As Kurtz led me to a half-circle booth in the corner of the bar, I thought about the half-dozen ways I could incapacitate him if he tried anything. Kurtz offered me a drink. I got to the point.

“I’m here to give you a heads-up. Paige Ryerson’s body is only a few hours away from being discovered. If you want to jump off your boss’s sinking ship, now’s the time to do it.”

“But the yacht is completely fine, Miss…? Or is that Mrs.? I’ll be honest, it doesn’t matter to me either way. Marriage is just a piece of paper.”

“If that body comes up, and it has your forensics anywhere near it, it’ll be too late to help you.”

Kurtz smiled. “I can think of some ways you can help me, Kate. Some very creative ways.”

“So you know my name. Your boss called you.”

The flirtation drained from his face quickly, as if I was suddenly boring him. “Yeah, I know all about your supposed string-pulling on behalf of the kid’s old man. Junior may have believed you, but you can’t kid a world-class kidder, kiddo.”

As I slid closer to Kurtz in the booth he flinched slightly. He probably thought he covered it up quick enough, but I saw it. Perhaps he was worried I was about to dish out some of the same punishment his crew had received.

Instead, I touched Kurtz’s face lightly and looked up into his eyes. Taking a page right out of the Jana Rose playbook.

“How did it feel to dance with someone one minute,” I said softly, “then help bury her dead body the next?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Kurtz said, refusing to break eye contact. “From what I heard around the island before we left, the girl is still alive.”

Chapter 14

OTTO (THE CON ARTIST)

The first thing Otto does when he lands at Providenciales International Airport is look for a place to eat.

The in-flight meal was garbage. So he stops at a place called Gilley’s Cafe and wolfs down a double order of conch fritters and a lobster salad sandwich, then washes all of that down with two bottles of Turk’s Head Amber.

The second thing Otto does is hop a free resort shuttle to the beach, even though he hasn’t booked a room at the resort painted on the side of the vehicle. Matthew Quinn gives all of his operatives a generous expense account, but old habits die hard. Back in his grifter days, Otto took special pride in never paying for transportation. Someone’s always looking to give you a lift. And just as often, a place to crash. Only suckers paid for cabs or Uber—and on top of that paid a tip. Are people crazy?

The third thing Otto does is get into character.

He stares at the photo of Paige Ryerson. No; not just Paige Ryerson. This is his little sister. Paige. Only eighteen years old. Sweetest girl in the world. Big Brother Otto would always look out for her. But that would change when she went off to private school in New Hampshire. Big Brother wasn’t around to protect her anymore. And now look what happened.