When Hardy had read what he’d written, though, it didn’t strike him as nearly enough. The note was brief and specific, telling Frannie that the next time she went before the grand jury, she should feel free to reveal his secret if she felt she needed to. But Hardy’s problem was that the grand jury wasn’t meeting until next Tuesday morning, which left Frannie exactly where she was right now. In a cold fury, Hardy raised his eyes and spoke. ‘What the hell kind of good does this do?’

Ron sat on the edge of the bed and spoke with a desperate calm. ‘My understanding from the television – am I right? – is that poor Frannie’s in jail down there for four days no matter what happens with me.’

Hardy nodded. ‘That’s how it looks, but-’

Palm out, Ron stopped him. ‘Please. May I? So my hope is that I won’t have to do all this again – move my family, start over. I’ve already done it once, as you know. But the idea of doing it again…’ He drew in a breath. ‘I’d rather avoid that, and maybe I can.’

‘How’s that?’

‘If they find who did it.’

This was what Frannie had suggested only a few hours earlier, but Hardy was damned if he was going to make the same argument he’d made to her. He could be a lot more straightforward here. He heard his volume going up. ‘And what if they don’t, Ron? How about that?’

‘Then on Tuesday, the kids and I, we go. And Frannie can talk.’

‘She can tell the grand jury you’ve kidnapped your kids?’

‘I don’t see it that way, but yes.’

‘Put the FBI on your ass?’

A weak smile. ‘They’ve been there before. They won’t find me.’

‘And Frannie gets out of jail? She tells them everything?’

‘Yes. You have my word. Meanwhile, if Bree’s killer is found’ – he indicated the kids’ bedroom – ‘those guys maybe get to go back to a normal life. That’s all I want, really.’

And here was Frannie’s impetus in deciding to ask her husband to help her maybe-lover. Save some lives, she’d said, and he’d let himself be persuaded that she was talking about their own family.

But no.

Again, it was Ron. His kids.

Hardy knew nothing of the truth about Ron and Frannie, about Ron and his earlier marriage, the custody battle, Bree or her life or any of the political issues surrounding it. Three days wasn’t enough time, even if he had an entire police department working with him, even if he was motivated to do it.

Which he wasn’t.

He couldn’t use his cop friends, his lawyer connections, or any of his personal channels because he’d sworn himself to secrecy. Finding a likely suspect for Bree’s murder was a ridiculous notion. And why would he want to anyway? Ron Beaumont might not be anything he appeared right now. It might all be an act.

Help the man? Hardy still didn’t feel as if he’d completely ruled out killing him.

Hardy glanced at the note a last time, folded it over, and jammed it into his pocket.

Ron, seeing this, picked a bad moment to comment. ‘We can do this,’ he said, all sincerity.

And Hardy suddenly lost all his patience, slapping a palm loudly on the table in front of him, raising his voice in a rage. ‘What is this “we” shit? There’s no “we” here. There’s me and what I need to do for my family. Then there’s you. And don’t kid yourself – they’re nothing like the same thing!’

Not trusting himself to keep his anger checked any further – he might pull that gun out after all – he got up and abruptly strode across to the door.

‘You’re not leaving?’

This wasn’t Ron’s voice and Hardy’s surprise at the sound of it whirled him around. It was Cassandra, standing in the doorway to the suite. It was obvious that she had been crying, though now she had gotten herself back under control. ‘Please, Mr Hardy, you can’t leave.’ At her father. ‘We do need help, Daddy. He can help us. Rebecca says that’s really what he does. That’s why he can almost never be home, because he’s helping other people.’

The innocent, unintended stab slashed deeply across Hardy’s insides. But Ron kept to the point, not the subtext, answering his daughter calmly. ‘I think he can, too, honey, but it’s not my decision.’

There was a tentative knock from the children’s door and now Max stuck his head through the crack. ‘I’m sorry. I covered my head with the pillow, but I still couldn’t help hearing you yelling.’ He looked from Hardy to Ron. ‘Are you all mad at each other?’

Cassandra reached back and put her arm around her brother. ‘We’re scared, Daddy. What’s going to happen?’

‘It’s all right, hon, there’s nothing to be scared of. Daddy’s right here.’

Ron cast a glance at Hardy and went to stand up, but his daughter had advanced a step into the room, trailed by Max who now held on to her hand. The little girl’s face was set with determination. Another step and she spoke right to Hardy. ‘Mr Hardy, didn’t you come here to try to help us? Is that true?’

Hardy stammered. ‘Well, I…’

‘Because we can’t go back to Dawn. They can’t make us do that. Even Max remembers…’ The tears had begun again. ‘We just want to stay with Daddy and have everything be like it was again.’

Max piped in through his own tears. ‘And Bree back, too, please. I want Bree back.’

‘Oh, guys…’ Ron went to stand up. But Cassandra didn’t move toward him. She had her eyes on Hardy. ‘Do you have to be our lawyer to help us? Is that how it works? How do you become our lawyer?’

Hardy crossed over near her, went down to one knee, and tried a tired smile. ‘It’s not that. It’s that I don’t know what I can do, Cassandra. It’s complicated. Rebecca’s mother’s in a lot of trouble, too, and I’ve got to help her. She’s got to be my first priority. You can understand that.’

But the girl was persistent. ‘Maybe you could do both, though? And Daddy isn’t sure what to do right now.’

Ron reached out to her. ‘Oh, sweetie, come here. Both of you guys.’ Ron was holding out his hands and the kids went to him. He enveloped them both in his arms, in a strong and soothing fatherhood. ‘Come on, now, come on. There’s nothing to be scared of. Let’s say goodnight to Mr Hardy and go back to bed. It’ll all look better in the morning.’

But Cassandra turned. ‘Please, Mr Hardy, if you can.’

It was Monday, October 5, less than a week after Bree Beaumont’s death. In fact, it was the day she was to be buried. Baxter Thorne, a portly man with a gray goatee, a soft-spoken manner, and a gentle disposition, nervously paced the floor behind his computer banks in his office on the thirtieth floor of Embarcadero Two. Outside his inoperable windows, it was a gloriously clear day, with boats on the Bay and Treasure Island a nine-iron pitch across a mile and half of blue water. But Thorne had no use for the view. He’d told the cop – Griffin – he’d be here first thing in the morning. He had no idea what the man might have found, but the fact that he knew of Baxter Thorne’s existence at all was a very bad sign.

The sign on Thorne’s door announced that these were the offices of the Fuels Management Consortium – FMC. In fact, the organization was the center for the lobbying efforts of one of the country’s two multinational farming conglomerates. Spader Krutch Ohio, SKO, along with its chief competitor Archer Daniels Midland, ADM, was one of the country’s leading producers of ethanol. But while ADM was colloquially known by the benign nickname of ‘Supermarket to the World,’ SKO’s reputation was somewhat less savory.

SKO had been having a rough time in the last several years, and Thorne had been assigned to California to direct a campaign on behalf of its interests – he’d proven himself as a creative media consultant.

SKO might be Thorne’s biggest client, but the quiet, well-mannered gentleman with the goatee worked to please himself. He had a persuasive way with words, true, and could sway opinion with his pen. If his clients believed that his silver tongue and lucid prose alone were converting the multitudes, Thorne was happy to let them. But in reality, he knew better.