In Destiny's Shadow

“It was a warning from Benedict.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out the postcard he’d managed to lift from the body. “This scene of a cottage in the German countryside is the Titan Syndicate’s calling card. Jeremy described it to me. Apparently my sister got one just like it.”

“How did you take that from Fredo without anyone noticing?”

“That’s not important. It was meant for you, anyway.” He flipped it over and held it out to her. “There’s no writing on the back, but the message is clear. Benedict wants you to quit investigating him.”

She took the card by one corner and studied it. “It’s such a peaceful picture, it makes the whole thing creepier. But I’m not giving up.”

No, she wouldn’t, Anthony thought. Once again, he felt a stirring of admiration for her grit. “How did you meet Fredo in the first place?”

“He tried to sell me a hundred-dollar Rolex. Instead of calling the cops, I interviewed him for a story on habitual thieves. Afterward, I gave him some money and got him a job at a grocery store, but he quit after a week.” She twisted over the seat to store the postcard in her bag. “Whatever his faults, he doesn’t deserve what happened to him.”

“Something else Benedict will answer for,” Anthony muttered.

“How did Benedict’s men get Fredo’s body from in front of the alley before the police got there? I didn’t delay all that long before I phoned them.”

“You made the call eleven minutes after we left the scene.”

“He was lying in plain view in the middle of the street.”

“A dark street in a deserted neighborhood.”

“Maybe Fredo’s suspicions were correct and Benedict has bought off someone on the Santa Fe police force.”

“Even if he does have someone on the force, there would be no telling which patrol car took the call. It’s more likely that there was nothing for the police to see when they arrived.”

Melina shivered. She clasped her hands in her lap. “How could that be?”

Anthony reached out to turn up the heater despite the sunshine that poured through the windshield. “Benedict’s men must have escaped through the rear doors of the van before it exploded.”

“I thought of that possibility last night, but decided it was too remote.”

“The van they were driving was likely stolen. They could have stolen another vehicle, possibly a delivery truck, from one of the warehouses on that street and picked up the body. Eleven minutes plus however long it took the cops to get there would have given them enough time for that.”

She turned to face him. “If it was a delivery truck, they could have faked a delivery to get Fredo into the hotel. Anthony, we should go back.”

“No. Too risky.”

“It might be quicker. We could start with the hotel and find out what deliveries they had. Or we could check the warehouses, see if a truck was stolen and trace it from that end.”

“Wouldn’t do any good. They would have ditched it by now. The Titan Syndicate wouldn’t have left such an obvious loose end.” He glanced at her. “It’s not too late. If you went back to New York and put out the word that you’re off the story, then Benedict would have no reason to come after you.”

“No.”

“Think about it for a minute, Melina.”

“No. I told you already, I don’t give up. And I’m not ready to go home, especially now. We must be close to Benedict. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given us that warning.” Her voice firmed. “We’re in this together now, Anthony, whether you like it or not.”

He already knew that. He hadn’t truly believed she would go home, but his conscience had made him try to persuade her one last time.

It would be safer for her if she gave up…but it would be better for him if she didn’t.

The partnership she had proposed earlier made sense. They would get further if they pooled their information and their abilities. Melina would make a good ally. There were strong, logical reasons to keep her with him.

Then there were other, less logical reasons. There was the way she had touched him when he’d stood over her chair in the restaurant. His entire body had sensed the gentle stroke of her fingers on his neck. He could feel her presence beside him now as vividly as sunshine. The connection was getting stronger by the minute. He would be lying to himself if he pretended he didn’t want to feel it again.

Yet even before she had touched him, he’d felt the caress of her emotions. The sympathy in her gaze had steadied him, drawing him back from his anger. It was odd. Although his psychic abilities allowed him to link with his sisters on occasion, he was no empath.

“I don’t understand how Benedict could have known I was at the Pecos,” Melina said.

Anthony wrenched his thoughts back on track. “Neither do I. You didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

“Just my editor. And there’s no way that Neil would give out that information.”

“What about someone else at the paper?”

“That’s unlikely. Maybe we were followed when I checked out of the Grand Inn.”

“No. I made certain of it.”

“Someone could have put a tracking device on this Jeep while it was parked outside.”

“Impossible. Any device would need a power source to transmit data. I would have noticed.”

“How would you know?”

“I do regular scans of my surroundings.”

“You do scans? Why? How?”

Anthony kept the Jeep pointed down the highway and opened his mind, directing his awareness to search for any trace of foreign energy. He probed the underbody first and found nothing. The area under the hood was more difficult, since the field generated by the engine and the vehicle’s electrical system provided background noise, but it was clean, too. He completed the sweep by probing the interior. Satisfied there was nothing that didn’t belong, he returned his full attention to driving. “Trust me, I just do.”

Melina was silent for a while. “Anthony, you said you work for your friend Jeremy Solienti.”

“That’s right.”

“What kind of work do you do?”

He considered how to reply before he spoke. “We’re what you would call troubleshooters.”

“What does that mean?”

“Jeremy runs a private business that’s based in Philadelphia. You could think of it as a consulting firm. When a client comes to him with a problem, we try to solve it.”

“Is that where you live? Philadelphia?”

Yes. I have an apartment there, but my work can take me anywhere.”

“Did you learn about scanning for tracking devices as part of your job?”