"You're my friend's ex-fiancée. That's a little different."
Carine's mouth snapped shut, and she stared at him. He'd obviously meant to sting her, and he'd succeeded. "All right. Why tell me Louis wasn't a nice man?"
"Because he wasn't."
"That's not an answer."
"I thought it'd be enough to scare you into going home. A minute ago I thought telling you I'm under police surveillance would scare you into going home. Now I'm telling you I had a motive-"
"Stop saying that!"
"Listen to me, Carine." He set down his cup again. "I don't need your help."
"You're being an ass just to get rid of me."
He smiled faintly. "It's not working very well, is it?"
"What about Ty? Have you talked to him? He'd help you. You know he would."
"Ty's on a mission, not that I'd ask him for his help. He's still on active duty. He doesn't need to get mixed up in a murder investigation." Manny sat back, studying her for a moment. "That's what this is, Carine. A murder investigation. A man was killed yesterday. You need to back off."
"Yes," she said, "I'm well aware a man was killed."
His expression softened. "I'm sorry. I haven't forgotten you were the one who found him. How're you doing?"
"Okay."
"Sleep last night?"
"Not much."
He winked at her. "Now you're looking for trouble to distract yourself, aren't you? I know it's hard to figure what to do after something like yesterday."
"It was hard enough getting shot at last year. This-"
"Give yourself some time. And don't worry about me, will you? I'll be fine. If I need help…" He shrugged, deliberately not finishing.
"If you need help, you won't turn to a nature photographer, not with all the tough types you know." She gave him a quick smile and got to her feet. "Just stating the facts, not putting myself down. You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"
"The police asked me not to talk to anyone."
"Right. Like you needed their say-so to keep your mouth shut."
He rose, and she could see the lines at the corners of his eyes, the strain. He'd just gotten his son back on his feet, and now he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when a murder was committed-but he didn't let any of that show. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and admonished her one more time. "You don't have a dog in this fight, Carine. Stay out of it."
When she got back out onto the street, she made herself take three deep cleansing breaths before she decided what to do next. Her hands were shaking. Her stomach muscles were tight to the point of soreness, but at least she didn't feel as if she'd throw up-minor progress, but progress nonetheless.
She fished out her cell phone and dialed Gus's number. "Gus? It's me. The police have Manny under surveillance. Can you believe it? They think he killed Louis. Why don't they think I killed him?"
"What the hell were you doing talking to Manny Carrera?"
"Relax. He's at the Four Seasons having coffee." She sighed, starting down Tremont Street toward the intersection of Arlington Street, the Public Garden across from her, people passing her on their normal routines. "Manny's in trouble, Gus. He won't admit it, of course. He's going to have ulcers and heart disease in a few years from keeping it all under such tight control."
"Carine-"
"I'm thinking about calling Ty. Do you know where he is?"
"Why do you want to call him? Manny can take care of himself."
"Manny's not taking care of himself. You should see him. Maybe Ty can talk to him. He must have heard about what happened."
Gus hesitated. "He heard."
Carine stopped abruptly, a man in a suit nearly crashing into her as he rushed past. Gus was being evasive, and that wasn't his nature. He'd been evasive earlier, and she'd let it go. Normally he was the most straightforward person she'd ever encountered. "Gus?"
"What, honey? You sound stressed out-"
"Gus, where is Tyler? Is he on leave? Manny said he was on a mission."
"You haven't seen the news, have you? Well, you'll find out sooner or later-North and I pulled three prep school seniors off the ridge yesterday."
"So, he's there. I'll call him at home."
"Try his cell phone."
She frowned. "Gus? Gus, what is it you're not telling me?"
"Ah, shit, honey, I'm losing the connection. I can't hear you. Can you hear me?"
"I can hear you fine."
"What? Carine? Are you there? These goddamn cell phones."
"Gus-"
He disconnected.
And she knew. Ty was en route to Boston or already there. The fact that Gus didn't want to tell her meant North had come because of her. Gus wouldn't like it either way-Ty in Boston, her there on her own.
" Mission, my ass."
Manny had to know. He must have contacted Ty and put him up to keeping an eye on her-probably to take her back to Cold Ridge, since that seemed to be the general consensus of what she should do with herself. Go home. Stay out of trouble. Don't cause any trouble.
She didn't feel warm and safe and less isolated, less vulnerable, as if her family and friends were trying to do right by her after she'd had a shock.
"Ha," she muttered. "I know better."
She'd been conspired against by her own uncle, by Manny Carrera-and North. They'd obviously believed she couldn't resist meddling.
She could see herself standing in the library door yesterday and relived the jolt of awareness that had warned her something was wrong. She saw the blood. Louis's hand. She felt herself running in panic out of the house, into Manny Carrera's arms.
If she hadn't been there, would Manny have slipped away before the police arrived?
Was it her fault he was under suspicion?
Louis Sanborn was not a nice man.
Maybe not. But Manny hadn't shot him in cold blood.
She dialed Gus's number. "When did Ty leave for Boston?" she asked him.
"Can't hear you," her uncle said, and hung up.
Seven
Antonia had already tracked Ty down on his cell phone and given him an earful about leaving her sister on the loose in Boston, and now he was getting it from Manny Carrera. Ty just listened. They didn't realize what it was like to watch Carine do calf stretches on her porch-watch her as she sipped tea and tried to eat a scone on her way to a murder scene.
He'd lost her on the subway, picked her up again on Beacon Street. It wasn't as if he didn't know where she was going. He'd reminded Antonia of the promise she'd extracted from him last night not to make things worse for her sister. Hell, he was trying.
But as a practical matter, Antonia wanted Carine back in Cold Ridge, out of harm's way. Everyone did. It was the only reason Gus had let him out of town alive-because he figured Ty would come back with Carine, one way or another. She didn't like it that people worried about her, but they did. And not without cause. A year ago, she unwittingly disturbed a smuggling operation and came under fire while she was off taking pictures. Then she'd gone and fallen in love with him. Now it was out-and-out murder that had her life in an uproar, her family wanting to keep her safe.
She'd surprised him, sneaking into the Four Seasons and tracking down Manny. As usual, Manny's instincts were right on target-she wasn't going to back off. But that was Carine. She never backed off. Ty had seen her lie in wait for the perfect shot of a spruce grouse. She had focus, commitment, inner reserves. He remembered her making a break for it from behind her boulder last fall, zigzagging from tree to tree, launching herself down the hill, out of the line of fire. She might have made it out of there just fine if he hadn't been around.
Manny exhaled, looking out at the busy street. "I hope I put the fear of God in her. She was all set to jump in headfirst and prove my innocence."
"She likes you."
"Big deal. And that's not it. She has this strong moral compass. You know, this acute sense of right and wrong-as in, it was wrong for you to skip out on her a week before your wedding."