Page 67
Story: Hide and Seek
He stared down. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the dubious light, and then another moment to accept what he was seeing. Tumbled black hair, mouth agape, pale-blue eyes fixed in an upward stare…
Andy reeled from the door, fell back against the black and brass plaque on the outside wall. He gulped in salt-stung air, trying his hardest not to lose his breakfast then and there.
Marcus.
Marcus was dead.
Dead.
A sound squeezed out of him—wounded, animalistic.
It wasn’t grief for Marcus. His thoughts weren’t that coherent. He felt shock and horror and revulsion. He didn’t need to know how Marcus had died to understand instinctively that it had not been—could not have been—a natural death.
That look on Marcus’s face. The utter disbelief.
Once again, Andy’s stomach curdled and rose, and once again he managed to swallow down that sickened response.
How?
Why?
Yes, that was the most baffling question. Why the hell would anyone kill Marcus?
He could have an unfortunate accident.
Andy’s heart froze mid-beat.
Yeah, but this wasn’t an accident. This put as much suspicion on Andy as anyone else. Besides, Quinn had been with Andy all night long.
Had he, though?
Andy had slept so deeply—and so late. He never slept like that. Not in years.
Okay, but he also wasn’t typically sleep deprived, and he didn’t usually drink hot buttered rum before bed.
And Quinn wouldn’t—couldn’t—
Couldn’t he? Really?
Because he seemed to carry a weapon at all times. And whatever he’d been up to in the CIA, it probably didn’t involve pushing pencils or whatever the cover story was at the Agency for International Development.
No. Andy had told Quinn in no uncertain terms he did not want Marcus taken off the board like that. Quinn would not ignore Andy or overrule him. Quinn was not Marcus.CouldQuinn have done this terrible thing? Andy suspected that maybe, yes, Quinn was capable.Hadhe done it? No. Maybe it wasn’t logical—itwasn’tlogical—but Andy had to believe Quinn wouldn’t do that. Wouldn’t do that to Andy.
His heart resumed beating, then gave another jump at the suddenwhoopof a police siren. A police cruiser pulled up beside the wooden walkway, and Ruthanne Wolf got out.
“You okay, Andy? Mrs. Dubonnet said you found a body?”
Andy nodded, pulled himself together. “I’m okay, but it looks like—I think Marcus is dead.”
Ruthanne’s gaze sharpened. “Marcus Bok?YourMarcus?”
“My former Marcus,” Andy agreed, and then had to swallow the inappropriate laugh that nearly tore out of his throat. It was just… He couldn’t quite believe this was really happening, that he was standing here on the walkway in frontof Time in a Bottle, staring at Ruthanne’s worried face while Marcus lay sprawled dead a couple of feet away.
“Okay. Stay here.” Ruthanne snapped the thumb break on her holster, resting one hand on the butt of her pistol and reaching for the door with the other.
Of course, she ran into the same problem Andy and Mrs. Dubonnet had: Marcus was a large man. The door rebounded back in the frame.
“He’s right there,” Andy told her shakily. “He’s blocking the door.” He had no idea why he was struggling not to laugh. This was not remotely funny. It wasghastly. And yet, he could feel laughter welling in his chest, trying to push through the tightness of his throat. That had to be shock.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117