‘I told Curtis to stay within the bounds of the law,’ Bush said, ‘but he’s ex-police. Sometimes he forgets where the lines are drawn now that he’s on his own.’

‘Why were you spying on Justin?’

Bush continued to twist the pewter model between his graceful fingers. ‘I found out that Justin was asking questions that were outside his job responsibilities here at the foundation. I was curious. I wanted to know why.’

‘About the Labor Day murders.’

The man’s eyebrows rose, as if she knew more than he expected. ‘Yes.’

‘Why do you care?’

‘The only things that scare me in political campaigns are things I don’t know.’

‘Were you afraid something might come out that would make Ms Fairmont look bad?’

‘If there was anything like that,’ Bush said, ‘I wanted to find out about it before our enemies did.’

Staring at him, Peach realized for the first time that she no longer had any idea who their enemies were. Once everything had seemed clear to her. Now she was caught in a labyrinth of ulterior motives. She didn’t know whom to trust.

Deacon had already told her: Don’t trust anybody.

‘What did Curtis Ritchie find out?’ Peach asked. ‘He called you last night. His message said it was urgent.’

‘I never reached him.’

‘What was he doing?’

‘He was following someone that you led him to,’ Bush admitted. ‘An unpleasant character named Frank Macy.’

Peach wanted to jump across the desk. ‘Where? Where is Macy?’

‘I don’t know. The last time I talked to Curtis, he said that Macy was in the industrial docks area, heading toward the Picnic Island pier. He thought Macy might be meeting someone. I haven’t been able to reach him since then.’

39

Cab pulled into the cobblestoned driveway of Diane’s estate. The wrought-iron gate ahead of him, sculpted with herons and vine leaves, was closed. He turned off the Corvette’s engine. Rain gushed horizontally across the windshield. He saw no security staffing the gate or patrolling inside the wall. He didn’t like that the exterior of the estate was deserted. The wall was built for privacy, not protection, and an intruder could easily get to the house without being challenged. He would have preferred to see men with guns outside.

His phone rang, and he saw the caller ID for Caprice Dean on the line.

‘Good morning, Cab,’ she said. ‘What a beautiful day.’

‘Is it?’

‘Oh, you’re not scared off by a little storm, are you?’

He could hear the grin on her lips as she teased him. He was disappointed that he still felt a physical reaction to the undercurrents in her voice. There were some women like that, women you had to work to resist.

‘Apparently, the storm scared off the security at Diane’s estate,’ he replied.

A sheen of ice returned to her voice. ‘Where are you?’

‘In her driveway.’