Part 14 (1/2)

”Samantha?”

She turned at the sound of Will's voice and the throb of the Bronco's engine. He looked concerned as he pulled up next to her and reached across to open her door.

She climbed in, suddenly weak and tired and scared. Was she losing her mind? Had she only imagined she saw Lucas? Yet, wasn't that better than the alternative-that he was alive and didn't want to be found? Or that he was being held for ransom?

”Are you all right?” Will asked, frowning over at her.

She nodded and closed her eyes, haunted by the image of Lucas standing at the ferry railing.

CHARLEY MURPHY LIVED on Point Beals in a large beach house with his wife and three children.

”Sam!” Charley said when he opened the door.

Behind him, she could hear the kids and Katie in the kitchen. The smell of pancakes, bacon and coffee wafted through the house.

”Sorry to stop by so early,” she managed to get out before Charley pulled her into his arms in a bear hug. He was a big handsome man with dark hair, big brown eyes and more than his share of Murphy charm.

”Get in here,” he growled. ”Charley,” he said, extending a hand to Will.

”This is Will Sheridan and Zack O'Brien.”

Charley lifted a brow at the last name as he ushered them all into the kitchen.

Katie looked up from the stove, pancake turner in hand. She was dark-haired, pretty and pet.i.te. A perfect match for Charley. They'd met at college, had fallen in love literally at first sight and had been together ever since.

”Looks like we have a few more for breakfast,” Charley announced good-naturedly.

Sam gave Katie a hug and said h.e.l.lo to the kids: Reese, four; and Alex and Suzanna, the twins, three. Katie was pregnant again and looked as if she might be due any day.

”I need to talk to you,” Sam whispered to Charley.

He nodded. ”After breakfast.” He drew up more chairs and grabbed place settings for all of them.

They talked about everything but what she was really doing in Seattle. Sam could tell that Will liked Charley and his boisterous family. When they'd finished, Charley led her and Will down the hall to his den. Katie and the kids took Zack to the rec room to check out their toys.

Zack looked back at Sam, his CD player in his small hands, the earphones around his neck. He wore his backpack, but the computer games were now in Sam's purse. Zack had relinquished them with his usual reluctance just before they reached Charley's. She caught a glimpse of the boy's worried expression before he turned into tough-guy again and disappeared with the other kids.

”You realize you should turn the boy over to the authorities,” Charley said, sounding like the cop he was the moment they were in the study with the door closed. He was obviously familiar with the case, and knew her history with Lucas and a whole lot more.

”I just need some time to figure it all out,” she said. ”The kid's in trouble. Maybe Lucas, too.”

Charley shook his head at her. ”I hate to see you going back down this road again, you know?”

She knew. She glanced over at Will, wondering what he was thinking of all this, wondering how much he'd figured out about her and Lucas. A lot. But not everything. Only she and Charley knew everything.

”I have to try, for Zack's sake,” she said determinedly.

Charley nodded and gave her a look that said he knew her well enough to have guessed she wouldn't want to give up.

”I desperately need some answers. What can you tell me about Lucas? Ca.s.sie said he was in financial trouble.” She told him what had happened in Wolf Point and in b.u.t.te, and about thinking she'd seen Lucas on the ferry. Then she detailed what Ca.s.sie had told her.

Charley swore, something he rarely did. ”I don't believe it. What kind of woman is Ca.s.sie? Never mind, don't answer that. I already know.” He looked from Sam to Will and back to her.

”Will can hear anything you have to say,” she said, reading his concern. ”He's...with me.”

Both Will and Charley lifted a brow but said nothing about that.

”Lucas was into online trading,” Charley said in his cop tone. ”In over his head. Word on the street was that he owed the wrong people a lot of money and that he'd made some promises he couldn't keep.”

”This computer game he was working on?” she asked.

Charley nodded. ”That's what I'm thinking. That he'd promised them the game, if it really is worth anything, and he tried to renege.”

”Would Lucas jeopardize his own son like that?” Will asked.

Charley shot a look at Sam, his expression making it clear that he wouldn't put anything past Lucas.

Sam shrugged. She'd thought she'd known Lucas five years ago-and obviously hadn't. She didn't pretend to know him now.

She glanced over at Will. He seemed to be studying the floor.

”I have to be honest with you, Sam,” Charley said. ”I think Lucas has skipped town with some woman and left you with his mess. Isn't that what he did the last time?”

Will's head came up.

She avoided his questioning gaze. ”What if the game is just what Lucas said it was, and someone really is threatening to kill him for it?”

Charley gave her his you're-a-chump look. ”Then Lucas is in danger and and anyone else who gets involved. Drop the case. One person has already been murdered. And you know what extremes Ca.s.sie will go to to get what she wants.” anyone else who gets involved. Drop the case. One person has already been murdered. And you know what extremes Ca.s.sie will go to to get what she wants.”

She didn't want to talk about Ca.s.sie or the past. Nor could she drop the case. ”What is Lucas's partner saying was stolen from Whiz Kidz?”

”Bradley Guess? Just the one game-the new one Lucas was working on,” Charley said. ”It's called Catastrophe. That's about all I know. Interesting name under the circ.u.mstances, wouldn't you say?”

”Catastrophe?” she echoed. Could that really have been what Al was trying to write in blood before he died?

”I'd love to see that game,” Charley was saying. He must have caught her look. His gaze narrowed. ”Don't tell me you you have a piece of it?” have a piece of it?”

”Maybe.” She opened her purse and pulled out the games. She handed them to Charley.

He studied the boxes, then the CDs inside. ”Maybe he hid the game in another one.” He shrugged and swung around to insert one into the CD-ROM. A few seconds later, a game came up on the screen in a flash of color and sound.

”This isn't it,” he said, exiting after a few minutes. He put in the other one. ”Nope. I've heard of both of these. They've been on the market for a while.”

Charley shook his head as he handed her the games, and she placed them back in the boxes.