Deadly Little Secrets Page 0,24

new leads on the case, she says.”

When Dav sat silent, he continued. “Could have knocked me over when I realized who it was in that flowery getup.” His grin widened, and he said, “She was dressed much more conservatively when she showed up at the estate.”

The problem with reminding himself of that was he pictured her immediately in her snug but unrevealing suit, her hair tamed into some kind of twist. He’d sat next to her at the table, watching her, seeing the temper flare in those hazel eyes when he threw a barb her way, seeing her lock it down as she did her job with a cool façade and a sharp mind. That alone had been hot, but that snap of fire in the look she’d given him was pure, flat-out sexy.

He wasn’t sure he was going to do anything about it—he seldom did. He realized he was, however, looking forward to her call. It lent a certain anticipation to the last part of the night.

“But what the hell was she doing at the gallery?” Dav finally asked. “What’s going on? You don’t think Carrie is being watched by the CIA, do you?”

“No, not this time.” Gates caught him up on the case as Ana had outlined it, letting him know that she’d caught the changes from the original list within seconds.

“She knows art, and she knows this case, so you may see some results.”

“That would be—” Dav hesitated, then smiled. “A significant change. I admit it still pisses me off all these years later. I hate being suckered.” The last was delivered with a bit more heat. Davros Gianikopolis was scrupulously fair, determinedly honest, but he was also sharp as hell when it came to business and he knew how and when to cut the best deal. Not much got past him. It still burned him that someone had bested him over the paintings, and that no one had ever figured out where the switch was made. That irritation was why Gates constantly swept the nets for any mention of the pieces Dav had lost through the forgery scam.

“We’ll see what she comes up with,” Gates said. He decided that was enough talk about Ana. He didn’t want Dav clueing in to his interest, and he had the perfect redirect. “So, tell me how you know Carrie McCray.”

“I don’t,” Dav answered with bland inattention. That was a dead giveaway of interest if he’d ever heard one, especially for Dav.

“Hmmmm, tell me another lie, man. I’ve known you too long.”

Dav rubbed at his arm again. Queller must really have clamped down. “Really, I don’t. However,” he winked at Gates, “I’m sure you could tell that I’m intrigued with her. My assistant and several of the marketing people have dealt with Prometheus on this Bootstrap organization. The main organizer is a shipping magnate named Drake Yountz. I had brushed them off, but there were a number of calls from other business leaders urging me to participate.”

Dav now rubbed at his temples, then grimaced. “Several of the calls were from people I’m working deals with, so I caved, as they say. We’ve donated a minimal sum to it, so far. Also, we’ve bought many things from Prometheus, corporate purchases mostly, though not much since Luke died. I don’t remember Carrie looking quite so…” He paused, then to Gates’s surprise, moderated whatever he was about to say. “Professional. The only other time we’d met was at Luke’s funeral and once at another charity event.”

Gates had a sudden memory of his mother’s paintings displayed at her funeral. It floated to the surface of his mind, and he let it, appreciating it before he filed it carefully, and ruthlessly away. He didn’t dwell on the past, on his parents or their deaths. He couldn’t. Doing so usually took him days to recover, so he avoided all but the most casual remembrances of them.

“Anything else turn up on your searches these last few days, my friend?” Dav broke through his momentary silence.

“Only that our agent’s on probation.”

“For what?” Dav asked in surprise.

“I don’t know.” At Gates’s admission, Dav laughed.

“Yet,” Dav added. “Your vast network never fails to intrigue and amuse me.”

“Ah, the humor factor. That would be why you pay me the big bucks,” Gates quipped. “However, she’s pretty well cloaked. I can get all the info I want on her current employment at the Agency, but most of her background has been shielded. I’ll set off a number of inquiries if I go