’t using it because he wanted to have both hands free to take the shot with the spear gun. When he realized he’d missed, all he could think about was coming at me with the knife. When the world went dark, his panic exploded. There is nothing that will kill you faster underwater. Victor did what most divers do when they lose it. He instinctively tried to go up.”

  “But you said the guide line was toward the bottom of the cave.”

  Jack looked at her. “It was. And that’s what I used to get out of the cave. I wasn’t exactly levelheaded myself at that moment, either. My heart was pounding and I was using up air at a dangerous rate. Once I was outside in open water I realized that Victor had not followed me.”

  “You went back in.”

  “I couldn’t just . . . leave him there. I kept thinking of his wife and kids. I was still trying to convince myself that maybe it had all been an accident. But by the time I found him he was dead. There was some air left in his tanks, but in his panic he had spit out the regulator and drowned. It happens more often than people realize.”

  “You never told Victor’s family the truth, did you?”

  “There didn’t seem to be any point. It was bad enough that he was dead. I didn’t want to add to their pain and grief. And I had absolutely no proof of what had happened in that cave.”

  “What about the woman with whom he was having the affair?”

  “My fiancée? That didn’t go well, either.”

  “Your what?” Madeline stared at him. “Your fiancée was the industrial espionage agent?”

  “I know. Doesn’t make me look too bright, does it? When I returned to California I finally took a good, long look at the pattern and I put it all together. Jenny and I had a very short conversation. She took off. Didn’t seem to be any point calling the police because industrial espionage is very hard to prove and companies rarely prosecute, anyway. They don’t want their secrets exposed any more than they already have been.”

  “What happened to Jenny?”

  “Last I heard she was on the East Coast. Married a guy with serious money.”

  Madeline took a deep breath. “So.”

  “So? I tell you my big secret and that’s all you’ve got to say?”

  She thought about it. “No. What I’m going to say is that I get why you’re gun-shy when it comes to relationships.”

  “I am not gun-shy.”

  “Yes, you are. Just like me. We’re both afraid of making mistakes. But what I’m thinking is, now that we both know each other’s secrets, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t get married.”

  She had just stepped off a very high cliff and she knew it.

  Jack didn’t say a word for a full sixty seconds. She was aware of the time because she was counting under her breath. One thousand and one, one thousand and two, one thousand and three . . .

  He framed her face in his powerful hands and looked at her with his fierce eyes.

  “Did you just ask me to marry you?” he said.

  She allowed herself to breathe. “Yes. Do I get an answer?”

  “Yes.”

  She blinked, bewildered. “What does that mean?”

  “It means yes.”

  He groaned and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly, as though fearing she might fly away.

  “I love you,” he said into her hair. “I’ve loved you from that first day in your office when you tried to fire me.”

  “I wasn’t trying to fire you,” she said into his shirt. “I was simply suggesting that the hotel security business might not be a good fit for you and that you ought to pursue other professional opportunities.”

  “You tried to fire me. But under the circumstances I’m willing to let bygones be bygones.”

  “Good. That’s good.”

  He kissed her with the soaring passion of a man who has just been set free from a cage. She understood his response because she had only recently escaped from an invisible prison herself.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  Becky Alvarez rapped once on the partially open door of Jack’s office.

  “What?” Jack said. He did not look up from his computer.

  “I’ve got an update on that hotel
fire that killed Edith Chase.”

  Jack stopped reading the data on his screen in midsentence and swiveled his desk chair around to look at Becky.

  “Talk to me.”

  Becky moved quickly into the office. She stopped in front of the desk and flipped open a notebook.

  “I finally tracked down the housekeeper who took care of the penthouse that Edith Chase was in the night of the fire,” she said. “The housekeeper remembered seeing an unknown person on that floor earlier in the day—a man who was wearing a hotel maintenance uniform. The housekeeper didn’t recognize him, so she made a point of speaking to him, per routine hotel security protocol.”

  “Go on.”

  “The maintenance guy told her that he was new on the staff and that he had been sent to the penthouse to take care of a problem with the air-conditioning system. After speaking briefly with the housekeeper, he left. Used the stairs, not the service elevator, which the housekeeper thought was odd because it was a long way down to the first floor.”

  “Did the housekeeper report the unknown maintenance man to her manager?”

  “Yes. But that’s where things get murky. The head of housekeeping checked with the head of maintenance. No one could find a work order for that particular floor and there was no record of a new hire. The head of maintenance went to the head of security. As a precaution, security did a walk-through of the penthouse and found nothing out of the ordinary. They also checked the videos from the security cameras, but you can’t see the guy’s face because he was wearing a cap and glasses. The best description I could come up with is that the man was a notch or two over six feet. Athletic build.”

  “That fits all three males in the Webster family.”

  “The housekeeper said she’s pretty sure the maintenance guy was in his thirties. If it was a Webster, it was either Xavier or Travis.”

  “He went to the penthouse earlier that day to rig the wiring. Later that evening he went back to trigger the explosion and fire. He had to be present at the scene that night in order to make sure that Edith Chase did not escape the blaze. He probably went into the room and killed her first, figuring that the fire would conceal the evidence of murder. When he was sure she was dead, he exited the hotel along with everyone else. He went down the emergency stairs and vanished into the crowd and confusion.”

  “That would explain a lot,” Becky said.

  “Send me a copy of the video.”

  “Knew you’d ask. It should be in your in-box by now.” Becky went toward the door. “By the way, your mother called. She said to remind you that you’re in charge of the chiles rellenos for dinner tonight.”

  Jack turned to face the computer screen. “Thanks.”

  “I’m leaving now.” Becky glanced at her watch. “Unless you need me to stay?”

  “No, go ahead.”

  “Don’t forget to set the alarm on your way out.”

  “I run a security firm, Becky. I’m really good with locking up.”

  “Just thought I’d mention it. You’ve been somewhat distracted lately.”

  “Had a few things going on.”

  “Believe it or not, I had figured that out. See you tomorrow.”

  Jack looked up. “Good work finding the housekeeper.”

  “Remember that when it comes time for a raise.”

  She went out into the reception area. A moment later Jack heard the front door close.

  The video was interesting, but Becky had been right. It wasn’t clear if the man in the maintenance uniform was Xavier or Travis. Only one of them, however, had a motive.

  Travis.

  Jack got up, grabbed the rumpled sport jacket off the wall hook, and headed for the door, turning out lights as he went. When you ran a small business you had to watch every penny.

  He paused at the front door to put on his jacket and arm the security system. Mentally, he made a list of the ingredients he would need for the chiles rellenos. Poblano chiles, cheese, eggs. And then there was the salsa to consider. Tomatoes, onions, serrano chiles, limes . . .

  He liked cooking for Madeline, but it would be even better cooking for her tonight because he would be cooking for the woman who would soon be his wife. The future looked brighter than it had in a long time.

  He walked toward the elevator lobby. The insurance broker and the marriage counselor who shared the same floor of the building had closed for the day. The remaining two offices were empty, victims of the last recession.

  A janitorial cart stood in the hall. Mops, brooms, toilet brushes, and bottles of cleaning products poked up out of the cart like alien foliage. There was no sign of the janitor.

  Jack was still some distance away from the elevators when he heard the door of the emergency stairwell open behind him.

  “Don’t move,” Travis ordered quietly.

  Jack stopped.

  “Turn around,” Travis said. “Slowly. Open your jacket. I want to see if you’re armed.”

  Jack turned around. Travis was dressed in the green uniform of the building’s janitorial service.

  Jack peeled back one side of his sport coat.

  Travis snorted. “No gun, huh? What’s up with that? You sure as hell had one on Cooper Island. But you come home to Arizona, land of open carry, and you stop wearing a gun to work? So much for the big-time security expert.”

  “I’m more of a security analyst.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I analyze people like you. Try to figure out what they’ll do next. Got to admit, you surprised me, Travis.”

  “No shit.”

  “If you were half as smart as everyone thinks you are, you would have been out of the country by now, headed for that island where you’ve been stashing the profits you skimmed off your father’s hedge fund operation,” Jack said.

  “You know about the offshore bank? Well, it doesn’t matter. The feds can’t touch me there.”

  “Did your father ever realize that you were siphoning off the money?”

  “Nope. Never. He just kept thinking that the old program wasn’t working as well as it once had. But three years ago I tweaked the system just a little. I knew I would need a lot of cash to get into the political game.”

  “Why didn’t you just ask Egan to bankroll a run for office?”

  “What Egan Webster gave, Egan Webster took away. Dear old Dad used money to control people. I didn’t want him to be able to control me.” Travis gestured toward the door of Rayner Risk Management. “Let’s go. Inside.”

  “Why?”

  “Shut up and do as I tell you.”

  Jack keyed in the code and opened the door. Travis followed him into the small reception area and closed the door. He surveyed the office with a derisive expression.

  “You’re really a small-time operator, aren’t you? How the hell did you land the Sanctuary Creek Inns account?”

  “I must have been very persuasive. Out of curiosity, is this going to be one of your mysterious explosion-and-fire spectacles like the ones you used to cover up Edith Chase’s murder and to try to get rid of Madeline and me at the Aurora Point Hotel?”

  “You put it all together. I’m impressed. In answer to your question, I don’t have time to set up another arson scenario. No point anyway, now that Xavier’s gone.”

  “Because the idea on those other two occasions was to let Xavier take the fall if it turned out there was any serious investigation.”

  “That was the plan. Shit. How the hell did you and Madeline Chase survive the garage explosion? There was a rumor going around that you told the cops you took cover in the old lube pit.”

  Jack ignored the question. “What was it like sending Xavier out in that boat you’d rigged to explode? Must have been a little weird arranging the murder of your own brother.”

  “You want to know how it
felt? It was a huge relief. The golden boy was a walking time bomb.”

  “A time bomb you set off the night you sent him out to torch the house where my clients and I were staying.”

  “Xavier was like one of those old-fashioned clocks—want to see him explode? Just wind him up and point him in the right direction. I pointed him straight at you that day. Figured that even if he failed, which he did, I would at least be rid of him.”

  “What did you do to set him off?”

  “Earlier that evening I took him out for a few beers and explained that good old Mom and Dad were getting ready to send him back to the Institute. I told him it was your fault. Then I put the idea of torching the house in his head. I assured him that after he’d had his revenge on you and Madeline Chase, I’d have the boat ready for him to get away from the island before Egan and Louisa realized he was gone.”

  “You didn’t send him after Edith Chase, though, did you? And you didn’t use him to rig the explosion in the garage. You took care of those two projects.”

  “Sure. Couldn’t trust Xavier to do anything right. He was too unstable. I needed to be sure of Chase’s death, as well as yours and Madeline’s. But now it’s all fallen apart. Because of you.” Travis raised the gun a little. “Sooner or later someone will find your body here in your office and conclude that you surprised an intruder.”

  “And you’ll be on your way to that island and all that money.”

  “Not the outcome I had planned, but it will do for now. Money changes everything, you see. And there’s plenty of it waiting for me on Luna Verde.”

  “Well, actually, that’s not entirely true.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “We here at Rayner Risk Management take pride in our hacking skills. I can’t claim to be a whiz but I’ve got this brother who’s unbelievably sharp on a computer. Shortly after four this morning, he siphoned off all but ten dollars from that account you opened on Luna Verde. He left the ten bucks behind because we didn’t want to close out the account altogether.”

  “You’re lying, you son of a bitch.”

  “Check the account for yourself.”