She yanked a photo album from one of the shelves and flipped it open. As she balanced it on her thighs, she turned one page after another, her movements becoming more agitated as page after page failed to reveal anything other than pictures of her and her parents.
Her hands shook as she tossed that album aside and reached for another, repeated her search, her actions more frantic with each page of photos until finally she had gone through every album with no satisfaction. After she tossed aside the last one, she glanced up at him.
The look on her face had him leaning toward the demented possibility.
“I don’t understand,” she said, her tone uncertain, as if she was beginning to doubt her own sanity.
He bent down until he was face to face with her, reached out and cupped her cheek. “Lizzy—”
She batted away his hand. “Don’t you dare ever call me that again.”
He nodded, but pressed onward. “I can get help to cure this delusion.”
“I’m not crazy.” She enunciated each word carefully and with determination. It only worried him more.
A second later, she popped up and said, “I know where there’s proof.”
She hurried to the door and Aidan whispered into the wire, “Stay put, Red Rover. This isn’t going the way I envisioned.”
“I so totally copy that, Blender Boy,” Lucia advised as he followed Lizzy to the restaurant and then down into the cellar. She purposefully strode to the safe, spun the lock and popped open the door.
He stepped beside her, recollecting the view he’d had of the safe just days earlier. It appeared the same except…
“There was a foot locker down at the bottom.” He motioned to the glaring emptiness of the bottom shelf.
“Dani’s foot locker. She must have come by to get it,” Lizzy explained and grabbed a smaller box from another shelf. Working the lock on that box, she opened it and, as before, unsuccessfully rummaged through the papers there.
Every line of her body reflected her dejection. Her surprise. “I don’t get it.”
“Look, we have a doctor who can deal with this kind of thing,” he said and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
She shook off his touch. Her words were clipped, laced with anger. “I am not crazy.”
With that she was in action again, heading back to the cottage and up the stairs to her bedroom, where she began tossing things out of the drawers at the desk in the corner of her room, clearly searching for something. Anything, apparently.
Aidan just stood watching until it became clear she would find nothing to justify her delusion. Turning his attention to the rest of the room, he examined it more carefully and something on the nightstand beside her bed caught his eye.
He walked over slowly, disbelievingly, until he got closer and closer and there was no denying what he was seeing.
Picking up the frame, he ran his fingers over the photo of the two women standing before the Spanish Steps in Rome. Two identical women. No delusion could have fabricated this, he realized.
“Red Rover. Come in, Red Rover,” he said and turned to face Lizzy.
She must have realized what he was holding, for her earlier anger and confusion fled from her face. She smiled, crossed her arms over her chest and said, “I told you I wasn’t crazy.”
He acknowledged it, but then Lucia finally responded.
“Come in. Walker wants to know if you have proof of the Sparrow’s allegations?”
“I’m holding it, Lucia. I think you two need to get here so we can all discuss this.”
As he spoke he looked at Elizabeth, who immediately said, “You’re damn right that we’d better discuss this. My sister—”
“Is the Sparrow. She’s a world-renowned assassin. We think she murdered the prince.”
“And I should believe that because your information has been reliable so far?”
She didn’t wait for his answer but turned on her heel and headed downstairs.
He watched her go and confessed to admiration at her spunk. He only hoped it would last past the interview with Walker and Lucia.
Elizabeth waited patiently for Aidan’s colleagues to arrive. Or at least, she hoped she looked patient, since she was anything but. Her emotions were a jumble from the revelations that Aidan suspected her sister was a cold-blooded killer and that Aidan himself had been deceiving her. He had lied his way into her bed. Into her heart.
The former concerned her more since she knew he was wrong about Dani. Her sister could never do what he claimed. The latter…she couldn’t begin to deal with the latter. With her poor judgment.
It took just five minutes or so after his call for a knock to come at the door. During those minutes, she and Aidan stared at one another awkwardly.
He looked guilty and upset. Good, the bastard deserved major angst after what he had done.
She picked up her chin and glared at him, conveying her rage as he walked to the door to allow his colleagues to enter.
Another man, one very similar in size and looks to Aidan, and an attractive coffee-color-skinned woman walked through the door. Aidan motioned them in the direction of the couch where she was sitting. “Elizabeth Moore,” he offered in explanation.
Elizabeth rose slowly.
The tall sandy-haired man held out his hand. “Dr. Walker Shaw.”
The woman was next. “Lucia Cordez.”
She noticed that the woman had a laptop in her other hand and Elizabeth motioned to it. “Is that where you have your proof?”
“No sense delaying, is there?” Shaw said and held out his hand, inviting her to sit once more.
She did, and the woman and Shaw bracketed either side of her. Aidan took a seat across the way, obviously having no need to see the proof.
Lucia powered up the laptop and, once it was running, assisted Shaw as he detailed their evidence that Dani was the Sparrow.
Elizabeth listened. Looked. The dates and facts for certain times she could personally confirm. Dates like the one that fell during the week that she and Dani had met in Rome.
Thinking back on it now, Dani had been so happy for the first few days and had even hinted at a new man in her life. One with whom she could get serious. But then, something had happened. Dani wouldn’t say what, but her sister had been a changed woman by the end of the week.
And then there was the weekend for the cooking expo in the town near Prince Reginald’s estate.
Dani had been home that weekend. A surprise trip, she had said. She had even gone by the expo to see Elizabeth, although she hadn’t come home until very late that night.
The night the prince had been murdered.
As each fact seemed to point to the possibility that her sister was what they said, Elizabeth scrambled to find an explanation for why she wasn’t. Why they were wrong.
The explanations were hard to find.
“She couldn’t have done all these things that you say,” she countered weakly.
“These things were murders, Ms. Moore. Cold-blooded, for-hire assassinations,” Shaw said.
The woman was a little more sympathetic. She laid a well-manicured hand over hers and squeezed reassuringly. “Look, my sister…She got into trouble, too. But I was able to help her.”
“Help her? Like maybe we can do an intervention? Or maybe there’s an anti-assassin patch that’ll curb her need to kill?” Anger laced her words, mostly because despite the proof before her, she couldn’t believe her sister was what they said.
“Maybe there’s a reason why she did this,” Aidan offered from across the way.
She picked up her head and shot him a glare. “A reason? How about that maybe you’re wrong?”
“Maybe what happened to your parents pushed her over the edge,” Shaw piped in.
Out of the corner of her eye, she examined the man beside her. Attractive, if you liked the Nordic type, which she obviously did since she’d given it up to Aidan. But his eyes weren’t as clear a blue and his hair not as blond. And she could sense the tension b
etween him and Aidan.
Although right now he was trying to be sympathetic. Caring. Possibly open to her pleas about Dani. “When Ma and Da were killed, Dani lost it. She felt guilty that she hadn’t gone with them that morning. We had both slept in after a school dance.”
“Did you feel the guilt?” Shaw asked.
“Wouldn’t you?” she shot back quickly.
“If you’d gone, maybe you’d both be dead right now,” Aidan said.
She met his gaze. “Maybe. It didn’t make it any easier then. Not even now. You always wonder about the what if.”
“What if that’s what made Dani do this?” Lucia said and once again, squeezed her hand.
She considered it for only a moment. “Afterward…Dani wasn’t quite the same. She had always been a protector and after, it was even more extreme. She became everyone’s champion. Always there to right a wrong.”
“Maybe that’s how she justified all these kills. Except for Mitch, every one of these men were involved in nasty things. Seemingly above the law—”
“But not beyond the Sparrow’s own brand of justice,” Aidan finished for Shaw.
Even with that explanation, Elizabeth still couldn’t believe it and shook her head. “You’re wrong,” she reiterated.
“And if we’re not?” Shaw pressed, but Elizabeth didn’t get to answer as all three of their cell phones went off at the same time, creating a noisy cacophony in her front parlor.
Shaw was quickest on the draw and, as the other two waited, he listened quietly. His expression grew darker with each second that passed. When he hung up and slipped the phone back into its holder, he shot an uneasy glance between Aidan and Lucia.
“We’ve got major problems. Lord Southgate will brief us back at the hotel, Lucia. Aidan, I think it’s wiser for you to stay here. If the Sparrow’s back in town—”
“She’s bound to turn up around here. Brief me once you know more,” he said and rose, walked the other two to the door. Once they had left, he faced Elizabeth and said, “You’re not telling us everything about Dani.”
“What?” she said, uncertain of what information Aidan thought she might have. “I’ve told you everything I know.”
He strode over and suddenly loomed before her, his arms on either side of her on the back of the couch, effectively trapping her. “No, you haven’t.”
She tried to bat his arms away, but he held firm. With a sigh, she said, “What else could I possibly tell you?”
He knelt before her until there was no way she could avoid looking at him. Finally he said, “You can start by telling me where Dani is.”
Chapter 23
Dani hurried along the coast road, intent on reaching the cottage. She had to find out who the man was making moves on her sister.
She thought she had seen him today, after she had dropped by Kate’s to get the scoop on what was up. Kate was always the one in the know and things hadn’t changed. Their old friend had been able to tell Dani about Mr. Tall, Blond and Dangerous who had appeared in town right after Lizzy’s bartender had deserted her. A man who had made his attraction to Lizzy clear.
An attraction that even Kate had noticed was reciprocated by her younger sister.
Dani knew that well from what she had seen the night before from outside Lizzie’s cottage.
Now she had to figure out who he was and what he wanted. Even more importantly, for whom he worked. Not, she hoped, the man who had hired her to kill the prince. If that was the case, Lizzy might be in danger and Dani had to make sure her sister was safe.
She hurried up the central road until she was past the docks. Then she cut down a shallow footpath through the dunes and grasses. The tall grasses hid her at times, but could also camouflage someone else along the path. She moved along with caution, therefore.
The path dipped toward the beach, and, once there, she hastened her pace, breaking into a slow jog so that she could reach her grandparents’ cottage and start searching for more information on Mr. Aidan Rawlings.
That was the name Kate had provided, although Dani had no doubt it was an alias. Still, there were ways to get around that and secure more information.
Didn’t she know it. She’d gone from Danielle Elizabeth Moore to Elizabeth Cavanaugh and most traces of her existence had been blotted out from official papers and computer databases. She had even been excised from the high-school yearbook that the Leonia Public Library kept as a record of every graduating class.
She was a ghost now. Nonexistent except to those people who knew her personally, and of course, to her sister.
Her sister who might be in danger, she thought and hurried onward.
About half a mile up the shore, there was another footpath leading to the base of the bluffs where her maternal grandparents had a cottage—her safehouse. The climb up this path was more arduous as it inclined sharply from the rocks and beach below to the start of the bluffs.
She was slightly out of breath from the climb as she entered the cottage and flipped on the light.
“So good to see you again,” she heard from behind her and whirled, reaching for her gun.
A blow like an iron fist struck her, powerful enough to send her reeling backward. Searing pain erupted through her midsection. Her legs failed to cooperate, buckling beneath her. She fell back heavily onto the couch in the middle of the room.
The pain was like a white-hot poker driving deep into her. She could barely breathe. When she finally did, her breath was shallow. Almost inconsequential.
This wasn’t possible, she thought as the man approached, his voice and shape familiar from the night he had hired her to kill the prince. From the night they had fought on the docks when he’d failed to provide her the promised information on her parents’ killers.
“Such a shame,” he said as he finally stood before her, his face protected by a black ski mask. A slimy smile slicked across his lips as he trained his gun on her. “The Sparrow won’t elude this trap.”
Dani tried to go for her weapon, but her body wasn’t responding. Still, the man wasn’t taking any chances. He reached under her jacket and removed her gun from its holster.
She had the Sigma tucked behind her. Could feel its presence against her spine, but knew she would be unable to draw that weapon.
He inspected the HK and smiled. “Nice piece. Seems a shame to waste it, don’t you think?”
He tucked it into his belt with one hand and raised his gun with the other. Pointing the barrel at her head, he sighted the shot.
Dani met his cold eyes along the matte black of the barrel and stared him down. If she was going to die, it wasn’t going to be like a coward, pleading and begging for her life.
His hand trembled for a moment and she mustered enough breath to say, “What’s…matter? Not man enough to do it while…I watch?”
He laughed harshly, his dark eyes glittering through the slits of the black ski mask. “Actually, no. Just taking time to appreciate that you broke your own rules. You let yourself get distracted. A fatal mistake, wouldn’t you say?”
Dani gritted her teeth against the pain and struggled for another breath. He was right. She had been so worried about Lizzy, she hadn’t noticed that the fine wire she had rigged on the door to the cottage had fallen off, as it should have if the area was compromised.
And he was also right about another thing—she was dying. She could tell from the way the warmth was fleeing from her fingers and toes. Trying to pull into the center of her as her body battled to hold onto life.
She risked a glance downward. So much blood. Oozing down the front of her shirt. Too much.
“That’s right, my dear. You’re dying. And of course, I could spare you the pain and end it now, only…” He laughed with malice once again. “You’ve caused me too many problems. Better you should suffer a little before you go.”
“Bastard,” she spat out with a rough breath.
“Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it, Sparrow? And guess what? Little sis is next.
Never leave anyone behind who can come in your place.”
She tried to speak, causing a swirl of blackness to cloud her sight before she blessedly passed out.
There was no way Elizabeth was going to help him find her sister. Using more force than before, she broke past one of his arms, rose and braced herself for action. “Even if I did know, there’s no way that I’d—”
He was on her before she knew it, his hands gripping her arms tightly. She reacted out of anger and out of frustration. Freeing one arm, she turned, dropped a little before flexing with her hip and sending him flying over her shoulder.
He landed with a satisfying thud, but not before upending an end table by the sofa and sending a lamp and some knickknacks flying. As he lay there, recapturing the breath driven out of him by the fall, he muttered, “Learn that from big sis?”
“Yes. After…she insisted we take self-defense classes. In case they came back for us.”
“She protected you then. Don’t you think it makes sense to protect her now?” he posed, and in her mind’s eye it was unfortunately too easy to see a full-scale manhunt for her sister. One in which Dani could be injured or killed.
She glared at him, hands on her hips and asked, “Promise you’ll give Dani a chance to explain?”
He leaned up on his elbows, considered her proposition and agreed to her request with a nod. “Promise. Do you know where she is?”
With a hesitant hunch of her shoulders, she admitted, “My grandparents had a seaside cottage about a mile and a half away. Dani always loved going there to think things through.”
He did a little jump/flip she had to admire and was immediately on his feet before her. “Let’s go get a car.”
She shook her head. “It’s faster on foot. The coast road makes too many turns near the bluffs.”
Without waiting for his reply, she whirled and raced out the door, alternately eager to see her sister and worried that Dani would not have an explanation for Aidan’s allegations. She didn’t hesitate, however, for she was sure about one thing: better they find Dani and not someone else.
Her steps were quick, nearly a jog as she hurried through the garden and up the path to the main road. She never paused to look behind her, sensing he was near as a tingle of fear grew swiftly. Gripped her. Urged her to rush.
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