return to San Francisco. Either way, she was glad to hear the words.
~*~
She decided to drive down to the bank again and revisit the safe deposit box. With someone lurking around her, she wanted to make sure the gun was safely hidden away.
Standing before the metal box the bank manager had set in the middle of the table, she waited for the man to leave before opening it. Then, lifting the lid, the fluorescent light glinted off the steel of the gun and her stomach lurched. Could Evan have used this gun to murder someone?
Emily rifled through the rest of the contents—the three passports, the Euros, the wads of cash—trying to get a handle on what any of it could mean. Picking up the rolls of bills, secured by fat rubber bands, she speculated about how much money might actually be there.
She glanced toward the door to make certain no one was approaching. Pulling the band off the first bundle of money, she began counting the bills, mostly hundreds. Soon she grabbed the second bundle and then the third, becoming more excited with each. Unrolling the fourth one, she found a note, folded several times into a square small enough to hide in the middle of the bundle.
She unfolded the note carefully and started to read the handwritten message—it was definitely Evan’s erratic scrawl. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest she thought she might pass out, so she pulled out a chair and sank down onto it to finish reading.
Dearest Emily,
If you’ve found this note, it means I’m dead. I hope you’ll forgive me for keeping things from you. You may have figured out Evan Parker was not my real name. My name is David Gerard. Again, I’m sorry.
The gun belongs to someone who tried to kill me once, after moving to Paradise Valley. I wrestled it away from him before he got away, but I don’t know who it was. He must have succeeded on a second attempt or you wouldn’t be reading this note. I hid the gun because I had hoped to track him by it. (Sorry I never told you, I didn’t want to worry you.)
The woman in the photo was a girlfriend when I worked for the Agency. Her name was Natalia Banderas. She was a natural history student at the Sorbonne that I met at a café in Paris. She was killed in France when a case I was working on went south and she was caught in the crossfire.
I blame myself for her death. I should have known better than to get involved with a civilian. That’s why I left the Agency when I fell for you, Emily.
I figure the gun could belong to someone seeking revenge for her death or it could be related to another case—it’s hard to say. I don’t know how they found me, but if you’re reading this note, it means they did.
Keep these things hidden.
Trust no one.
I love you, Emily.
– Evan (aka David Gerard)
She dropped the letter on the table and covered her face with her hands. Tears trickled through her fingers and spilled onto the paper, as the enormity of Evan’s words sunk in. David’s words.
He said he was responsible for the death of the woman in the photo. Someone killed him, likely in retaliation. Trust no one. He loved her. David Gerard.
Time came back into focus and she realized she had been there too long. Piles of cash were spread out on the table and she hadn’t finished counting it. She hurriedly wiped the tears from her cheeks. Her hands flew over the table as she scrambled to gather the bills together and haphazardly rubber-band them once more, shoving them back in the metal box. She hastily refolded the note a few times and tucked it in her purse, sniffed a few quick breaths and shut the lid on the box.
“Are you almost finished in here, Mrs. Parker?” The bank manager stuck his head just inside the doorway. “I have another customer waiting.”
“Yes. Thank you.” She shoved the safe deposit box in its place in the wall of steel, closing the door securely. “All done.”
CHAPTER 24
On the drive home, Evan’s words continued to replay in Emily’s mind—trust no one.
Trust no one?
What about the girls? Especially Isabel. Was he saying they shouldn’t be trusted? Had Isabel only been pretending to be Emily’s friend all these years to gain her confidence, or to gather information? Was she working with Jethro to try to get Emily