Ring of Lies (79 page)

Grace buried her head in her hands.
‘
My God, Catherine…
’

‘
What?
’
said her sister, feigning innocence.
‘
I was just saying good morning. What’s wrong with that?
’

‘
It’s just—look at you—not what you’re
saying
,
but how you’re saying it.
’
She crumpled her napkin and turned away.

Jack laid a hand on her shoulder and addressed
Catherine
, his eyes never leaving Grace.
‘
Grace and I have to go out.
Stay in the house, away from the windows.
’

‘
What for
?
’
said Catherine.

‘
There’s an agent posted outside.
You’ll be quite safe.
’

‘
You could at least tell me why. Anyway, it’s a pity you’re leaving.
I was hoping you’d
demonstrate
the finer points of
close protection
to me.
’
She laughed, and slanted Jack a
nother
look from under her lashes.

‘
Tha
nks
. But no.
’

Catherine gave him a long smouldering look, then smirked.
‘
You
r
loss. But if you
should
change your mind, you know where
I am
.
’

Grace frowned.
‘
Stop it, Cat!
’
She collected the breakfast dishes and
dropped them on the counter, smashing a plate in the process.

‘
I’m only
kidding
. You
know that
,
right,
Jack?
’

Grace slammed her hand down on the table.
‘
You are not kidding and you don’t give a damn about me, do you? I should have seen this before. I’ve been so blind.
’

‘
Oh lighten up, sister dear. I’m just playing—
’

‘
Life’s one big joke to you, Cat. You don’t understand how serious this situation is.
’

‘
Oh for fuck’s sake, Grace. I’m sick to death of your righteous sister act. Look, I’ll be out of your
way
in a few days, and then you can go back to your boring life.
’
With that, she
stomped
out of the room.

Grace slumped
against the counter, head bowed
.

‘
Don’t let her get to you,
’
Jack said.

‘
We used to be the best of friends
years ago
, but now—she
’s
changed. I hardly know her anymore
. I
don’t
know her anymore.
’

‘
She travels a lot
.
Even family can grow apart
.
’

‘
It’s more than that, Jack. It’s as if Cat’s jealous, not that she has reason to be. After all, she fulfilled her dream to go to university and have a career, while I’m just a dreary housewife.
’

His hand tightened over hers.
‘
No you’re not. Catherine takes you for granted,
which is a really shitty thing to do
.
Let it go for now, Grace
.
We have to get going.
I
want
to have another chat with Jacobs
’
secretary
.
’

‘
You mean Mercy?
’

‘
Yep. I need to see if I can get access to his files. We can’t lose sight of our mission, Grace. I know you’re upset—you have a right to be. Just not right now. Put it on a skyhook. Know what I mean?
’

Grace died her eyes with her napkin and nodded.
‘
Sometimes,
Mr
.
West, you actually make sense.
’

He grinned.
‘
I’ll try not to make a habit of it.
’

The drive
into Boca Grande
took less than five minutes.
He
turned off the ignition and looked across the sidewalk to
the
front door of Seaplane Charters.

‘
It doesn’t look as if anyone is home
,
’
Grace said.

‘
The office is at the back, remember?
’

‘
And if
Mercy
’s not there?
’

‘
Then we’ll ask around. Find out where she lives.
’

‘
You can just ask?
Won’t people say no?
’

‘
It’s the way you ask,
’
Jack
said
.
H
e
got out
and
walked round to
open the passenger door for Grace.
‘
I can be very persuasive. Trust me.
’

‘
I do.
’

His hand rested lightly on her back.
‘
Ready?
’
he asked.

She
smiled and nodded.

They walked around the back of the building. He turned the
doorknob
, but
it was firmly locked. He rapped sharply on the wooden frame. A loud bang came from within followed by a curse. Jack tensed, ready to push Grace to one side
.
The
door opened
and Mercy
slowly
shuffled out
.

‘
Hi
,
Mercy,
may we come in?
’
said Jack.

‘
Hi,
Mr
.
West,
Mrs.
Lattide. What can I do for you?
’

‘
I’d
like to ask you some questions
,
’
h
e said showing her
his ID card and shield.

Mercy’s eyes widened.
‘
FBI
? Why are you
interested in
Mr
.
Jacobs?
’

‘
Pete Jacobs’
and
Mr
.
Lattide
’s death
are somehow connected. I’d like to
see Pete’s
flight logs
.
’

Mercy played with her hair.
‘
He was s
uch a nice man. He didn’t deserve to die like that.
’
She
wiped her eyes.
‘
T
he files belong to
Mr
.
Jacob’s wife
now.
I guess you could say she’s still his wife. They had some problems. I don’t know if I should even be saying that.
’

Jack drew in a breath.
‘
Mercy
, listen to me.
I can get a court order
, but that will take time.
Three
people
are dead
, including
Jacobs
. Do you really want to
be responsible for putting
more lives at risk?
’

Mercy
stiffened.
‘
Well, no of course not.
’
She
glanced at
Grace, her brown eyes full of
sadness
.
‘
Come on through to the office. Pete’s filing system isn’t what you’d call
organized
.
’

Jack patted her forearm.
‘
Thanks, Mercy.
You’re doing the right thing
.
’