Whether she lied or not didn’t matter. They were all dead.

“Oh, and I should say that Rebecca found another address for me. The home of one Stuart Dance.”

Dance felt this news like a slap in the face. She struggled to keep from being sick. A wash of heat, scalding water, enveloped her face and chest.

“You son of a bitch,” TJ raged.

“And if you tell me the truth, your mom and pop and kiddies’ll be fine. I was right about your brood, wasn’t I? At our first get-together. And no husband. You, a poor widow, Rebecca tells me. Sorry about that. Anyway, I’ll bet the kiddies’re with the grandfolks right now.”

At that moment Kathryn Dance came to a decision.

It was a gamble, and under other circumstances it would have been a difficult, if not impossible, choice. Now, although the consequences would probably be tragic, one way or the other, there was no option.

No weapons—except words, and her intuition. A to B to X…

They would have to do.

Dance shifted so she was facing Pell directly. “Aren’t you curious why we’re here?”

“That’s a question. I didn’t want a question. I wanted an answer.”

Make sure he remains in charge—Daniel Pell’s trademark. “Please, let me go on. I am answering your question. Please, let me.”

Pell looked her over with a frown. He didn’t object.

“Now think about it. Why would we come here in such a big hurry?”

Normally she would have used a subject’s first name. But doing so could be interpreted as an attempt to dominate, and Daniel Pell needed to know he was in control.

He grimaced impatiently. “Get to the point.”

Rebecca scowled. “She’s stalling. Let’s go, baby.”

Dance said, “Because I had to warn Morton—”

Rebecca whispered, “Let’s just finish up and get going. Jesus, we’re wasting—”

“Quiet, lovely.” Pell turned his bright blue eyes back to Dance, just as he’d done in Salinas during their interview on Monday. It seemed like years ago. “Yeah, you wanted to warn him about me. So?”

“No. I wanted to warn him about Rebecca.”

“What’re you talking about?”

Dance held Pell’s eyes as she said, “I wanted to warn him that she was going to use you to kill him. Just like she used you at William Croyton’s house eight years ago.”

Chapter 50

Dance saw the flicker in Daniel Pell’s otherworldly eyes.

She’d touched something close to the god of control.

She used you….

“This is such bullshit,” Rebecca snapped.

“Probably,” Pell said.

Dance noted the conditional word, not an absolute one. The agent eased forward. We believe that those who are physically closer to us tell the truth more than those leaning away. “She set you up, Daniel. And you want to know why? To kill William Croyton’s wife.”

He was shaking his head, but he was listening to every word.

“Rebecca was Croyton’s lover. And when his wife wouldn’t give him a divorce she decided to use you and Jimmy Newberg to kill her.”