Free Blind Alley by Iris Johansen Page B

word was willingly. It wouldn't be her fault if she was drawn into the whirlpool Aldo was stirring. And she couldn't be expected not to fight back, could she?
    Jane picked up a rock and sent it skimming over the surface of the lake.
    Did you see that? Are you watching, Aldo? Yes, he was watching. She could feel it. He was close and getting closer. She would be forced to confront him soon. It was only a matter of time.
    We've got a report on Mark Trevor," Christy said when she called that night. "Interpol came through."
    Joe signaled Eve to pick up the extension. "Criminal record?"
    "Not exactly."
    "What do you mean 'not exactly'? He has a record or he doesn't."
    "He was on their watch list because of casino activity in Monte Carlo. Among other talents, he's a superb card counter. He took several casinos on the Riviera to the cleaners before they caught on to what he was doing and banned him. Since card counting is a talent and not a criminal activity they couldn't charge him, but the local police wanted to keep their eye on him. There was every chance one of the casinos would take a contract out on him."
    "No other charges?"
    "Not so far as we can find out. But he must have forged identity documents as he moved from country to country. The name he used in Monte Carlo was Hugh Trent."
    "A British citizen?"
    "No, the Brits can't believe they wouldn't have been able to find some record in their computers. They're very frustrated because they regard it as an insult to their professionalism."
    "He sounded British."
    "The casino in Monte Carlo thought he was French. The one in Germany was sure he was German. He evidently speaks several languages fluently. Every report indicates that he appeared to be well educated, brilliant, and slick as glass."
    "And he doesn't have any history of violence?"
    "I didn't say that. When the Zurich casino was looking for Trevor to squeeze some of their money out of him, they ran across one of his contacts, Jack Cornell, who said he fought with him when he was a mercenary in Colombia. That was over ten years ago and Trevor wasn't much more than a kid, but he was one lethal son of a bitch."
    "And still may be. The military can be a great training ground."
    "You should know. You were in the SEALs, weren't you?"
    "Yes." He paused. "And, kid or not, he could well have been seduced by the dark side."
    "Dark side? Come on. You sound like something out of Star Wars."
    "Do I? The phrase struck a note when I first heard it. Violence can be addictive if you don't pull yourself away fast."
    "Maybe he did. Card counting is a mental exercise." "But very dangerous if you do it on the scale Trevor was playing. Like walking a tightrope. Serial killers get off on taking chances too. Did they find out anything on a personal level from Cornell?"
    "Not much. Cornell said that Trevor was quiet and never talked about himself. He was always reading or playing with those Rubik-type puzzles. He was a whiz at that kind of stuff. But once he did mention being in Johannesburg."
    "At last, something concrete. And did Interpol follow up on it?" "Negative. There wasn't any reason. No crime and Trevor had disappeared from their radar scope. They have enough to do without borrowing trouble."
    "Well, he's back on the scope with a vengeance now." "And they're sending out feelers, but we may not get lucky anytime soon. I'll send you a copy of the fax I received from Scotland Yard and I'll let you know if we get anything else." She hung up.
    "It's not much." Eve replaced the receiver. "They don't even know his nationality."
    "It's more than we knew before."
    "We know he's brilliant and shady and was trained to kill. That's not very encouraging."
    The bell on the machine signaled the incoming fax. "Are we going to let Jane read about our Mr. Trevor's past?" Joe asked.
    "Hell, yes. We tell her anything we can that will cause her to stop identifying with him. A mercenary isn't a role model." She went over to the fax machine and took out the