The Whisper f-4

by Carla Neggers

  Davenport--well educated, well trained and very experienced--looked over at Lizzie, but he didn't smile or go to her, didn't speak, just tapped one finger to his lips and blew her a kiss, then turned and headed out after Fletcher.

  "Damn Brits," Simon muttered, then shrugged at Josie. "Sorry, Moneypenny."

  "I had much the same thought." She stood up from the counter and inhaled sharply as she nodded toward the front door. "You're going after them, aren't you?"

  "Yes." There was no irreverence in Simon's manner now. He was deadly serious. He walked over to Keira by the table of art supplies and half-finished sketches and touched her long, pale hair. "Keira..."

  "You have a job to do. Go do it. Stay safe. Keep your friends safe." She placed Fletcher's sketch back on the table and caught Simon's big hand in hers, no sign she was trembling now. "Come back to me soon."

  Simon kissed her but said nothing more as he went after the two British spies.

  Once the door shut behind him, Josie let her arms fall to her sides. "All right, then. They're off, and now it's just us girls again."

  Scoop raised his eyebrows.

  Her strain was evident even as she smiled at him. "Sorry, Detective."

  "Honestly, Scoop," Keira said, attempting a laugh, "you look even more ferocious these days. Who'd ever know you adopted two stray cats?"

  "The cats know," he said.

  Tears shone in her eyes. "They must miss you."

  "They're in good hands. Your cousins are taking care of them." Not Fiona but her two younger sisters, who lived with their mother--Bob O'Reilly's first wife. Scoop tried to keep his tone light. "Your uncle's having fits. Now Maddie and Jayne want him to adopt cats."

  "I'm just glad yours survived the fire," Keira said quietly. "When are you going back to Boston?"

  "Tomorrow," he said, deciding on the spot. First the mysterious archaeologist, now British spies and the FBI. Too much was going on for him to justify even one more day in Ireland. Answers weren't here, in Keira's idyllic cottage.

  Lizzie sank onto the sofa where, in his first days at the cottage, Scoop had lain on his stomach for hours at a stretch, easing himself off medication and trying to remember anything that could help with the investigations back in Boston. She kicked out her legs and propped her feet up on a small coffee table. Although she was a hotel heiress accustomed to five-star surroundings, she didn't look out of place in the simple cottage. From what Scoop had seen of them, Lizzie Rush and Lord Davenport--who was accustomed to castles--were at home wherever they happened to find themselves.

  "I have a room all set for you at our hotel in Boston anytime you want it," she told Scoop.

  "That's very kind of you, Lizzie, but another detective's offered me his sleeper sofa."

  "Who?" Keira asked, skeptical.

  "Tom Yarborough."

  She sputtered into incredulous laughter. "You two would kill each other."

  Probably true. Yarborough was a homicide detective--Abigail's partner--and not an easy person on a good day. He hadn't had a good day in months.

  "My family would love to have you at the Whitcomb," Lizzie said. "Consider it done, Scoop. I'll text Jeremiah and let him know."

  Jeremiah Rush was the third eldest of Lizzie's four male Rush cousins. With her father frequently gone and her mother dead since she was an infant, she had practically grown up with them north of Boston.

  "What about you three?" Scoop asked, taking in all three women with one look.

  "We'll keep ourselves busy," Josie said. She opened up the refrigerator, giving an exaggerated shudder of disgust as she shut it again. "Rutabagas and beer do not a meal make."

  "I've been eating mostly at the pub," Scoop said.

  "Yes, well, one would hope."

  He went over to the front window and looked out into the fading daylight. The weeks of healing--of being on medical leave, away from his job--finally were getting to him. He turned back to the women. "When did you all get here?"

  "Just now," Keira said. "Lizzie and I came on our own."

  "Chasing Will and Simon?"

  Her cheeks turned a deep shade of pink, but Lizzie was the one who spoke. "Not chasing. Following. They tried to divert us with a few days of shopping in Dublin."

  "Guess they had to give it a shot," Scoop said with a smile.

  "I flew from London," Josie said. "I hired my own car at the airport."

  "Were you following Will and Simon--or Myles?"

  She walked briskly to the table Fletcher had vacated and gazed down at his drawing. "I don't know what you mean. I'm the trusted assistant of Will Davenport, the second son of a beloved marquess. Whatever else you're thinking is pure fancy."

  Scoop didn't argue. What Josie Goodwin knew and how she knew it was a matter he preferred to leave to speculation. He shifted to Keira, staring blankly at a sketch she'd started of the tranquil village harbor.

  "Do you know an archaeologist named Sophie Malone?" he asked abruptly.

  "I've heard of her, yes," Keira said, perking up. "Absolutely. She's a very well respected archaeologist. She's volunteered to chair a panel on the Irish Iron Age at the folklore conference in April. The conference is shaping up to be quite an event. It's good to have something fun to focus on after this summer." She abandoned her sketch. "Was Dr. Malone here?"

  Scoop nodded. "We ran into each other up at the ruin where you found your stone angel. She mentioned she'd talked to Professor Dermott. She didn't stay long. I could have scared her off."

  "Not you, Scoop," Keira said, a welcome spark of humor in her eyes.

  Lizzie lowered her feet to the floor and sat up straight, frowning at Keira and Scoop. "Did you say Sophie Malone?"

  "What," Scoop said, "am I the last person to know who she is?"

  "She worked at the pub at our Boston hotel when she was in college," Lizzie said, rising. "We're about the same age. I was in and out of town a lot at the time, but I remember her. We were both interested in all things Irish."

  "Have you seen her since?"

  "Not that I recall. She and her twin sister and their older brother were born here in Ireland. Their parents worked in Cork. I took special note, I suppose, because of my mother, who was Irish." Her tone softened. Shauna Morrigan Rush had died in Dublin under mysterious circumstances when Lizzie was a baby. "Strange, isn't it? The ripple effects of life."

  Josie, who hadn't stirred during the exchange, picked up the electric kettle on the counter and lifted the lid as she shoved it under the faucet. "Sophie Malone's not another of John March's informal spies, is she?"

  "Not that I know of," Lizzie said. For the better part of a year, she herself had anonymously provided the FBI director with information on Norman Estabrook, who had been a frequent guest at various Rush hotels.

  Josie filled the kettle, then plugged it in and switched it on, her movements brisk, efficient. "You do have tea, don't you, Detective?"

  "On the shelf above you."

  She reached up and got down a tin of loose-leaf tea and set it on the counter, her casualness studied, as if she didn't dare go where her mind wanted to take her. "Did Myles happen to run into this Sophie Malone?" she asked without looking at Scoop.

  "I don't think so, no."

  She turned to him, her gaze direct and unflinching. "But he mentioned her, didn't he?"

  "He had his reasons for coming here."

  Josie opened the tin of tea. Scoop figured that even someone who wasn't trained in detecting lies and deception--which surely Josie Goodwin was--would guess he hadn't told all he knew. She didn't push him further. Keira and Lizzie eyed him but said nothing.

  He retreated to the small bedroom and got his suitcase out of the closet. He had the bones of a plan. He'd head to the airport in Shannon and book the first flight he could get to Boston tomorrow.

  He was packed in less than ten minutes. When he returned to the main room, Keira had torn off a fresh sheet of sketch paper and placed it in front of her on the pine table. She was staring a
t it as if she were trying to envision a pretty, happy scene--as if she'd had enough of violence, mystery and adventure and just wanted to hole up with her paints and colored pencils.

  Lizzie Rush was back on the sofa, frowning, the spy in the making.

  Josie lifted the lid on an old teapot and peered inside. "The tea's ready, but I gather you're not staying."

  "No," Scoop said.

  Her deep blue eyes narrowed slightly as she answered. "Safe travels, then."

  "Jeremiah will be expecting you at the Whitcomb," Lizzie said.

  Keira looked up from her blank page. "Tell my uncle not to worry about me."

  Scoop smiled at her. "That's like telling the rain to stop falling in Ireland. It's just not going to happen."

  As he headed out the side door, the three women didn't interrogate him or try to stop him. He didn't know whether they could guess what he was doing and approved, or if they just were resigned that he'd made up his mind and there'd be no stopping him.

  Unlike Simon Cahill and Will Davenport, he had no one to kiss goodbye.

  And no one waiting for his return to Boston.

  Except his cats, unless they'd decided they preferred the company of Keira's young cousins.

  4

  Kenmare, Southwest Ireland

  Sophie walked next to her twin sister, Taryn, enjoying the sounds of traditional Irish music drifting from Kenmare pubs on what had turned into a perfect September evening. One last downpour seemed to have done the trick. Fresh from London, Taryn wore slim jeans with flat-heeled black boots and a black sweater that came down to her knees. Although they were fraternal, not identical twins, Taryn also had red hair, but hers was two tones darker and wavier--and easier to manage, Sophie had decided when they were six, because Taryn always seemed to manage it. A few pins and clips, and she looked gorgeous. She had the lead in a new romantic comedy, but her first break had come performing Shakespeare in Boston. She was as dedicated to her acting career as Sophie had ever been to earning her doctorate, or Damian to becoming a federal agent.

  With her afternoon of cleaning, cooking and thinking, Sophie had been in her hiking clothes, still encrusted with mud from her trek on the Beara Peninsula, when Taryn arrived. Taryn, however, had seemed unsurprised and hadn't asked what her sister had been up to. Sophie had quickly changed into jeans, a sweater and walking shoes. They'd set out on foot from their house to the lively village of bars, restaurants and shops.

  Sophie paused at a hole-in-the-wall pub on a narrow side street. "Tim O'Donovan and his friends are playing here tonight," she said.

  Taryn's expression didn't change. "How nice."

  "Do you want to go in, or shall we choose another pub?"

  "This one's fine."

  Her sister's nonchalance was totally feigned, Sophie concluded as they entered the warm, noisy pub. A waiter led them to a table against the old brick wall. She and Taryn had done a Kenmare weekend in the spring, indulging themselves at an incredible bayside hotel spa and listening to traditional Irish music every night. Tim had swept them off for a boat ride--one that didn't go near the tiny island of Sophie's misadventure. He'd fallen hard for Taryn, and she for him, except she'd never admit as much, even to Sophie. An Irish fisherman didn't fit into Taryn's already complicated life.

  Just a touch of spring fever, she'd said, flushed as she'd headed to London.

  Tim had grumbled that he should have known better than to swoon over a woman who was an actress, an American and Sophie's twin. Sophie had met him two years ago when she'd spent part of the winter in Kenmare, working on her dissertation. Right from the start, she and Tim had been more like brother and sister. Not the case, she thought, with him and her twin sister.

  Taryn peeled off her teal wool scarf; she'd wound it around her neck, making it look easy, sophisticated and sexy all at the same time. She had an unobstructed view of the small stage where Tim and his friends, who looked as if they'd just come from catching dinner, were setting up, but she carefully pretended not to notice them as she and Sophie each ordered a glass of Guinness.

  "I spoke to Damian just before I arrived in Kenmare," Taryn said.

  "I'm sure he wishes he could be here."

  "You're not a credible liar, Sophie. I'm only slightly better because I'm an actor, but lying doesn't come easily to either of us. Damian said he talked to you earlier today. He sounded put out with you. Are you mixed up in some top-secret FBI investigation?" Even as Sophie thought she was suppressing any visible reaction, her sister gasped. "Sophie! I was just kidding, but you are mixed up in something."

  "No, I'm not. I asked Damian about what's gone on in Boston this summer. That's all. It's natural I'd be curious."

  Sophie had no intention of getting into her experience in the island cave a year ago. Taryn didn't know--unless Damian had decided to call the guards himself and had found out about it and told Taryn. Which Sophie doubted. She didn't like keeping secrets from her family, but they'd only worry if they knew, never mind that she'd promised the guards she wouldn't tell anyone.

  "What did Damian tell you about Boston?"

  "Nothing much."

  "Sophie--"

  Fortunately, their parents entered the pub and joined them at their table. They'd come straight from Dublin. James and Antonia Malone, Sophie thought with affection, were relishing their early retirement, diving into their love of storytelling, music, drama, art and exploring. Their twin daughters' red hair came from their mother, although the shade was unreliable since she'd started using a near-orange dye now to cover any gray. She was as tall as Taryn but had Sophie's sense of adventure. A lifelong New Englander, she'd met their father, the son of Irish immigrants, hiking on the Dingle Peninsula in college.

  They'd been home in western Massachusetts during her brush with death last year. There was nothing they could do if she'd told them but worry. She'd returned to her work on her dissertation and tried to put the incident behind her.

  Tim looked straight at Taryn and gave her a sexy smile as he put his fiddle to his chin. Then he and his friends launched into a rousing, pulse-pounding rendition of "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye." Their music was lively and authentic, the perfect counter to a stress-filled day.

  Taryn sipped her Guinness, her attention riveted on the musicians. "They're really good, aren't they, Sophie?"

  "Fantastic."

  The compliment was sincere, but she hoped Tim wouldn't decide to join them on his break given their earlier talk on the pier. Of course he did, pulling over a low stool and plopping down. Sophie knew that was the risk she'd taken in choosing this particular pub. She trusted him not to tell her family about the island, but that didn't mean he wouldn't blab about her excursion to the Beara Peninsula that morning.

  "The Malones return to our wee village," he said, grinning.

  He obviously wasn't going to bring up anything awkward. Sophie tried not to look too relieved. Taryn smiled, but she was unusually quiet, letting her sister and parents carry on the conversation with Tim. Their parents had met him on a visit to Kenmare months before he'd fallen hard for Taryn--before he'd let Sophie talk him into dropping her off on the island.

  They talked about music and hiking and weather, and he finally got up for his next set. His gaze settled briefly on Sophie, but it was enough. She got the message. He hated withholding information from her family, and he knew she was up to something.

  "I head to Boston tomorrow," she said, pretending she hadn't already told him. "I'm staying at Taryn's apartment there."

  He shifted to Taryn. "What about you? When do you go back to Boston?"

  "For good? Not for a while. My play in London runs through October. After that, who knows? I'm waiting for word about a trip to New York. It could come anytime. I'll just be there for a few days, though."

  "Do you have an audition?" he asked.

  She lowered her eyes. "Something like that."

  "I've a distant cousin in Boston." Tim gave Sophie a pointed look. "A firefighter."


  His tone suggested he'd been doing some research of his own on the goings-on in Boston over the summer and the injured police detective staying on the Beara. Given their earlier conversation, Sophie wasn't surprised or irritated. If she could do it all over again, she'd never have gone out to the island a year ago. She wasn't even sure she'd have had lunch with Colm Dermott last week and listened to him relate what he knew about Keira Sullivan's unsettling night alone in the Irish wilds.

  When Tim returned to the stage, James Malone eyed his two daughters with open skepticism. "When I was a working stiff in corporate America," he said, "I learned about subtext. I would say there was an encyclopedia of subtext in that exchange. Either of you want to tell me what just went on?"

  Taryn, good actress though she was, floundered, but Sophie grinned at her father and held up her glass of Guinness. "You know these Irish men, Dad."

  "That's my point," he muttered.

  His wife elbowed him before he could say more and raised her own glass. "And to us poor women who love them."

  Sophie laughed, relishing her time with her family. Her parents were having a ball with their retirement. Let it be that way for a long time, she thought, just as, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a lone man enter the pub. As a waiter led him to a small table, she was surprised to recognize Percy Carlisle, a wealthy Bostonian she hadn't seen in a year.

  Taryn leaned close to Sophie. "What's he doing here?"

  "I have no idea," Sophie said half under her breath. She left her drink on the table and quickly stood up, heading to his table. She dropped onto the chair across from him without waiting to be invited. "Hey, Percy. I didn't know you were in Ireland."

  "I only arrived last night. Helen and I were in London."

  "Is she here with you?"

  He shook his head. "She's gone back to Boston."

  A waiter appeared, and Percy ordered coffee, nothing else. He was in his early forties, dressed in a heavy wool cardigan and wide-wale corduroys that bagged on his lanky frame. He had inherited a family fortune and spent most of his time pursuing his interests in travel, art, music, history and genealogy. Sophie had run into him on occasion when she was a student in Boston and had done research at the Carlisle Museum. They'd gotten along without becoming real friends or, certainly, romantically involved. She hadn't seen him since she'd moved to Ireland to continue her studies--except briefly late last summer when he'd looked her up while he was visiting friends in Killarney.