Did a piss-poor job of handling that, Hank, he told himself. Let him get under your skin. Most likely gave something away.

The worst part was realizing someone knew too much about him. Someone was gunning for him, and Hank had no idea why.

Unless… the Enemy?

He clenched his jaw. Keep your distance, asshole. I see you again, I'm taking you out.

6

Christy sat before her computer in her home office, staring at the screen but only dimly aware of the numbers scrolling past.

She wandered out into the living room and looked around at the antique furnishings, the paintings she'd picked up at various galleries in SoHo. A nice home—part of the life she'd built for Dawn and herself. All from nothing.

She remembered arriving in New York City all those years ago with a few hundred dollars in her pocket, a suitcase in one hand, and a baby in the other.

Now look at me.

She could buy pretty much anything she wanted without a second thought. But she usually did give it a second thought. And sometimes a third. And very often she said no. Better to save it for the inevitable rainy day. She'd spent too many years counting pennies to feel comfortable with careless spending. Old habits died hard.

She'd done it lor Dawnie. JNot all of it, of course. Some had been for her own sake, but the driving force had been building a secure life for her daughter to give her the kind of home she'd never had. And now everything seemed ready to go up in smoke.

Because she'd really blown it with Dawn today.

Why on Earth hadn't she listened to Jack and kept her mouth shut? She'd planned on doing just that, and when she'd come home and found Dawn doodling on the computer, everything had been fine. If nothing else, this relationship with Jerry had made her start taking better care of herself. She'd slimmed down some, started wearing a little makeup. She seemed to glow with happiness. Soon—not today, but soon—Christy would be forced to douse that glow. It would hurt, but it would be for the best.

They'd made small talk, then Dawnie announced that she had to get changed to spend the rest of the afternoon at that man's place. That was when Christy lost it.

She'd told her about hiring Mike Gerhard to investigate Jerry and how Gerhard was found murdered, and how the detective she'd hired to find Gerhard had witnessed Jerry kidnap someone.

Christy had seen the look of horror growing on Dawn's face and that had spurred her on. But then she realized that the horror wasn't at what her beau had done, but at her mother hiring a detective and then making up these awful stories.

She'd run out of the house before Christy could stop her. She prayed she hadn't caused an irreparable breach. If only—

She jumped as she heard the front door open. She always kept it locked.

"It's me."

Dawnie's voice. Thank God!

She rushed into the living room only to stop cold at the sight of that man.

"This is so not my idea," Dawnie said, glaring at her. "If it was up to me, I'd never come back here again. But Jerry wanted to talk to you."

Christy looked at him and shivered at the cold menace in his eyes. But his voice was calm and measured.

"I'm not sure what to say about all this," he drawled as he rubbed a hand through that short, neat beard. "But, unbelievable as your accusations sound, I can't let them go without sayin somethin."

That drawl… how could a cracker like this develop video games? Then again, you didn't need a degree from Harvard or even Queensborough Community College for that. You just needed cunning, and Christy sensed he had plenty of that.

But she was damned if she was going to back down. "Everything I said is true!"

"I'm sure you believe that, but you been lied to."

"J have not! I—"

"You say you hired a detective and that he was murdered. What was his name?"

His name? He had to know his name—if he'd killed him.

"Michael Gerhard—as you well know."

"And you say he's dead. Murdered."

"I have a witness."

"Who?"

Christy didn't think it wise to identify Jack.

"I'm not telling you that."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't want him to end up dead too."

She thought she caught a hint of a smirk, but couldn't be sure through the beard.

Dawn said, "That's it, Jerry! I told you this was totally a waste of time! We're going!"

"No-no. Just a second, darlin. This is your mother and she's got some bad ideas about me. I don't know why and I don't know who, but someone's been feedin her lies and I need to set her straight. I can't have her or anyone else be-lievin this about me."

So calm and reasoned… an excellent portrayal of an innocent man confronting his accuser. If it weren't for those eyes, Christy could almost believe…

"Just get out of Dawn's life and I won't say a word about this."

He smiled sweetly and put his arm around Dawn. "But I want to be a part of her life. She's become very important to me. So let's get back to this man I supposedly murdered—Gephardt, was it?"

"Gerhard. Michael Gerhard."

"I haven't read or heard anything about this. Where did it happen and what was the time of his death?"

Dawnie tugged on his arm. "Come on, Jerry. This is total bullshit."

"Just give me a minute, darlin. If he was killed while you and I were together, that'll prove I had nothin to do with it." He turned back to Christy. "If you'll show me the news article, we can probably settle this here and now."

Oh, hell.

"There is no article."

"Well then, a police report."

"I don't have that."

His expression turned puzzled. "Then… what do you have?"

"The man who found the body."

"The man you can't name. Well, if he reported the crime—"

"He did, but by the time the police got there the body was gone."

"What?" He laughed. "Somebody tells you a man was murdered but there's no body? How do we know this Gerhard ain't sittin in some bar in Florida drinkin up the money you paid him? I think you've been sold a bill of goods, Mrs. P."

For an instant, Christy floundered, at a loss for a response. Without a body, she looked like a fool. Then she remembered—

"Where were you last night?"

"Was that when he was murdered?"

"No, that's when you kidnapped a man."

"Really? Let's see… I was eating dinner at Peter Luger's with a game producer from Konami." He looked at Dawn. "I told you about that, right?"

She nodded. "He was pitching our game concept."

He turned back to Christy. "Now, I wish I could show you the receipt from the restaurant, but I didn't pay for dinner. I can have the producer back up my presence."

"You do that."

"I will. Meanwhile, where am I keepin this person I supposedly kidnapped?"

"He escaped."

"Well then, he must have pressed charges against me. How come I ain't been arrested?"

"He won't press charges and you know it."

"I know no such thing. When this man reported the crime, did he at least say when it happened?" He grinned. "I mean, what's the point of havin an alibi if we don't know the time of the crime."

Christy knew then that she was beaten. He'd played her like the proverbial fiddle, coming on all calm and rational while making her look like a scatterbrained paranoid.

Just what Jack had said would happen.

He raised his eyebrows. "Don't tell me there's no police report of this crime either."

"You know damn well there isn't."

He spread his hands in a gesture of supplication. "Mrs. P, do you hear yourself? You've been accusin me of two terrible crimes that never happened."

Christy wanted to shout that they damn well did happen but knew that would make her look more unbalanced than she already did.

"Look," he said. "Because of my feelings for Dawn, and because you're her mother, I'm gonna forget this ever happened—"