Secretive (18 page)

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T
HREE hours later, Zoe sat at a small table in a travel plaza off the busy road, her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee as she surveyed the parking lot where they’d left the Mercedes.

Jack, seated across from her, noticed her gaze. “They’re not coming after us.”

“I still can’t believe we weren’t stopped.” They had spent the drive in silence, both of them tense and watching the mirrors, waiting for flashing lights to appear.

“I was pretty sure Costa had paid off the local cops, too. He was able to move around so freely,” Jack said, then sipped his coffee. “Hey.” He tapped her hand, drawing her attention away from the window. “I wouldn’t have stopped if it wasn’t safe.”

Zoe stared at Jack. “No, you wouldn’t,” she said slowly. That was the thing with Jack. She knew, deep down—even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself—she knew in her core that Jack was trying to keep her safe. The same certainly couldn’t be said for Sam.

“What’s wrong?” Jack set his cup down. “You feeling okay?”

“Just having to deal with some monumental lapses in judgment. I can’t believe Sam deceived me. And, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he’s dead.” Zoe leaned forward and whispered, “
Dead
. That man just shot him, didn’t even flinch. I know Sam did some terrible things—”

“Like killing Bent and setting his office on fire, not to mention he was going to kill us, too. There’s no halfway with these people. They’re all-in and they’ll do whatever it takes to protect themselves. That’s why I didn’t contact you directly during the summer.”

Zoe nodded. “I understand that now.” She traced the rim of her cup with her finger. “That car crash...do you think they’ll find him?”

“Costa?” Jack asked. “I’m sure they’ll dredge the lake and pull out the car. There’s no way he survived the impact.” They sat in silence for a few moments then Jack said, “The laptop is gone, too. Even if they find it, the chances of it being intact and anyone being able to recover information from it...less than zero. And that’s not even considering the fact that if it were found, we’d have to convince someone to try and recover the data.”

“Too bad we can’t just access the draft emails,” Zoe said. “They’re out there in cyberspace.”

“Somewhere,” Jack said. “But we don’t know where to look.” Jack pushed his empty cup away and shook his head. “No, Bent was too smart to write down his password info and even if he did, his office burned.”

“But won’t the police realize Bent, Sam, and Costa are linked and investigate? Track down his emails?”

“I don’t think the police will be anxious to broadcast that they were using a ‘cyber crime expert’ who was also perpetrating cyber crime himself. And if the overcoat guy is any indication of the type of investigators on the case...well, let’s just say I’m not holding out hope that they’ll find anything.”

Zoe sipped her coffee, then sat up straight. “What about Costa, then?”

“What?”

“Well, maybe Bent was too savvy to write down his passwords, but Costa wasn’t a computer geek.” Zoe plunged her hands into her pockets and felt the stiff paper. She pulled it out, a smile breaking across her face. “Maybe Costa was just like the majority of people, who write down their passwords and keep them close to their computer.”

“What is that?” Jack asked in a cautious voice.

“I found it on the floor after you took out Sam. I think it was on the desk, under the blotter, and I tossed it when I was throwing everything I could find. I noticed it, but then we heard the blue car, and I stuffed it into my pocket and forgot all about it until now. Look at these,” she said, her voice bubbling with excitement as she scanned the short list of numbers and letters. “This line, [email protected]. That’s their initials. Victor Costa to Dave Bent. That’s probably the user ID and the word beside it, Evergreen, is probably the password.” Zoe sat back, relieved. “We didn’t lose the draft emails after all.”

Jack rubbed his hand over her jaw as he looked at the card. “I think you’re right.”

“Then why don’t you look happier?”

“Because I need to tell you something, and I know you’re not going to like it.”

“You’re scaring me.”

“It’s nothing bad. At least, once you get over one minor point, it won’t be. Besides, you like surprises.”

“I do,” Zoe said, cautiously.

He picked up a plastic knife from the table, propped one foot on top of his knee and then applied the blade of the knife to the grooves on the sole of the hiking boot. He wiggled the knife around, and a section of the sole popped out. He pulled out a small, oblong bundle of plastic that was wedged into the hole. He handed the piece of plastic to her. “I know how you feel about secrets, but this couldn’t be helped. Too much commotion to tell you about it at the time. And, I want it on the record that I told you about it as soon as it was safe.”

She unwrapped the plastic. “This is a flash drive.” Zoe’s eyebrows were drawn down in a frown. “It’s not
the
flash drive....is it?”

He nodded.

“But the other one...the orange one?”

“Decoy. I thought it would be good to have two. This one is the real one, the one with the evidence about Costa.”

“And the other one? What’s on it?”

“Gibberish. Coded, of course, so that it would take them a while to figure it out. And a few pictures of cats for good measure.”

“Do you know what this means?” Zoe fell back against her chair. “It means we can prove neither you nor I were involved in the scam or hiding the money. We’re in the clear.”

“In the clear,” he said, slowly as if testing the words out.

“Yeah.” Zoe nodded. “You know what else it means?” Zoe didn’t wait for an answer. “It means I can teach you to climb properly.”

He waved his hand. “Oh, no. I’ve had enough climbing to last me a lifetime, thank you very much.”

“Come on. It’ll be easy. This time you’ll have a harness.”

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S
UNRISE lit the white-tipped mountaintops that surrounded Geneva as Jack and Zoe entered the airport.

“You didn’t have to walk me in,” Zoe said.

“Yes, I did.”

“Mort will meet me when the plane lands in Newark, and I’ll hand the flash drive over to him. It will all be fine. I know you feel skittish about coming back, but I don’t see why you won’t come with me now instead of waiting.”

“Because I don’t have quite the same faith in the FBI that you do. I rather like the idea of making sure there are no handcuffs in my future before I get on an airplane.”

“Fine,” Zoe said. They’d already gone around and around on the topic during the drive to the airport, and Zoe could tell she wasn’t going to change his mind. “Where will you go while you wait?”

“I’m not telling you anything. I’ll stay out of sight until I hear from you,” he said, raising a hand that held a cheap cell phone. Zoe patted her pocket, which contained the twin to his phone.

They’d done a bit of shopping with their dwindling supply of cash before they reached the airport. First, they’d found an Internet café and emailed a copy of the draft emails to Mort, then Zoe had broken out her last credit card that wasn’t maxed out, and paid the change fee so that she could fly from Geneva to Dallas. There was no point in staying off the grid once she’d sent the email to Mort.

“You better not lose that phone,” Zoe said.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“I mean it. If you disappear, I’ll find you. I’ve done it twice now. I can do it again.”

The skin around Jack’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “I don’t doubt it for a minute.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

“Good.” Zoe blew out a breath and checked the monitors. She needed to get going. “Right. Okay. Well, this is it.”

Jack’s arm encircled her. “No, this isn’t it.” He kissed her quickly on the lips. “Once all this mess around Costa gets cleared up, there’s a few things we need to sort out. Things just between you and me,” he said then pulled away.

She gripped his coat and drew him back to her. “Is that a promise or a challenge?” she whispered, teasing his lips with hers.

“Consider it a bit of both.” He managed to get the words out before his lips came down on hers.

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One week later

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S
ATO placed an envelope on the corner of Mort’s desk.

“What’s this?” Mort asked, eyeing it over the frame of his half glasses.

Sato propped himself up on a nearby desk and sipped from his tall Starbucks to-go cup. “Retirement present.”

Mort frowned then opened the envelope gingerly. He pulled out a license plate frame and snorted as he read the lettering around the edge: “I’m retired. Go around me.”

“Not nearly as bad as I thought it might be,” Mort said. “Thanks.”

Sato raised his cup in acknowledgement. “Don’t worry, that’s just the first of many. Your party is next week. I’m sure the presents will get worse.” He looked toward the open file on Mort’s desk. “Jack Andrews case?” At Mort’s nod, Sato asked, “Will it be wrapped up before you leave?”

“Almost. Once he finishes answering the Brit’s questions, Andrews will be able to come back. No charges pending.”

“So the ex-wife’s story checked out?”

Mort took off his glasses and rolled his chair away from his desk an inch. “Amazingly, yes.”

“The emails in the draft folder were legit?”

Mort nodded. “Yep. Costa planned the whole shebang from the get-go. Hooked Jack Andrews and drew him in, then set him up to be the patsy.”

Sato made a clicking sound. “Slick. And the money?”

“The tech guys are sorting through Costa’s accounts. He had Bent juggling his money through multiple accounts around the world. It will take a while, but they’ll find it.”

“Probably not before you go.”

“Doubtful. But everything else checks out. Several of Zoe Hunter’s neighbors remember a white van parked on the street for several days. One person even called in and reported it as suspicious, so we have a plate. It’s registered to Wade Selinger of Muskogee, Illinois, who has apparently skipped town. Moved out of his apartment during the night. We ran down his family in Cleveland, but they haven’t heard from him. I’m sure we’ll get him someday.”

Mort closed the file and tossed his glasses on top of it. “Her car did have a tracker on it, and once the computer guys actually get their hands on her computer from the British, it will probably have one as well. Find anything on Sam Clark?”

Sato reached over to his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Small time musician from Bakersfield. He did have a store that sold used musical instruments, which was suspected of being involved in money laundering for Costa. The cops over there were never able to charge him. From what we can piece together with the phone records and the emails between Costa and Sam Clark, Costa offered to underwrite him, set him up in business in Dallas with the understanding that he’d stay close to Zoe Hunter and keep an eye out in case Jack showed up.”

Sato handed the sheet of paper to Mort, who took it, but pointed back at Sato with it, “You called that one, that he wasn’t dead.”

Sato shook his head. “Just a feeling.”

“You got a feeling about this Anna Whitmore? Where she might be?”

Sato shook his head. “Nothing yet.”

“Guess I have to leave that part with you. Let me know what happens.”

“Sure. I’ll come play checkers with you and give you an update. I figure you’ll be going crazy in two weeks.”

“You’ll have a long trip. In two weeks, I’ll be in the middle of the Caribbean. Kathy’s booked us on a cruise.”

“You almost sound like you’re looking forward to it.”

“This retirement idea sounds better and better every day.”

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A
NNA studied the mountain valley from the window, squinting against the glare of the sunlight on the snow. The tube with the painting jostled against her leg with the movement of the train. Now that she was sure she’d gotten away clean, her next step was to find a place to store the painting. Then she could seek out buyers, but there was no rush. She had all the time in the world. No one would ever come after her.

She opened the letter from Costa’s printer, read over it again. The instructions were detailed and convoluted, as all of Costa’s plans were, but it all boiled down to a simple result. Costa instructed Bent to move the GRS money to a new account, using a digital trail that could be followed. He was to cover his tracks, of course—he couldn’t make it too easy—but he wasn’t to cover them too well. Costa wanted the digital money trail to be discovered.

She smiled at the thought of some analyst in a dreary cubical in the States following the money from one bank account to another, finally running it down to a single, empty account with the name Zoe Hunter on it. How nice that the account would show Zoe had used the money to purchase an expensive painting from a shady Paris art dealer.

Anna refolded the letter and relaxed into her seat, debating where she’d settle down. The south of France was nice...but she’d always wanted to see Capri.

in fall 2013

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On the Run series

(suspense)

Elusive

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Ellie Avery series

(cozy mystery)

Moving is Murder

Staying Home is a Killer

Getting Away is Deadly

Magnolias, Moonlight, and Murder

Mint Juleps, Mayhem, and Murder

Mimosas, Mischief, and Murder

Mistletoe, Merriment, and Murder

Thanks for reading
Secretive
! This is my second outing with Zoe and Jack, and this adventure was as much fun to write as their first one. I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d take a moment to rate or review
Secretive
on-line, I’d appreciate it.

You can check out pictures that inspired me as well as photos from my trip to Germany at the
Secretive
board
on Pinterest. You can find out more about me and my books at my website,
www.SaraRosett.com
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