Tightrope (Burning Cove #3)(56)

Raina gently swirled the contents of her cocktail glass and took a sip. She lowered the glass and looked at Amalie.

“Why don’t I look into what happened to you in Abbotsville?” she said.

Amalie raised her brows. “Sounds like you’ve already talked to the police there.”

“I did,” Raina said. “But there are other people I can call.”

“Such as?”

“The local reporters who covered the story may have some information that did not appear in the police reports.”

“I can’t afford to pay you,” Amalie warned.

Raina smiled a cool smile. “Consider it a welcome-to-Burning-Cove gift.”

“It’s a good idea,” Luther said. He tapped a finger on the table. “It might shed some light on the problem of Smith.”

“How?” Amalie asked.

“Information of any kind is good,” Luther said.

Amalie looked at Raina, clearly fascinated. “Have you investigated many cases of murder?”

“Not a lot,” Raina admitted. “But you could say I have some expertise when it comes to understanding how killers think.”

“How did you become an expert on that subject?” Amalie asked.

“It’s a long story,” Raina said, brushing the subject aside.

Her tone invited no further questions on the subject but Matthias could tell that Amalie was just getting started. He was suddenly very sure that if she pressed Raina for answers, she would get lies in response. Time to intervene.

He touched Amalie’s gloved hand. “Would you care to dance?”

Amalie was clearly torn. “Well—”

He extracted her from the booth and steered her toward the stairs before she could ask any more questions.





Chapter 36


Raina watched Matthias sweep Amalie around the corner. When they had disappeared down the stairs that led to the main floor of the club, she picked up her cocktail glass and looked at Luther.

“An unusual couple,” she said. “It’s safe to say that Mr. Jones is more than simply attracted to Miss Vaughn. I get the feeling that he is nothing short of fascinated by her. The feeling appears to be mutual. I swear I could feel the energy crackling in the atmosphere around them.”

“I always knew that if Matthias ever encountered a woman who could handle his somewhat unnerving talent, he would probably fall hard for her.”

“You said he has a knack for detecting lies.”

“It’s more than a knack. It’s a gift or a curse, depending on your point of view. It has certainly complicated his personal life. But it is also what makes him an invaluable consultant for Failure Analysis.”

“Do you really believe that he might have some sort of psychic power?”

“I don’t believe in paranormal energy,” Luther said. “But I am convinced that some people possess unusually powerful forms of intuition. I hire them when I can find them and when I am certain that I can trust them.”

“Where is the dividing line between the ability to make an intuitive leap and true paranormal talent?”

Luther smiled. “I have no idea.”

The heat in his eyes sent a little thrill of awareness through her. She was still adjusting to the relationship, still wondering if what she and Luther were discovering together was real and if it would last.

Long ago she had abandoned her girlish dreams of finding love and passion. When she had arrived in Burning Cove, she had thrown herself headfirst into her new career as a private investigator. Her business was starting to pick up and she had discovered a passion for the work. But just when it appeared that she had successfully buried her past and could focus on her future, Luther Pell had walked into her life.

The feelings he aroused had caught her off guard. When she realized that he had guessed the truth about the death of her former employer, she had panicked. When he made it clear that he did not care about what had happened in New York, she was unnerved. And then he had taken the amazing step of revealing some of his own dark history. It was, she reflected, a strange way of cementing a relationship.

She watched Matthias guide Amalie onto the crowded dance floor. Even from the mezzanine it was clear that the pair were intensely aware of each other.

“Why does his ability to detect lies make his life more difficult?” she asked. “I would have thought that it would give him a tremendous edge. Just imagine, no con artist could fool him. No lover could deceive him. No friend could betray him.”

“One night after Matthias and I had a couple of drinks he tried to explain the problem to me,” Luther said. “He told me that, for him, the world is awash in lies. He said people lie even when they think they are telling the truth, because the minute they start to speak they are, in fact, telling a story, not just to the listener but to themselves. In order to convey information we must use words, and we must string those words together in a way that makes sense. According to Matthias, that means we are always using words to shape the truth.”

Raina shuddered. “How does Matthias differentiate between that sort of storytelling and genuine deception?”

“Intent is everything as far as he is concerned.”

Raina took a sip of her Manhattan. “Romantic relationships are complicated for everyone, but they must be extremely difficult for people like Matthias.”