Flash (32 page)

“We can't exactly call in a real hacker, can we?”

“No. We'd have to tell him what we're looking for, and that means one more person would know what was going on.”

“This is so complicated,” she muttered.

“It gets worse. I also talked to the police.”

She searched his face. “Did they tell you anything?”

“I pulled the concerned employer routine. One of the detectives bought it. I was told that the car that killed Gill had been found. An old Cadillac.”

“What a break.” Olivia brightened. “I don't suppose they told you who owns it?”

“An elderly couple in Ballard.”

“An elderly couple?” Olivia's face fell. “But that doesn't make any sense. Why would—”

“The car was stolen,” Jasper explained. “And abandoned after the crime. Everything inside had been wiped clean. No prints. No evidence.”

“That must have aroused the cops' suspicions.”

“At the moment they're working on the theory that whoever stole the Cadillac was probably drunk or high on drugs. When the driver realized he had accidentally hit someone, he ditched the car and ran. Unless he sobers up and turns himself in, odds of finding him are not real good.”

She groaned. “And probably even worse if he deliberately set out to kill Melwood.”

“Which we don't know for certain yet,” Jasper said carefully.

Her hand clenched tightly around the blue tunics. “We must locate Uncle Rollie's missing files. Whoever killed Melwood is obviously looking for them, too. We can't let him find them first.”

“We'll find them,” Jasper said quietly. “Between the two of us we've got more information on both Gill and Rollie than the blackmailer could possibly have. That gives us an edge.”

“What do you mean?”

Jasper shrugged. “In the end the guy with the most information usually wins. Provided he uses it properly.”

She eyed him narrowly. “Is that a bit of Sloan management theory?”

“You could say that.”

“Do you obsessive-compulsive filers go to special schools? Is there a degree in information hoarding?”

He stopped smiling and flattened his hand against the wall behind her head. “Olivia, I did a lot of thinking today while I went through Gill's desk. There is one tiny scrap of information that we've been ignoring.”

“What's that?”

“Silas at Pri-Con told us that he rented the last empty locker on the fourth floor about a month ago, remember?”

She nodded. “So?”

“Rollie died about a month ago.”

She stared at him. “Oh, my God, you don't think—?”

“What if,” Jasper said slowly, “whoever took those files rented that last locker? What if those files were never removed from the building? What if the
blackmailer transferred them into another locker?”

“It would certainly explain why Silas never saw anyone empty out an entire locker.” Her eyes lit with excitement. “Jasper, it's a brilliant thought. But there are a lot
of what ifs
involved.”

“Yes. But they can be checked out fairly easily.”

“Am I interrupting anything here?” Todd asked dryly.

Olivia looked around Jasper's shoulder. “Hi, Todd.”

Jasper turned to look at Todd. “Your sister and I were just having a short business meeting about what to do in the accounting department now that Melwood Gill is gone.”

“Don't let me stop you.” Todd took a swallow from his glass. “Too bad about poor old Gill. Quincy and Percy said he hadn't been himself for several months.”

“That's true.” Olivia frowned. “Todd, how much have you had to drink tonight?”

“Don't worry about it, big sister.” Todd smiled grimly. “I'm not driving.”

Olivia's eyes filled with growing concern. “You never have more than a couple of glasses of anything. What's wrong?”

“Special occasion.” Todd hoisted his glass in a mocking salute. “You may as well be the first to know. There won't be an engagement announcement after the election, after all.”

“Oh, Todd.” Olivia sighed. “I'm sorry.”

“Hate to admit it, but you were right all along.” Todd grimaced. “The only thing Eleanor and I have in common is a mutual interest in getting her elected.”

“Oh,
Todd.”

Todd glared at her. “You think maybe you could skip the
Oh, Todds?”

Jasper saw Olivia open her mouth. He could tell that she was about to say
Oh, Todd
again.

“Your sister has a lot to do this evening,” Jasper said smoothly. “What do you say we leave her to it? Come on, I'll buy you a drink.”

Todd frowned at the glass in his hand. “The drinks are free.”

“Hell of a deal.” Jasper clapped him on the shoulder. “Let's go.”

Todd shrugged and fell into step beside him. Jasper glanced back once and saw Olivia watching them with a worried expression.

“I don't really want another drink,” Todd confided. “But thanks for giving me an excuse to avoid any more explanations.”

“No problem.”

“It isn't always easy having an older sister who thinks she's right most of the time.”

“I understand.” Jasper reached the elegant staircase and started up the steps. “Let's take a look at Merlin's Cave. I want to see what Bolivar did with a couple of thousand dollars' worth of Glow equipment.”

Todd smiled briefly. “Cousin Bolivar missed his calling. He should be studying to go work for a firm that designs carnival attractions. Of course, some folks would say that working for Light Fantastic was not far off the mark.”

“I won't tell Olivia you said that.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.”

At the second-floor landing, they went down a hazy
blue hall. Flashing lights pulsed in quick, strobelike intervals. Miniature lightning bolts arced overhead.

The entrance to Merlin's Cave was easy to find. The crowd waiting to get inside wound out the door of the upstairs ballroom and halfway down the corridor.

Jasper came to a halt. “Guess it's a big hit.”

“Yeah.” Todd grimaced. “Forget trying to get inside for another hour.”

“What do you say we go out onto the veranda for some fresh air, instead? I've had enough blue fog for a while.”

Todd shrugged again. He accompanied Jasper out onto the second-floor balcony.

The cool evening and a measure of quiet greeted them.

Jasper made no move to force a conversation. He gripped the railing and watched a handful of guests mill about below in the blue floodlit gardens.

Todd leaned against the nearest pillar. “She was right, you know. Should have listened to her in the first place.”

“Olivia?”

“Yeah. She warned me not to make the same mistake she made when she married Logan Dane.”

“What mistake was that?”

“Olivia always refers to her marriage as a marriage of convenience. A business arrangement based on everything but love. She figured it was solid because they had so much in common, you see. But she was wrong. I got suckered by the same logic.”

“What made you decide that you and Eleanor Lancaster didn't have so much in common, after all?”

“The problems have been building for a while.” Todd grimaced. “But tonight they came to a head. Eleanor and I quarreled about some of her fund-raising techniques.”

“You didn't go along with her plans?”

“She made some promises to some people in exchange for contributions. Promises I knew she wouldn't be able to keep if she stuck to our agenda after the election.”

“What did she say when you confronted her?” Jasper asked.

“Can't you guess? She called me naïve. Reminded me that there won't be any agenda to fulfill unless she gets elected, and to do that, she needs money. She told me I'd better get used to politics as usual if I want the two of us to go all the way to the White House.”

Jasper glanced at him. “What did you say?”

“I told her that I had decided that I don't want to be the First Husband, after all.” Todd smiled ruefully. “I'm going back to my nice ivory tower. Olivia was right about that, too. I wasn't cut out for the real world of politics. I was born for the academic side of things.”

“You're leaving the campaign?”

Todd nodded. “The news will be kept low-key, of course. I've stayed in the background all along so as not to distract the media's attention from Eleanor and her message. If we handle it right, I doubt that anyone will even notice that I've eased out of the picture.”

Jasper started to respond. He stopped, sensing a new presence on the scene. He turned his head and saw Dixon standing in the doorway.

“Use 'em and lose 'em, is that the Chantry family motto?” Dixon asked thickly. “Hey, maybe someone should call up old Crawford Lee Wilder and tell him there's another story here in Seattle. He could call it Dark Muse II, the sequel.”

“Go to hell,” Todd said wearily. “You've got what you want.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Dixon demanded.

“You've resented my relationship with Eleanor from the start. I should think you'd be glad that I'm out of the picture.”

“You've left her high-and-dry, you bastard.” Dixon took two steps forward and flung the contents of his glass straight into Todd's face. “You're so fucking stupid, you don't even know how much damage you've caused.”

Before Todd could react, Jasper moved. He grasped Dixon's shoulder and spun him around.

“This has gone far enough,” Jasper said quietly. “You're drunk, Haggard. It's time you left the party.”

Dixon's enraged eyes widened in the darkness. “You stupid sonofabitch. I figured you were screwing Olivia because you intended to screw her out of Glow, Inc. But I had it backward, didn't I?”

“I'm warning you, Haggard.”

Dixon uttered a shrill bark of laughter. “She's the one screwing you, isn't she? That's what this is all about. She's setting you up the same way she set up Logan Dane. Be careful you don't get a sudden urge to run with the bulls in Pamplona. Or maybe take a dive off a tall building?”

Jasper slammed Dixon up against the wall with
enough force to make the boards shudder. He pinned him there and lowered his voice to a whisper.

“One more word out of you, Haggard, and I will throw you off the edge of this balcony. It's not a real tall building, and you're drunk, which means you'll probably land softly. I bet you'll only break a leg or two.”

Dixon scowled, eyes bleary with alcohol and rage. “Let me go. I'll have you arrested.”

Jasper smiled slowly. “That will look great in the papers, won't it? I can see it now. LANCASTER CAMPAIGN MANAGER IN DRUNKEN BRAWL.”

Dixon blinked rapidly and seemed to sag. Jasper thought he saw a flicker of common sense surface somewhere in the blurred gaze. Or was it fear?

Olivia appeared in the doorway. The light in the hallway behind her enveloped her in an ethereal blue glow. But there was nothing otherworldly about the expression that snapped in her eyes.

Jasper wondered what had brought her out onto the veranda. Unerring instincts for avoiding potential disaster at Light Fantastic productions, no doubt.

She glanced at Todd and then peered into the shadows where Jasper still held Dixon against the wall.

“Is there a problem?” she asked crisply.

“No, ma'am.” Jasper gave her a bland smile and took a firm grip on Dixon. “Haggard, here, was just leaving. Had a little too much champagne. Todd and I are going to help him into a cab. Isn't that right, Todd?”

“Right.” Todd moved with gratifying speed. He took Dixon's other arm and gave Jasper a knowing, appreciative, man-to-man look.

Jasper wondered if he and Todd had suddenly developed one of those male bonds he'd heard about.

Together they got the silent, subdued Dixon down the back stairs and out to the sweeping drive, where a line of cabs waited.

Haggard did not protest when they stuffed him into a taxi. Jasper slammed the door and stepped back. He stood with Todd and watched the vehicle's taillights disappear down the driveway.

“I think, in his own weird way, he loves her,” Todd said eventually.

Jasper looked at him. “What about you? Did you love her?”

“I guess not. I can't say I'm really torn up or anything. Mostly what I feel is a sense of relief, if you want to know the truth. Hell, I should have gotten out weeks ago.”

“You mean when Olivia first warned you not to get personally involved with Lancaster?”

“No.” Todd frowned in surprise. “When Uncle Rollie told me that I ought to steer clear of the Lancaster campaign.”

Jasper went cold. “Rollie told you to stay away from the Lancaster campaign?”

“It was the last piece of advice he ever gave me. The very next day he and Wilbur left on that photo safari.”

Jasper could have sworn that somewhere in the distance he could hear the ominous grinding sound of a steel trap closing.

“Damn,” he said very softly. “I should have thought of that.”