He considered the request before running a hand across his forehead. “I’ve been thinking about that. We can run, like we’ve done before. But there’s a difference now.”
LuAnn’s response was immediate. “He knows about the lottery fix and he knows LuAnn Tyler and Catherine Savage are one and the same. Our cover isn’t going to work anymore.”
Charlie nodded glumly. “We’ve never been confronted with both of those before. It makes disappearing a little trickier.”
She suddenly stood up and started her ritualistic pacing, moving in fluid circles around the room. “What does he want, Charlie?”
“I’ve been thinking about that too.” He went over to the liquor stand with his empty glass, hesitated, and decided against a second round. “You saw the guy’s setup. What did it look like to you?” he asked.
LuAnn stopped pacing and leaned up against the fireplace mantel. In her mind, she went through every detail of the place.
“His car was a rental, under an assumed name. So he doesn’t want us to be able to trace his real identity. I didn’t recognize the man, but there must be another reason he’s going incognito.”
“Right.” Charlie studied her. Over the years, he had learned that LuAnn missed almost nothing and her instincts were first-rate.
“He tried to spook me, which he did. I take that as a warning, a message that he’s a player and he wants us to be aware of that for the next time he calls.”
“Go on,” he encouraged.
“The place, the little I saw of it, was set up like an office. Very neat, very orderly. Computer, fax, printer, files. It was like he had made all of this some special research project.”
“Well, he would’ve had to do a ton of research to figure out the lottery scam. Jackson is no dummy.”
“How do you think he did it, Charlie?”
He rubbed his chin and sat down in front of his desk. “Well, we don’t know for absolute certain that he has figured it all out. I just saw the list. That’s all.”
“With the names of all those lottery winners? Come on. How long did Jackson run the scam anyway?”
Charlie shook his head. “I don’t know. I mean, I was there for nine of them, including you. Started in August. You were Miss April, my last gig.”
LuAnn shook her head stubbornly. “He knows, Charlie; we have to assume that to be true. However he did it, he did it.”
“Okay. So it seems pretty clear the guy wants money.”
She shook her head. “We don’t know that. I mean, why would he set up shop here and bring all that stuff with him? He didn’t need to do that. He could just send me a letter from parts unknown with the same info, and a demand for money to be wire-transferred to his bank account.”
Charlie sat back, his face carrying extreme confusion. He had not looked at the matter in that light. “That’s true.”
“And I don’t think the guy’s hurting for money. He was wearing really nice clothes. Two leased cars, the rent on that cottage isn’t cheap, I’m thinking, and all that equipment he had. He’s not digging his dinner out of garbage cans.”
“Right, but unless he’s already a millionaire, going after you would significantly enrich his bank account,” said Charlie.
“But he hasn’t done that. He hasn’t asked for anything. I wish I knew why.” She was lost deep in thought for a moment and then looked up. “How long did Pemberton say the cottage had been rented?”
“About a month.”
“That makes it even more unlikely he was going to blackmail us. Why wait? Why come right out and warn me that he knows everything? How does he know I won’t just disappear in the middle of the night? If I do that, he’s not going to be filling up his bank account with my funds.”
Charlie sighed deeply. “So what do we do now?”
“Wait,” was finally the answer from LuAnn’s lips. “But make arrangements for us to leave the country on a moment’s notice. By private jet. And since he knows about Catherine Savage, we’re going to need another set of identification papers. Can you get them?”