Trust Me

unreadable face while he answered questions from the Wainwright clan, his brothers, and Ian Ivers.
    A somber, melancholic mood had settled on him even before the authorities had arrived to handcuff Dane and take him away.
    Stark had refused to discuss whatever if was that had settled like a cloud on his spirits, but he didn’t need to spell it out. Desdemona knew that he was blaming himself for having put her in harm’s way.
    She did not know how to ease his mind. Stark was a man who would always be harder on himself than on anyone else.
    “What the heck did you do to the laptop?” Henry asked. “Ian said it acted like some kind of stun gun.”
    “It did.” Stark stretched out his legs, shoved his hands into his pockets, and regarded the small crowd of eager listeners. “I rigged it so that it would deliver an electrical jolt to whoever touched the case. I set the charge when I punched up ARCANE for him.”
    “Smart.” Henry’s grin held genuine admiration. “Like a scene out of a James Bond film.”
    “Except that Stark’s hero was obviously Q, the guy who designed the high-tech toys, not Bond,” Benedick remarked approvingly.
    Tony turned a chair around and straddled it. He rested his arms on the back. “Stark rigged the case this afternoon just as soon as he realized that Dane McCallum was behind the attempt to steal ARCANE.”
    “Jason and I helped him,” Kyle said proudly. “Didn’t we, Sam?”
    “Couldn’t have done it without you,” Stark said.
    Desdemona stirred. “Dane was jealous of Stark, you know. That’s why he did it. He wanted to prove that he was smarter than Stark. That he could be the star of the show.”
    Stark glanced at her, frowning. “How do you know that?”
    She shrugged. “The way he talked there at the end. It was obvious.”
    There was a small silence while everyone considered that. Then Tony spoke.
    “Stark knew that sooner or later the thief would try again, and he wanted to be ready. It worked, didn’t it?”
    “Yes,” Stark said. “It worked. But not quite as planned. I failed to consider the possibility that McCallum would use Desdemona as a hostage.”
    “How could you have known?” Desdemona said quickly. “Stark, you mustn’t blame yourself for what happened.”
    He looked at her with expressionless eyes. Her heart sank.
    Benedick frowned. “When did you conclude that it was McCallum who was behind all this nonsense?”
    Stark took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. “Desdemona reminded me that whoever was responsible for Tate’s death knew a hell of a lot about my personal life. And hers.”
    Desdemona blushed. “I was starting to get a little paranoid. I even had a few unkind thoughts about Ian.”
    “Me?” Ian looked pained.
    “Good heavens.” Kirsten’s eyes widened. “Ian?”
    “It wasn’t such a far-out guess.” Stark put on his glasses. “The list of people who could have figured out how to get into Stark Security Systems computers was unknowable. But the list of people who were at least passingly computer literate and who also knew a lot about my relationship with Desdemona, and about you Wainwrights in general, was a lot shorter.”
    “When he started going down the list this morning, he put McCallum’s name at the top,” Tony said. “That’s when he worked out the trick with the laptop. He had already sent an email message designed to lure the killer out into the open. The fish took the bait.”
    “But the fish had some bait of his own.” Stark looked at Desdemona. “I want to emphasize that what happened next was not part of the plan.”
    “I’m glad to hear that,” Ian muttered. He touched his head gingerly. “Not that it did me or Desdemona any good.”
    “No,” Stark said heavily. “What happened to the two of you was my fault. I owe you, Ivers.”
    Ian brightened. He gave Stark a speculative look. “Well, now that you mention it…”
    “And I owe Desdemona,” Stark said.
    “Forget it. I’ll collect later.” Desdemona reached out to touch his hand. His fingers did not close around hers as she hoped they would.
    “You’re a hero, Stark,” Tony said wryly. “Why fight it?”
    Desdemona saw Stark’s jaw tighten.
    “The important thing is that we’re all safe. The nightmare is over.”
    “Not quite,” Stark said.
    Everyone looked at him.
    “I’d like to get my hands on Kilburn,” Stark said softly. “According to McCallum, he’ll be arriving at the airport late tonight