Page 110 of Deadly Misfortunes

He wished she hadn't asked.

"Oh, he liked to take me paddling, skydiving, bungee jumping, hiking on overnighters and longer, and mountain climbing. I mean, he is really fun to be with. And he has a great sense of humor."

Gregory thought he had a great sense of humor also!

Sascha smiled at him. And he read her mind. You do, and you don't need to take me bungee jumping or mountain climbing. We do great together. A furniture salesman, eh?

He smiled at her. Then he got a call from Red. "Hey, Mr. Landry, I had something important that came up, and I wondered if it was possible to take off the rest of the day. You've got all the rest of your bodyguards, and I would have talked to you about it face to face, but nobody knows where you're at."

On purpose. "Yeah, sure, do you need more time than that?"

"I don't know. Maybe two days off?"

"Take whatever time off you need. Can you tell me what this is in regard to?" He thought he might need to give him some upfront funds if he needed it.

"I might be getting back with my girl."

Gregory looked at Janie. Hell, Red couldn't be Brendan, could he?

Red? Sascha asked in her mind.

"That sounds great. I hope it all works out for you."

"Thanks, sir." Red sounded truly grateful.

Red was wearing a blond beard, had red hair, and his eyes were green. Brendan was blond-haired, clean-shaven, and his eyes were blue.

He didn't have a picture of Red with a beard, or he would have shown it to Janie. Now they had a problem: if Brendan was Red, he still needed to be arrested for trying to murder Gregory. But Gregory felt the guy had never had a chance to live a normal, healthy life. And he wanted to help him out.

I do too, Sascha was thinking.

Which was good because Brendan could have killed her too, and he wanted her involved in the process.

His dad was friends with everyone—the mayor, the governor, the prosecutor, judges. Maybe they could work out a deal.

He couldn't believe he would even think this way about the man who tried to kill him and who might have been hiding under his own roof out in the open, with access to him, and knowing just where he was going and when.

He thought of all the times that Red was out checking the perimeter or the parking lot at the fairgrounds, able to communicate via email without anyone ever knowing he could have sent it. He could have easily borrowed the clown costume and shot the missile at Sascha's booth while the other bodyguards were watching out for them.

He could be the maniac hiding in plain sight.

26

A few minutes later, Janie got a call, and she smiled, put it on speaker, and said, "Yes! You must have the greatest boss in the world, Brendan. When can you be here?"

"It will take three hours to get there. I'm already on my way."

She smiled again. "I can't wait to see you. Love you, babe."

"Love you too."

When they finished the call, Sascha said, "How high would the odds be for Red to ask for time off to see his girlfriend, and then within minutes Janie gets a call saying he got time off from his boss to see her?"

"Yeah. I was thinking the same."

"Red?" Janie asked.

"One of my bodyguards." He was wondering how they missed that he had been bitten by fire ants if he was one and the same person. Then again, Red stayed out of the limelight. And even if one of his staff had seen red welts on him, they wouldn't have normally told Gregory about it, not when they didn't know that the guy who had broken into Sascha's apartment had been bitten by fire ants.