The Killing Game(100)

Carrera regarded her silently as Carter started to bluster, but Andi went on, “No amount of coercing or bribing or threatening is going to change our minds. You can’t intimidate me or Emma. She told us you called her and tried to strong-arm her some way.”

“What the f*ck are you talking about?” he asked, his eyes cold.

“We’re not doing business with you,” Andi assured him with a lot more confidence than she felt.

“Andi,” Carter warned, “we should listen to what Mr. Carrera has to say.”

“He’ll be wasting his breath. And my time.” Despite the fact that her heart was pounding with trepidation and her hands were clammy, she rained a cool smile on the big man. “Maybe you should go help your brother.”

Blake turned back to Carter. “I thought you said you’d take care of this. Of her.”

“I will.”

“Gentlemen, I think we’re done here. You heard Mrs. Wren,” Luke said.

Carter looked at him. “Who’s running this meeting, Denton?”

Luke didn’t respond, didn’t need to. He and Carrera had locked eyes and the air in the room crackled with words unsaid. Andi threw Luke a worried look, but he held Carrera’s gaze.

Blake said, “I heard you were hooking up with Greg Wren’s widow. And I thought Nah, not Denton, not the guy who was all on the side of might and right when it came to his ex-partner, Bolchoy. But look at you now, huh? You’ve finally figured out who the winning team is. Comforting a rich widow is a smart move. I admire that.” He smirked, and Luke’s fists curled into fists.

“You know where the door is,” Luke said, his lips barely moving.

“Wait a minute now.” Carter stepped between the two men.

Panicked that an actual fight might break out, Andi jumped to her feet and took hold of Luke’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“Stop!” Carter ordered. “You can’t just walk out of here.” He turned to Blake. “I’ll talk to Emma. I said I would, didn’t I? She’ll come around.”

“He’s lying to you,” Andi told Blake as she tugged Luke after her and headed for the door. “My sister-in-law and I are in total agreement. No deal. We’ve told Carter. Said it over and over.”

Luke reluctantly followed her into the hall.

Blake called after them, “We’re busy, y’know. Me and Brian. And we can’t keep wasting time over this with you Wrens. If you want a battle, okay, you’ve got one. Meanwhile, I’ve got other things to do. You’re not the only fish in the sea,” he added loudly as Andi stabbed the button for the elevator. “Or should I say little birds?”

Her head whipped around at that one, but Luke stayed calm.

“Did you hear what he said?” she whispered as the elevator doors closed behind them.

“Every word.”

“Should we have asked him about the card? About Trini?”

He slid her a glance as they exited the elevator, crossed the building foyer, and headed outside into a brisk wind that was whipping leaves in a furious eddy in the center of the parking lot.

At her Tucson he said, “I want to wait on that.”

She climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. “Do you think the Carerras are behind Trini’s murder? Why would they kill her? Because she’s a bird?”

“That just doesn’t hang together,” he admitted. “There’s always a financial purpose to what they do. Their aim is money, first, last, and always.”

“Well, then, what’s all the little bird stuff?” She could hear her voice rising and her hands were clenched on the wheel. She had to force herself to relax.

“I don’t know.”

“I made the mistake of calling myself a little bird to them before so . . . maybe they’re just trying to make fun of me, turn my words around, find a new way to psych me out.”

“Maybe I should have driven,” he said as Andi’s wheels touched gravel.

“Sorry. I’m fine.”

She drove with concentration the rest of the way back, but once they were in the cabin, she accused him, “You don’t think the Carreras are behind the notes.”

“Do you?” He’d crossed the room to switch on the television. The midday news was just starting.

It took her a while to answer, but then she said, “No. But I don’t know what that means. Who else has a grudge against me?”

“Quade’s certainly got it in for the Wrens.”

Andi shook her head, but then she remembered the threat he’d hurled on his way out. That he knew something about the Wrens. Emma had referred to him as a lake rat, someone who hung around with the wealthy lake crowd, feeding off the crumbs left to him.

Luke stripped off his jacket and tossed it onto the couch next to his bed roll.

Andi tried to calm down, to get a grip on herself. She was home. Safe. With Luke. She flopped onto the couch and inhaled the aroma of this morning’s coffee, which still lingered in the air. It mingled with the faint smell of smoke from a fire built days before and should have provided her comfort. But not today, not after the bedlam that had been the meeting at the office. Running her fingers through her hair, she tried to sort it all out. Of course that was impossible.

Luke pulled the latest plastic-encased note from his pocket and eyed it.