A Dangerous Dance (24 page)

“But what did you do?” Dorothy leaned forward. It was a brilliant move, but dangerous. What if he had been involved? “You took a big risk.”

“I didn't want him messing with you.” She grinned. “I can't believe it worked. I told him that I might want a loan some day.”

Dorothy laughed, then sobered. “Do you think that's what my mother would have done? Was that how she was?”

Kate stiffened, leaning forward. “No! I just thought that's what he'd believe. If he'd guessed I cared about you, he'd have used it against us.”

Her eyes entreated Dorothy to believe and she mostly did. Then Kate started looking guilty again.

“What?” Dorothy asked, wondering what more she could have done.

“I kind of, sort of, implied that I killed Bubba Joe.”

“You what? What if he tells the police?”

“He won't tell anyone anything. There's too much he has to hide. And he got beat by a woman, not to mention turned down.”

Dorothy laughed. “You're really something, Aunt Kate.”

“I don't know about that.” Kate stood up. “Well, I should let you sleep. You must be exhausted.”

Dorothy stood up, too. She wanted to hug Kate, but it was too soon, there were still too many unanswered questions between them.

She smiled instead. “I'm glad you're here.”

Kate's smile was a bit teary. “Thanks.” She stepped back. “I wouldn't have disturbed you, but I didn't want Bozo Luc disturbing your sleep.”

Dorothy smiled. “Well, he won't now.” She teetered on the edge of a hug again, but Kate stepped back from her.

“Good night,” Kate said. “Sleep well.”

Dorothy echoed the wish, watching her leave. It was only when the door closed that she sobered. It was hard to forget the look in Kate's eyes when she talked about his rape of Emma. But the killer had had Bubba Joe's contract with Vance. If Kate had that info, where would it have come from? She had been here when Magus was killed, Dorothy recalled. That's when her memory went bust.

She gave herself a shake. It was crazy. If Kate knew Vance, it would mean she'd conspired to kill Magus. Or at the very least was complicit in it. What reason would she have to do something like that?

* * * *

Kate gave a relieved sigh when the door was closed between her and Dorothy. That had gone far better than she'd expected. Still, she wasn't out of the woods yet. Dorothy was tired. If she started thinking, she might start to wonder. And if she told Remy, he wouldn't just wonder. He'd start digging. Kate couldn't remember everything he'd find. Her memory was still coming to her in painful chunks.

It had been a calculated risk, telling her about her encounter with Bozo. But she wouldn't put it past Bozo to call and try to introduce some conflict into the situation. Divide and conquer had always been his modus operandi. Interesting that he was still interested in Emma, though it was clear Dorothy, and Magus's political clout, were what interested him the most. He might have retreated temporarily, but he wasn't out yet.

She so wanted to tell Dorothy the truth, but she didn't know the whole truth yet. There were still two men she needed to talk to. Hopefully then she'd achieve complete clarity about ten years ago and her role in it all.

She went down the hall to her room, once inside, she shut the door and reached for the light. She didn't find it. Someone grabbed her by the throat and turned her around, pressing her against the wall with bruising force. Even as panic surged, she recognized his scent.

“Who the hell are you?” Titus hissed in her ear. “And don't lie to me!”

His hold on her throat tightened. She couldn't breathe or speak.

I'm going to faint
, she thought. And did.

* * * *

Bozo wasn't quite sure what made him call Darius. He'd always sensed that Darius cared more about Emma than had been apparent, but he had no proof. Still, if there was an off-chance he could shake his tree, it would be entertaining. It wasn't until the phone was ringing that he realized how late it was. Still, the deed was done. If he hung up now, Darius would still see his number on the caller ID.

“What.” Darius sounded awake, but not happy.

He didn't state the obvious. He wouldn't. There was something in his voice, though, a hint of menace that made Bozo glad he had real news for Darius. Was this something new, he wondered, or have I just missed it before?

“Did you know Emma had a sister, Darius?” he asked, cutting out the preliminaries he'd planned initially.

Silence. Bozo counted ten heart beats before, Darius said, “No.”

Bozo hesitated. If he told him Emma was alive, would that give him an edge or lose him one?

“She's staying with Dorothy. Emma must have talked pretty freely. She knows a lot.” That seemed safe, though why he was thinking that baffled him. He'd never been afraid of Darius before.

“Really.”

“Her name is Kate.” He hesitated again. “She looks a lot like Emma. I thought she was Emma first time I saw her.”

“Really,” Darius said again.

Why did he feel more threatened with each word? Bozo realized he didn't want to be the one to tell Darius Emma was still alive. Not now, not ever.

“Is there more?”

“No!” He sounded too bright, he realized immediately. Maybe Darius wouldn't notice.

“Yes, there is.” The voice was flat and deadly.

Bozo ran a finger around the inside of his collar, wishing he'd never made the call. What had set Darius off?

“She came to see me tonight. K-Kate did.” Why had he stumbled over her name? He might as well tell him if he was going to be an idiot. “I was trying something on Dorothy and she warned me to back off. She said...” He stopped. If Darius was involved with Vance, he was imposing a death sentence on Emma.

“What did she say?” the flat voice compelled him to answer.

“She said she had it. That she and Vance had been lovers. That he had trusted her.”

Another period of silence. The sense of menace flowed out of the phone. The feeling was so strong, Bozo actually looked around, then went and locked his terrace doors. No more surprises tonight, he decided. And I'm done. Darius can figure the rest out himself.

“Did you believe her?”

“I don't know,” he admitted. “Since I wasn't involved, it didn't seem to matter.” He realized he'd made a mistake there.

“So you think I am involved?”

“No!” Again it was too much. “I just know you like...information.”

“I don't like it when people hold out on me, however.”

“That's all I
know
,” Bozo insisted. This time he hit the right note, he thought with relief. “Look, I'm whacked. I'm going to bed. Just thought you'd want to know.”

“I appreciate it.” Was that irony in his voice, Bozo wondered. Maybe he wouldn't go to sleep. Maybe he'd take a little trip. Just until the air cleared. The phone went dead without further comment from Darius, but the feeling of danger lingered.

He hung up the phone, thought for a moment, and then headed for the stairs. He really did need a vacation. With his foot on the stairs, he wondered, should I warn Emma? Why should he involve himself further? If she did have the evidence, then she already knew what she was dealing with. She was a big girl. She could take care of herself.

* * * *

Kate opened her eyes. There was that feeling she'd forgotten something important again. She was lying on her back. In her room at Oz. Yeah, she was at Oz. She'd talked to Dorothy and then come here and—

She turned her head. She wasn't alone. Titus sat on a chair next to her bed, studying her with a blank expression. She looked away. She wasn't ready for this, for him. With consciousness had come another chunk of memory. Would have been nice to have remembered this part a little sooner.

“Who are you?” he asked again, his voice determined.

She struggled upright. He didn't jump to help her. She noticed he had his gun out. It wasn't pointed at her, but it could be. She settled her feet on the floor so that she faced him and gazed at him. He'd aged a bit, no surprise there, but the real change in him was in his eyes, in the way he looked at her now. It was very different from the way he used to look at her.

She licked her lips. “You know who I am.”

“Emma?” The name came out on a current of pain.

It hurt her to hear it. She couldn't look at him, but she had to. She owed him that. She nodded.

“What have you done?” he asked. “What have you done?”

She looked away. “Nothing I'm proud of.”

* * * *

The tempo of events was quickening. Darius could feel the acceleration, as he sat staring at the phone. Bozo hadn't told him everything he knew, not by half. But he would. In the meantime, he needed to consider what he had seen fit to share.

First, of course, was this Kate, sister to Emma. She looked like Emma, he'd said. And she had information on who had hired Vance to kill Magus. If that were true, why hadn't she contacted him? Most likely, she'd been bluffing, but he'd have to talk to her himself to be sure. He hadn't stayed in the game by taking unnecessary risks.

Something about her visit had disturbed Bozo. She'd told him something that had set him back on his heels. So he'd called Darius to strike back. The fact that Bozo wanted Darius to do his dirty work for him was typical. He was more a pot stirrer than a soup maker. He'd stirred this Kate into the mix for a reason.

"I was trying something on,"
he'd said. Bozo wanted Mistral out of the governor's race. That was a given, but what card would he have had to play that Kate could have nixed so neatly?

Bozo knew about his affair with Emma. Was it possible he'd tried to play a paternity card? But what could Kate have said to him that made him back off? He needed to speak with Bozo. He could feel the answer, just out of his reach. He could also sense that Bozo was going to make a run for it. He had a canny sense of when the boom was about to drop on him.

He picked up the phone, spoke a few words into it and hung up.

His thoughts cleared of Bozo for the moment, they turned back to the issue of Kate and any information she might, or might not, have. If she did, then of course, she had to deliver it to him. Why, he wondered, hadn't she given it to Dorothy already? If she were after money, Dorothy was the golden goose.

The landscape was becoming rather crowded, he decided. He knew who he'd killed, but there was still the faceless person behind the deaths of Vance, his lawyer, and Bubba Joe. Someone had an agenda, but what? Was this Kate behind it? The trouble with this hypothesis, it made no sense. He could create a scenario where Dorothy was involved. Most of the deaths made sense with her as a central player. Even Bubba Joe's death fit the pattern.

He knew why Suzanne was dead and he knew his part in it. He had a pretty good idea of how much Bozo was involved and would soon know more.

He had his plan in place to bring about Dorothy to a more expedient frame of mind and the elimination of the problem of Mistral. He'd be dead and the Wizard's daughter would be his to control, in life and death.

He needed to figure out who Vance had made his timer, who had the information on who was involved. Surely that was the key to the mystery player?

He pulled out his copy of the letter that Vance had written for his wife and studied it again. It held precious few clues, but one thing struck him this reading.

Vance didn't have a mother, did he? He needed to study the information in his file again. Perhaps somewhere in his visitor list at prison, or the people he wrote to, was the clue to who he called mom?

He looked at his watch. He had a few minutes before Bozo's arrival to review the file. He pulled it out of the drawer, but before he opened it he found himself thinking instead about Kate, sister to Emma.

* * * *

Emma stared at Titus with his blank face and disillusioned eyes. It hurt to look into them. Her whole body hurt with the storm of emotion from returned memories. She needed a break to process it all. The things she remembered, the things she'd done, both then and now. But he wasn't leaving. That was clear.

“That's your story? That your memory shorted out for ten years?” His voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

She nodded.

“Were you involved in Magus's murder?” he asked.

“How could I be? I had no money to hire anyone. I came to beg for money from Magus,” she said.

“Not to see Dorothy?”

She shifted. “I don't know. I know I was angry at Magus, but not enough to do anything.” She heard the uncertainty in her voice and saw the disbelief in his eyes. “I was a mess, but I've changed. Remembering what I did...it horrifies me.”

“What we did. That horrifies you, too?” For the first time, anger flickered in his face, in his eyes.

She chose her words with care. “It horrifies me that I used you, my friend, in that way. I cheapened us both by betraying my wedding vows. I'm so sorry!”

“Does Dorothy know you're alive? That you gave her away because you couldn't be bothered with her?”

Emma flinched as if he'd slapped her. “No. But I'm going to tell her the truth!”

“When?”

“When the time is right. She's dealing with so much right now. It would be selfish of me to add to it. Wouldn't it?”

“You're scared she'll throw you out,” he said, but for the first time, she saw a hint of softening in his face. He looked down, as if he couldn't bear looking at her.

“I'm so scared of so much. This is so dangerous, what she's doing. She's going to get hurt again. Can't we do something? Can't we help her?” She leaned toward him, her eyes pleading with him. “I don't expect you to forgive me, Titus, but can't we help our Dorothy?”

His head lifted, his eyes widening. “What are you saying, Emma?”

She dropped to her knees in front of him and hesitantly rested her hands on his. “Haven't you ever wondered if she was our daughter?”

His body shuddered. His face convulsed for a moment, before he got himself back in control. He pulled his hands away from hers and she thought she'd lost. He grabbed her shoulders, his expression hungry as he searched her face. Then he pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair, as sobs shook his body.