Darkness Before the Dawn (Maggie Bennett 2)

“Of course not! Kate wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Then why do you think someone dumped him here? Do you think she’s involved?”

“How do you expect me to answer that, Randall?” Maggie snapped. “She’s my sister, for Christ’s sake!”

“I want you to answer it honestly, Maggie. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.” He still hadn’t moved. She found that her hands were shaking in her lap.

“I don’t think she has anything to do with Francis’s activities or his murder,” she said finally. To her amazement, Randall nodded.

“But why was he dumped here? Why wasn’t he left where he was murdered?”

“To frame Kate.”

“Why?”

“Because she was there,” Maggie snapped. “Because she happened to have had a very public fight with him a few hours before he was killed, a fight in which she threatened to kill him. It was a situation tailor-made for a setup. Don’t give me that look, Randall. I know it’s farfetched, but having a dead man turn up in your bathtub is equally farfetched.”

“I think you’re probably right.”

“Besides, I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions. … What?”

“I said I think you’re right. Your sister checks out completely clean. And I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t cover for her. If she were involved in something illegal or traitorous, you’d drag her in, kicking and screaming, and stand by her all the way. Wouldn’t you?”

“Yes.”

He moved then; his arms released her from the psychological prison, and slowly her pent-up breathing returned to normal. “So the question is, what are we going to do now?”

She looked up at him, throwing back her mane of wheat-blond hair. “I don’t know what you’re going to do, Randall, and I don’t give a damn. I’m going to find out who tried to frame my sister. If I also find out who’s been helping Francis sell information to the communists, I’ll be glad to tell you all about it.”

“Don’t challenge me, Maggie,” he said softly. “You won’t win.”

“This time I might. I’m a lot tougher than I used to be, and I don’t take shit from anyone. Especially not from you.”

She could see the real effort it took him to control his temper. “It’s not going to do anyone any good, working against each other.”

“Are you suggesting we work with each other?” she countered.

“Heaven forbid. I work alone.”

“So do I,” she snapped, but the calmer, saner part of her remembered his connections that could prove invaluable. “The last thing in the world I want to do is work with you again.”

“I agree,” he said promptly.

She stared up at him. “But I might have to make an exception this time,” she said slowly.

“Maybe you will. Give me one good reason why I should.”

“Because you need me as cover. You have your choice, Randall. Either cut me in, or I’ll tell everyone exactly why you’re here.”

“You’d do it, wouldn’t you?”

“I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment,” Maggie said, lying through her teeth. When it came right down to it, she had no idea whether she’d blow his cover or not. All that mattered was that he think she would.

“So you’re not giving me much of a choice,” Randall said in that rich, low voice of his, his face distant. “Will you keep your mouth shut and do as you’re told?”

“Have I ever?”

He sighed, turned away from her, and stared out the window. His back was tall and straight and slim in the perfect gray suit. “It appears I have no choice in the matter. I guess we’re partners again.”