Eye of the Beholder

saw Trask watching her intently. "This is amazing. He knows all about my financial status."
    "Why am I not surprised?"
    She glared at him and went back to the dossier. "He notes that I'm an ideal target. The creep actually calls me a target. Of all the unmitigated nerve."
    "Target for what?"
    She scanned the next page quickly. "Apparently to become a major donor to the Dimensions Trust. He says that with proper handling—" She looked up again, furious now. " Handling. Can you believe it?"
    "Go on."
    Alexa read the next section aloud.

    We have her established as a tenant at Avalon Plaza , which will ensure her continued association with Institute activities and influences. . .

    She gritted her teeth. "So that's how I lucked out with the lease at Avalon Plaza . Wait until Lloyd hears about this."
    "Anything else?"
    Her fingers tightened on the page. "Here's another entry. It's dated shortly after I stopped going out with him."

    Target is obviously sexually repressed. She is strongly resistant to a physical relationship with a man. I don't believe she's interested in women, either. Will urge her to attend Sexual Enlightenment seminar....

    She broke off once more, cheeks burning. "Just because he didn't turn me on, he calls me repressed."
    "Shows how much he knows," Trask murmured.
    She did not look up. She could hear the satisfied amusement in his voice. The sight of the sexy gleam in his eyes would be too much. She concentrated on reading swiftly through the remainder of the document.

    ... Refused Sexual Enlightenment seminar.
    Attempts to keep target involved in Dimensions activities continue. . .Target accepted position on festival committee. I feel certain that she can eventually be persuaded to join the Circle of Enlightenment....

    Alexa turned the last page and read Foster's final notes silently. "Hmm."
    "What does that mean?" Trask asked with grave interest.
    "This last entry is dated the day after you and I had dinner at the country club," she said. "Guess the little twerp was starting to get worried."
    "About what?"
    She cleared her throat. "About you."
    "Let me see that." Trask took the dossier from her and read the final paragraph aloud.

    Critical to get target away from Trask's sexual influence. Don't know why she has responded to him, but his agenda is obvious. He intends to use her somehow against Kenyon. Best guess is that Trask has come up with a scheme to hurt Kenyon financially. Gaining control of target's inheritance would be one way to do it as Kenyon frequently combines her trust income with his own resources in his deals. Losing access to her funds would probably cut his leverage options in half....

    Trask abruptly stopped reading. He dosed the file and carried it back across the room to the desk. He tossed the dossier down onto the polished surface with a short, brutal motion of his hand.
    "Son-of-a-bitch," he said very softly.
    Alexa steepled her fingers. "Well, I guess that gives us a pretty clear idea of where Foster fits into this thing. He was focused solely on the bottom line."
    There was a short, charged silence. Trask looked at her. Belatedly she recalled that he prided himself on his own ability to focus on the bottom line.
    "I mean," she said quickly, "that all he cared about was getting his hands on my money."
    "I told you so."
    "You're biased. You think everyone involved in the metaphysics business is a con artist. However, even if we grant that Foster really is a bad guy, that doesn't explain why someone tried to murder him tonight. Strood will have his hands full trying to figure that one out."
    Trask folded his arms and leaned back against the desk. He looked at her with a darkly thoughtful expression. "Not if Foster Radstone has been true to his professional calling as a con man."
    "Explain."
    "What do you want to bet that Radstone was siphoning money out of the Dimensions Trust?" he said.
    She pondered that briefly. "You think he might have been fleecing Webster Bell and the Institute?"
    "Someone, presumably the shooter, scattered a whole bunch of files involving the Trust on Radstone's desk tonight. I think he did it while he waited for Radstone ."
    "You believe that he wanted those files to be found together with the body?"
    "That's what it looked like to me." Trask crossed the room to the yellow lacquered cocktail cabinet and opened the door. "If I'm right, if someone tried to kill Radstone tonight because he was skimming from the trust, then it fits with the