Page 30 of Alibi for Murder (Colby Agency: The Next Generation #2)

No matter what he said, she opted to stay near the staircase. If she got uneasy again, she was out of here unless he physically stopped her. Frankly, at this point, she couldn’t be sure what he intended. One moment she was convinced he planned to harm her, and the next she wasn’t so sure.

He pulled the keypad free of the door, swinging it to one side. Then he reached into his pocket and retrieved something. A key, she realized, as he inserted it then gave it a twist, reached for the handle and opened it. The big, no question about it now, vault door opened.

“He wouldn’t give me the code,” he explained. “But I knew there would be a key somewhere. It took some time, but I found it.”

“And what is it you believe I need to see?” She folded her arms over her middle in an effort to conceal the shaking that had started. She would not be afraid, she repeated silently.

“The most explosive secrets that Ledwell has are right here. A maze of files, including videos, and the perfect example of what they were and are still doing in the sublevels of that high security lab.”

“If you had access to this,” she said, her anger rising again, “why the hell didn’t you tell me.

I wouldn’t have been running around all over the place trying to find evidence.

” Another realization had her drawing back.

Wait just one damned minute. “Why would you need the evidence my father had if you had access to this?”

“But you would’ve missed all the fun. And there is the small matter of tying up loose ends.” He gestured to the room. “Have a look.”

Ensuring that she stayed beyond arm’s reach from him, she moved closer until she could see inside the room.

Bookshelves covered two walls, each lined with binders. Rows of filing cabinets stood against the other two walls. In the center of the room was a round table with four chairs.

A man suddenly appeared in the doorway, stepping from one side of the door as if he’d been hiding or cowering there.

“May I come out now?”

Allie stumbled back. The man inclined his head and stared at her. “Who is this?”

He was medium height and build. He had black hair and vibrant… green eyes.

The photos she had seen of Tommy Madison filled her head.

“Tommy?” The name slipped from her lips before she could catch it.

He frowned, stared at her. “Do I know you?”

“You don’t know her,” Rivero spoke up. “She’s your target for today.”

Allie’s attention swung to him. “What did you say?”

Rivero smiled. “Don’t mind me, I was just leaving. It was nice to have known you, Allie Foster. Thank you for finding that evidence and bringing it right to me. One less bit of housekeeping.”

“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.

Rivero paused in his obvious exit. He turned back to her. “I’m doing what I’ve waited twenty-eight years to do, leaving with all the loose ends accounted for so that I may live the rest of my life in peace.”

Allie shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

He exhaled a put-upon breath. “If you must know, here you go. I was Ledwell’s watchdog, so to speak.

My career was on a downward spiral.” He shrugged.

“It happens. One day you’re at the top, and the next someone younger and more handsome takes your spot.

At any rate, I was in a bit of a pinch money wise, and I approached Ledwell with a proposition.

I would keep the trouble from their door for the right price.

They knew I was like a magnet to people who wanted to tell their stories. ”

Allie’s chest constricted. “You lured in would-be whistle-blowers with your reputation for exposing the dirty laundry of big tech and politicians.”

He smiled. “Smart girl. It was the easiest money I’d ever made. Every single one swallowed the bait. Except your father screwed me. He was supposed to have the evidence with him, not your mother. I never liked being responsible for the deaths of innocents.”

She rushed toward him. He reared back in mock fear, laughing in her face.

“You killed them.”

“Your father killed himself by betraying his employer. Killed his wife too. And he left me hanging. I had to disappear to prevent the same fate.”

Fury twisted her lips. “Why did you bother coming back after all these years? Why didn’t you just stay gone?”

“Well, you know what Dorothy said: There’s no place like home.

But I knew I could never come back…unless I found a way to make it right.

What better way than to put it all on a dead man’s shoulders?

I only had to wait for him to die—well, I may have hastened it along.

He was dying anyway. When the dust settles, I’ll be able to get any price I want for my book, and no one, no one, will be able to touch me. ”

“I don’t believe you.” She had to keep him talking until she figured out some sort of new plan. “How could you have learned what was happening and then pulled all this off?

“I still have a few of my old contacts. I learned of a certain someone’s failing health, and a plan came to me.

I could kill two birds with one stone, as they say.

With your grandparents long gone and you so lonely, all cooped up in that old house, I estimated you were ripe for the picking.

” He grinned. “I love it when I’m right.

” He glanced over her shoulder. “Well, it’s past time I left. You two enjoy yourselves.”

He turned and walked out the French doors.

Allie started after him. She wanted to tear into him. He slammed the door in her face and locked it. She reached to unlock it, but it was the type of lock that required a key. And he had that key.

“Damn it!”

She ran for the staircase.

“Where are you going?”

She dared to pause and look back. “I’m sorry, Tommy, but I have to leave.” No matter that she would love to know how he was here…she had to get word to Steve. Rivero could not slip away again.

“Apologies,” this man—Tommy—said, “but you cannot leave. I can’t allow it. You are the target.”

Allie started to ask what that meant, but she actually knew. No need to try buying time. So she rushed up the stairs instead.

The sound of his footfalls behind her echoed in her ears.

Rivero Residence

Lake Shore Drive, Wonder Lake, 2:00 a.m.

Allie wasn’t here.

Steve felt way beyond desperate. He had to find her.

Mannington had made another call to the chief of police, and every available uniform on the city’s payroll was helping with the search. An APB had been issued for Rivero and his SUV.

Steve had even called Agent Potter for help. She and Fraser had shown up ASAP. He supposed he should appreciate the effort, but to his way of thinking, Allie wouldn’t be missing if not for Potter’s little game.

With the house fire and Allie missing, the chief had declared exigent circumstances and Rivero’s home had been searched.

The bastard had all sorts of evidence related to Ledwell. He’d had it for years it seemed. Insurance? Blackmail? Whatever his game, it was not about getting evidence for his long overdue story or the book he claimed to have written. This was about something else entirely.

Two detectives had been sent to the home of Edgar Ledwell, the man who’d started the company. Several officers were posted outside the lab. Another pair of detectives had gone to the home of Ledwell’s son, second in command at the renowned company. So far, no sign of Rivero, his vehicle or Allie.

“I think it’s safe to say,” Fraser spoke up, “that Rivero is on Ledwell’s payroll.”

Steve resisted the first response that came to mind. You think? Instead, he grunted an agreement. Right now, he cared about just one thing: finding Allie safe.

He swiped his forearm across his face to clear away the sweat. Fatigue tugged at him. He smelled of smoke and sweat from Allie’s home. Fraser got a call and moved away. Steve watched as he motioned for Potter. The police were still searching the property.

Rivero had no other properties—at least none listed in his name.

Where the hell would he take her? And why? She had nothing in the way of concrete evidence unless what she’d found in that time capsule was significant.

Maybe that was the problem. Rivero might not want her to have it, particularly if he was working for Ledwell.

Steve swore again. He had to find that lowlife bastard.

In his pocket, his cell vibrated. He hoped to hell this was something, anything to help. The number wasn’t one he recognized. No matter, he hit accept. Allie could be using someone else’s phone. “Durham,” he said in greeting.

“Mr. Durham, this is Gayle Fischer.”

Madison’s neighbor on Hamilton Road. The nosy one. Why would she be calling at this hour? Hope rushed into his throat. “How can I help you, Mrs. Fischer?”

“Well, I don’t know if this is anything, but just before 1:00 a.m. a vehicle went into Thomas’s driveway. I might not have noticed it, but I was outside on the porch because I couldn’t sleep. Insomnia is my companion all too often lately.”

“Can you describe the vehicle?” Steve wasn’t waiting, he walked to the car, scanning those around him to ensure no one noticed. He climbed behind the steering wheel and started the engine. He cringed at the sound, but no one paid the slightest attention.

“It was some sort of SUV. One of those foreign jobs. White, I think. I woke up my husband, and he said it had been there before, but sometimes he gets things wrong, so I watched.”

Steve resisted gunning the engine. Instead, he rolled slowly and quietly away from the other vehicles gathered around Rivero’s house. “Can you tell me if the vehicle is still there?”

“It left just a few minutes ago, and that’s why I’m calling you.”

He drove, moving faster as he put distance between him and the cluster of official vehicles. “Were you able to see who was in the vehicle?” If she’d seen Allie, that would explain her calling him instead of the police. Hope dared to swell in his chest.

“No. Unfortunately not. But after the SUV left, I walked over there to see if anything had been disturbed. Lights were on, so I approached with caution. I saw the woman who was with you the other day. She and a man were in the kitchen. It looked to me like they were just talking, but when she moved toward the door, he blocked her path. I don’t know what’s going on, but I think she might be in trouble. ”

“I’m on my way,” Steve assured her.

“I’ll stay where I can see them through the windows, but I don’t think I should go inside,” she said. “I don’t want to have to shoot anybody, and I never could tolerate a man pushing a woman around.”

As much as he wanted Allie protected, he said, “You shouldn’t go inside, Mrs. Fischer. Stay back from sight. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Call me back if anything changes.”

“I will.”

The call ended, and Steve pressed the accelerator even harder.

The faster he could get there, the sooner Allie would be safe.

A part of him wanted to inform Potter and Fraser and the police, but he didn’t have a handle on the situation.

The last thing he wanted was for a show of force to put this guy into desperation mode.

Better to go in quietly and assess what needed to happen.

Steve didn’t stop for red lights. He just kept going.

He had to get there.

Now.