Midnight Jewels

least have our hands on the book."
    "But you didn't get hold of it."
    "Unfortunately we were forced to go back to the original plan, which meant letting both of you into the estate," Gladstone said. "We felt the situation was controllable and we had to get the book. You didn't particularly concern us, of course. We were almost certain you were exactly what you appeared to be, an innocent little bookseller who had lucked into an important find and who wanted nothing more than to make a legitimate deal. We invited you to deliver
Valley
in person because we wanted to make absolutely certain you didn't know the true secrets of the book. We thought we could tell that by having you under our roof for a few days. Genuine naivete and stupidity are not hard to diagnose. But Mr. Falconer was something else. We could learn nothing about him in the short span of time we had available, and that struck us as dangerous."
    Mercy swallowed. She must not let her imagination drive her crazy, she told herself. She must stay calm and controlled. "How did you know I'd put
Valley
in the motel safe that night?"
    "The night clerk mentioned it when Dallas asked a few questions and offered him a small bribe. The clerk was also obliging enough to tell Dallas where the combination was kept. We chose that motel for you precisely because we knew the clerk had a drinking problem and would be manageable." Isobel regarded Mercy with a gimlet gaze. "Dallas and Lance were instructed to make the robbery look like the work of a thief who was interested in getting everything he could, so they hit a few of the guest rooms as well as the safe. Dallas decided to try your room when they found the safe empty. But you apparently woke up at an inopportune moment."
    Gladstone smiled charmingly. "It's unfortunate for both you and Mr. Falconer that you awoke when you did that night. If Dallas and Lance had been successful in retrieving
Valley
, we might have canceled our invitation to you both and sent you away when you arrived at the first gate. As it is…" He let the sentence trail off into a small, regretful shrug.
    Mercy stared at him. "I don't believe you. You would still have wondered who Croft was and why he was with me."
    Isobel smiled. "She's not as stupid or as naive as she looks, Erasmus." She turned to Mercy. "You're quite right. Mr. Falconer was an unknown factor in the equation and we could not afford to ignore him. We would probably have had to arrange an accident for him sooner or later, just to be on the safe side. You might have been luckier."
    "I doubt it," Mercy said dryly. Isobel merely smiled. "Are you going to take me to Croft?"
    "He will soon be joining you."
    Mercy allowed herself to be nudged toward the staircase that led down to the garden room. "Where is he?"
    "With any luck we'll all soon find out," Gladstone told her as he followed the two women down the stairs.
    Mercy halted at the glass doors, turning to pin Isobel with a savage glance. "He isn't here? You said you'd captured him!"
    "We will capture him, Mercy, using you as bait."
    Mercy felt ill. Croft was going to be furious. For some reason that was her chief concern at the moment. She pushed it aside and made one last effort. "Why do you need to draw him into a trap? You've got your precious book."
    Gladstone nodded. "True, but I am a careful man, Mercy. I do not like to leave any loose ends. And I'm much afraid your Mr. Falconer constitutes a very dangerous loose end. Much more tidy to get rid of him before he can do any more damage."
    Mercy was nearly blinded by her own fury. She had been so stupid. Now she had put Croft in danger as well as herself. She reached for the glass door and yanked it open, wanting Isobel to think she was going to make a dash for the cover of the gardens.
    Isobel reacted instinctively, stepping toward Mercy in an attempt to grab her. But instead of dashing futilely out into the gardens, Mercy whirled around and startled Isobel by hurling herself toward the other woman.
    "Damn you!" Isobel raised her gun hand in a desperate effort to ward off the whirlwind, but Mercy managed to collide with her and knock her to the ground.
    There was a brief, savage scramble on the steps. Mercy concentrated her attention on getting hold of the gun. She tried everything she remembered from her short course in self-defense, but in the end it was all useless.
    Erasmus Gladstone simply stepped forward and slammed the copy of
Valley
against the side of Mercy's head.
    Mercy