Sandra Brown - Smoke Screen

“Yeah, but I hate being placed under lock and key.”

“He doesn’t want anything happening to you. Surely you can see the rationale. Believe me, I’d rather be out there covering the story as it unfolds. But more than that, I want to live. I want you to live.”

“I feel the same. But I’d like to be there when McGowan realizes the jig is up. I know this isn’t about getting revenge, but that would be a sweet moment for me.”

“You’ll have your moment.”

Shortly after, Fordyce rejoined them. “A capitol security guard will be here momentarily and drive you…Wait. How’d you get here? I don’t remember seeing a car.”

“We left it on the next block.”

“The men following you have marked it?”

“Yes, but I’ve switched the license plate a couple of times.”

The AG smiled. “Even so, it’s probably best to leave it there for the time being. The guard will drive you to the Marriott. It’s nothing fancy, but you’ll be comfortable.”

Britt laughed. “Compared to the places where we’ve been hiding out, the Marriott will seem like a palace.”

Fordyce tilted his head and divided a curious look between them. “One thing you didn’t explain. How was it the two of you got together on this?”

“Uh, Raley…contacted me.”

“I saw her press conference and was struck by the similarities of our experiences.”

In stops and starts, omitting personal references, they told him that they’d joined forces and compared notes. The more they shared, the more convinced they became that Raley’s hunches had been correct.

The brass knocker sounded smartly. Fordyce excused himself to answer the door. “Thank you for coming so soon,” he said and moved aside to let the guard step into the foyer.

“You’re welcome, sir.” He proffered his badge. “I was intercepted on my way to the capitol. That’s why I’m not in uniform.” He glanced at Raley and Britt, giving them a nod. “Sir. Ma’am.” Then back to the AG, “Is everything arranged at the hotel?”

“Yes,” Fordyce replied. “They have adjoining rooms on the top floor. Stand post outside. Don’t let anyone go in, not even a room service waiter that you haven’t cleared first.”

“I understand, sir. One of our men will also be in the lobby by the time we arrive. Another at the service entrance. More will be available if you request them.”

“Excellent.” Turning to Raley and Britt, Fordyce asked, “Can you provide descriptions of the two men who’ve been following you?”

“Yes,” Raley said. “Fairly accurate ones, I think.”

“Good. I’ll send a police sketch artist over to the hotel right away.” He shook hands with them in turn. “If you need anything, anything, call my office. If I’m not available, my secretary will accommodate you.”

“We’d like to be kept informed of what’s going on,” Raley said.

“I’ll give you periodic reports.” He reached for Raley’s hand and shook it a second time. “I wish that saying ‘I’m sorry’ was sufficient. I realize it’s not.”

“Make it up to me by getting George McGowan.”

“You can count on it.”

He motioned them toward the door where the guard was waiting. As they drew even with the foyer table, on which stood a large Chinese vase of fresh flowers, Britt grabbed the neck of the vase and swung it with all her strength at the guard’s head.

With a sharp exclamation of pain, he reeled backward.

There was an explosion of china, flowers, and water when the vase shattered on the marble floor.

She yelled, “Run!”

Raley was stunned by what she’d done, but he trusted her. Without hesitation, he bolted after her through the open front door. She leaped off the porch, hurdling a flower bed, and struck out running full tilt across the grass, her sneakers slipping on the dew. She almost went down, but he grabbed her elbow and propelled her along the sidewalk.

He risked glancing back as they rounded the corner. Neither Fordyce nor the guard was coming after them. Possibly the guard was lying unconscious on Cobb Fordyce’s floor. “The guard-”

“Was in Jay’s town house that night,” Britt panted, never breaking stride. “I recognized him instantly. I remember, Raley! I remember!”

RALEY DROVE AS FAST AS HE DARED, WANTING TO PUT DISTANCE between them and the city of Columbia. He avoided main highways and kept to back roads that he’d come to know well during his exile.

He kept one eye on the rearview mirror, but if anyone was in pursuit, he hadn’t spotted them. They weren’t being chased by a convoy of squad cars running hot, but then he hadn’t expected Fordyce to send police cars after them. More like innocuous sedans. A private posse.

“I believed that smooth-talking son of a bitch,” he said angrily as they blew through a sleepy town with only a caution light at its main intersection.

“So did I,” Britt said, “and I can usually detect when someone’s trying to bamboozle me.”

“Lying bastard.”

“He seemed so contrite when he apologized to you.”

“I’m sure he couldn’t believe his good luck. His goons have been chasing us all over kingdom come, trying to kill us, and we showed up at his house! That so-called guard was probably lying in wait somewhere near the capitol, waiting for us to arrive at eleven o’clock. We would never have made it into the building.”

“You were smart to deviate from that plan.”

“But not smart enough to see through Fordyce’s bullshit. Marriott, my ass,” he snarled. “While we were standing in the hallway, grateful that we had an ally and protection, he was calling his hired hand, alerting him to a sudden change of plan.”

“I may have killed him,” she said shakily.

“I don’t think so, but…” He gave her a glance. “But it might not be a bad idea for you to go to the police and turn yourself in. We have the videotape. We have Fordyce saying-”

“Nothing, Raley. Nothing substantive. The tape is useless. Fordyce played straight to the camera. On this video, our earnest attorney general was full of remorse and apology. We have contrition, but in no way, shape, or form did he incriminate himself in the matter of the fire, Suzi Monroe, or anything else.”

Realizing she was right, he cursed.

“He knew exactly what he was doing,” she said, “and we fell for his manipulation.”

It infuriated Raley to realize how easily they’d been duped. “If we went to the police now, making accusations, Fordyce would say that we barged into his home, armed-Aw, fuck! I left the pistol on that table.”

He berated himself for that oversight, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Besides, he doubted that he could ever actually shoot someone. But none of his enemies knew that, and he missed the false sense of security that came with having a loaded piece.

“Fordyce would say we told him a story that deserved further discussion, at the very least. But then when he summoned a guard to protect us until he could check into it, you-unprovoked-clouted the man with a vase.”

“I can’t prove that the guard killed Jay,” she said. “But I know he was there.”

“Do you remember seeing him at The Wheelhouse?”

“No. But I’m positive he was at Jay’s town house, and that he had a partner.”

“Butch? Sundance?”

“Neither. Another man.”

“So we’ve got Butch and Sundance, the guy who came to Fordyce’s rescue, and another we haven’t seen yet. Four total, working in two pairs.”

“I suppose,” she said. “I’ll be able to identify the fourth man when I see him again, because now I have a vivid mental image of him, bending over me-”