Barbara McCauley - Nightfire

Her legs shook as she moved closer to the desk, but she did not sit. “What is it?”

“Maybe nothing at all,” Oliver answered, and his frown softened. “But just to be on the safe side, I’ve ordered additional security here in the building and brought in Mr. Kane. Kane, this is my daughter, Allison. Allison, Thomas Kane.”

“Mr. Kane.”

He nodded. “Just Kane will do.”

She acknowledged him with a nod of her own, then turned her attention back to her father. She could see he was hedging, and she knew he only did that when he was worried. Really worried. “What ‘safe side’ are you talking about, Dad? What’s happened?”

Oliver sighed, then scooped up the papers on his desk and handed them to Allison. As she took them she realized they weren’t papers, but black-and-white photographs. She glanced at them quickly. They were all pictures of her and her father.

“Detective Carlos Fandino of the Seattle police department gave these to me early this morning,” he said soberly. “The police lab developed them from a roll of film found under the seat of a stolen car.”

She looked at the pictures more closely. The first few shots were of her father coming out of the pavilion. The next three were taken at a restaurant where they’d had lunch together two days earlier. Confused, she continued to move through the pile. There were more shots of her getting into her car after grocery shopping, a few more of her coming out of her apartment.

A cold chill seeped through her as she looked through the pictures. When had these been taken? And by whom? She hadn’t seen anyone with a camera or—

She froze as she came to the last picture. It was of her, obviously taken from a distance with a zoom lens. She knew exactly when and where this picture at been taken: last week, the night she’d slept at her father’s house after his birthday party. She was sitting at the dressing table in the upstairs bedroom.

And the only things she had on were a bra and panties.

Kane watched Allison as she slowly sank into the chair. Her face, flushed only moments ago from her mad dash out of the rain, turned ghostly white, giving her the appearance of a frightened porcelain doll. Her mouth opened in astonishment, and as he stared at her lips he realized they were wider and fuller than he’d noticed in his ID pictures.

She was much more beautiful in the flesh, he decided, but couldn’t quite decide why. Perhaps it was the fire that danced in her brown hair under the fluorescent lights, or maybe it was the shade of green in her eyes, a soft, almost bluish green that reminded him of delicately carved jade statues. Whatever it was, he found it disturbing.

He moved beside her, smelled the wild scent of the storm she’d brought in with her, then reached down and pulled the photographs from her white knuckles. She looked at him, her eyes wide and questioning.

“I—I don’t understand,” she said quietly. “How…Who took these?”

Kane laid the pictures on the desk, then sat on the edge, blocking her view of them. “We don’t know yet. The police are checking out what appears to be a thumbprint on the film case, but the film itself is standard and could be purchased at any one of a hundred stores in this area alone.”

She straightened and her gaze darted to her father. “Has someone threatened you?”

Oliver shook his head. “Only by taking those pictures. But we weren’t the only ones on that roll of film, Allison. There were two other people, local businessmen like myself, well known in the community. They both live on Fox Island within two or three blocks of our house, and they’re both wealthy.” His frown deepened. “And that was just one roll of film. There’s no way of knowing how many more photographs this person—or persons—has taken.”

The thought of someone following her, watching her, taking pictures…Allison tugged her skirt down over her knees. “What about the police?”

Oliver’s sigh had a strong note of exasperation. “There’s been no real threat, just some kook taking pictures. A kook we can’t even identify,” he added with annoyance.

Allison glanced at Kane, then back to her father. “Your security team is more than capable of handling perverted photographers, Dad. I don’t understand why you’ve brought in Mr. Kane.”

“It’s just a precaution, Allie.” Oliver smiled reassuringly. “I’ve got to go to Los Angeles for a few days and I’ll feel better if Kane keeps an eye on things.”

Allison knew her father well enough to know when he wasn’t being completely honest. She shifted her gaze to Kane. Something told her that if she wanted a direct answer, with no sugarcoating, this was the man to ask.

“Mr. Kane, my father has spent my entire life sheltering and protecting me. I know him well enough to recognize when he’s hiding something from me. I would appreciate it if you would tell me what it is he’s worried about.”

Kane glanced at Oliver, who sighed, then nodded. Kane looked back at Allison. “Kidnapping.”

“Kidnapping?” She shook her head in disbelief. “Celebrities or politicians I could maybe understand, but as far as money, there are lots of people here in Seattle with a great deal more than us.”

“What might be pocket change to you could look like a life’s fortune to one of these guys.” Kane picked up a Waterford paperweight on the desk and examined it. “They’ll look for an easy mark. The simple fact that you don’t think it could happen to you makes you that easy mark. In case you weren’t aware of it, kidnapping has become quite fashionable.”

Allison bristled at Kane’s patronizing tone, but she couldn’t argue with the truth of his words. Last year one of her father’s business associates had barely escaped an attempt and then six months ago the newspapers had been filled with the story of the cable-television CEO abducted at gunpoint from his car. His wife had paid the ransom and he was found the next day. Dead.

“What makes you so sure it’s a kidnapping threat?” she asked. “What about extortion, or someone’s twisted attempt at blackmail or even just some crazy that likes to take pictures?”

Impatience shifted Kane’s shoulders. “Not too many photographers steal cars to take pictures. There’s nothing incriminating about the photographs to suggest blackmail, and there’s been no contact for extortion money. If you’re betting with your lives, always take the safe bet. If there’s no kidnapping attempt, the only thing you’ve lost is money.”

She narrowed a cool gaze at him. “And that’s easily replaceable, right?”

“A hell of a lot more replaceable than that pretty little head of yours.”

A sharp response was on the tip of Allison’s tongue, but her father cut her off.

“Allison.” Oliver folded his hands in what Allison knew to be his authoritative pose. “I’m going to be away for the next few days. Kane has ordered extra security at the house and I want you to move in there until we catch this guy.”

She started to protest, but realized her father’s request was not unreasonable. Besides, she slept there quite often, anyway, and she still had her bedroom upstairs. She let out a long sigh, then nodded. “All right, Dad. If it makes you feel better.”

She saw the relief in her father’s eyes that she’d agreed, then the hesitation. “And one more thing—” he paused briefly and cleared his throat “—I’m going to have to ask you to take off a few days from the center.”

Take off a few days? Stunned, Allison stared at her father. He knew how much the center meant to her. The kids there were her life. She couldn’t give that up, not even for a few days. Not for some creep with a camera. Not for anyone.

Shaking her head, she stood and moved behind her chair. “I can’t do that, Dad. They’re shorthanded right now and one of the boys, Billy, just came back from the hospital today following ear surgery. I promised him I’d be there in the morning to check up on him.”