clip technique we discussed earlier if you don’t start talking.”
“Just promise me that you’ll consider everything I have to say before you answer.”
Jack looked her over with his dark, predatory eyes. “All right,” he finally agreed.
Cameron tucked her knees underneath her. “I’m obviously very worried about the Robards investigation. This is a strain on me, on you, and it puts everyone I know at risk. I know your team is doing all they can, but nobody’s come up with anything so far.”
She could tell from the way Jack’s jaw twitched that he didn’t like being reminded of this.
“I hate that the ball is all in this asshole’s court, and that I pretty much just have to sit here and wonder if he’s going to come after me again.”
Cameron could tell from Jack’s expression that he liked being reminded of that even less.
“But maybe there’s a way we can control the situation,” she said.
“How do you propose we do that?” Jack asked.
“That’s what I was thinking about in the car. And I might’ve come up with something. We figured out that there’s a leak—perhaps we can use that to our advantage. We know that the killer knew how to avoid the hotel cameras. But what if we spread the word that you guys have identified a guest who was using a camcorder in the Peninsula that evening—maybe for a vacation or a bachelor party, something like that. You let it be known that this guest caught on tape a man wearing a gray hooded T-shirt, blazer, and jeans, exiting the hotel shortly after Mandy’s murder. You say that the FBI crime lab is trying to enhance the tape to come up with an image of the guy’s face, and that you’re hopeful you’ll be able to identify him soon. Hopefully word will spread to the right person.”
Jack got up from the couch. Odd that she’d ever found him hard to read—because right then she had absolutely no problem seeing how much he disliked this idea.
“You know as well as I do that a man exiting the hotel wearing a gray hooded T-shirt around the time of the murder means nothing by itself,” Jack said. “You are the one who can tie that person to the murder. The only one. And the killer knows that. So what you’re really suggesting is that we give Mandy Robards’s murderer extra incentive to get you out of the picture.”
“I’m suggesting we motivate the murderer to make a move that we will be prepared for.”
“Cut the crap—you want me to use you as bait. You want me to provoke this guy into attacking you again.”
“I think it’s an option we need to think about, yes.”
“No.”
“You said you would consider everything before you answered.”
“It’s been considered.” Jack stared her right in the eyes. “And I will spend the next twenty years sleeping on your floor before I ever willingly put you in danger.”
Hearing that, Cameron got up from the couch and walked over. “After this weekend, I probably wouldn’t make you sleep on the floor, you know.”
But Jack wasn’t in the mood for teasing. He moved away from her, over by the window. “I’m serious about this, Cameron.”
“With you covering me, and a team of FBI agents who we’d set up in advance, don’t you think I’d be safe? If you came to me as a prosecutor, this is exactly the type of operation I’d approve. Particularly with such a high-profile crime.”
“If I came to you as a prosecutor, you would ask me about the risks. And I would tell you that no one, including me, can ever guarantee safety in an operation like this. I can take those risks with other people. But not with you.”
His words hung in the air between them. Cameron finally spoke first.
“I agreed that you’re in charge. So if you don’t think this is a good idea, I’ll drop it. For now,” she added. She knew he wanted to be all moody and broody right then, but too bad—she wasn’t going to let him. “I can’t promise I won’t bring this up again in the future, though. I can be kind of fussy about these things when I want to be.”
She caught the glimmer of amusement in Jack’s eyes.
“When did you ever actually agree that I was in charge?” he asked. “I think I missed that.”
“It was more of an implied consent. I didn’t reject the concept the two times you brought it up.”