Blind Alley - Iris Johansen [71]
She finished the last site on Trevor's list at 3:42 A.M. and leaned back and tried to suppress her growing excitement. Would it work?
Chancy at best. Success would depend on many factors, including the elusive power of luck.
Well, they were due for some good luck, dammit.
She reached for her telephone and began to dial.
The sun was shining through the windows and bathing Eve and Joe in clear light as they sat at the breakfast table. Warm. Loving. Serene. So different from Aldo's dark world that Jane had been delving into last night.
Jane stood looking at them for an instant, hesitating. Stop it. You've made up your mind. Now go for it.
“Good morning.” She strode toward them. “I didn't hear you come in last night, Joe.” She went to the refrigerator and took out the orange juice. “Were you late?”
“Yes.” He took a sip of his coffee. “But you should have heard me. I saw the light under your door.”
“I was busy.” She poured her juice. “How's Lucy coming, Eve?”
“Finished.” Eve smiled faintly. “As you ordered, little madam.”
“You know I wouldn't—” She broke off as she met Eve's knowing gaze. “Busted?”
“Busted. What are you up to?”
“I had to make sure your decks were cleared.” She lifted her glass to her lips. “I'm going to need you.” She turned to Joe. “And you, too.”
“I'm honored not to be left out,” he said dryly. “Are you going to let us into your confidence or are we supposed to guess?”
“I would have talked to you before but I had to be sure. . . .” She moistened her lips. “I was confused. There were too many lost pieces and I had to fill in the blanks. Otherwise you'd blow me out of the water. I couldn't let that happen.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“We can't sit here and wait for Aldo to come after me. I thought maybe I could find a way to draw him out in the open. But after talking to him, I realize it's going to take something pretty strong to make him lose his cool. He'll just sit and wait and I can't take that. We have to go after him.”
“We are going after him,” Joe said sharply. “Why do you think I've been spending eighteen hours a day at the precinct? We're gathering information, we're sifting evidence, we're collating. We'll get there.”
“And it's driving you crazy. That's not the way you like to operate,” Jane said. “You want to go after him, too.”
“It's safer this way.”
“He's not in any hurry. He thinks he's found Cira and he's willing to wait for his opportunity. It could take years of cat-and-mouse. I'm not giving him my years. I want to live them to the hilt.” She turned to Eve. “I think I know a way to bring him out in the open, if you'll help me.”
“How?”
At least they were listening. “Wait just a moment.” She headed for the front door. “I called Trevor last night and told him to come here.” She gestured to Trevor, who was standing outside talking to Bartlett. “We'll need him.”
“You told Trevor about this before you talked to us?” Joe asked.
She shook her head. “That wouldn't have been fair. He just knows that I'm ready.”
“Ready for what?” Joe asked.
“Easy,” Eve said quietly. “Listen, Joe. She's trying to tell us.”
“It could work,” Jane said. “I know it could work.” She turned to Trevor, who had just come into the room. “Tell Joe that we haven't been conspiring behind his back.”
Trevor shrugged. “I came because I got the royal summons. I gave her the list she wanted and she sent me on my way.”
“What list?”
Trevor nodded at Jane. “Over to you.”
“Aldo is a computer geek. It's the one interest Trevor found he had a passion for other than his acting. Trevor gave me a list of the sites he noticed Aldo frequenting most often.”
“Give it to me.”
“I will. After I finish.” She turned back to Eve. “But Aldo's overwhelming passion is his desire to revenge himself on Cira.”
“You mean on all her look-alikes.”
“It's still Cira in his mind.”
“So?”
“What if he had a chance to revenge himself on the real Cira?”
Eve frowned. “What?”
“As well as skeletons there were bodies found almost perfectly preserved at Pompeii and Herculaneum. What if he found out that they'd