with sudden suspicion. 'Did you follow me?'
'Sort of.' Amaryllis scrambled to her knees.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Miranda's purse lying on the carpet. It had come open. A sheaf of papers had fallen out and scattered across the rug. Amaryllis saw the familiar green and gold Lodestar logo at the top of one of the pages. She could also see the red 'Confidential' stamp.
'Damn.' Merrick Beech apparently noticed the papers at the same moment that Amaryllis did. 'The bid numbers.' He started to heave himself to his feet.
A large foot sheathed in polished black leather came down on top of the incriminating papers.
'Five hells,' Beech muttered. 'Should have known you'd show up sooner or later, Trent.'
Without a word, Lucas bent down to retrieve the papers that had fallen from Miranda's purse. He glanced at them briefly as he straightened.
'How much did you pay her, Beech?' he asked very softly.
'I don't know what you're talking about.' Beech stood and brushed meticulously at his clothing. 'Miranda and I are close friends. We were just having a quiet conversation here when this odd woman interrupted us.'
Amaryllis glared at him as she got to her feet.
'I know who you are. Beech, and I know what you are,' Lucas said. 'I'll deal with you later. Get out of my sight.'
Beech bridled. 'Don't give me orders. You can't prove I did anything illegal, and even if you could, you wouldn't press charges. We're all adults here. We know the facts of corporate life.'
'I said, I will deal with you later. Beech.'
At that moment Amaryllis could have sworn that she felt a cold wind move through the hall, but the scarves of her gown did not move. She shivered and automatically glanced around to see if there was an open window in the vicinity. She did not see one.
Beech's eyes widened and then narrowed quickly. His face turned an unpleasant shade of red. 'You can't intimidate me.'
Lucas just looked at him. He said nothing.
'Bastard,' Beech snarled. 'I'll go to the police.'
Amaryllis was outraged. 'Really, Mr. Beech, you have no call to act as if you are the offended party here. I think it's obvious to everyone present that you have been involved in some sort of unethical and very probably illegal activity. You should be ashamed of yourself. My personal opinion is that Mr. Trent should prosecute.'
'Oh, shut up,' Beech muttered. 'There isn't a damn thing Trent can do to me.'
'What about your own conscience, Mr. Beech?' Amaryllis demanded. 'How will you justify your activities to yourself?'
Icy amusement glittered in Lucas's eyes. 'Yeah, Beech. What about your conscience? Maybe it needs a little prodding.'
Beech sputtered in helpless fury. 'Don't threaten me.'
'I'm not threatening you. I'm going to give you some advice. It's time for a lateral career move. Beech. Get out of New Seattle and stay out.'
'You can't do this to me.' Beech started to edge his way along the corridor wall. 'You know you can't.'
Lucas gazed at him thoughtfully. Another whisper of cold wind wafted through the hall. Amaryllis's dress did not flutter, but she realized she had goose bumps on her arms.
Beech's mouth worked. Then, with an inarticulate exclamation, he turned and fled.
Amaryllis exhaled deeply, releasing the breath she had not been aware of holding.
Miranda lifted her chin and stared at Lucas with seething, defiant eyes. 'He didn't have to pay for the information, Lucas. I gave it to him for free.'
Lucas studied her with an unreadable expression. 'Mind telling me why?'
'You fool. You really don't know, do you? In three long years, you've never once figured it out.'
'Enlighten me.'
Miranda raised her head with fierce pride. 'I did it to avenge Jackson.'
'Jackson?' Lucas stared at her.
'He was your partner and you killed him, you murdering bastard. I knew I'd never be able to prove it, so I found another way to get revenge.'
'What are you talking about?'
Miranda shoved a wing of pale hair back out of her eyes. Tears shimmered on her cheeks. 'You know damn well what I'm talking about. You wanted to get rid of Jackson because you had no further use for him.'
'Miranda--' Lucas broke off abruptly, as if he had no more words.
'You used him to set up your business contacts here in the city because his family had the connections you needed. Then you got rid of him.'
Shocked, Amaryllis took a step toward Miranda, her hand outstretched. 'That's not true. It can't be true.'
'What would you know about it?' Miranda pulled quickly back out of Amaryllis's reach. 'You weren't there. Lucas set him up to be killed by those pirates. I know he did. It's the only explanation. There's no other reason why it happened the way it did. No reason why Jackson would have been at that cabin with
'Miss Locking, listen to me.' Amaryllis took another step closer.
'Don't come near me,' Miranda hissed. 'Lucas knew what would happen when he sent Jackson to that abandoned base camp. He sent Jackson into the jungle to die.' She spun around and ran off down the hall. The echo of her footsteps rang in the corridor for a long time.
'Three years.' Lucas eased the Icer to a stop in front of Amaryllis's small house. 'She blamed me for Jackson's death for three years. Plotted against me all that time. And I never knew what was going on.'
Amaryllis gave a small start at the sound of his voice. It was the first time Lucas had spoken since the scene with Miranda and Beech in the museum corridor. It was not just the surprise of hearing the heavy silence broken at last that made her flinch. It was the disbelief and pain embedded in the words.
She glanced uneasily at Lucas's grim profile. He sat one big hand resting on the steering bar, and gazed out into the night. The light from Chelan and Yakima, St. Helens's two moons, etched his face in cold silver and bleak shadows.
'I'm sorry.' Amaryllis decided that this was not the time to mention that she would put his bill in the mail first thing in the morning.
'I trusted her.'
Amaryllis did not know what to say to that. 'Don't blame yourself. It's common knowledge that high-class talents are not usually very intuitive.'
'I wanted to do something for her.' Lucas clenched the steering bar so tightly that the moonlight gleamed white on his knuckles. 'I knew that Rye's death had hit her hard. The company had an obligation to take care of her. She had been engaged to Jackson. They were due to be married in the spring of that year. Lodestar looks after its own.'
'I understand. These things are difficult.' Amaryllis groped for the door handle.
'She was smart and well educated.' Lucas sounded as if he was unaware that he had a listener in the car with him. 'Good family background. I had no reason not to trust her.'
'Of course, you didn't. How could you have known?'
'I thought we had both gone through all five hells together. That we shared some kind of bond because of what had happened. I never told her that Rye had betrayed us both.'
Amaryllis thought she had heard incorrectly. 'Your partner betrayed you?'
'There was no point telling Miranda the whole damn story. She was already hurting. I tried to bury the truth as deep as I could for everyone's sake.'
It was time to end the evening, Amaryllis thought. The assignment was finished. If she had any sense, she would get out of the car and bid Lucas good night. He had his answers. As Clementine had said, it was up to the client to deal with the results of a focus session.
'Would you like to come in for a cup of coff-tea?' she heard herself ask.
He turned his head to look at her. His eyes glittered in the moonlight. She knew that he was somewhere else,
