Falling Awake(38)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

Isabel thought about that, too. Then she picked up her fork and attacked her partially eaten salad with sudden enthusiasm.

“Too late,” she said. “There’s no going back.”

17

hardy’s death was no accident.” Ellis lounged against the railing of the inn room’s small balcony and watched the play of sunlight on the bay. “I’m almost certain.”

Lawson pondered briefly on the other end of the phone connection. “Almost certain?”

“I don’t have any proof. But if we’re talking coincidence here, it’s a big one. What are the odds that he would get killed by a hit-and-run driver less than half an hour after he talked to Isabel?”

“Long, I’ll grant you that much. Still, you said the guy was drunk, it was raining and the road was poorly lit.”

“All true. But the timing stinks.”

“I’m not going to argue with you on that point.” Lawson fell silent for a couple of seconds. “You said Hardy owed money in Vegas?”

“Yes. But this isn’t the way those folks usually do things.”

“True. Not good business. Can’t collect if the guy is dead. But some people might feel there’s value in making a point to other folks who owe money.”

“Then they would have done something a little flashier. A hit-and-run on a lonely road late at night isn’t going to get a lot of attention outside the town where it happened.”

“All right, for the sake of keeping this conversation going for another five minutes, let’s say that Hardy was murdered. What’s your best guess?”

“Unknown Client Number Three,” Ellis said.

“You’re sure there was a third client?”

“That’s what Hardy told Isabel. No reason for him to make up something like that.”

“And this Number Three maintained the same level of secrecy that you and I had?”

“According to Hardy, the e-mail address was deeply encrypted.”

“The old man never said a word about a third client,” Lawson muttered. “And here I thought Belvedere and I were pals. Must have worked together for damn near twenty years. Hard to believe he was holding out on me.”

“You know as well as I do that all Martin Belvedere cared about was funding his research. If he kept silent about Client Number Three, it was probably because someone paid him enough to make it worth his while.”

“Shit. Another agency. Has to be. No one else would have that kind of money to throw around.”

“I thought I was supposed to be the one who leaped to conclusions,” Ellis said.

“The difference between my conclusions and yours is that I’ve got several decades’ worth of experience surviving in a government job to back me up. This is a cutthroat world. Everyone knows how hard it’s been to make the CIA and the FBI talk to each other and neither will talk to local law enforcement. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to interagency communication problems. There’s a lot of money and power at stake.”

He’d heard all this before, Ellis thought. When Lawson got started on this particular rant it was very hard to stop him.

“Uh, Lawson, maybe we should—”

“I’m telling you, in my time I’ve seen government agencies spend more money and manpower trying to destroy a rival agency than they did on whatever project they were mandated to complete. Trust me, whoever he is, if he had enough money to buy Belvedere’s silence and cooperation, he’s got a taxpayer-based budget.”

“Are you finished?” Ellis asked.

“I need to find out the identity of that third client,” Lawson ground out. “He’s out to get me. I can feel it.”

There it was, Ellis thought suddenly, the opening he’d been waiting for.

“Sure, no problem,” he said smoothly. “It so happens that I’m available for another contract. Standard rate. Deal?”

Lawson swore again and then heaved a resigned sigh. “Don’t look now, but your mercenary side is showing.”

“It’s the side that pays for the good clothes and the nice car. Hell, what do you care how much I cost? Not like it’s your money.”

“You’re a little too eager for this assignment,” Lawson said, suspicious.

“I’m the best you’ve got available and you know it. I’m in place, I’ve got the background and I’m good.”

“Don’t try to con me, Cutler. I’ve worked in government a lot longer than you have. I know more about conning people than you’ll ever learn.”

“You want me to take this assignment or not?”

“I know where you’re going with this and I don’t like it.”

“Yeah?”

“Two words. Vincent Scargill. Listen to me, Ellis, you’re letting your crazy obsession with that bastard color everything you do. You won’t be able to think, let alone dream clearly, if you don’t step back from it.”

“I’m not one of your agents anymore, Lawson. I don’t take orders from you.”

Lawson groaned. “What the hell was I thinking, sending you after Isabel Wright?”

“You were thinking that you could use her to distract me from looking for Vincent Scargill,” Ellis said. “And it worked, at least for a while. But not any longer.”

There was a short pause.

“How did she do when you two talked to the cops last night?” Lawson asked.

“Relax, you’ve got nothing to worry about. She acted like a real pro. Answered all the questions truthfully but she didn’t give up anything that would have complicated your life.”

“Glad to hear that,” Lawson said, sounding genuinely relieved. “I was afraid I might have to do some damage control this morning.”

“No.”

“Well, that’s one bit of good news, at least.”

“That’s one of the things I admire most about you, Lawson. You really know how to do the glass-half-full thing.” Ellis straightened away from the railing. “Don’t worry, I’ll find out who that third client is for you.”

“Listen up, Cutler. You can have the assignment. Hell, you’re going to go looking for Number Three, anyway. But you’re supposed to be a professional. Don’t go doing anything stupid that will end up bringing down Frey-Salter. You need this place as much as all the other Level Fives need it.”

“I’m aware of that.”