"I can see from your expression that you remember that debacle. I was the agent in charge of apprehending Benedict I'm the one who took Julie Mathison to Mexico and used her as bait in the airport."

"Tell me something," Noah snapped, "do you ever go after anyone who is guilty?"

"Not in your case, obviously. And not in Benedict's case either. I went to see Benedict when he was finally acquitted and released from prison after Mexico City, and I pleaded successfully on Julie's behalf. He forgave her."

"What the hell does this have to do with me?"

"I'm getting to that right now. You see, there were two major differences between Julie's situation with Benedict and Sloan's with you right now: Julie went to Mexico City to help me apprehend Benedict because I persuaded her that he was guilty. I would never have been able to persuade Sloan that you were guilty."

Paul glimpsed a flicker of reluctant interest in Noah's eyes and charged ahead. "In fact, I didn't bother to try. Sloan came to Palm Beach with me to help me check out Carter Reynolds. She had no idea that I thought you were bringing in the cash that Reynolds was laundering for the cartel. I kept her in the dark for several reasons. One of those reasons was that Sloan is an idealist; she's loyal and she is very smart. If she'd ever suspected I was using her to glean information that could be used against you, I think she would have blown her cover and mine to shield you."

"Am I supposed to believe that?"

"Why would I lie?"

"Because you're a conniving son-of-a-bitch."

"Courtney shares your opinion," Paul said wryly. "She phrased it a little more politely, but her tone and her meaning were identical. However," he continued briskly, "that's off the subject. I said there were two major differences between Julie Mathison's and Sloan Reynolds's situations. The second one is this: Julie felt guilty for betraying Benedict after she did it. She was willing to put up with Benedict's fury and his refusal to see her or let her explain. Sloan, on the other hand, has nothing whatsoever to feel guilty about. She has as much pride as you do, so think carefully before you walk on it any longer."

Paul shoved away from the door. "I know I've given you a lot to consider." He glanced at his watch. "You have a half hour to decide whether or not to screw up your life and Sloan's."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means she's waiting for you on the Apparition. So give it some thought. She isn't there to plead with you. She'd never plead. She wanted to tell you she was sorry about what happened and to say goodbye to you properly."

Turning he reached for the door, then he stopped and turned halfway back. "There's one more thing," he said with a smile. "I'm going to marry Paris, and as I learned to my immense discomfort one night she has a surprisingly strong right arm."

Maitland caught the gist of that. "She slapped you?" he concluded dispassionately.

"Exactly."

"Why?"

"I accused her of murdering Edith."

"That sounds like a good reason to me," he said with biting amusement.

"An hour before that, I also discovered that Sloan packs even more power and she's quicker than Paris."

Interest flickered in Maitland's eyes. "Sloan slapped you too?"

"No. She nailed me with a right hook that almost sent me to the floor."

"Why?"

Paul sobered. "Because she'd just found out I'd used her to get to you." He'd said everything he could think of to say to vindicate Sloan, but when he searched Noah's impassive face for a clue as to how he felt, his expression was completely unreadable.

Noah sat there after Paul was gone, thinking over what he'd said. There was no way of knowing for certain that the FBI agent was telling the truth about Sloan. There would never be proof. And yet, he did have proof. He'd always had it. The proof had been in Sloan's eyes when she looked at him, in her arms when she clung to him, in her heart when she made love to him.

That was proof enough, Noah decided. He stood up, eager to see Sloan, and then a thought occurred to him and he started to laugh. Richardson was not going to get off free. After publicly damaging Noah's integrity and shedding doubt on his character, Richardson was going to be stuck with Noah for a brother-in-law!

He was still smiling about that when he walked into the foyer and Courtney intercepted him at the front door. "I guess this is goodbye," she said, looking somewhat subdued for Courtney. "Paul said he didn't think anything he said made much difference to you. Don't be angry with me for bringing him here, okay? I don't want you to go away angry with me." She leaned up on her toes and to Noah's shock she put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss goodbye.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were actually going to miss me," he teased.

She shrugged. "I will."

"Really? I didn't know you even liked me."

His suitcases were in the car already, and he reached down and picked up his briefcase. She was watching him, trying to detect his mood, Noah knew, and she was clever enough to pick up on something that was giving her hope. "I would like you a whole lot more if you'd forgive Sloan."

Over her shoulder, Noah saw Douglas standing in the living room, watching him with the same hopeful expression on his face that Noah heard in Courtney's voice. Eager to leave and see Sloan, Noah winked at his father and turned toward the door. "Well, okay if it would really make you like me a whole lot more."

That was all she needed to hear. She started pushing her new-found advantage to the limits. "You know," she added irrepressibly as he opened the door, "what I'd really like more than anything is if you'd marry Sloan and stay in Palm Beach."

Noah laughed, wrapped his arm around her, and kissed the top of her springy curls. She took that as a "yes" and followed him out onto the porch. "Noah," she called eagerly as he slid into the back seat of the car, "I'd make a really terrific aunt!"

His shoulders shaking with laughter, Noah closed the car door.

55

The helicopter's rotor was still whipping when Noah reached the main deck, looking for Sloan. He passed one of the crew who was securing the deck furniture in preparation for getting under way, and rather than waste time looking for her, Noah said abruptly, "Is Miss Reynolds aboard?"

The crewman knew only three significant things about Miss Reynolds—the rumor among the crew was that she'd been a close friend of the FBI agent who'd caused his employer's ship to be impounded; she'd been accused of murder; and she'd been brought aboard by his employer's young sister who told the crew to keep her presence a secret The man decided his safest course was complete ignorance. "No sir, not as far as I know."