“Why not go to the police?”
“Have you ever had a benefactor like mine? Someone to clear the path for you?”
“No,” Nikki said, thinking grimly of Tito.
“Whenever we encountered a…complication: a regulator…a policeman making inquiries—my benefactor would see to it.”
“Did you ever meet this benefactor?” Nikki pressed. “Do you know who he is?”
He shook his head, no. The lights flickered. Smoke curled in along the crown molding.
“Henry oversaw that aspect of the business. Foolish of him to leave his computer unattended. Claire copied his files.”
“But Henry didn’t kill her,” Nikki said. “You did.”
Her face burned, eyes streaming with the smoke.
He shuddered. “Henry’s a violent man. If I hadn’t done it, Claire would have suffered.”
The temperature had been rising as they spoke, and now water on Nikki’s clothing was beginning to steam.
“We have to get out of here,” she urged.
“It’s no longer my business.” His words filled with despair and rage. “I own nothing. Not even my own soul.”
An eerie moan of straining metal filled the room.
Next to him, Audrey coughed. He gazed at her, and the fury in his expression softened into pain.
Nikki stepped closer.
“You love Audrey,” she said. “That’s why you worry about her…. Love protects! That’s what it does. It protects!”
“I can’t protect her anymore.” His voice broke.
Behind them, on the liquor shelf, a bottle burst, an explosion of glass and liquid. Then another one. Shards of glass struck the wall. A sudden incursion of smoke roiled along the ceiling.
Terror surged through Nikki, and she reached out as if she meant to lift the sleeping girl.
“Let me protect her!” she begged. “You asked me to look after Audrey. My answer is: yes. Yes! I’ll protect her. Please! Help me save her.”
He examined her a long moment. Then, wordlessly, he set down the gun and stood, lifting the sleeping Audrey in his arms. Her head lolled against his shoulder, eyes fluttering open. He kissed her cheek and murmured something in her ear, then strode from the room.
Nikki followed Lake through the door. Behind them, glass shattered, heat surged. They ran blindly down a smoke-choked passageway, the rumble and heat chasing them.
At the end of the corridor, they reached a hatch.
Lake set Audrey down on her feet. She wobbled unsteadily and reached for him. He kissed her, then handed her off to Nikki, who clutched the somnolent child beneath the arms.
Jayston opened the door.
They were met with the thunderous roar of the fire raging above, and the crash of waves.
They emerged onto a small deck, and a railing overlooking the sea below. A blast of wind in their faces, as the heat and flames sucked in the oxygen.
“Go!” he shouted.
Nikki lunged forward, propping Audrey up. She felt Jayston’s hands helping them up and over the rail, before the heat and rush of an explosion burst out the way they’d come.
