Tightrope (Burning Cove #3)(71)

“Get this,” Raina said. “Two people showed up at the bridge to buy the rotors. One is evidently a guy named Ray Thorpe. The other was none other than Lorraine Pierce.”

“Lorraine Pierce?” Amalie thought she had been prepared for a dramatic revelation but this was more than she had expected. “The gossip columnist?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, that qualifies as a shock.” Amalie paused. “Or maybe not. I never did like the woman. What about the rotors?”

“Luther and Matthias retrieved them and the Ares machine at the roadblock,” Raina said. “But here’s where things get screwy. Evidently, when Lorraine hit the roadblock, she threw herself, sobbing hysterically, into the arms of the police. Luther says Pierce claims that she was an innocent hostage who was forced to play a part in the scene at the bridge. She says Thorpe gave her a suit of men’s clothes and told her to keep her mouth shut.”

“He tried to make it look like she was working for him?”

“That’s her story.” Raina smiled a grim smile.

“What is Ray Thorpe saying?”

“He’s not saying anything. He’s dead, or so Pierce claims. They’re searching for the body now.”

“Hold on.” Amalie waved her hands. “You’re losing me here.”

“Lorraine Pierce told the police that she managed to get hold of Thorpe’s weapon when he stopped the car. She was sure that he intended to get rid of her because she was a witness. She shot him instead. Self-defense.”

“Who was Thorpe?”

“Pierce claims that he worked security at Silver Horizon Films.”

Amalie considered that briefly. “When you think about it, a job in security at a film studio would have made a very good cover for an international gunrunner based in L.A. He would have had access to all sorts of resources, like trucks and shipping containers. A crate full of weapons could have been passed off as props for a gangster film.”

“Yes, it’s all very logical. Unfortunately, Luther and Matthias don’t believe that he was the man they’ve been hunting.”

Amalie caught her breath. “Thorpe is dead and Lorraine Pierce is not only alive, she was in possession of the Ares machine. Maybe she’s Smith?”

“Luther said that’s how it looks at the moment. But he and Matthias are on their way to Pierce’s villa now. Detective Brandon and his men are with them. They’re going to see if they can find some more evidence before they call in the FBI.”

“Huh.”

Raina narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“I was once in a situation that was very similar to what Lorraine Pierce is describing,” Amalie said. “Someone tried to kill me. I lived. He died instead. Afterward a lot of people did not believe my story.”

Raina absorbed that in silence for a moment.

“You’re right,” she said at last. “We can’t rule out Lorraine Pierce’s claim of self-defense.”

“She’s got one thing going for her,” Amalie said. “She’s a well-known celebrity. Her column is syndicated in papers all over the country. If she sticks with her story, and if Luther and Matthias don’t find some hard evidence to use against her, it will be hard to convince a jury that she’s a cold-blooded assassin who has been dealing weapons to international thugs for years.”

Raina’s brows rose. “She just might walk.”

“What about the cipher machine?” Amalie asked.

“Matthias and Luther are making sure that the Burning Cove police take all the credit for recovering the machine, but they are not going to be able to rest until they figure out if Ray Thorpe or Lorraine Pierce was the rogue agent they’ve been chasing. I got the impression they have some serious doubts about both possibilities.”

“That would mean that there’s someone else involved in this thing.”

“Probably someone who is hiding in plain sight, according to Luther,” Raina said.

Amalie looked out over the tiered seats on the nightclub floor. She saw a familiar figure sitting alone in one of the star booths. As she watched, Vincent Hyde lit a cigarette, glanced at his watch, and then graciously signed a napkin for a fan who had stopped by his table. When the autograph-seeker moved off, Hyde checked the time again.

Raina followed Amalie’s gaze. “I wonder how long it will take Hyde to realize that Lorraine Pierce won’t be joining him tonight.”

“Once he figures out that he’s been stood up, he’ll leave,” Amalie said. “It’s not good for a star to be seen sitting alone in a posh nightclub. Stars need people around them to reflect their radiance.”

“Vincent Hyde probably believed that he was using Pierce to get some badly needed press,” Raina mused. “But maybe Lorraine Pierce was using him as cover. Writing those stories about the Psychic Curse Mansion gave her an excellent excuse for spending time here in Burning Cove.”





Chapter 50


The theatrical trunk containing the robot costume was in the master bedroom closet of Lorraine Pierce’s rented villa. There was also a wooden box in the trunk. When Matthias opened it he discovered two small grenades inside.

Lorraine Pierce, standing at the entrance of the bedroom, an officer on either side, shrieked in rage.