“Jewelry, some frames. My laptop. And a flash drive.”
“Shit,” he said. He fisted one hand and tapped it into his other palm a few times. “They were after this flash drive.”
Did he have competitors or enemies? she wondered. How would they know she had the pen?
“Are you suggesting that the person who broke in thinks I’m in cahoots with you?” she asked.
He took a long drink of wine, and she could sense his mind racing.
“I’m not sure what’s going on,” he said eventually. “Someone may have seen us together in Islamorada and thought you knew something. Or—the night you went to Matt Healy’s apartment, is there a chance you were being followed?”
Her stomach clutched at the mere mention of Healy’s name. X might be back in New York now, but as far as she knew, he could have been in Florida last weekend and run Healy down with his car.
“Followed? I have no idea.” She added sarcastically, “I guess I was too busy thinking about the night ahead to wonder if I was being tailed.”
“It was never my intention to dupe you, Kit. I just wanted to see you again.”
His expression had softened and his eyes lingered on her face. Careful, she warned herself.
“So you could get your pen back?”
“When I called you that Monday morning, I hadn’t realized yet that there’d been a switch. My only intention was to have dinner with you.”
Despite the weariness etched on his face, he was as attractive as she’d remembered. Don’t be stupid, she told herself. She couldn’t let him try to charm her—or con her a second time.
“Why send me to Healy’s? Why play that whole game?”
“It wasn’t a game. I’d been staying with him and I was supposed to be back there by Thursday night.”
She was the one scoffing now. “Oh, please. How gullible do you think I am?”
“Okay, I’ll admit I lied to you about my name and about my background. I never owned a tech business. Until a month ago, I was a portfolio manager at the same firm as Matt. It’s called Ithaka. He and I were friends.”
The words were so improbable it took her a moment to process them.
“So why pretend to be him?” she asked.
“There was a reason for that. Matt knew I was using his name.”
She shook her head in disbelief. If Matt had been X’s friend, why had he claimed his wallet had been stolen? X was surely trying to dupe her all over again, probably so she wouldn’t run to the cops. But maybe, she realized, she should go along, let him think she’d fallen for it. That way he’d feel less threatened by her, by what she knew.
Before she could respond, he clasped her forearm. She flinched at the tightness of his fingers.
“Kit, I need you to believe me,” he said, relaxing his grip.
Crazily enough, she saw a flash of concern in his eyes. Though she knew he might be an even better actor than she’d given him credit for.
“Why?”
He took another slug of wine and set the glass down on the small island. “Because the stakes are high. Matt Healy is dead. Someone is after me and they may have been after Matt, too. And those same people probably showed up here, looking for the flash drive.”
Could at least part of what he was saying be true? That he hadn’t broken into her apartment?
“Who are they?” she asked.
He met her eyes again and then he pressed his lips together, momentarily hesitant. She sensed a turn in the action, that something was about to shift.
“I’m in a precarious situation, and it seems I’ve dragged you into it without meaning to,” he said. “I could share more information with you, but you clearly don’t trust me. And I’m still trying to decide if I believe you. So the best thing for me to do right now is to split and leave you alone.”
He still seemed to think that she knew more than she did. But at least he was going. And from what she could guess, he wasn’t going to harm her.
Turning around, he scrutinized the kitchen countertop and then grabbed a small notepad and a ballpoint pen. He tore off a piece of paper and scribbled down a phone number.
“Here,” he said. “I’m going to do what I can to let it be known that I’ve got the flash drive and you don’t. But if you find yourself in any danger and you want me to