“Not in my books there aren’t! And if you blow your stupid whistle the mole will get away with what he did. They’ll never figure out who he is.”
“Maybe they won’t. But Talia won’t get killed, either. As soon as Bud reports what’s happened we’ll be on our way home and she’ll be safe.”
“No,” Harlan said again. “Nobody should help a guy like Joey Carpaccio and not get caught. I…I wasn’t going to say, but I’m the other one who voted guilty. All three of us know that creep paid somebody to kill his wife. And now he’s got somebody trying to murder Talia, too. You don’t want him to get away with trying to kill you, do you Talia? It just wouldn’t be right.”
“Harlan,” she said quietly, “I agree with you. It wouldn’t be right. But there really doesn’t seem to be anything we can do about it.”
“Yes, there is. I can figure out who the mole is.”
“I thought you just told us you couldn’t,” Cade said.
“Well…I didn’t want to say I could, because the only way would be if somebody else helps me out. And I don’t know if they would or not.”
“But if they did?” Talia said. “Then you could figure it out?”
“Maybe. But I’d need some time.”
“Harlan,” Cade said, “as you just finished pointing out, Joey’s got somebody trying to murder Talia. Given that, we hardly want to prolong things.”
“I wouldn’t need much time.”
“How much?” Talia asked.
“Look,” Cade muttered, “it doesn’t matter how much.”
“No, wait,” she said slowly. “Let’s just think about this for a minute. Harlan has a good point. I don’t want Joey Carpaccio to get away with trying to have me killed. And if Bud won’t be able to report the leak until the morning, anyway…”
“Right,” Harlan jumped in. “And if I start right now, maybe by morning I’ll have something. And if I could tell the cops who the mole is, then I probably wouldn’t be in any trouble at all. And they’d be able to get everything they need to know out of him. They’d be able to charge Carpaccio with jury tampering or whatever. And find out who was shooting at you.”
Talia glanced from Harlan to Cade. “But I just assumed… it was the mole shooting at me, wasn’t it? I mean, if he’s working for Joey…”
She looked so upset Cade reached for her hand. “I don’t think the mole and your shooter are necessarily the same person,” he said quietly. “Do you, Harlan?”
He shook his head. “They could be. But they don’t have to be. Joey Carpaccio could easily have more than one guy on his payroll.”
“Joey Carpaccio,” Cade muttered, “could easily have ten guys on his payroll.”
“Ten?” Talia whispered.
“Sorry.” He squeezed her hand. “I didn’t mean to make things sound even worse than they are. And I was exaggerating. This island is a close little community, so he couldn’t send ten goons over here without people realizing something awfully strange was going on. But he might have sent one guy. The mole’s only job might be supplying information.”
“Or he might be doing more,” Harlan said.
Cade nodded. “One guy, two guys, we just don’t have any way of knowing, do we?”
INSTEAD OF USING the connecting door, Cade led Talia into the hallway. At her door, he kept right on walking, Talia’s hand still firmly in his.
“I thought you were just walking me to my room,” she said, hurrying to keep up with him.
“I only said that for Harlan’s benefit. There’s something I want to do, and I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Well, I could’ve stayed with him.”
“Uh-uh.”
“Why not?”
Cade merely gave her a sidelong glance.
“Why not?” she repeated as they started down the stairs. She didn’t want him keeping anything from her. She was undoubtedly going to remain scared half to death until this was over, anyway, so she’d just as soon know the worst.
“Something struck me,” he said at last. “About two seconds after you and Harlan convinced me to go along with giving him until morning.”
“And the something is?”
“Talia, it’s just possible Harlan’s the mole.”
“What? Oh, Cade, you’re being absurd.”
“Not necessarily. The way he was talking, he made it sound as if the three of us are in this together. But think about the facts. Harlan knows all about E-mail. He could just as easily have a cell phone in his suitcase as any of the other jurors. And we don’t know for sure where he was when that guy stuck a gun in your back last night—it still could have been him. And tonight… well, who’s to say he wasn’t lying about being at that lighthouse with Shadroe Teach, thinking we’d just believe him without bothering to check?”
“I doubt he’d be dumb enough to think that.”
“No?” They reached the lobby and started across it. “Well, we’re not taking any chances, so we’re going to ask Teach right now.”
“It’s awfully late to disturb him.”
“I know. But our friendly bartender told me he and Teach go way back, so I thought he might do the disturbing for us. And if Teach didn’t see Harlan tonight, we won’t be giving him a few seconds, never mind a few hours. We’ll be going straight to Bud. And we’ll be calling the cops again, too—whether they like having to come over to the island in the middle of the night or not.”
“All right,” Talia said. There was no point in disagreeing when Cade’s mind was obviously made up. And if Harlan had lied to them…
He hadn’t, though. Not about talking to Shad Teach. She was sure of that.
“All right,” she said again. “But I don’t think there’s even a chance Harlan’s the mole, because it makes no sense. If he was, why on earth would he have told us about everything being on those bulletin boards? Why wouldn’t he have just kept quiet?”
“Because the best defense is a good offense.”
“Which means?”
“Which means that when he discovered his secret message had ended up all over the place he had a choice. Either he could just pray nobody would find out what he’d done, or he could try to cover up—by dragging us into things and painting himself as completely innocent. Hell, even telling us he was the other one who voted guilty could have been a crock.”
She started to reply, then stopped herself. She didn’t know what to say. Because even though she really didn’t believe Harlan was their man, she had to admit it was a possibility.
As they reached the bar, that possibility started a chilly little sense of apprehensiveness worming around inside her. Had they just aligned themselves with the enemy?
Cade settled her into a wing chair that clearly wasn’t a random choice. Its back was against a wall, it wasn’t anywhere near a window, and it was only about ten feet from where Desmond Curtis was standing behind the bar.
“Look,” Cade said, gazing down at her, his gray eyes full of concern, “I’d like to see the mole caught as much as you would. And if there’s another guy involved I’d like him to get nailed, too. But I’m more concerned about your safety than about anything else.”
“I’m pretty concerned about it, too,” she murmured.
“Good.” He gave her a warm smile. “Then let’s just keep our priorities straight. And don’t move out of this chair, okay? I’ll only be a minute.”
She watched him cross to the bar and start talking to Desmond, wondering how she could feel so totally wired and so incredibly tired at the same time. But it wasn’t really surprising. She hadn’t gotten a minute’s sleep last night. And almost getting killed would put most people on edge.
At the bar, Desmond had already picked up a phone. He spoke for a minute or two, then hung up and said something to Cade.
Cade nodded, then turned and strode back over to her. “Harlan’s alibi checked out,” he said, sending a rush of relief through her. At least whoever had been shooting at her wasn’t sleeping in the bed beside
Cade’s. And in the room next to hers.
Without saying another word, Cade returned to the bar, and began talking to Desmond again. Briefly she wondered what he was saying, then her thoughts drifted back to Harlan.
He wasn’t their shooter, but that didn’t guarantee he wasn’t the mole. Cade’s theory that he might be didn’t seem likely, but unlikely and impossible were two different things. And if Harlan was working for Carpaccio…
Harlan had said there was virtually no way of figuring out who’d sent that E-mail, but what if that wasn’t true?
What if he’d lied, trying to buy time? Maybe enough time for somebody to succeed at getting rid of her? And maybe get rid of Cade, too, now that he knew too much?
The thoughts were enough to make her shiver. And make her decide that the next time somebody asked her to give them a little time, they’d probably get a flat-out no.
If there ever was a next time. For anything.
ON THE WAY BACK to Cade’s room, Talia was still wondering what he and Desmond Curtis had been talking about. She’d asked of course, but all she’d gotten in reply was a curt “Don’t worry about it.”
That had annoyed her—more than a little. The only thing that kept her from pressing was knowing Cade had to be almost as edgy as she was. After all, he was hanging around with a target for murder, not exactly the safest place to be.
But at least he was still hanging around with her. And if it hadn’t been for that she’d have melted into a pool of fear long before this, so she wasn’t going to let a few curt words gnaw away at her. She forced them from her mind as he unlocked his door.
Inside the room Harlan glanced up from his laptop and looked at them with a broad grin. “Where were you guys? I knocked on the door, and you weren’t in Talia’s room.”
“We just went down to the bar for a few minutes,” Cade told him. “Why? What’s up?”
“I heard from Houdini!” Harlan announced, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
For a second she drew a blank. Then she remembered that was the nickname of the hacker who’d intercepted the mole’s E-mail.
“You heard from him?” Cade was saying.
“Right. He’s who I needed help from. So I posted a message for him on the boards as soon as you left. I didn’t know if he’d reply, but he did—right away. And I convinced him to send me a copy of the original message. The way it was before he decoded it, I mean.”
“And?” Talia said. Since Harlan already had a copy of the decoded version, she had no idea why this should be a big deal. But it clearly was.
‘’And then I ran down to the desk and got a copy made of the pages.”
“Why,” Cade asked.
Harlan shrugged. “I might need a clean original. But I wanted a working copy, so I can translate it myself.”
“Translate it?” Talia said. “But if it’s already decoded… Or does translating mean something different?”
“No, same thing. But see, the original’s in some weird homemade code, not one my computer can deal with. And Houdini decoded it really fast, because all he cared about was the content. But if I take enough time to do it carefully it’ll be way more precise.”
“And?” she said again, starting to feel like a parrot.
“And there might be something in it. A clue to who sent it.”
“That’s how you’re going to try to figure out who our mole is?” Cade said.
Harlan nodded. “See, Houdini wouldn’t have worried about translating anything but the facts, so he might’ve left out something that would strike a chord with us.”
“Great,” Cade said. “That’s fantastic,” he added, making Harlan’s grin grow even broader.
Talia glanced at him curiously. He sounded awfully -sincere for someone who hadn’t ruled Harlan out as the mole.
“I’ll tell you what,” Cade continued. “Let’s divide things up. While you’re decoding the message, Talia and I can work our way through the list of jurors. Some of them couldn’t possibly be the mole, and simple logic should let us eliminate them.”
“You can begin with the three of us,” Harlan suggested.
“Exactly. And if we can reduce the rest to only a few possibilities, instead of nine…”
“Okay,” Harlan said, nodding happily. “Okay, let’s get started.”
“We’ll just go into Talia’s room. So our talking doesn’t disturb you.”
She looked at Cade again, and the way he held her gaze made her think he might have some other reason for his suggestion. Then she told herself she was wrong.
But if she was, how could there be so much warmth in his eyes?
Chapter Thirteen
“Fine, you two just go ahead,” Harlan said as Talia managed to force her gaze from Cade’s. “It’ll take me a while to redo this message,” he continued, “because it wasn’t exactly a four-liner. And I want to do a good job decoding it. But at least—” he glanced at her “—you don’t have to worry about me showing up on your balcony again tonight. I’m sure not going to waste any time sleeping.”
“Good,” Cade said. “Well, let’s get going.” He reached for Talia’s hand and led her into her own room before she could utter another word.
She switched on the light as he locked the door, then looked at him. “Was it only my imagination,” she said, “or did you suddenly decide you couldn’t stand spending another ten seconds with Harlan?”
Cade laughed. It was a quiet laugh, but so deep and masculine and sexy it made her feel warm all over.
For a few seconds, she thought again about how he’d appeared from nowhere earlier, when she’d been terrified on the beach—thought back to how safe and protected he’d made her feel simply by holding her. It was one of the few times she’d felt safe lately. And it was also the moment she’d known, with absolute certainty, she was in love with him.
But he wasn’t in love with her. The warm feeling faded as she recalled what he’d said. She’d asked him what he was doing there, and he’d replied, “Making sure you’re okay. That’s what friends are for.”
Friends.
He considered her nothing more than a friend. So the look she’d seen in his eyes a few minutes ago had been simple affection. Nothing at all like what she felt for him. And knowing that made her heart ache.
“Well,” she said, telling herself feelings couldn’t really make a heart ache, “I guess we’d better get started eliminating jurors.”
When she turned and headed toward the sitting area, Cade followed her. And when she sat down in the exact center of a love seat, so there wasn’t room for him on either side, he sank onto the one opposite.
“So,” she began, realizing her throat was aching as badly as her heart, “what do you think? If we figure out who the mole is do we solve the whole mystery? Or are the odds higher that Joey does have somebody else over here?” Absently she kicked off her sneakers, then noticed Cade was watching her.
She shrugged. “I think better without my shoes on.”
“Really?” He kicked off his. “Maybe it’ll work for me, too. And to answer your question…Hell, Talia, I know it’s not the answer you’d like to hear, but I bet there is somebody else.”
“That’s what I think, too,” she said quietly. “So we’ve got a juror we can’t identify and a hired gun who could be just about anybody.”
Cade leaned forward, making her glad there was a coffee table between the love seats. There were a whole lot of different emotions burbling inside her at the moment, which she was having a hard time keeping under control. And seeing that the warmth was back in Cade’s eyes again wasn’t helping. It was only making her want to believe things she knew weren’t true.
“Look,” he said gently, “we can still call the police right now if you want.”
She shook her head. “We’re safe here in this room, aren’t we?”
He nodded.
“Then we should give Harlan time. Especially since Houdini cooperated with him. I mean, maybe he will figu
re out who the mole is.”
“Maybe,” Cade agreed, still gazing across the coffee table at her.
“But is there really any point in our sitting here trying to eliminate jurors? Especially if Joey’s got two people working for him? If the real danger is from somebody we’ve never even heard of?”
“Maybe there isn’t much point,” Cade admitted. “But there didn’t seem much point in sitting in the other room with Harlan, either, just watching him pore over that message.”
She swallowed hard, telling herself Cade wasn’t really looking at her as if he was a starving man and she was a gourmet meal. Then she ordered her imagination to stop acting up, because under the circumstances, sitting here alone with him was bad enough. But her imagination kept right on tormenting her— until a knock on the door stopped it in its tracks and started her heart pounding.
Motioning her to stay where she was, Cade answered the door, then went out into the hall to talk to whoever had knocked. Not knowing who was out there with him sent her anxiety level soaring. Then her imagination went to work again, this time insisting it was a killer who’d come calling, so she was vastly relieved when Cade stepped back inside. He closed the door and simply stood looking at her for a second.
“Well?” she said when he started back across the room without volunteering anything.
He shrugged. “Just a message for me.”
“For you.”
“Uh-huh.”
That added up, she told herself. If somebody had gone to his room, Harlan would have sent them here. She was about to ask what the message had been when he reached the sitting area and gestured her to move over, so there’d be room for him beside her. When he sat down, the length of his thigh pressed against hers and heat from his leg began seeping into her body. It made her pulse begin a wild dance of arousal.
She took a deep breath hoping it would calm her, but all it did was make her intensely aware of his woodsy scent. And something about it was far more enticing than the smell of real woods. Far more enticing, in fact, than anything else she could think of.
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