Flash

files."
    She frowned. "His office files? I doubt that Melwood would have kept any incriminating evidence at Glow."
    "Not his office files," Jasper said deliberately. "The ones he kept in his house."
    "What makes you think there are any?"
    Jasper finished the cognac and set the glass down on the counter. "I know a fellow obsessive-compulsive filer when I meet one."

    Shortly after one o'clock in the morning Olivia stood, shivering, on Melwood Gill's back step and watched as Jasper put a gloved fist through the window he had just finished taping.
    There was a soft, muffled crunch and a few tinkling sounds, but no telltale crash of breaking glass. The tape held most of the shards in place.
    "I sure hope you're right about Melwood never having installed an alarm system," Olivia muttered.
    "If he had he would have plastered those little stickers the security companies give you on every door and window."
    "How do you know that?"
    "Because the stickers warning the crooks that there's an alarm system are the first line of defense," Jasper said patiently. "In fact, some people don't go any farther than putting on the stickers."
    "Yes, but—" She broke off when he opened the door and moved quietly into the kitchen.
    This was a very bad idea. She knew it in her bones.
    But she also knew that there was nothing else she could do except follow Jasper inside. It had not been easy convincing him to allow her to accompany him on this jaunt. If she got cold feet now, he would probably spend the rest of the night saying
I-told-you-so
.
    Ahead of her in the gloom, Jasper was a large, dark shadow. He was already moving silently through the kitchen into the front room. She followed quickly, wincing when her rubber-soled shoes made tiny squeaking sounds on the vinyl tile floor.
    Jasper halted briefly in the living room. Olivia stopped just behind him and surveyed the surroundings. The curtains had been left open. Enough light filtered in from the street to reveal a sofa, two armchairs, and a television set. There was a shabby, out-of-date feel to the room, as if no one had bothered to redecorate in a very long time.
    "Melwood's wife died a few years ago," Olivia said. "He never remarried. Aunt Rose said he asked a couple of the women who work at Glow out to dinner, but it was always a disaster."
    "Why?"
    "Aunt Rose said the women claimed it was like dating a robot. I gathered Melwood was not exactly the spontaneous type."
    She saw Jasper turn his head to look at her in the shadows, but he said nothing. He led the way down a thinly carpeted hall. They passed a bathroom. At the end of the corridor they found a small room cloaked in darkness. The curtains had been drawn across the windows, cutting off the street light.
    There was a small
snick
. An instant later the pencil-thin beam from Jasper's flashlight pierced the shadows. For a moment Olivia could only stare, uncomprehending, at the scene of chaos.
    Then she realized that she was looking at a home office that had been turned upside down. File cabinets stood open. Folders full of papers littered the floor. The drawers of the desk had been emptied. The contents were strewn across the rug.
    "Damn," Jasper said softy. "Looks like someone got here ahead of us."
    Olivia heard a small squeak.
    "Your shoes?" Jasper whispered.
    "No." Her mouth went dry. "The ceiling, I think"
    "I was afraid of that." He flicked off the flashlight and went to stand, motionless, in the doorway.
    The squeak sounded again. Olivia stopped breathing for a few seconds.
    Whoever had ransacked Melwood's office was still in the house.
    Jasper shifted slightly in the dark opening. He glanced back at her and hesitated. Olivia read his intentions as surely as if he had sent her a telepathic message. He wanted to go after whoever was prowling around upstairs, but he was afraid to leave her alone down here.
    Anger surged through her. She was not about to let him risk his neck in such a foolish stunt. She grabbed his arm and shook her head emphatically, mouthing two words. "No way."
    He glanced back out into the darkened hall. She detected a hint of something that bordered on a predatory eagerness in him. But he finally nodded reluctantly. She let out a small sigh of relief, aware that her presence had been the deciding factor. Jasper did not want to take any chances with her safety.
    He reached for her hand. She gave it to him. He tagged her very close and put his mouth on her ear.
    "Out. The way we came in."
    She gave a