Part 13 (1/2)

Blue had a.s.sumed they were of family, but closer inspection revealed the truth. ”They came with the frames.”

Noah nodded. He took down one of the frames and removed the back. Lowell had carefully matted the paper photo so that the size and price information imprinted there was covered.

Five photos had been treated in that manner. He'd carefully chosen different frames that used similar images for display. The people looked so similar, no one would have noticed unless they had been looking for discrepancy.

She remembered on the first day she'd arrived, a.s.suming that this was likely his room. She'd noted the framed photographs, but hadn't looked at them closely, and, considering the low lighting, especially before her eyes had grown accustomed, she hadn't noticed anything unusual. She remembered that he'd mentioned losing his family. She just a.s.sumed these photos were of the family.

”Does this smell familiar?”

Noah held out a handkerchief. She lifted it to her nose and cautiously sniffed it. Drawing back instantly, she coughed and purged her lungs of the strong stench.

”It was him.”

The words were hers, but she barely recognized them as her own. She shook her head in disbelief. Though she'd mentally noted several inconsistencies in things Lowell had said and done, it was still hard for her to believe that he could play his part so well. What on earth did he have to gain by doing this?

”Take a look at this.” Noah opened a drawer in the bedside table and showed her the mutilated magazines, glue and other items needed to create threatening notes.

”Why would he do this?” she voiced her disbelief and frustration, then chewed her lower lip as she turned the idea over in her mind. ”It doesn't make sense. He's lived here with you all this time. He could have killed you on numerous occasions. Why do the notes thing and all this other cloak-and-dagger hoopla? Could he be connected to the general somehow?”

”I don't think this has anything to do with me.”

Realization burst through all the other confusing thoughts. Lucas. It was about Lucas.

”He's got Lucas,” she murmured almost to herself. ”I have to warn Casey and-”

Noah placed a restraining hand on her arm when she would have rushed from the room. ”There's more.”

Ice-cold fear thickening her blood, she watched as Drake picked up an innocuous-looking s...o...b..x that lay on its side, the contents spilled across the chenille bedspread.

”Look at these.” He picked up a handful of photographs, mostly candid snapshots, and a few five-by-sevens.

Blue's heart pounded harder with each photograph she viewed. One by one she shuffled through the stack. Dozens of shots of Lucas, but always in a crowd or an unapproachable situation. There were other subjects pictured as well. The only other one that stood out was that of a woman. There was photograph after photograph of her as well. Late forties, early fifties, attractive, dark hair with a hint of gray. Very sophisticated looking. Then there were a couple of the woman with Lucas.

Though Blue didn't know the woman's name, she knew instinctively that this was the woman who owned Lucas's heart. The woman all the Specialists speculated about.

”How long did you say Lowell has worked for you?” she asked, as she reviewed the photographs once more. A sinking feeling had started deep inside her.

”One year. Before that I managed without anyone else. But after-” He hesitated as if unsure whether he wanted to divulge the rest. He swallowed tightly. ”After the accident I knew I couldn't really manage on my own so I sought out someone to take care of details...just to be around on a regular basis.”

Worry twisted inside her. ”Accident? What kind of accident?”

He stared at the floor a moment. ”I had the flu or a bug. It dragged on and on. I ended up dehydrated, got dizzy one evening and fell in the kitchen.” He rubbed the back of his neck. ”Lay there unconscious for an hour or so before I came around. I'd hit my head in the fall. There was a lot of blood. Scared Chester worse than it did me. He brought Emery to patch me up. I pretty much admitted the need to have someone around at that point.” He laughed dryly. ”Well, actually, Edgar insisted.”

Blue almost said good, then realized that Lowell was the a.s.sistant-companion or whatever-who took the job.

”I got used to having him around eventually. It was his idea to contact an agent...when he stumbled upon my hobby.”

His artwork. He still didn't want her to know about it. That stung just a little, but she had no time to dwell on it. ”Who recommended Lowell?” There had to be a connection.

”I ran an ad in the cla.s.sifieds. Conducted the interviews myself. Lowell impressed me. His background check was clean so I hired him.”

Lowell had impressed her too, at least as far as his concern for Drake. She laid the photographs near the s...o...b..x. ”I have to get word to Director Casey. We're going to need an entire team.”

”I agree. I'll-”

A loud pounding on the front door echoed all the way up the stairs.

”Stay here,” Blue said for all the good it would do.

She ran down the hall and descended the stairs two at a time, Drake right behind her. He ducked into the parlor, away from the possibility of being exposed to the light.

When she checked the viewfinder Chester stood on the porch. Drawing her weapon, she unlocked and opened the door. ”What's up, Chester?” She scanned the yard, found only his old truck.

He didn't look surprised at all by her weapon. Instead he hitched a thumb in the general direction of the road. ”I'm here to find out what the devil's going on,” he grumped. ”Old man Venable said he'd been waiting over an hour at the dock and n.o.body showed. Then when I come to find out what the trouble was I saw a black car'd been run plumb off the road.”

Renewed fear surged. ”Was there anyone inside?”

Chester pushed back his cap and scratched his head. ”Just one Mexican-looking feller. I can't say for sure, but he looks dead to me.”

Ramon.

Blue jerked Chester inside and closed the door. ”What kind of injury did he have?” she demanded, Chester's s.h.i.+rt lapels held tightly in her grip to keep his attention.

He tapped his head. ”There was a lot of blood.”

d.a.m.n. ”I've got to go out there,” she told Drake who had joined them in the hall the moment the door closed. She released Chester and bent down to retrieve the .38 from her ankle holster then handed it to Drake. She didn't want him unarmed for even the time it would take to unlock his gun cabinet. ”Chester will go with me. Call and see if we can get some sort of medflight here just in case Ramon's alive. Whether he's alive or not, Chester will drive him to the dock. There should be enough room on the beach there for a copter to sit down.” She looked hard into Drake's eyes. ”Once you've made that call lock yourself in that secret room of yours.”

To his credit, he didn't look at all startled that she knew about the room. ”I'll be back,” she a.s.sured him.

Before she could unlock the door, he pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the mouth. ”Be careful. We have unfinished business.”

She nodded stiffly, noting somewhere in the back of her mind that she'd said those words to him earlier.

Once Drake was safely out of the entry hall, Blue and Chester left. She locked the door behind her, double-checking that it indeed locked before she joined Chester in his truck.

Not a half mile from the driveway, the black sedan sat half in and half out of the woods. Blue bolted from the truck before Chester came to a full stop. She jerked the driver's-side door open and checked Ramon's carotid pulse.

”Thank G.o.d,” she breathed. It was there, weak and thready, but there.

”Can we move this car?” she asked Chester.

He went around to the front of the vehicle and checked it for damage. ”Should be able to.”

”Okay. Let's get him scooted over to the pa.s.senger side and you can drive him to the dock and wait for the medflight.” She prayed like h.e.l.l one was available nearby, like in Savannah. ”I'll take your truck back to the house.”

”Okey-doke.” Chester opened the pa.s.senger-side door and with Blue's a.s.sistance scooted Ramon over.