Risky Business

I was picking up all the papers he’d scattered, but he was saying something about the big time and buying champagne to celebrate. I told him he’d better stick to beer on his salary. That’s when he talkedabout deals coming through and diving for big bucks. Then I made some comment about sunken treasure….”
    “And what did he say?”
    “Sometimes you make more putting stuff in than taking it out.” With a line between her brows, she remembered how he’d laughed when she’d told him to go sleep it off. “He made a pass neither one of us took seriously, and then…I think he made a phone call. I went back to work.”
    “When was this?”
    “A week, maybe one week after I took him on.”
    “That must have been when he called me.” Jonas looked out to sea. And he hadn’t paid much attention, either, he reminded himself. Jerry had talked about coming home in style. But then he had always been talking about coming home in style. And the call, as usual, had been collect.
    “Did you ever see him with anyone? Talking, arguing?”
    “I never saw him argue with anyone. He flirted with the women on the beach, made small talk with the clients and got along just fine with everyone he worked with. I assumed he spent most of his free time in San Miguel. I think he cruised a few bars with Luis and some of the others.”
    “What bars?”
    “You’ll have to ask them, though I’m sure the police already have.” She took a deep breath. It was bringing it all back again, too close. “Mr. Sharpe, why don’t you let the police handle this? You’re running after shadows.”
    “He was my brother.” And more, what he couldn’t explain, his twin. Part of himself had been murdered. If he were ever to feel whole again, he had to know why. “Haven’t you wondered why Jerry was murdered?”
    “Of course.” She looked down at her hands. They were empty and she felt helpless. “I thought he must’ve gotten intoa fight, or maybe he bragged to the wrong person. He had a bad habit of tossing what money he had around.”
    “It wasn’t robbery or a mugging, Elizabeth. It was professional. It was business.”
    Her heart began a slow, painful thud. “I don’t understand.”
    “Jerry was murdered by a pro, and I’m going to find out why.”
    Because her throat was suddenly dry, she swallowed. “If you’re right, then that’s all the more reason to leave it to the police.”
    He drew out his cigarettes again, but stared ahead to where the sky met the water. “Police don’t want revenge. I do.” In his voice, she heard the calm patience and felt a shiver.
    Staring, she shook her head. “Even if you found the person who did it, what could you do?”
    He took a long pull from his beer. “As a lawyer, I suppose I’d be obliged to see they had their day in court. As a brother…” He trailed off and drank again. “We’ll have to see.”
    “I don’t think you’re a very nice man, Mr. Sharpe.”
    “I’m not.” He turned his head until his eyes locked on hers. “And I’m not harmless. Remember, if I make a pass, we’ll both take it seriously.”
    She started to speak, then saw his line go taut. “You’ve got a fish, Mr. Sharpe,” she said dryly. “You’d better strap in or he’ll pull you overboard.”
    Turning on her heel, she went back to the bridge, leaving Jonas to fend for himself.

3
    I t was sundown when Liz parked her bike under the lean-to beside her house. She was still laughing. However much trouble Jonas had caused her, however much he had annoyed her in three brief meetings, she had his two hundred dollars. And he had a thirty-pound marlin—whether he wanted it or not. We deliver, she thought as she jingled her keys.
    Oh, it had been worth it, just to see his face when he’d found himself on the other end of the wire from a big, bad-tempered fish. Liz believed he’d have let it go if she hadn’t taken the time for one last smirk. Stubborn, she thought again. Yes, any other time she’d have admired it, and him.
    Though she’d been wrong about his not being able to handle a rod, he’d looked so utterly perplexed with the fish lying at his feet on the deck that she’d nearly felt sorry for him. But his luck, or the lack of it, had helped her make an easy exit once they’d docked. With all the people crowding around to get a look at his catch and congratulate him, Jonas hadn’t been able to detain her.
    Now she was ready for an early evening, she thought. And a rainy one if the