Flash

talking, of course, but sooner or later, Dixon will say something to implicate me. He won't be able to help himself."
    Olivia clenched the curtain. "That's the real reason you terminated your campaign, isn't it? You're going to disappear because you're afraid that Dixon will break down soon and tell the cops that you used him as a hit man."
    "There is absolutely no proof that I had Dixon get rid of Richard or that I sent him to Pelapili to try to take out Sloan, but once he starts talking, I will be ruined."
    "So you're on your way out of town, is that it?"
    "Yes. I cleaned out the campaign bank account late yesterday afternoon before the press conference. My flight to the Caribbean leaves in an hour and a half. I doubt if anyone will find your body until this afternoon. By that time I will be safely out of the country."
    Olivia took another step back. "My staff is due here at any minute."
    "When I saw you leave your condominium building this morning and walk toward the waterfront, I assumed you would be coming here to dismantle the stage and props for the fund-raiser. So I called the Light Fantastic studio."
    "What did you tell my staff?"
    "I said that I was the receptionist at the Lancaster campaign headquarters. I told the young man who answered the phone that you were there at headquarters talking to your brother and that something had come up. I said you had asked me to call your office to cancel all of your morning appointments."
    "But Bolivar will know to go ahead with the tear-down," Olivia warned.
    "Whoever took the message was very helpful. He asked if he and the others were to go ahead with the project here at the pier. I told him you said to wait until later today."
    Olivia took one last small step back and came up hard against the control panel. She put out a hand to steady herself.
    Eleanor raised the pistol and aimed it at her heart.

    "It's Dixon Haggard's account, all right." Todd's jaw tightened angrily. He studied the deposit slip he held. "I can't think of a single good reason why two thousand dollars from the campaign fund would have been transferred into his personal account."
    "I can." Jasper gazed at the glowing computer screen. "Two thousand dollars would have covered the cost of a flight out to Pelapili, a rental car, and a couple of days in a hotel."
    "What are you talking about?"
    "I'll explain later." Jasper reached for the phone and started to dial the number of the Light Fantastic studio. "Get on the other line. Call Lancaster. Make certain she's still at home."
    "She won't pick up the phone. She's screening her calls."
    "Tell her it's urgent." Jasper listened to the ringing on the other end of the line. "Tell her a big donor just called and promised to arrange for a new infusion of cash. That should get her attention, if she's there."
    "Are you nuts? What's going on here?" Nevertheless, Todd reached for the phone. He dialed quickly, listened impatiently for a few seconds, and then spoke. "Eleanor, if you're there, pick up.
You
won't believe what just happened. Money is flowing into the campaign."
    There was still no answer at Light Fantastic. Was that good news or bad news? Jasper wondered. Maybe the entire staff was with Olivia, in which case she would be safe.
    Or maybe she was alone. His insides fused.
    A familiar, slightly breathless voice answered. "Light Fantastic. This is Zara. Can I help you?"
    "Zara, it's Jasper. Did Bolivar and the team go down to the warehouse to meet Olivia?"
    "No, Olivia sent a message telling us to delay the teardown."
    "Damn." Jasper tossed the phone aside and started for the door.
    "Eleanor's still not picking up." Todd dropped the phone into the cradle. "Hey, where are you going?"
    "The warehouse." Jasper zigzagged through the crowded outer office, ignoring the startled looks from the staff.
    "Why?" Todd hurried after him. "What the hell is going on here?"
    Jasper slammed through the front door and out onto the sidewalk "You told me yourself that any check or transfer of an amount over two hundred dollars in that account had to have Eleanor Lancaster's written approval, right?"
    "Right." Todd followed Jasper to the Jeep. "What about it?"
    Jasper yanked open the door on the driver's side, slid behind the wheel, and shoved the keys into the ignition. "So if I'm right about Dixon having used that money to fly out to Pelapili, then we have to assume that Lancaster sent him out there. She would have been the one who authorized the transfer of funds that