Absolutely, Positively

and into a parking area. He shut off the engine and opened the door.

    “I'll be right back.” He got out, shut the door, and loped through the rain to the limited shelter of the phone booth.

    Molly watched him through the rain-washed windows. From time to time ghostly ripples, an unfamiliar awareness of danger, went through her. At first she did not understand. She knew that she was scared and extremely worried about Venicia's safety, but this other sensation felt as though it emanated from outside herself.

    It wasn't until she saw Harry replace the receiver and start back toward the car that she realized she was picking up a distant echo ofhis own awareness of the danger they faced.

    It was not unlike the sensation she experienced more and more often when she was in bed with Harry. Alien, yet familiar.

    Harry broke into her disturbing thoughts when he opened the car door and got in behind the wheel. “It's pouring out there.” He ran his fingers through his damp hair to get rid of the moisture. He scowled when he saw Molly's face. “What's wrong?”

    Molly cleared her throat. If he had felt anything at all during the past few minutes, he was not about to acknowledge it. “Nothing.” She managed a weak smile. “I'm just a little anxious, that's all.”

    “Not surprising under the circumstances.” Harry turned in the seat, his expression intent. “I talked to Rice. Told him to start looking into Cutter Latteridge's background. With any luck he'll have some preliminary information for us by the time we get back to Seattle.”

    “But what are we going to do about Aunt Venicia? We can't allow her to continue to date a murderer.”

    “If you try to warn her about Latteridge, you'll put both her and yourself in extreme danger.” Harry reached across the seat to squeeze her hand. “Let me handle it, Molly.”

    “You always seem to end up in this role.”

    He released her fingers and put the car in gear. “What role?”

    “Playing the hero. It hardly seems fair. Someday someone ought to save you.”

    He gave her an odd glance as he drove out of the parking lot. “I'm no hero.”

    “Yes, you are. Trust me, I know one when I see one.”

    The green light on Harry's answering machine was blinking frantically when he walked into his study late that afternoon. There were three messages.

    “Your private line,” Molly observed. “Must be family calls.”

    “With any luck one of them will be from Fergus Rice.” Harry punched the playback button. “I told him to use the private number.”

    The first call was from Josh. He sounded upbeat.

    Harry? It's Josh. Thought you'd like to know that the hospital discharged Grandpa this morning. He's on crutches, but he swears he'll be back in the racing pit tomorrow night.

    The second call was from Danielle.

    Harry, this is your aunt. I understand you're going to give Brandon a list of venture capitalists. He says he's determined to go outside the family for financing. I don't think it's wise for him to do that. Please give me a call. I want to discuss this with you.

    “I knew Aunt Danielle would start acting like a nervous hen when her only chick tried to leave the nest,” Harry said.

    Molly glanced at him. “What will you do?”

    Harry scrawled Danielle's name on a pad of paper. “Talk to her. Persuade her to lay off Brandon.” He waited for the next voice, hoping it would be Fergus Rice with information. It was.

    Harry, it's Rice. Give me a call as soon as you get in. I've got some news that I think will interest you.

    Harry reached for the phone and punched in the number. Fergus answered on the first ring.

    “It's Harry. What have you got?”

    “The good news is that I got lucky right off the bat, thanks to your guesswork. I started by checking a couple of charitable foundations which operate along the same lines as the Abberwick Foundation. You know, the kind that make grants for scientific and technical work.”

    “What did you find?”

    “It looks like Cutter Latteridge is an alias for a con man named Clarence Laxton. He's had a half-dozen different names during the past five years. He specializes in scamming foundations. Been pretty successful at it from what I can tell, but he got caught by investigators a year ago.”

    “Any jail time?”

    “No. He literally vanished hours before the authorities moved in. When they got to his office, it had been cleaned out. There was no trace. He covered his tracks very well. You'll