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Griffin took her elbows. “I can see you’re busy, but can you spare a minute?”
Jeremy Linden stood within easy reach, and Darcy grabbed his sleeve. “Jeremy, you’ve been here a million times. Will you please show people there’s a price sticker on everything? If there are any questions, call on George or one of the kids. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
The captain’s eyes widened momentarily, but then he shrugged. “Sure, I can handle it. Take your time.”
Griffin dropped an arm around Darcy’s shoulders and steered her out the gate and down Embarcadero toward the beach. He stopped at the sea wall, sat and pulled her between his outstretched legs. He glanced away for a moment, then cleared his throat.
“I lied to you,” he began. “If you want to walk away from me now without even knowing what it was about, I’ll understand.”
The man had a marvelously expressive face, but she’d never seen him this serious when he wasn’t angry with her, which was deeply alarming. “If you’ve been married four or five times rather than only once, I don’t want to know.”
Griffin raised his right hand. “Once, I swear.”
That was a relief, if a small one, but there was no mistaking his sincerity. “Why don’t you just tell me what it was first, and then I’ll decide.”
“Fair enough.” Frowning slightly, he set his gaze just above her right shoulder. “A couple of years ago, I played a concert in Zurich. The next morning, I was approached by an agent from Interpol, who explained they were after a particularly elusive arms dealer named Lyman Vaughn.
“He’s apparently a bloodthirsty sort who would as soon rob and butcher a client as supply arms to him. He’s enormously wealthy and attracts beautiful women by the dozen, but soon tires of them. One of his former lovers told Interpol that Lyman had a greater passion for music than sex, and she mentioned me as his favorite artist.
“Because he moves among the super-rich, Interpol hasn’t been able to get an agent near him, but they believed our paths might cross. Should that occur, they hoped I would assist them.”
Darcy had initially steeled herself for his outrage over a poor review. She was totally unprepared to think of him as a secret agent. “Did they expect you to off the guy when you met him?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.
The first hint of a smile snaked across Griffin’s lips. “Piano wire has been used to strangle a man, but that would be rather obvious, don’t you think?”
Darcy was too scared to appreciate his humor. “Is that a yes or a no?”
Griffin shook his head emphatically. “It’s a no. As you’ve observed, I have an excellent memory of everything I hear. Ninety-five percent of cocktail reception chatter is just that, but there’s always a chance that I’ll overhear something useful to Interpol in the remaining five percent.”
Darcy was completely confused. “Where was the lie?”
“You have superb intuition, my love. One of my computers is linked to Interpol. I’m not a full-fledged spook, by any means, but my computer set-up isn’t as innocuous as I led you to believe.”
Darcy focused briefly on a sailboat gliding across the bay. Like so many things, sailing required hard work, but from afar, it appeared effortless and serene. She wished just once her life would take on a similar sense of calm.
She was too shaken by the nature of Griffin’s confession to know what to do, but she slid her hand up his shoulder and took comfort from his warmth. “All right, I’m still listening. What prompted you to tell me about Interpol?”
“I’m getting to that.” Griffin pulled her closer still and took a deep breath. “My Interpol contact always appears as my limo driver. They have my concert schedule and, should they wish to speak to me directly, he just appears at the airport.
“He met me last Wednesday, and this morning, his limo was at the curb when I left my hotel, but my contact had been shot in the head.”
“My God!” Darcy sagged against his thigh, and he caught her waist to steady her.
“That’s what I said. The Seattle police assumed it was a botched robbery attempt, and I didn’t tell them anything different.”
“But won’t they discover that the dead man was with Interpol?”
“He wouldn’t have been carrying a badge, but I’ll alert Interpol as soon as I get home. They’ll send someone to claim the body.”
“You came straight here?” Darcy had wanted him to be pleasantly surprised by how beautifully the landscaping was going, but now such a concern seemed utterly ridiculous.
“Yes. Someone obviously wanted my contact dead. You can connect the dots as easily as I can.”
Darcy sure could, and she swallowed hard. “Whoever wanted him dead knows he was your link to Interpol.”
Griffi
n nodded. “Right, which means I’m of no further use to them. Now you need to get back to work.” He eased her away and stood. “I realize I’ve probably prompted more questions than answers, but it’s all I know for now.”
