“Guilt,” Ciara said, “is just one more useless luxury.”

He could see the tension on her face. “I had no business asking you to come with me,” he said. “You’ve had a worse day than I’ve had.”

“No-I’m glad you asked me. Especially after you told me Logan had been at the crime scene in Del Aire. And ‘helping’ with the investigation? This gives me the creeps.”

They were met by another guard near the house. He guided them to a study. Alex didn’t see Kit Logan right away-he wasn’t in the room but was standing at the railing of a large deck. A woman was with him. Both wore dark clothing. In other circumstances, they might have been a young couple about to enjoy a sunset. But Alex saw that they were tense, standing close but not touching. The woman’s voice was low, speaking in an anxious whisper.

As Alex and Ciara stepped onto the deck, Kit Logan turned toward them, and the woman’s whisper stopped. Kit briefly studied Alex, transferred a rabbit’s foot from his right hand to his left, then came forward and nervously shook Alex’s hand.

“You met me a long time ago,” he said.

“Yes, I remember that, Mr. Logan.”

“Please-call me Kit.”

“Not Christopher?”

Alex saw him flinch. “I prefer Kit,” he said.

Alex watched with interest as Kit seemed to quickly assess Ciara-she had hardly moved to fold her arms when he withdrew what might have been an offer to shake her hand as well. Alex thought he looked as relieved as Ciara.

Alex then turned to the woman who had been standing next to Kit and found himself speechless. Kit’s companion was gorgeous.

“Do you want me to get a bib for you,” Ciara said in low voice, “or are you going to stop drooling on your own?”

She hadn’t spoken quietly enough. Alex felt himself turn red with embarrassment and noticed that Kit and the woman seemed embarrassed, too.

“This is Gabe’s sister, Meghan Taggert,” Kit said, looking between Alex and the woman.

Meghan Taggert straightened her shoulders, then extended a hand to him. During the brief moment he had that hand in his own, Alex felt it tremble. Looking closer at her face, he thought she looked pale and as if she might have been crying earlier-her lips and eyelids were slightly swollen. She was upset now, he thought, but doing her best not to show it. She took a deep breath. “Thanks for meeting with us,” she said to him, completely ignoring Ciara. “I’m afraid we have bad news, though.”

“Oh?”

“Apparently Gabe saw the news and left here about two hours ago. I have no idea where he is now. We’re so worried about-”

“So, you’ve wasted our time,” Ciara interrupted.

Alex shot her a look, then said, “John told me that your ward is also missing, Mr. Logan. Do you have a photograph of her?”

“Yes,” he said. “If you’ll come with me into the study-”

“Alex,” Ciara said, “I left something in the car. Mind if I borrow your keys for a second?”

He looked at her suspiciously but gave them to her.

She walked out. He noticed that a guard followed her, but at a distance.

Kit handed him a photo.

“John led me to believe your ward was a girl.”

“She is. Spooky-that’s her nickname-Spooky prefers to wear her hair very short.”

“Is this recent?”

“Yes. That was taken about two months ago.”

“And John said you thought Everett Corey or Cameron Burgess might have taken her?”

“Yes.” Kit took the photo back. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time, Detective Brandon.”

“Kit-” Meghan said.

“It’s no use, Meghan. He doesn’t believe us. We’re wasting time we could be using to look for them.”

“Mr. Logan, I’m sorry if I’ve given you the wrong impression,” Alex said. “But you must realize why I’m feeling a little wary.”

“Nine of the ten people on the FBI’s Most Wanted list are dead,” Kit said. “Perhaps you realize why we’re feeling a little wary, too.”

“Why trust me in the first place?”

“Your uncle. And the dog.”

“The dog?”

“You let your nephew keep a smelly, underfed Labrador retriever that you obviously didn’t want.”

“So it was you. You were there.”

“Yes. I heard the call on the scanner. I was just trying to watch people, to figure out who could be trusted. I was hoping you could be. I remembered you from-” He clutched the rabbit’s foot harder. “I remembered you,” he said softly.

Alex turned to Meghan. “You were willing to go along with this? Risk your brother’s life because I let my nephew keep a dog?”

“I can understand why it seems like an omen to him. And yes, I think he could learn a lot about you just by watching you in that situation.”

Alex looked between them.

“You think we’re both crazy,” Kit said.

“Detective Brandon,” she said, “I was willing to give you a chance because I trust Kit’s ability to read people. He’s better at it than anyone I know. Is he wrong this time?”

“Let’s just say I’m not as used to the idea of retrievers as omens as you are. Did your brother leave here on foot or in a car?”

“Don’t answer, Meghan,” Kit said. “I’m sorry, Detective Brandon, but-”

“I’m sorry, too,” Ciara’s voice said. They turned to see her standing in the doorway. “Mr. Logan, I’m afraid we’ll have to ask you and Ms. Taggert to come in for questioning.”

“I’m afraid we’ll have to make it another time,” Kit said.

“Ciara-”

“You’ve lost your objectivity, Alex. I know you felt sorry for Mr. Logan and his grandmother all those years ago, but the fact is, these two have knowingly harbored a fugitive wanted for murder. They themselves can be considered accessories to murder. If they aren’t going to reveal information regarding Gabe Taggert’s whereabouts, they should be placed under arrest.”

“Damn it, Ciara-I gave John my word.”

“You also took an oath when you were sworn in. You tell me, Alex-are you playing by the rules? Should we have come out here without backup, entered an armed camp-”

“You won’t be harmed by my security staff,” Kit said.

She ignored him. “Let’s call the captain and see what he has to say about what we’re doing here, Alex.”

She was right, Alex knew. Only John’s faith in an army buddy’s loyalties and his own belief that someone in law enforcement was helping the killers had made him agree to this in the first place. But even if he had come out here with the whole department at his back, he wouldn’t have handled it the way she was. Now, they’d probably never hear a word out of either of these two.

“Is this some kind of good cop, bad cop script?” Meghan asked.

“No,” Kit answered, before Alex or Ciara could.

Kit Logan had been true to his word. The guards, though clearly unhappy with this turn of events, had allowed both Kit Logan and Meghan Taggert to be handcuffed and placed in the backseat of the car. “I’ll call your lawyer,” one of them had said to Kit. “And I’ll call Moriarty to tell him what a great pal his friend turned out to be.”

“Don’t upset Moriarty,” Kit had told him. “Spend your time trying to locate Everett Corey. He’ll know where Spooky is.”

Alex had managed to talk Ciara out of making the young man empty his pockets. Alex had patted him down and told her that if that wasn’t good enough, she could drive off without either one of them. While Ciara was busy patting down Meghan Taggert, Alex slipped the rabbit’s foot back into Kit Logan’s hand. Logan shot him a quick look of gratitude and then withdrew into a world of his own. The childish token of luck, and all the other talismans Logan carried, obviously meant more to him than Alex had originally guessed. Alex told himself he allowed Kit to keep anything that was not a weapon because he was still hoping for cooperation.

Ciara repaid him for his resistance to her tactics by refusing to give him his keys back. “I’m driving. You can count yourself lucky if I make it sound as if arresting them was your idea.”