Ring of Lies (73 page)

T
he blood
siphoned
from Catherine’s face.
‘
I—Are you sure?
’

Jack and Grace looked at each other.

‘
Yeah, we’re sure,
’
Jack said.

A muscle flicked at Catherine’s jaw. She bowed her head and swallowed hard. Jack’s eyes seemed to bore right through her.
‘
Do you have any idea who she is?
’

‘
We’re working on it.
’

Catherine ignored Jack and looked directly at her sister.

‘
The son of a bitch. You must be devastated, poor darling.
’

Grace ran a hand through her hair.
‘
Not any longer. Now, I just hate Daniel for all the lies he told.
’

‘
At least he left you this fabulous house.
’

Jack
’s dark eyebrows rose.
‘
How do you know that?
’

‘
Which
thing do you mean,
’
asked Catherine
,
‘
that it’s fabulous or that it now belongs to Grace?
’

The right corner of his mouth tilted up
.
He
’d
met some confident liars in his time, and this woman was right up there with the best.

‘
That it belongs to Grace.
’

‘
Olivia told me.
’

‘
This
conference
you were at…
where was
it.
’

‘
Rome
. W
hy?
’

‘
Grace was pretty
messed
up
that she couldn’t find you
. How long were you there?
’

Catherine’s eyes narrowed.
‘
Five days. I played host to a group of consultant surgeons. I can give you their names and
the
addresses
of the hospital
s
where they work,
if you want.
’

‘
May
be later. After the conference ended, then what did you do?
’

Grace whirled round to stare at Jack.
‘
Stop this! Catherine hasn’t done anything wrong.
’

‘
Two people connected with Daniel are in the morgue. Someone tried to kill us last night. Next time they
m
ight succeed. I think that gives me the right to ask your sister a few questions.
’

‘
It’s all right, Grace.
’
Catherine
rested a hand on her sister’s arm and then
turned to face Jack.
‘
I had some leave due, so I stayed on for a few days. Do you have a problem with that?
’

‘
No, but
that doesn’t explain
why you didn’t return any of Grace’s calls
.
’

Sudden anger flashed in Catherine’s brown eyes.
‘
My cell phone was stolen, along with my purse.
’

‘
Which
would
also
contain
your passport.
In
that
case
, how did you get
here
?
’

Catherine’s features remained composed.
‘
I went to the British Embassy. They replaced my passport and
organized
a flight back to London.
When Olivia told me Grace was here, I got on the first available plane.
’

‘
That
still
doesn’t explain how
you
got
in
the house
.
’

‘
Well, obviously
I didn’t break in
.
And as I don’t have a key—
’

Jack
held her gaze
.
‘
Nothing is obvious.
All the doors were locked
.
’

Catherine’s
brown
eyes glared up at her inquisitor.
‘
Are you implying I’m lying?
’

‘
That’s enough, Jack. Catherine isn’t a suspect,
’
Grace said
,
and turned to her sister
.
‘
You must be tired.
Come on upstairs
.
I
’ll
show you where the guest room is
.
’

Jack watched the two women leave the room
arm-in-arm
. He glanced at his watch—
close to midnight. With any luck, Mike might still be awake.
He tapped in the number and waited for his SAC to pick up the call. Surprised when no one answered, he cut the connection and
dialled
Agent
Diego’s cell phone instead.

‘
Jack West,
’
he said when Diego answered.
‘
Sorry for the late call, but Mike’s not picking up and this is—
’

‘
Mike had a heart attack. He’s
in a critical
condition.
’

Jack’s hand tightened on the phone.
‘
Jesus.
Which hospital is he in
, Diego
?
’

‘
Jackson Memorial.
Chrissie found him slumped in the hallway. It doesn’t look good, Jack.
If he can get through the next twenty
-
four hours then he’s in with a chance.
’

‘
I’ll
be there as soon as I can
.
’

‘
There’
s nothing you can do, Jack. And if he
were
able, Mike would tell you to continue with the investigation. I’ll let you know as soon as
there’s any change in his condition
.
’

Deep down Jack knew Diego was right, but it still cut to the bone.
‘
In
that case
,
can
you run a background c
heck on Catherine Peterson—thirty, Caucasian
, five feet ten
,
with
brown
eyes?
She’s a British Citizen
,
so you’ll need to contact our friends
across
the pond. I want to know her movements for the last three weeks
, and i
n particular whether her passport has passed through Immigration anywhere on the east coast.
Oh, and check out her employers, Ross Pharmaceuticals. She’s one of their sales representatives.
’

‘
What’s her connection to Elliott?
’

‘
She’s Grace’s sister.
Turned up
at Sand Dollars
an hour ago. Walked straight in; claims the front door was unlocked
. She
spun some story about losing
her
cell
phone
and passport
while chaperoning a group of surgeons at a conference in Rome.
So check with the British Embassy there and see if they issued her with a replacement.
’

‘
Anything else?
’

‘
Yeah,
compare
her photograph
to
the
video
tapes from
the airport to
see if
she
match
es any of the women who arrived on the same flights as Elliott
.
’

Diego made a strangled sound.
‘
Do you have any idea how many women were on those flights?
’

‘
Just do it.
’
Jack interrupted.
‘
And
make sure you
k
eep me posted on Mike’s status.
’