First Impressions (Edenton 1)

“No, it wasn’t.” She didn’t add that she’d had no idea the riddle had anything to do with millions of dollars’ worth of paintings. “He told you where the paintings were, but you killed him anyway.”

“That’s what I was told to do,” the man said, shrugging. “But I made him eat the paper he wrote down your name on. I thought that would get rid of it. Who knew they’d find it inside him? It’s amazin’ what they can do nowadays.”

Eden was beginning to understand. A man with an addiction to gambling had for years paid off his debts by selling government secrets. But when the debts overwhelmed him, he’d been ordered killed. He’d tried to save his life by telling what he’d figured out about a riddle in a book that had yet to be published. But it hadn’t worked. He’d been made to eat what he’d written down, then was killed.

“I guess your boss was interested in the riddle,” Eden said, walking even more slowly, trying to give Melissa and Brad time to get away.

“Yeah,” the man said. “Real interested. But by the time we got here, the FBI was already here—and some man was stayin’ in your old house and paintin’ ever’ night. It was Grand Central Station in here. I had to get rid of the agent, and I had to ask that man what he wanted.”

“Drake.”

“Yeah, the necklace guy. When I found out that he was crazy and didn’t know nothin’ I let him go.”

“Crazy?” Eden asked. The car was close now.

“Yeah. Said he was plannin’ to be a great painter. I thought his stuff was good, but not great. I used to watch him paint while I was waitin’ for you to show up. The FBI took a long time to get you here.”

“I was important?” she whispered. “You could have taken the paintings at any time.”

“Naw. Boss said it had to be legal or he’d get only about twenty percent of their worth. He wanted you to show up so you could sell ’em to him, but, I tell you, it wasn’t easy. You got more men around you than a pop star.”

“But you killed them off. What about the men who ransacked my house?”

“To make you want to leave. You would be gone too, except for that FBI guy.”

“And the snakes?” she asked softly.

The man’s eyes brightened. “That was my idea. McBride and I go way back. I was supposed to keep you alive, but I knew he’d take care of you, so to speak, so I could afford to give him a little trouble. Payback for all the trouble he’s given me over the years.”

Eden started to ask about Jared but couldn’t bring herself to do it. “You told Drake that we’d found the necklace.”

“Yeah. I was watchin’ and listenin’. Seein’ as it was his paintin’s that led you to the necklace, he thought it should be his. He said it was his chance to prove his talent to the world. I helped him arrange the kidnappin’.”

“Who did my daughter meet at the airport?”

“Don’t know. Ugly little creep. He ran off as soon as I showed up.”

“So what happens now?”

“You’re gonna sell me the paintin’s,” he said. “I got papers for you to sign. You don’t like ’em, so you’re gonna sell ’em to me. And after I buy ’em I’m gonna find out, by accident like, that they have other paintin’s underneath ’em. All done legal-like and all sold on the open market. No tryin’ to find secret buyers for ’em. My boss wants all this to be legal.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask who his boss was, but she thought better of it.

“’Course the funny part is that if you tell anybody what happened tonight, I’ll come back and do whatever I have to.”

“Yes, I understand,” Eden said quietly. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a shadow move. Was someone there? Had someone survived this man’s slaughter? “I assume that you’re getting a good cut for doing this. If it’s to be your name on the papers, legally, y

ou will own them.”

“Are you tryin’ to turn me against my boss? He won’t like that.”

“No, Mr.—”

“Jolly. Ever’body calls me Jolly. Counta I don’t laugh a lot. But the name ain’t fair ’cause I got a good sense of humor. It’s just that it don’t match anybody else’s.”

When he said the name, Eden froze in place. She’d heard his name when she’d been locked in the cellar, but she hadn’t told Jared. If she had, maybe—

She stopped her thoughts because she heard a shot in the direction they had come from. In Melissa’s direction. She turned, and so did the man. It ran through her head that she should use his turned back to try to escape, but she didn’t. He might take his anger out on Melissa.