Somewhere I'll Find You (40 page)

He waited outside yet another room.  There would be a final check, an attendant beside the door with a bank of monitors at his desk.

The inmates of this section, Michael was told, were under twenty-four surveillance.  When he stepped in with Severance, he would be watched as well.  He was glad of that, he supposed, because when that last door finally opened he would be facing the man
whom,
he suspected
,
wanted to kill Paige.

Richard looked nothing like the man Michael had met previously.  He sat in a chair, dressed in orange coveralls, his posture ruler-straight.  There were restraints on his wrist.

His hair, once a golden
crown
w
as now a dull yellow, cut brutally short.  His once handsome face
had grown puffy from medication, his mouth slack and his sharp eyes now dead
as a doll’s.

They had sedated him, Michael imagined.  Take an average sociopath, toss in a few psychoses and violent tendencies and drugs became everyone’s best friend. 

Drug them first and ask questions later is probably SOP here in this place,
Michael thought.

There was a guard at the door to
Richard’s
back who already looked bored.  Michael glanced at him, thinking to ask for a chair, and then shook his head.  He settled with his back against the wall, facing across from
Richard
.  He would have given his right arm to be alone with the man for just an hour.  Even an hour of intense interrogation could do a number on someone like
him
, and something told Michael that the man was anything but strong.

“You left a message that you wanted to speak to me.  Well, I’m here, so talk.”  Leaning casually on the wall, Michael stared silently as drool dribbled down
Richard’s
chin.  “I’m not wasting my time here, not when I’ve got Paige waiting for me.”

At the sound of the name, the dull eyes flickered to life.

Someone’s home after all,
Michael thought and edged a bit forward.

“Does Paige know who you are?” 
Richard
voice ra
s
ped with disuse or screaming,
his
eye
s
beginning to show a crafty gleam.

Leaning back once more, Michael ignored the obvious bait, but noticed the nervous firing in
Richard’s
speech.  “You made a poin
t of having your solicitor -
oh sorry, attorney
-
contact London concerning your state
of affairs.  What is it now?” 
He shrugged a shoulder, indifferently.  “Oh yes, something having to do with murder.  It seems that you poisoned someone.  That has nothing to do with either Paige or myself.”  He watched Richard’s reaction closely, trying to decide if he could actually be behind the attacks on Paige. 

Michael
had to come and see for himself, trying to make certain that he could reliably cross Richard off the list of suspects.
Looking the way he does now, I can’t imagine he’d be a threat to more than a houseplant, but I suppose we can’t tell that to the man he murdered, can we?  It’s got to be an act …

Richard leaned as far forward as his manacles would allow.  “She’s got to you, hasn’t she?  I know how it works.  I saw her, and from that moment on, I couldn’t get her out of my mind.  Or those magnificent eyes of hers.  I studied her past – what little I could find anyway, and it made me very curious.  I discovered that someone else was also watching her movements very closely.”

“And that made you even more curious.”  The more the two spoke, the more convinced Michael became that Richard was no more medicated than he was.  The man was good.  Good enough to fool tired, overworked clinicians with very long hours and very little pay to show for it.

“Damned right it made me curious,” Richard continued.  “I won’t say that I was in love with her, there were times I didn’t even like her.  But I couldn’t get her out of my system.” He cursed softly.  “Yes, I was curious.  That’s how I make my money . . . research.  It’s amazing what people will tell you when they know that you’re writing a book.  So, I pushed and pushed even more, until I found out about Paige’s past.”

Michael sat, waiting to hear a rough outline of what he already knew.  “Go ahead, astound me.”

A smug smile flew across Richard’s face.  Michael barely restrained the urge to wipe it off with his fist.  “I have access to some of the best sources, Sinclair.  I’m not talking about a receptionist or clerical staff, but highly placed people.  People
who
owe me all kinds of favors.  And finally, all the tiny pieces fell into place.”

“Why go to all that trouble?  Certainly not for a pair of . . . incredible eyes.”  Slidi
ng back, Michael crossed his ank
les comfortably with all the calm he could muster.  “Why don’t you tell me about
it?
”

Looking about uneasily, Richard’s voice dropped low.  “At first, I swear to you that curiosity was the whole of it.  Then things changed.  My instincts were screaming at me that something wasn’t right, especially after I was contacted anonymously and asked to keep an eye on her.  Nothing special, you understand, just a little . . . reconnaissance.
”  He narrowed his eyes briefly in Michael’s direction, watching carefully that he didn’t attract the attention of the guard.

Michael made no noise, no movement, highly aware that the guard could see him, even if he couldn’t see Richard.
  He nodded silently, indicating for Richard to go on.

Richard heaved a whispered sigh and continued.
 
“
Anyway, you made a lot of people nervous, showing up
as
you did.  All I was supposed to do was scare you off – make you believe that you were the target and putting Paige in harm’s way.  It was supposed to get Paige alone and send you packing.”  He paused, licking his dry lips nervously. “It didn’t work out that way, did it?  Instead, you’ve stuck to her like a burr.  The scheme
’
s became so elaborate that
,
after a while
,
it didn’t matter if either one of you lived or not.”

Michael straightened,
still
aware that his movements were being observed.  His mind was whirling and when he turned back; his eyes were as cold and as lethal as a snake.  “Because Paige knew something?  That doesn’t make any sense.  What could she possibly know that is so important that someone wants her dead?”

“I don’t know!”  His manacles jangled as Richard’s hands moved desperately.  “Somewhere in that jagged mind of hers is a piece of information that someone considers very, very deadly.  And if they can’t get it. . .”  Richard spread his hands.  “Then they’ll make certain that no one else can either.  They’ll shut her up permanently.”

Michael’s face twisted in disbelief.  “Stop with the theories.  It’s a nice story, I’ll give you that, but you’re wasting my time.  I need facts, not speculation.”

With an irritable gesture
of his head
, Richard nodded toward the door. “If you want more from me, the least you can do is get me a cup of coffee.  You’ve got some weight around here, use it.”

Michael recognized bribery for what it was, although he wondered if Richard was just stalling for time.  Shrugging
,
he moved to the door, speaking softly to the man outside before returning to his spot against the wall.  “I need something more specific if you want my help.  What you’ve told me so far won’t even get you an extra blanket for your cot.”

“It’s not speculation, you fool!”  Richard burst out furiously, his hands clenched in fists.  “Why won’t you believe me?  When I say that Paige is in danger, I mean it.”

“I need a name or I can’t help you.  Or Paige,” Michael said flatly
, his eyes tracking the guard, whose head had come up at the vicious sound of Richard’s voice
.
  Calmly, Michael waited until the guard’s fingers dropped from his sidearm.  After another moment, Michael saw – with no small amount of relief – that the guard moved slightly out of his line of sight. 

I might get my time alone with him after all,
Michael thought. 
Thank the stars for an inefficient medical system.
There was movement in the hall, but he paid no attention to it as Richard, seeing that Michael’s attention had gone elsewhere, bunched his hands cursing in frustration. 
Michael raised a brow calmly.  “Names – and facts.  Not conjecture – these are lives you’re talking about, not oil prices.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, but you won’t
listen
to me!” 
Richard jangled his manacles, swearing fluently.  A knock on the door interrupted his tirade as a uniform brought in a paper cup.  Michael’s eyes narrowed.  The guard bringing in the coffee was not the same man that had been posted on the door a few moments ago.
 

Come to think of it, that fellow’s not come back into sight yet.
  “Where did the other officer go?” he asked suspiciously.

“Off duty,” came a bored reply as he reluctantly approached the manacled prisoner and allowed him to drink. Irritably, Richard moved his head aside and focused on Michael
.
  “
So help me, Sinclair, I never intended to harm either
you
or Paige.  When I first saw you with her, I’ll admit it did drive me a little crazy, but I would never harm her.
  Someone
else
is out to get her!
”

There was another knock on the door as another uniformed officer beckoned to Michael
, waiting until he stepped into the hall
.  “His lawyers are upstairs now
, sir
.  Bail’s been posted and he’s scheduled to be escorted back to your country as soon as it can be arranged.”

Biting back a curse, Michael knew that his time was running short.  When he returned to the room, his face was expressionless.  “If there was someone else involved, I wou
ld suggest that you tell me now.”

“That’s just it,
” Richard replied quietly.
“
I never discovered anything else.  Whoever is after Paige is of the highest caliber, he has the kind of clearance that allows him to completely hide his involvement with anything.  But one thing that I do know
:
someone is very interested in something hidden at Paige’s cottage.”

Feeling a sense of betrayal surrounding him, Michael lifted a brow.  “And how do I know that you’re not lying?”

“I need you too much to lie.”  Richard’s fingers were trembling in his agitation.  “The man that you almost caught the other day was mine.  I had sent him there for pictures,” Richard qualified as he jerked his hands in their restraints
.

Michael’s brow knitted.  “Pictures of what?”

Richard’s smile turned slick and oily.  “You and Paige together.  If scaring you wouldn’t work, I was going to sell, say compromising photos of the two of you.  It would have been very embarrassing.  The R
oyal Marine shagging the former-mole-turned-
scriptwriter.  The public would have eaten it up.”