Flash

Glow."
    Jasper felt the shudder that went through her. "What did she plan to do after Todd told her he did not want to marry her?"
    "She expected Todd to stay with the campaign. She probably thought that he wouldn't be able to resist the chance to influence the national political agenda for the next few years. She thought she could manage and control everyone."
    "She was living in a fantasy world."
    "Yes." Olivia looked at him with huge eyes. "She intended to make another attempt to kill you. She was only biding her time until after the election. She was nervous about risking a second murder attempt while the campaign was under such intense media scrutiny."
    He pulled her into his arms. "And when it all fell apart with Dixon's arrest, she came after you for revenge. You don't know what I went through this morning when I finally realized that it had to be Eleanor who had sent Haggard to Pelapili Island. It meant she was probably behind everything."
    "How did you know she would try to kill me before she left town?"
    "I knew she would be furious because all of her plans had gone down the toilet. She was a very driven woman. I was afraid that she would not be able to walk away without striking out at the one person she could blame for all that had gone wrong. Todd told me that she admired you, saw you as a kindred spirit. A reflection of herself. It was logical that she would turn on you when she, herself, failed."
    Olivia smiled tremulously. "For a corporate type, you did a pretty good job of analyzing the psychology of her motivations."
    "Trust me, there wasn't anything real deep about Eleanor's motivations."
    "Very goal-oriented, would you say?"
    He shook his head. "She was more than goal-oriented. She was a predator. And also nuttier than a fruitcake."
    Olivia leaned her head against his shoulder. "I can't believe we actually got through the whole thing without anyone finding out that Melwood Gill was blackmailing us as well as Dixon Haggard."
    "Just goes to show the value of good teamwork."
    "Uh-huh. So what happens if the information leaks out again sometime in the future?"
    "I doubt if it will, but if it does, we'll handle it. Hell, we can handle anything together."
    "You may, just possibly, be right about that."
    The snapping breeze loosened her hair. A few tendrils curled around his neck. He savored the silky feel of it as he watched the glowing city recede across the waters of Elliott Bay.
    "You scared the living hell out of me today." He kept his voice very even, very flat, because there was no other way to control the anger and fear that still stormed inside him. "If you hadn't saved yourself by distracting her with the music and that business with the flag…"
    "You would have saved me, instead. You and Todd."
    "We were about two minutes too late." He heard her suck in her breath and realized that he squeezed her a little too tightly. "Two damned minutes."
    She put her arms around his waist and hugged him back hard enough to remind him of the ribs that had gotten bruised in the fight with Dixon. "I'll make a deal with you. If you promise not to dwell on those two minutes, I'll try not to have nightmares about what almost happened on Pelapili Island."
    He thought about that. He didn't think he could keep his end of the bargain. The memory of how he had very nearly lost her might fade a little with time, but he would never entirely forget that surge of panic that had sent him running from Lancaster headquarters.
    But he also knew that neither he nor Olivia had any choice but to try to put the close brushes with death behind them. Businesspeople are natural optimists. They look to the future, not the past.
    "Deal," he said finally.
    She raised her head. Her eyes were brilliant in the long, gentle light. "Look at it this way. From now on, if either of us wakes up from a nightmare about what nearly happened to the other person, we'll have each other to hold on to until we go back to sleep."
    Something tight within him was eased by that thought. "Good point."
    They stayed that way, wrapped in each others' arms, for a while. And then Jasper kissed her.

    Two days later the door to Olivia's office opened. She looked up from the stack of invoices spread out on her desk and watched a half dozen of her relatives march into the room. Bolivar was in the lead. Rose, Zara, Percy, Quincy, and Barry trailed after him with obvious reluctance. No one smiled.
    She sighed, put down her pen, and leaned back in her chair. "Is this