Page 71 of Tightrope

Amalie looked a little disconcerted by that news.

“So, the rumors are true?” she asked.

“Yes,” Luther said. “That is, of course, why the cover works so well.”

“I see.” Amalie took a few beats to deal with that information. Then her gaze sharpened with curiosity. “Do you think it was a coincidencethat you and the members of your team were let go just as you were getting close to Smith?”

Luther’s brows rose in surprise. Then he chuckled.

“You were right, Matthias,” he said. “Miss Vaughn is a very impressive lady. I like the way she thinks.”

“I did warn you,” Matthias said.

Luther turned back to Amalie. “Let’s just say that I share Matthias’s theory when it comes to the subject of coincidences.”

“There aren’t any,” Amalie said.

Raina looked at Amalie. “Speaking of coincidences, don’t you think it’s a little odd that a few months after someone tried to murder you, someone broke into the Hidden Beach Inn shortly after your name and location showed up in the newspapers?”

Matthias felt Amalie go very still beside him.

“It gives me chills, if you want to know the truth,” Amalie said. “I told Matthias that on the night I was attacked and nearly killed, I could have sworn that there was someone else around, someone who wanted to watch me die.”

Raina was intrigued. “Do you think the killer might have had a partner?”

Matthias paused his drink halfway to his mouth. There was an unusual intensity about Raina now. She was not merely curious, he decided. There was something else going on here. Whatever it was, it was personal.

He glanced at Luther and saw that he was watching Raina very closely, too.

“The police were convinced that the killer acted alone,” Amalie continued. “But then, they were not sure I was telling the truth.”

“I am aware that there were rumors of a lovers’ triangle,” Raina said without inflection.

“I’m lucky that I wasn’t arrested for the murder of Marcus Harding,”Amalie said. “But as for the break-in at the Hidden Beach the other night, it seems more likely that it was connected to the Pickwell incident, not to what happened in Abbotsville.”

Raina turned to Matthias. “What do you think?”

“My first assumption was that the break-in had to be connected to the disappearance of the cipher machine,” Matthias said. “But after Amalie told me that she believed Harding might have had a partner, I’m no longer sure.”

Raina gently swirled the contents of her cocktail glass and took a sip. She lowered the glass and looked at Amalie.

“Why don’t I look into what happened to you in Abbotsville?” she said.

Amalie raised her brows. “Sounds like you’ve already talked to the police there.”

“I did,” Raina said. “But there are other people I can call.”

“Such as?”

“The local reporters who covered the story may have some information that did not appear in the police reports.”

“I can’t afford to pay you,” Amalie warned.

Raina smiled a cool smile. “Consider it a welcome-to-Burning-Cove gift.”

“It’s a good idea,” Luther said. He tapped a finger on the table. “It might shed some light on the problem of Smith.”

“How?” Amalie asked.

---