"Then he'll be abducting someone else."
"I don't find sure things very often, but I'd call that one."
"Testing Luke-or hurting him?"
"Either. Both."
"Which means the killer could be moving closer to Luke. Watch your back, Jaylene."
"I keep my weapon handy, believe me." She chuckled. "But I'm not feeling all that vulnerable, if you want the truth. I spotted your watchdog earlier tonight."
Sounding a little amused himself, Bishop said, "He must be slipping."
"Well, I'll let you tell him that. I gather we weren't supposed to know he was here?"
"Just a precaution. Does Luke know?"
"He hasn't mentioned it. I just noticed myself a few hours ago."
"Do me a favor and don't tell him unless he asks."
"Keeping secrets from my partner? He will not be happy when he finds out."
"Just tell him I asked, and let me deal with the fallout."
"Gladly. In the meantime, as I'm sure you're aware, the local police aren't all that inclined to keep an eye on Samantha for her own safety. And if Luke plans to stick close from now on, he may have to handcuff her."
"Depends on how things are going in that motel room," Bishop murmured.
Severely, Jaylene said, "I just meant that if he intends to be her watchdog for the rest of this case, then the only way the cops in the Clayton County Sheriff's Department are going to accept her presence is if she's handcuffed to his wrist and at least nominally under arrest."
"He can fake it if he needs to."
"You know, for someone who holds a position of legal authority as high as yours, you sure do like to throw away the rule book sometimes."
"Knowing the rules is one thing. Following them blindly all the time is something else again." Bishop sighed, his humor fading. "If it came to that, arresting Samantha would probably accomplish nothing more than brightening the media spotlight on the investigation."
"Yeah, but if she's always with Luke, that's going to happen anyway. A fed with a carnival seer as a sidekick? Or however they choose to define the relationship. And given the high moral standards of the media, sidekick is probably the kindest word they'd use."
"I wonder if Luke's considered that."
"I don't wonder. He hasn't. He gets tunnel vision, you know that. It's what makes him so good."
"And so difficult to work with."
"Have you heard me complain?"
"No, thankfully." Bishop sighed. "You two will just have to deal with Samantha's presence as best you can. In the meantime, I meant what I said about watching your back. If this killer wants to test Luke, he's likely to turn his sights on those closest to him. That means you."
"And Sam."
"And Samantha, yes. What bothers me about that message she was given is that there's no good reason for the killer to alert them he was watching. Unless…"
"Unless?"
"Unless it was sleight of hand. And if so, if Sam's the diversion…"
"Then where's the trick," Jaylene finished.
It was after five and still very dark outside when Samantha stirred and raised herself up slightly. Lucas lay on his stomach beside her, one arm thrown across her and his face half buried in the pillows. He was deeply asleep, totally relaxed in a way he never was while awake.
Samantha watched him for a long time in the lamplight, just studying his face. What he did aged him; he looked older than the thirty-five she knew him to be. At the same time, his was a face that the years would be kind to, and he would always, she thought, be a handsome man.
Of course, he'd also always be a pain in the ass.
She couldn't help smiling at the wry realization, and as she did, the lamp beside the bed flickered several times. She waited, watching it, and within a minute it flickered again.
Samantha slid out from under his arm and from the bed. She didn't take particular pains to be quiet; once Luke was asleep, it required either a very loud noise or the sense of danger to awaken him.
And no matter what doubts he might harbor when he was awake, Luke's subconscious knew she posed no danger to him.
She was counting on that.
Dressing quickly in warm clothing, Samantha went to the door and removed the chair wedged underneath the knob. She turned to the window by the door and peeked out. The patrol car set to watch the motel-Caitlin Graham, actually-was parked at the far end, closer to Caitlin's room, and Samantha could just make 3ut the deputies inside. As she watched, one got out of the car and walked around, yawning and stretching in an obvious effort to stay awake. The one on the passenger side looked as though he lad already nodded off.
Samantha waited until the deputy returned to the car and was facing away from her again, then picked up her key and slipped silently from the room. It took only seconds to vanish around the:orner and out of sight of the deputies.
She waited there for a minute or so for her eyes to adjust to the larkness, then got her bearings and moved away from the motel ind toward a little side street nearby. Within fifty yards, she:rossed the street and stood in the shadow of an old building that lad started out life as something better than the storage space it vas now.
"Good morning."
She didn't jump in surprise, but Samantha's voice was a bit tense when she said, "We need to discuss these little predawn meetings. What if your subtle signal with the light alerted the deputies or woke up Luke?"
"The deputies were all but snoring and not even facing in the direction of your room. As for Luke, once he sleeps, he sleeps like the dead, we both know that. I was counting on you to put him to sleep."
"Quentin, I swear-"
"I wasn't insulting you. Would I do that? I only meant… Well, never mind." Hastily, he added, "I gather he isn't suspicious?"
"He's plenty suspicious. He knows damned well there's something I'm not telling him."
"Well, now, that surprises me. You being such a good actress and all."
Samantha shifted a bit to take better advantage of what little light was available to her, and peered up at him. "Are you trying to make me mad this morning?"
"Take it easy. Jesus, you're as prickly as Luke is. Fine pair you make." Quentin shook his head.
"That," she said, "remains to be seen. I can't stay away long; is there anything I need to know?"
"Yeah. The boss says we're running out of time."
"And they pay him the big bucks to state the obvious?"
Quentin's white teeth flashed in a grin. "You are not going to let him off the hook, are you?"
"Not if I can help it, no."
He smothered a laugh. "Well, I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to be given a hard time in this particular case, but later would probably be better. He's serious, Sam. We've reached a critical point, and if we can't get past it successfully, then this bastard will get away from us here."
"And if he does?"
"You know what happens if he does. You saw it. And what you saw is… unacceptable. We stop him here. Whatever the cost."
"Easy for your boss to say. He's not in the line of fire."
Quiet now, Quentin said, "Yes, he is. We all are."
After a moment, Samantha nodded. "Yeah. I know. Doesn't really make it easier, though."
"No. It never does."
"Look…" She hesitated, then finished, "I don't know how much I can control from this point on. How much I can change. [fs already gotten off-track."
"You mean you and Luke?"
"That didn't happen. It didn't happen because I wasn't here. And I don't know what it'll change. Maybe the wrong things. Maybe too much."
Musingly, Quentin said, "I've got to hand it to Bishop; he said you'd be wavering about now."
She stiffened. "I am not wavering."
"It wasn't an insult," he said in an absent tone. "He said to remind you that when we all agreed to take the first step and try to change what you saw, we were committed. If we stop before the job's done, we could make everything far worse."
"Worse than losing Lindsay?"
"There was nothing you could do about that."
"No?" Samantha let out a brief sigh. "I don't know anymore, she shouldn't have died, Quentin. That's not what I saw."