“Well, yesterday morning, officially.”

While Rudkowski had been licking his wounds and swilling cheap scotch, midnight had slipped past him. “Okay. Yesterday morning. Did he say where he was calling from?”

“Well, no, sir, but he can’t on account of him being—”

“Undercover.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why was he calling you?”

“Same as before. The Marian Harris case.”

“Specifically?”

“He asked if a Talia Shafer had been questioned during the investigation into Harris’s disappearance.”

Rudkowski rolled over and picked up the notepad and pen on the nightstand. “Spell the names, please. And who is she?”

The deputy gave him the spellings. “She was in the photograph of the party scene on the boat.”

“So were dozens of other people. What was Easton’s particular interest in her?”

“He couldn’t disclose that, because it’s—”

“Classified.”

“Yes, sir. I thought you would know what his interest was.”

What he didn’t know about Easton’s recent activities would fill the fucking Superdome. “Was this Talia Shafer considered a person of interest in the Harris case?”

“No, sir. Agent Easton asked if there were any notes taken during her interview, but it was just basic stuff. Date and time. Names of the officers who talked to her. Nothing came of it, nothing to follow up on. Agent Easton thanked me for checking, and that was it.”

Rudkowski figured that he’d had too much to drink. He was having trouble connecting the dots. “So, if that was it, why are you trying to reach Easton now?”

“Because about an hour ago, our department got a call from Charleston PD.”

“South Carolina?”

“Right.”

Rudkowski listened with shrinking patience as the deputy related what he knew about the death of an Elaine Conner.

“They haven’t ruled out that it was an accident, but they’re leaning toward foul play. A man was with her on the yacht. He’s unaccounted for. Anyhow, one of the investigators up there remembered reading about our case down here and was struck by the similarities.”

“Rich lady. Snazzy boat.”

“Yes, sir. So they called our department to compare notes. I thought Agent Easton would want to look into this Charleston case, too.”

“I’m sure he will. I’ll tell him—”

“Especially since Talia Shafer is from there.”

Rudkowski froze in the process of raising his glass to his mouth. “Say again, deputy.”

“Talia Shafer lives in Charleston. At least she did. I’m not sure Agent Easton knows that. This incident in Charleston occurred only a few hours after he called me, asking about her. It’s a crazy coincidence.”

“Not so crazy,” Rudkowski said, speaking too softly for Gray to hear.

“I figured he would want to know about this new case, if he doesn’t already. Since I can’t reach him, will you see to it that he gets the message?”

Rudkowski clicked off the TV and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “You can count on it, Deputy Gray. In fact, I’m going to deliver it personally.”

Chapter 22

Talia was immobilized by Drex’s stare as two men eddied around him into the kitchen and introduced themselves to the detectives. Drex walked toward her, crowding into her personal space before he stopped. “Surprise.”

“You’re FBI?”

“The writing thing wasn’t working out.”

A cavalcade of recollections flashed through her mind. Her involuntary reactions to his deceptive charm, her nervous retreat from his apartment, her anguish over what had taken place in the garage of the medical building, the ambiguities she’d wrestled with, the times she had defended him against Jasper’s reservations. All that crystalized into hatred.

Softly but emphatically, she said, “Go straight to hell.”

“You tried that already.” He spread his arms. “I’m still here, and you’re up shit creek.”

He held for a beat, then turned away from her and shook hands with Locke and Menundez. “I apologize for crashing your party, but I believe you’ll welcome our intrusion. We can shed a lot of light on your investigation. Excuse me, Mike.”

He nudged the enormous man aside and knelt down to reach beneath the cabinet. When he straightened up, he held out his hand to show the detectives the object in his palm.

“What is that?” Talia asked.

Drex turned to her. “Commonly called a bug. I’ve been using it to eavesdrop on you and Jasper.”

“You bugged our home?”

“You say that like you didn’t know it was there.”

“I didn’t! Isn’t that illegal?”

She asked the group at large, but it was Drex who said, “It’s not as illegal as kidnaping, conspiracy to commit murder, and murder, which is what you and Jasper stand to be indicted for, so if I were you, I wouldn’t split hairs on legalities.”

He wasn’t teasing. He wasn’t baiting her as he’d done in Elaine’s living room. This wasn’t playacting. He was serious, and the import of what he had alleged stole her breath. “What are you talking about?”

“We’ll get to it. First, meet Agent Mike Mallory, who put me on to you and Jasper.”

“A pleasure.”

His response was so droll, Talia couldn’t tell if it applied to the introduction or to the service he’d performed for Drex.

Drex pointed to the other man. “Agent Gif Lewis. He—”

“You’re the man from the coffee shop,” she said. “I remember you.”

“That’s a first,” the heavy man said under his breath.

Gif Lewis acknowledged her with a polite nod. “Mrs. Ford.”

Feeling stung and betrayed, she said, “But you seemed so nice. I truly believed you were trying to help.”

“I was. Drex was coming on a little strong.”

“He does that.” She shifted her gaze to Drex, wondering if his fellow agents knew how strongly he had come on to her in the parking garage. He was still watching her with cool contempt, as though she were responsible for his actions, for the kiss. He didn’t look away from her until Locke addressed him.

“You said you could shed light?”

Drex seemed to shake off whatever else he was thinking and got down to the matter at hand. “Has anybody checked Elaine Conner’s financial portfolio, her bank accounts?”

“It was on another team’s to-do list,” Menundez said.

“Let me tell you what they’ll find.” Drex formed an O with his fingers and thumb. “Zero. Zilch. He cleans them out. He kills them. He vanishes.”

“You can’t mean Jasper.”

Drex ignored Talia’s outcry and said to his cohorts, “Take these gentlemen into the living area and start briefing them. We’ll be there in a minute.”

Locke looked uncertain about leaving her alone with Drex, but Menundez fell into step behind Drex’s men. Locke followed. She waited until they were out of earshot before she launched into Drex. “You’ve been spying on us?”