Angel of the Dark

Depressed, Danny returned to his mountainous to-do list, but his heart wasn’t in it. Maybe he should call Céline? She still wasn’t home, which was unlike her. After a fight, she typically stormed off for a few hours then came home a few glasses of wine later ready for a screaming match and some passionate make-up sex.

Pushing the paperwork to one side, a fax cover sheet slipped out of the file; Danny noticed that it was also from Liu’s office in Hong Kong. How had he missed it earlier? Behind the cover sheet was a scanned photograph. It was black and white and grainy. Clearly it had been taken from some distance. It showed a man and a woman on a balcony, embracing. Danny looked at the man closely, scanning what little he could see of his features for any resemblance to Lyle Renalto. It was impossible. The picture quality was too poor. Although there was something familiar about the image. The shape of the head, the stance as the man extended his hand toward the woman—Mrs. Baring, presumably—the way that the facial features looked stretched out, almost as if he were cracking a huge smile…

Danny’s stomach lurched.

Oh my God. No.

It can’t be.

Shaking, he picked up the phone.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

MATT DALEY WAS SITTING BY THE pool, enjoying the sunset and sipping one of Mrs. Harcourt’s perfectly mixed gin and tonics, when his cell phone rang. Danny McGuire’s number flashed across the screen.

Damn, thought Matt. He felt guilty about McGuire. Guilty that he’d been avoiding the guy’s calls, guilty that he hadn’t told him about Lisa. He couldn’t fully explain his silence, even to himself. It was just that what he had with Lisa felt so private and so precious, he was scared that once he cracked the door to the outside world, the floodgates would open and the dream would be shattered.

But he had to talk to McGuire at some point. For one thing, there was still a deranged killer out there, a maniac who had to be caught, for Lisa’s sake as much as anyone’s. Bracing himself for the inevitable abuse, he picked up.

“Danny, hi. I’m sorry I’ve been so tough to get hold of.”

“Listen to me very carefully, Matt.” Danny McGuire’s voice sounded strained rather than angry. “You need to get out of there. Right now.”

“Out of where?” Matt laughed. “You don’t even know where I am.”

“You’re in Bali, staying at Lisa Baring’s villa.”

The laugh died on Matt’s lips. How the hell did Danny McGuire know that? “I was going to tell you.”

“Tell me what? That you were lovers?” For the first time a note of anger crept into McGuire’s voice.

“Tell you I was here,” said Matt stiffly. “That I’d met her. For what it’s worth, we aren’t lovers.” Yet.

“It’s not me you have to convince,” said Danny. “It’s Inspector Liu. Were you aware that the Chinese view Lisa Baring as a suspect in her husband’s killing?”

Matt laughed out loud. “That’s insane. Lisa had nothing to do with Miles’s death, and that’s a fact.”

“Is it? Or do you just want it to be?”

It was a warm night, but Matt suddenly felt a distinct chill in the air.

Danny went on: “She had lovers, Matt. At least one that the police are aware of. Possibly more.”

“Bullshit.”

“Matt, listen to me. She brought men to the house for sex while Miles was at work.”

“You’re wrong.” You have to be wrong.

“It gets worse. Liu thinks you’re one of them. His men have been watching the pair of you at the villa. You’ve been under surveillance for weeks now. You were supposed to be lying low and instead you end up a goddamn suspect!”

“A suspect?” Matt spluttered. “That’s ridiculous. I wasn’t even in Hong Kong when Miles Baring was murdered.”

“I know that,” said Danny. “That’s why I’m telling you all this now and not racing to have you arrested like Liu and his men. But you haven’t exactly helped your own cause, my friend.”

“I can’t believe the Chinese have been spying on us,” Matt said indignantly.

At this, Danny lost his temper. “It’s a murder investigation! Hello? You’re not out there on vacation. Or had you forgotten?”