"What about Beast?"

"Maybe DeWitt will keep him."

Meredith looked dubious.

"He does have charm," he defended the dog.

"Perhaps on further acquaintance," she said with a small grin.

"If necessary I'll board him. But if they would kill a woman for no better reason than she was a friend years ago, they wouldn't hesitate to kill a dog."

"Why didn't they do it before?"

"Maybe they didn't want to make me mad," he said.

"Didn't work," she said, keeping her voice light even though urgency was eating her alive. What if Holly was in danger? What if they might lead someone to her?

Dom was at the shack when they arrived. Beast was lying at his feet. The dog rose lazily, went over to them and sniffed.

Dom stood, a beer in his hand. "I have people looking into the background of the building inspectors. In the meantime, we have ten days. We've always met every building code."

"What about the kids?"

"They'll be okay for a few days. They're not exactly sure what's happening but they trust me. I told them it would be okay." He studied their expressions. "You've found something?"

"We think she might be in Bisbee, Arizona."

"Where in the h.e.l.l is that?"

"Just north of the Mexican border. East and south of Tucson," Meredith said. She had called Sarah's cell phone on the way to the cabin and asked her to look up the town and find the best way to get there from Birmingham.

"And?"

"There's a flight from Birmingham to Phoenix. We can catch a flight from Phoenix to Tucson."

"Make it three tickets," Dom said.

"The shelter?"

"Paul Simonsom is handling the legal matter. My two a.s.sistants can handle the shelter itself until I return. They've been bugging me to take a vacation. And it's probably better that I'm not there. I might just try to hurt someone."

They waited. Nine o'clock. Nine-thirty. Meredith started to worry. They needed to head out if they were going to catch the morning flight.

Then Beast barked as a car honked from down the road. Two minutes later a car drove up to the cabin, and DeWitt got out. Beast ran out as if he was going to bite off his leg. Just before he reached DeWitt, he stopped, sat and panted eagerly.

"You still have this monster?" DeWitt asked. "This is a h.e.l.l of a place to find."

"That's the idea," Gage said.

DeWitt went inside, saw the minimal furnishings and chose a straight chair.

"Found a will. Wasn't easy but it is public record."

"And ... ?"

"Judge Matthews stood to inherit only half his father's estate unless he had issue. Not adoption. A blood child. How archaic is that?" He shrugged as if to ignore his own question. "A child was born to his wife in Memphis, February 15. A girl. It happened four months after his father's death."

Silence filled the cabin. "Blood tests done?" Gage asked.

"Yes, the executor demanded it. But they could be faked. So could the birth certificate."

"We didn't look for one under Matthews," Meredith said.

DeWitt looked at them. "We still don't have any proof of murder. Fraud perhaps, but that will work only if we find the woman and get new blood tests."

"We might know where she is," Meredith said.

"Where?"

Gage shook his head. "The fewer people who know--"

"h.e.l.l with that, Gaynor. What if something happened to you or Meredith? No one would ever know what happened."

Meredith felt a new chill creep down her back. She nodded in agreement. Someone else should know ... just in case. DeWitt would profit the most by handling the information with care and keeping it to himself until the time was right to release it. "Bisbee, Arizona."

"I know it. An artist colony."

"We're going to drive to Birmingham and get a flight to Phoenix in the morning."

The reporter looked torn. "Wish I could go, but I just received a call from Ames. I can talk to his wife at ten tomorrow morning. I think I should do so. I'm also looking into the closing of the shelter. My usual source in that department wouldn't talk."

"I have a favor," Gage said.

DeWitt's expression was cautious.

"Look after Beast for me. I don't want to leave him at home."

"You've got to be kidding. My wife would kill me."

"She'll love him," Gage said. "He brings in the morning paper."

"She likes cats. Small ones."

"Beast is very tolerant."

"Gaynor, you're out of your mind."

"Just for two days. If it doesn't work, you can drop him at a kennel. He'll not be happy but it's better than dead."

DeWitt looked at him as if he were mad. "Right. Lay on the guilt," he muttered.

"It's for the good of the story," Gage cajoled. "You can put his steak on the expense account."

"Steak?" DeWitt's voice was strangled.

"Well, hamburger will do in a pinch."

Meredith saw the wicked gleam in Gage's eyes.

"d.a.m.n you, Gaynor."

"You won't be saying that when you win the Pulitzer for your exclusive story. Besides, he's a good guard dog."

"Yeah. Maybe I won't have a home to guard." But he took the dog's leash. Beast followed happily enough.

An hour later Gage, Meredith and Dom were on the road to Birmingham.

*Chapter Thirty*

'NEW ORLEANS'.

"We might have found her," Samuel Matthews told his son-in-law as they met for breakfast. They sat in the corner of an out-of-the-way restaurant and talked in low voices. There was no one nearby.

"Where is she?"

"Arizona. A little town near the Mexican border called Bisbee."

"How...?"

"The craft business. Our guys found a sculpture on the Internet. It's almost identical to the one she left at your house. Of course, there are hundreds, probably thousands, of people doing this type of thing, but there is a very close resemblance. My people are flying down in a private plane to check it out. There's a nearby airport."

"They know what to do?"

"Yes."

"I want my son."

"Impossible. He's smart. You know that."

"We can keep him away from anyone for a while. I can hire someone to look after him."

"The decision has already been made," Matthews snapped, cutting off the conversation. This d.a.m.ned business had already taken too long. Court was in recess, but he had a dozen cases to review, several opinions to draft.

Dammit. He stood to lose everything because of a moment's carelessness. Randolph had a.s.sured him that the house was empty when they'd had the unfortunate phone conversation, that Holly was taking Mikey to the preschool they had so carefully selected. He hadn't known the boy had a stomach upset, that she was waiting for a call from the doctor and had picked up the phone when he'd called.

He hadn't known until he heard a click on the phone that someone had overheard him talking about campaign money from gambling interests--from, in fact, gambling interests that reached deep into organized crime. Any hint of involvement would destroy his career.

It was d.a.m.nable bad luck for him and stupidity on Randolph's part.

He'd never felt much for Holly. Although she was a beautiful woman, he'd always considered her weak and not very intelligent. But she'd fulfilled her role quite nicely until now, and in turn he had a.s.sured her a powerful husband and prosperous life.

How could he not have seen the rebellion that lurked inside? She'd always been such a compliant little thing.

Now he could end it once and for all, and settle back into his life. The friendships of some of the most important people in Louisiana, even Washington. He was powerful. Respected. He had worked every day of his life to get to where he was, and no little fool was going to end it.

He shrugged. "Anyway, it's too late. They have their orders. We need to start thinking about some press releases for you."

"I have that call, remember?" Randolph said. "DeWitt will be at my office this morning, expecting to talk to my wife."

"I have you covered. One of my people has found a woman in California. He's filled her in completely. She knows all about Holly. Maybe that will get DeWitt off your back."

"I don't know. He's d.a.m.ned persistent."

"Well, in a couple of days, he will have a grief-stricken husband and father to interview." He handed Randolph a number. "Tell him it's a cell phone. Memorize it, because you should know it by heart."

"Have you found that d.a.m.ned cop and the Rawson woman?"

"No, and Cross has disappeared as well. That's why we have to get rid of all of them. They can't find her or Mikey. They can't get her DNA, or the whole d.a.m.n mess will unravel."

Randolph closed his eyes. Then opened them. "What if they find her first?"

Matthews detected a thin note of hope in Randolph's voice. He decided to placate the man. A little.

"I've thought about that. I've told a friend of mine on a confidential basis that your wife has stolen your child, that she is mentally unbalanced. He issued a custody order. Perhaps we won't need it. But we have it if we do. Holly will do or say anything to keep Michael. We can bargain with her. Then we can take our time in solving the problem." He looked at Randolph. "I never leave anything to chance. You should know that by now."

He didn't like the look on his son-in-law's face as he nodded. Perhaps he'd overestimated Randolph Ames's ambitions. He hadn't expected this sudden sentimentality.

He would keep a closer eye on him, especially in the next few days.

No, he never left anything to chance.

'BISBEE'.

Holly answered the phone after listening to it ring for several moments. She was in the midst of one of her pieces. But the insistence alarmed her.

By now most of her friends knew that if she didn't answer, it was because she couldn't.

She picked up the phone.

Marty's voice was as insistent as the ring had been. "Liz, I have to see you immediately."

Holly didn't like the tone. It was almost frantic. Marty didn't get frantic.