Even in the relative darkness of the night lighting in the lab, she could see that Lane Emery held a Glock 20 five feet from her chest. Diane didn’t doubt that he knew how to use it. There was no way she could outrun it or dive for cover, even in the dim light. She thought she saw his hand shake, and that sight made her heart beat harder. The sound of blood pulsing in her ears was already deafening. The only thing she could think of was that the Glock held lots of bullets. She closed her eyes and opened them again, trying to regulate her breathing. From the sweat on his brow and upper lip, he wasn’t happy either.
“You really took me by surprise, setting a trap for me,” he said, “bringing in the bomb squad last night. How did you know? What tipped you off?”
“Just my own paranoia. I never believed that Valentine and MacRae could gain access to the museum past your security system and have free run of the place without some inside help. The only question was, Who on the inside was helping them? When we were in the staff meeting discussing what to do, hearing you talk about shutting down the museum-that just didn’t sound like you. Your record is of a man of action and courage who would secure and protect, not someone who would take cover at the first sign of threat. And you introduced the prospect of an incendiary bomb, almost as if you were trying to scare the staff. I just thought to myself, If the museum is shut down, what an opportunity to destroy the evidence the two bunglers didn’t.”
As Diane spoke, she tried to think of what to do. She hadn’t a clue.
“How did you know about the museum security sweep last night?” she said.
“One of my men told me. That kind of thing is hard to keep secret. I was trying to avoid your trap. If I came early tonight before the changeover of security, I just might get away with the evidence.”
“Are you really going to kill me?”
“This isn’t something I enjoy, but I’ll do what it takes. I have a museum van parked by the outside elevator. All I need to do is load the evidence into it and drive away. Your security people won’t stop a museum van. But then I discovered that you’ve moved all the evidence. Where is it? In your vault?”
“I can’t tell you that. Were you in with Valentine and MacRae?”
“No, you were wrong about that. I wasn’t even approached until after they failed. They’re buffoons. All they know is computers and electronics. It wasn’t me who helped them. But your paranoia served you well.”
“Why are you doing this? You’ve always had a good record-an exemplary record. No one-including me, really-believed you’d do this.”
“That’s a fair question. I want you to know: It’s for my family. I got a bad diagnosis from my last physical. I want to leave them something. A large bank account in the Cayman Islands is too good to pass up.”
“How about leaving them a history of being a good man?”
“One of the things I’ve discovered is that there’s no reward for being a good man. It’s never bothered me until recently, you know, goodness being its own reward and all, but this happened. . ”
He tapped his abdomen as if that was where the offending illness was seated.
“I had to take a good hard look at things-at what I had to leave my kids. No offense, but after all my years of hard, honest work in the military, I end up guarding a museum?”
“A crime lab, actually. It’s something we value. That’s why we tried to get the best person we could for the job. And even if it were the museum, it’s something worth protecting. It’s history and learning, a repository of good things that should not be lost or destroyed.”
“Please spare me. Are you trying to flatter me into believing that this job has some real merit?”
“No. I suppose I’m trying to save you. Is this what you want your kids to remember you by?”
That may not have been the right thing to say either. From the hardening of his face, she saw that she had hit a nerve.
“I told you I’m doing it to help my children. They wouldn’t have known about this if you hadn’t figured out my plan.”
“What, did you think you would steal the evidence, turn it over to the Taggarts, collect your money and it would all just be forgotten? We’d have figured it out sooner or later. It’s what we do.”
“So you know who it is,” he said.
Her suspicion had been confirmed again, but naming the Taggarts was probably a mistake, she thought.
“They were right; they figured there might be something that points to them.”
“They told you about their involvement in the murders?”
“Not much. Just enough. They were probably confident that I would accept their offer. Desperation has a smell all its own.”
“Is there any way I can buy myself out of this? What if I paid you more than the Taggarts are paying you?”
“They offered me”-he shook his head as if amazed by their offer-“a lot of money. I told them that they should offer the money to the museum, that you’d probably take it. I told them everyone knows you’re devoted to the museum.”
“Really? What did they say?”
Diane wondered if it would do any good to ease away in some direction. He would just track her with the gun and it would probably make him nervous. She didn’t want that-a nervous trigger finger. In the back of her mind she thought she knew that Glocks didn’t go off with a nervous shake; it took a deliberate action. But she didn’t really know that much about guns.
“They said they sized you up at that old gal’s funeral and decided you wouldn’t go for it.”
“Really,” Diane said again. “What was it they saw that caused them to make such a major decision in so short a time?”
“I don’t know. Now, will you tell me where you moved the evidence? Is it your idea that you can keep me talking until help arrives? All your help is outside and, frankly, your crime scene people aren’t up to it.”
She could see in his eyes and his body tension that he was approaching a decision point, and it didn’t look like a change of heart, but she kept trying. A man who loved his children must still have a soft spot somewhere inside. Maybe just soft enough to let her off the hook if she could offer him what he really wanted.
“I was hoping to offer you more money. That way you could save your reputation, get rich, I’d keep my evidence and we’d all be happy.”
“You don’t have that kind of money. We’re talking about a lot.”
“I have access to a lot of resources. I know people with a lot of money. Isn’t your reputation worth at least thinking about it?”
“You know, Dr. Fallon, I wish I believed you, because I would like to take you up on your offer. It does appeal to me, but there’s just no way that can work out. Once I leave here, all deals are off. I know that, and so do you.” He waved the gun at her. “Now quit stalling and tell me where you moved the evidence.”
Diane said nothing.
“Okay, let’s look in your vault. Open it up,” he said, advancing on her.
Diane started for the vault. “Can we at least turn on the lights?”
“I tried. They’re out.”
“Out? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Quit stalling.”
Diane was confused. Her eyes had grown accustomed to the dim light, so it wasn’t really a problem, but the night lighting shouldn’t be on at this time. She wondered if it was that way all over the museum. She wondered if it was a harbinger of a fire to come-someone tampering with the electricity. Diane punched the first three codes into the door security pad.
“Don’t burn down the museum.” She felt her voice crack as she spoke. “You don’t have to do that.” Her voice sounded pleading to her ears. She wondered if she sounded weak and pathetic to him.
“I hadn’t planned to.”
“What’s the thing with the lights, then?”
He was showing exasperation and impatience now. “I told you, I don’t have anything to do with the lights.
