Standing in the Shadows (46 page)

So he stood like a statue in the middle of the apartment while the cat crunched its snack, and let her messages flow by him.

Click, whirr. "Hello, Ms. Riggs, this is Tamara Julian from the Quicksilver Foundation. It's four on Monday afternoon, and I want to schedule a meeting with Mr. Mueller, who is arriving midday tomorrow. Call me as soon as possible, please. We have a narrow window of time in which to arrange this. Please call my mobile phone number." Tamara recited the number.

Click, whirr. "Hello, Erin, this is Lydia. My goodness, you have been playing with the big kids on the block, haven't you? I just talked with the people from Quicksilver, and they told me about your work on Mr. Mueller's Celtic collection and their plans for the Huppert. I'm so excited! Rachel and Fred and Wilhelm and I have called an emergency lunch meeting, and you must be there to help us strategize! And Erin, I do hope you won't hold what happened a few months ago against us. I had no choice in the matter, as you know. It was the board who insisted on your dismissal, not the four of us. We have nothing but admiration for your skill and your determination. Call me, Erin, right away. At home tonight, if you like. Any hour is fine, even if it's late. I'm sure I won't sleep a wink tonight. Buh-bye!"

"Two-faced bitch," Connor muttered. "Get stuffed." Click, whirr. "Ms. Riggs, this is Tamara Julian again. It's seven on Monday evening. Call us, please." Click, whirr. "Ms. Riggs, this is Nigel Dobbs, hoping against hope to get in touch with you. You have the number." Click, whirr. "Erin, this is Nick Ward. I need to talk to you right away."

Cold ran through his body as he listened to Nick recite his phone number. His euphoria vanished. He looked around the room, the bed still in disarray, yesterday's breakfast dishes still on the table. His stomach clenched like a fist. He shouldn't have left her alone. He didn't want Nick to talk to her. Nothing Nick might say could possibly be to Connor's advantage. All Nick would do was create confusion.

He pulled out the cell phone and dialed the Riggs house. It was busy. He tried again once he got back out to the car. Still busy. Prickles crawled up his back. He dialed Sean, who picked up on the first ring.

"Something weird is going on," Connor said. "I'll say." Sean's voice was tense, devoid of its usual ironic tone. "Miles and I are about a mile from Billy's house, and—"

"What the hell are you doing at Billy's house?"

"Davy's had X-Ray Specs running on his computer since the last time we were hunting Novak, Con. He just keyed in the beacon he planted in Billy's cigarettes last night. The house is in Bellevue."

"You knew damn well I wanted to be there when we—"

"You're too late, Con." Sean's voice was strangely heavy. "Nobody's going to be questioning Billy."

Unease prickled over Connor's skin. "What do you mean?"

"He's dead," Sean said bluntly. "I talked to a lady who lives down the block. She heard the screaming around six a.m. The place is seething with cops. Guess what else?
Surprise, surprise. Nick's there."

"Oh, Christ," Connor muttered.

"Yeah. I saw him talking to that scrawny blond chick. Tasha."

"Did he see you?" Connor asked.

"I don't think so," Sean said wearily. "We got the hell out of there, lickety-split. I didn't know Billy rated the attention of the Feds. I thought he was a strictly small-time rodent."

They both pondered for a moment.

"This sucks," Sean said forcefully. "I was having fun until now."

"They're going to be knocking on our door," Connor said. "Tasha's fingered us for sure. And Nick's already called Erin."

Sean made a frustrated sound. "Probably this has nothing to do with Novak. Billy's lovely manners just earned him some enemies and last night one of them caught up with him. I can see it. It's credible."

"Sure, maybe," Connor said. "And maybe someone didn't want us or anybody else to talk to Billy. Maybe someone wants us distracted by finding out that we're suspects in a homicide investigation."

"Stop it, Con," Sean said sourly. "You're trying to make me into a conspiracy theorist, and I don't want to go there. It's not my scene."

"You think I'm doing this for fun?" Connor snarled. "Get out of here, Sean. Take Miles, and go back to Endicott Falls."

"Yeah, like I'd leave my big brother alone with all this weirdness."

"Goddammit, Sean—"

"Talk to you later. I'm calling Davy." The connection broke.

He tried to call Erin again, but the line was still busy.

The cold weight of dread built inside him, swelling into panic.

Erin was dismayed by the messages on her machine. She paced back and forth next to the phone table, trying to sort out her thoughts. She didn't want to talk to Nick, that was for sure. She didn't want to talk to Lydia, either. And she really didn't want to confront the whole Mueller issue with Connor as nervous and overprotective as he currently was. The timing was just awful.

But this was the day. She had to have it out with him and be strong, no matter how upset he got. Her professional future depended on it. Anyone could see it. Connor was just going to have to see it, too.

She picked up the phone to dial Connor's cell number. It rang in her hand, and she was so startled, she almost dropped the thing.

She clicked the line open. "Hello?" she said cautiously.

"Hey, this is Erin, right? It's Nick. I'm glad I caught you. Is Connor there?"

"No," she said. "Call his cell phone if you want to talk to—"

"No, Erin. I don't want to talk to Connor. I want to talk to you."

Her knees wobbled in trepidation, and she sat down hard on the stairs, jolting her tailbone. "What about?"

"You were with him last night at the Alley Cat, right? When he and his brother pounded Billy Vega to a pulp?"

"No, Nick, I was there when he and his brother were surrounded by nine big guys who all proceeded to attack them at once, and who got exactly what they deserved. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not interested in the nine guys, Erin. I'm interested in Connor's interest in Billy Vega."

"That guy hurt my little sister, Nick. He hit her, and terrorized her, and God only knows what else. So don't ask me to feel sorry for—"

"Billy Vega is dead, Erin."

She froze, mouth agape. "Dead?"

"According to Tasha Needham, it happened a little before six a.m. Tasha took Billy to the emergency room, where they set his wrist. Then Tasha and Billy took a cab to his rental house, where they proceeded to get very stoned. Sometime in the early morning, the assailant entered the house and beat Billy to death with a blunt object. Tasha was vomiting in the bathroom at the time, which probably saved her life. But she told us all about the ninja monsters who kidnapped Cindy Riggs and beat up Billy earlier that evening. It wasn't much of a leap."

"My God," she whispered. "That's… that's so awful."

Nick waited a moment. "Was Connor with you last night?"

"Yes," she said, still dazed.

Then, like a splash of ice water, the implications of Nick's question hit her. "Nick, for God's sake. You can't be suggesting that—"

"For the whole night?"

She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water, and burst out, "Yes! Yes, of course he was!"

But her hesitation had betrayed her. Nick cursed softly into the phone. "This is getting ugly, Erin. I don't want you mixed up in it."

"But Connor would never—"

"You saw what he did to Georg Luksch," Nick said. "Connor is my friend, but he's wound up too tight, and he's finally snapped. This fantasy he's got, about Novak and Luksch gunning for you—"

"What do you mean, fantasy?" she demanded. "Are you saying that it's not true that they broke out of prison? He's just trying to protect me! He feels responsible because Dad's not around to do it."

Nick hesitated for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was gentle. "Erin. There's no one to protect you from. Novak's dead."

She struggled to comprehend. The information didn't fit.

It rattled senselessly around in her mind, making noise. "When?" she whispered.

"Yesterday, in France. A
mafiya
hit. Territory war, they think. Rival crime lords. A building got blown up. Novak was inside. Dental records confirm it. The charred skeleton was missing three fingers on its right hand. They're working on the DNA, but they're sure."

Her mind whirled. "So Connor doesn't know?"

"I haven't told him yet, no, but he knew that Novak was back in France. Luksch, too. The police have been moving in on them for days. I told Connor, but he didn't share those details with you, did he?"

She started shivering.

"No," Nick said. "Of course not. It didn't fit his fantasy. He wanted to rescue you, so he created a bad guy to save you from. He sucked you in. I know this hurts, and I know you care about him, but you've got to be strong. You've got to drag yourself out of this dream world of his. You've got enough to cope with already. I'm really sorry, Erin."

She shook her head. "No," she whispered.

Not the man who was so in love with her that he blushed and stammered when she teased him at the breakfast table. Who had rescued her sister, and woken her mother from the ugly dream she'd been trapped in. Not the man who had made such sweet, passionate love to her all night long. Not her Connor. It was not possible.

The vortex was sucking at her, and this time there was no one to grab onto. No hero to rescue her.

"Erin? Erin!" Nick sounded as if he had repeated her name several times. "Are you there? Erin, I need to find him. If you know—"

"No." The word flew out of her mouth, flat and absolute. "I have no idea where he is, Nick. Not the faintest clue."

"It's for his own protection, Erin. We've got to stop this thing before it spins out of control. I swear, I'm on his side—"

"No. I won't do it."

"Goddamn it, Erin! If you really cared about him—"

"Fuck you. No," she hissed. She slammed the phone down. It started ringing seconds later. She wrenched the phone jack out of the wall and doubled over, gasping. Everything was spinning, going black.

Connor had made her feel so whole, so strong. Like she could bless the whole world with her happiness, just touch it and turn it to gold. For the first time, she had lost her fear of the vortex. Of chaos.

And Nick was telling her that her joy was rotten at the core.

"Erin? Honey? Are you OK?"

She looked up at her mother, who was gazing at her with anxious eyes, and pasted on the best smile she could. "Sure, Mom."

"Who was that on the phone?"

She hid the hand that was clutching the phone jack against her leg. "I was just talking to, ah, Lydia," she said.

"Lydia?" Barbara frowned. "From the museum? That cast-iron bitch who fired you?"

She nodded. "Mueller offered the museum a huge donation, but one of the conditions is that they take me back," she explained. She tried to sound excited about it, but her mother wasn't stupid.

Barbara sniffed. "Well, I think you should spit in their faces," she said. "The nerve! When it suits them, they snap their fingers and expect you to trot right back? I think not!"

"You have a point," Erin said. "But I think I'll go to that meeting today anyway, and see what it's all about. I can always spit in their faces after I see the terms they offer me."

"That's my smart, careful, thoughtful girl," her mother said. "Always hedging her bets, trying to do the right thing."

"Not always," she burst out. "Not always."

"I take it you're referring to Connor," Barbara said. "I must say, he's growing on me. He can be extremely rude, and his background leaves something to be desired, but I did like those brothers of his. Even if all three of those McClouds strike me as, well… kind of out there. But they got Cindy back. That won them lots of points. And it's plain to see that Connor's crazy about you, sweetheart."

She flinched at her mother's choice of words. "I know."

"And any man with the nerve to sneak into my house and seduce my daughter under my nose after what he saw me do to Billy Vega's car… well. All I can say is, he must be made of very stern stuff."

Erin's face flamed. "He didn't seduce me last night," she said. "I seduced him."

Her mother's lips flattened to a thin line. "That was more information than I needed, sweetheart."

"Sorry, Mom," she murmured.

Barbara's expression softened. "There's something you should know before you go to that lunch meeting, hon. I'm going to start looking for a job. And Cindy's going to learn how to pull her weight, too. You don't have to carry us. We'll be strong for ourselves, and for you, too. Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

Erin's lip began to tremble. "I think so," she said.

"You'll make it just fine without that trash at the museum. So if you want to spit in their faces, go right ahead. Don't think twice."

"Thanks, Mom. I'll keep that in mind."

"Follow your heart, honey. Don't compromise yourself."

"I'm trying." Her lips started trembling. "I swear, I'm trying, but I'd better get going now. I've got an incredibly busy day. I need to run home and feed Edna, and then dress for lunch with the museum heads. And I have to schedule a meeting with Mueller after that."

Barbara frowned. "You promised Connor you'd stay right here with us, where you're safe. And I agree one hundred percent that lying low is an excellent idea. At least until things calm down."

Erin kissed her mother's cheek. "I'll call him and explain. He's a sweetheart to be so protective, but I can't cower in a hole forever. I promise I'll take cabs everywhere, Mom. I'll be just fine."

Her mother still looked anxious, and Erin gave her another coaxing kiss. "We're going to be fine now. We got Cindy back, and now this big opportunity just falls into my lap. Things are looking up."

It took all the strength she had to keep the cheerful facade in place until the taxi arrived.

The traffic was a nightmare. Connor leaped out of his car when he finally arrived, bolted for the house, and beat on the door.

Barbara pulled the door open. "Connor, what on earth?"