Wildest Hearts

blackmail.”

    “So you made certain he had an accident?”

    “I didn't need him any longer,” Gresham said simply. “He had become a liability.”

    “You're a monster,” Annie whispered. “You tell me you're only doing this to avenge your brother, but you're willing to kill other people in the process. How can you possibly justify that?”

    Oliver winced. Annie was on the warpath.

    “I don't have to justify a goddamn thing to you, lady. Now shut up.”

    “There's no telling what Oliver will do when he gets his hands on you,” Annie said calmly. “He's a very dangerous man.”

    “He's a dead man. I'll know the minute he enters this place, thanks to his own fucking alarm system. Sybil explained the whole setup. Once he's inside, he's all mine. Sooner or later he'll walk into this greenhouse looking for you and when he does, you, my dear, will shoot him dead.”

    “Everyone who knows me will know I didn't kill him,” Annie said fiercely.

    “No, my dear, they won't know that. What they'll tell themselves is that hell hath no fury like that of a woman who discovers she's been married for business reasons.”

    “You've got it all wrong, you know.” There was desperation as well as rage in Annie's voice now. “I'm the one who married Oliver for business reasons. He was doing me a favor.”

    “You actually believe that bullshit? Rain is a clever bastard, I'll give him that.”

    “He doesn't need Lyncroft Unlimited.”

    “He may not need it, but he sure as hell wants it. Who wouldn't? The company is hot and getting hotter.”

    Oliver released the intercom button. At least he knew where Gresham was holding Annie. He took off his jacket as he mentally ran through the very short list of things he knew about Jonathan Grace. It would help if he could find a weak point.

    Oliver started to toss his jacket aside. He felt the weight of his reading glasses in the pocket and stopped.

    Grace wore glasses. All the time, apparently. He'd had them on when he showed up at the museum preview with Sybil. Judging from the thickness of the lenses, he would be half-blind without them.

    Oliver hurled the jacket over a chair and removed his tie. It wasn't much on which to base a strategy, but it was all he had.

    He took the elevator to the twenty-sixth floor. When he got off, he went swiftly past the penthouse, down to the end of the short, private hall. He stopped in front of the door that opened onto the emergency stairwell. He opened it soundlessly.

    He took the concrete stairs to the roof two at a time. At the top, he eased the door open and stepped outside. The stairwell exit was concealed behind the looming structure that housed the building's elevator machinery.

    The eerie blue-green glow from the greenhouse lit up a large portion of the roof. Oliver could see the outlines of two figures inside the glass. Annie was standing near the grotto, nearly hidden behind a row of staghorns. Grace was a few steps away from her. When he moved his arm, Oliver could see the shape of the gun in his fist.

    They would not be able to see him because the rooftop outside the greenhouse was in darkness. Crouching low in order to stay in the deepest part of the shadows, Oliver made his way to the environmental control panel he used to govern the climate inside the greenhouse.

    Annie was aware of more perspiration gathering on her forehead and trickling down her arms. She didn't know if it was caused by the warmth of the greenhouse or by her nerves. She watched Grace who was beginning to glance more and more frequently at his watch.

    “Maybe Oliver got held up at the office,” Annie suggested coolly. “No telling when he'll be home.”

    “Since he married you, he's always home on time. I've been keeping an eye on his movements.” Grace stood where he could watch both Annie and the greenhouse door. “It's getting damn fucking hot in here.”

    “What do you expect? It's a greenhouse.” But Annie secretly agreed with Grace. She could have sworn that it was considerably warmer now than it had been a few minutes earlier. She wondered if something had gone wrong with the heat and humidity systems.

    “Damn humidity. Place is like a jungle.” Grace took off his glasses and wiped the steam off of the lenses. “Rain will get here eventually. And when he does he'll walk straight into the trap the same way my brother walked into one.” He put his glasses back on.

    “No offense,” Annie said waspishly, “but don't