Betrayal in Death

The fourth was to be acted on only at his discretion. If he saw his way clear to assassinating Roarke himself within two months after the initial contract was fulfilled, he would receive a lovely bonus of twenty-five million dollars.

Such a pretty retirement nest, Yost thought.

He had no doubt he would see his way clear, quite clear.

It would be the most brilliant act of his career. And one he looked forward to with relish.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Eve methodically picked her way through the first reel of red tape to access personal data on Justice Thomas Werner. According to official data, Werner had suffered a fatal heart attack and died at his home in an exclusive suburb of East Washington.

It had taken a little time to identify the judge from the scanty data she'd been given, but she'd run through the archives of the screen news bulletins for the previous winter and had finally hit on Werner's death.

Now, it was a matter of winding her way around and through the Privacy Act that shielded a man of Werner's standing from curiosity seekers. And, even with proper identification, hampered an official inquiry.

"You stupid son of a bitch," she muttered. "I'm a cop. You've got my badge number, my case file code, my voice print. What do you want now, blood?"

"Problem, Lieutenant?"

She didn't bother to glance over at Roarke's question. "East Washington bureaucracy bullshit. It wants me to submit my request again during working hours. Well, I'm working, aren't I?"

"Perhaps I could – "

She snarled at him, hunched protectively over her unit. "You just want to show off."

"Would I be that small?"

"To cut me down on this, you'd shrink to microscopic."

"Just to show how big I really am, I'm going to overlook that insult. Why don't you take a look at the purchase list I've printed out for you, and I'll see if I can unravel some of your red tape."

Your request, the computer a

warning!!! any attempts made to access records without proper request, proper identification and verification of same is a federal violation and will result in arrest, a fine no less than five thousand u.s. dollars, and possible imprisonment.

"Not very friendly, is it?" Roarke murmured.

She said nothing, merely pushed to her feet, stalked around the desk, and picked up the hard copy he'd brought with him. Deliberately, she took it with her to the kitchen on the pretext of getting coffee when he took her place.

Damned if she'd watch how easily he cut through the tape.

She stood, sca

It fits Yost's style, she thought. Another little shopping spree. New briefcase, new shoes – six pairs – new wallet, four leather belts, several pairs of socks – silk or cashmere. He'd ordered two shirts, tailored to his measurements, from the fancy shop Roarke had identified from the Talbot disc.

In only two stores, two stops, he'd dropped over thirty thousand Euro dollars.

Roarke had added the data from the jeweler in London. The New York clerk's cooperative cousin had confirmed that Yost had purchased, for cash, two two-foot lengths of silver wire.

No backup tool, she thought. That was his arrogance again. He was confident in his skill.

And according to the best estimate on time of death of the smugglers in Cornwall, he'd done his shopping two days, three at most, before he'd headed north and killed two people.

He'd had to get north, she thought. Did he keep a car in London? A house? Did he stay at some swank hotel, then rent transpo, take the train, fly?

Since it was a good bet he hadn't walked, she might be able to track his movements.

"Question," Eve said as she stepped back into her office. "Do you have a house in London?"

"Yes, though I rarely use it. I generally prefer my suite at The New Savoy. The service is impeccable."

"Got a car there?"

"Two. Garaged."

"How long a drive to Cornwall?"

"I've never done it, so I'd have to check." He spared her a glance now, turning in the chair and looking, she thought, entirely too comfortable at her work station. "If I were going that far north, I'd likely save time and take the jet-copter from one of my offices. Unless I was in the mood to see the countryside."

"If you wanted to keep a low profile?"

"I'd probably rent a discreet, well-built vehicle."

"That's what I think, because if you took the train or an air shuttle, you'd have to arrange for transpo on the other end. That adds an u

"I like to think so."

"Yours?"

"Mmmm. Do you want to see this data?"

"Are we going to be arrested, fined, and imprisoned?"

"We can insist on adjoining cells."

"Gee, that's real fu

"Accessing private hospital records." He clucked his tongue. And since it was there, he turned his head a fraction to nip her jaw. "I'm quite sure there's a law against it."

"If it's good enough for the feds, it's good enough for me. Dig them out."

"I love when you say that." He simply executed one keystroke, and had the files he'd already accessed popping on-screen.

"You did that before I told you to."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I merely followed the orders of the primary investigator, in my capacity as expert consultant, civilian. But if you feel you must discipline me – "

She leaned over just a little more, and bit his ear.

"Oh, thank you, Lieutenant."

She stifled the laugh, but stayed where she was. "Broken nose, fractured jaw, separated eye socket, four broken ribs, two broken fingers. Subdural this and hemorrhaging that. A lot of damage for a bad heart."

"Sodomized as well."

"But alive through it. Cause of death's the strangulation. The feds fed me straight on this. While we're in here, let's see if they brought the girl in for exam and treatment. Look on this date, same time frame, for a female, under eighteen. Probably examined for sexual molestation, for shock. Maybe minor bruises and lacerations, possible illegals consumption."

He set the scan, then picked up her coffee. "What does finding her matter? You know who killed Werner."

"It ties an end. And there's a possibility she helped set him up for the hit."

"There she is," Roarke murmured when the data popped. "Mollie Newman, female, age sixteen. You hit it down the line, even to the traces of Exotica and Zoner in her system."

"She's the only one we know of who's seen Yost on the job, and lived."

Zoner, she thought. That wouldn't have come from Werner. Why screw around with a kid who's zoned? That would have been Yost's addition to the mix.

"I want to find Mollie. She should have parents or guardians listed here… Freda Newman, mother. We'll run her, see what we get."