"Xiao Long set you up, Ben. I suspected it the minute I saw those photos. And everything you just said confirms my theory. You didn't kill Sophie. Xiao Long did." Sloane went on to tell Ben the de- ductions she'd made at Wallace's gallery-and why, including the whole story about Johnny Liu and Meili. She even took the time to fill him in on what was going on with Leo.

"With regard to you, let's add one more thing to the mix," she concluded. "You were in Chinatown at six a.m. You had a meeting there. You had two hard-core shots of booze. You pa.s.sed out. I'd say you were out of commission for a good couple of hours. But your car was in a nearby parking lot.

And your keys were probably right there in your jacket pocket. How incredibly convenient for Xiao. Think about it. Even if you pa.s.sed out before seven, there's no way you could have come to, sobered up, and made it from downtown to the Upper East Side in time to hit the car Sophie was carpooling in. She was officially gone at seven-twenty. The accident happened a little after seven.

Ben..." Sloane took both his hands in hers. "You weren't driving that car. You didn't kill Sophie.

Xiao just made you believe you had so he could blackmail you."

Shock, disbelief, pain, realization-they all registered on Ben's face simultaneously. "Oh my G.o.d.

Oh my G.o.d." He stared at Sloane, unable to absorb what he was hearing. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," she responded without hesitation. "You had nothing to do with Sophie's death. You were a victim of a different kind, thanks to Xiao Long."

"I'm innocent?" Ben needed one final word of affirmation.

"Completely."

He drew a long, ragged breath, as the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you, Sloane. With every fiber of my being, I thank you."

With that, Ben turned to Wallace, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry. I should have come to you. I should have told you. But you were dying inside. And I was paralyzed with guilt and consumed with pain. I loved Sophie as if she were my own. The thought that I could have hurt her, taken her life...but, thank the Lord, I didn't. I didn't."

He rose, walked around the desk to where Wallace was standing with tears trickling down his own cheeks.

"I was a coward," Ben choked out. "A pathetic, drunken coward. I don't deserve your forgiveness.

I'm not even going to ask for it. But you can't know what it means to me that I can mourn Sophie as she deserves to be mourned, offer her the tribute she deserves, knowing that I have the right. That I wasn't the one who robbed her of life. That I..." He broke down completely, bowing his head and openly sobbing.

The well-bred, always self-contained Wallace Johnson stepped forward and grabbed his friend, hugging him tightly as they both continued to weep.

"You have my forgiveness," Wallace managed. "Do I have yours?"

"For what?"

"For doubting you. For believing those photos. For believing you could ever hurt Sophie and not remember. Not rush to her side. I'm sorry, Ben. From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry."

Watching the scene unfolding before her, Sloane felt her own eyes grow damp. It was impossible to witness this emotional exchange without being affected.

"That son of a b.i.t.c.h," Ben burst out, pulling away. "That f.u.c.king son of a b.i.t.c.h. Him and his boss.

Destroying people because of a bet? Because of a suicide you couldn't have prevented, since you knew nothing about Meili's pregnancy or her state of mind? What kind of monster does that?"

"A monster who can't get away with this," Sloane inserted in an adamant tone. "This or any of the other atrocities he's guilty of. I've got to get over to the FBI Field Office. I want ERT to examine these photos and the news clipping. I need to bring Derek up to speed. Then, we'll..."

She was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. When she saw the caller ID, her heart sank.

"Dad? What is it?"

"Sloane, you've got to get over here now." Matthew sounded shaken to the core. "The police are here. They have a warrant to search the apartment. They're tearing my office apart. I heard them say something about the anonymous tip being good. That they'd found a valuable painting that was stolen during that string of neighborhood burglaries. And my phone rang thirty seconds ago. It was Xiao Long. He said he'll have just enough time to kill your mother while I watch, before I went to jail. What's happening? What should I do? Should I tell the cops about the phone call? Should I tell Special Agent Carter?"

Dammit. Xiao Long had dropped all the bombs at once.

"No," Sloane said adamantly into the phone. "You know the drill. Don't say a word to anyone. Not even Agent Carter. Just tell him I'm on my way. And give Mom the same instructions. No talking.

Does she know about Xiao's call?"

"Yes. She's right next to me."

"Good. Tell her to hang in there. I'm at Ben's factory. I'm on my way."

En route to her parents' apartment, Sloane made two phone calls.

The first one was to Derek. She reached him, no problem, providing him with the lowdown, together with a few requests.

The second call was to Detective Diane Yuen of the Nineteenth Precinct Burglary Squad.

"Diane?" She was relieved as h.e.l.l when her friend answered the phone. "You wanted me to keep you up-to-date. Well, I'm about to. But first, we have a problem. It's urgent. And I need your help."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN.

Sloane rested her head on Derek's shoulder.

It was midnight. The cottage's living room was peaceful. The fire Derek had kindled was crackling rhythmically in the fireplace. And the hounds were enjoying the warmth, stretched out near the fireplace screen, snoozing.

With a contented sigh, Sloane tucked her legs under her, curling up on the sofa. She reached for her gla.s.s of merlot and took a few sips. She'd earned it. Talk about a long, draining day.

"Tired?" Derek murmured into her hair.

"From the insanity of the day, or the three hours we just spent in bed?"

His chuckle brushed her ear. "Take your pick."

"Bonelessly, wonderfully tired from the latter. Wiped out from the former."

"Good answer." He combed his fingers through her still-damp hair. They'd taken a leisurely, soapy shower together, and were now wrapped in terry-cloth robes. "This whole thing is coming to a head.

My gut tells me it's about to blast wide open."

"Mine, too. What I worry about is who's going to get caught in the cross fire, and how bad the damage will be." Sloane took another sip of wine, then placed her goblet on the coffee-table coaster. "I keep asking myself why. Why now? Why the urgency on Liu's part? Why everything at once? He's wiping out his enemies in one frenetic, simultaneous explosion, at the exact same time as he's funding the Black Eagles to pull off big-profit, high-visibility art thefts. Why take the risk?"

"Good question. I'm stumped by the same thing. Liu's smart. He always keeps a low profile. He always acts with meticulous care. And he always keeps a major trump card hidden away-just in case. None of that seems to apply here. Other than acting through Xiao Long to keep his name clean, he's going full force, guns ablazing. There's got to be a reason. I've got my feelers out. I'll find out what that reason is."

Sloane nodded. "Liu's done his worst with all the men-except Wallace. He's still exacting revenge on him, and he has been for two and a half years. First, he had Xiao kill Sophie. Then, he framed one of Wallace's dearest friends for the crime. Next, he stayed in Wallace's life as a supposed business colleague helping him get back on his feet. And now, he brought in his niece-a Meili look-alike-to emotionally torment Wallace and break his heart. He's building up to some sick grand finale. But what? And how do we stop him? We have no jurisdiction in Hong Kong, and Liu's influence runs deep and wide."

"I can't answer that one either-yet. But C-6 is building a strong case against Xiao Long. And if we can provide the a.s.sistant U.S. attorney with some hard-core evidence connecting him to Liu and the Liu Jian Triad, maybe we can get Xiao to flip on Liu. In the meantime, I'm trying to second-guess Liu. The final ways for him to go after Wallace are financial ruin and personal humiliation."

"And then death," Sloane concluded quietly. "Killing Wallace after stripping him of everything would be the only way Liu could settle the score enough for him."

Derek didn't dispute the obvious. "Let's see what my feelers turn up. I should hear back tomorrow.

Until then, the FBI agents we a.s.signed to Wallace have been advised of the escalated danger.

They're on high alert."

Sloane chewed her lip, worry creasing her brow. "Wallace is scared. He'll never admit it, but he is.

Now that he realizes the full extent of Liu's hatred, and how far he'll go to carry out his vendetta, he's pretty shaken up. Especially with Xiao Long breathing down his neck, ready and waiting to do Liu's bidding. I tried to rea.s.sure him. I reminded him that we put extra security on him and that we're working with the Hong Kong police to establish solid evidence against Liu. I even tried to divert his mind by giving him something to look forward to. He has a big fund-raising event at the Jaspar Museum in Soho tomorrow. He's one of the museum's major sponsors. I urged him to go."

"And?"

"And he said he'll think about it." Sloane sighed. "I wasn't going to lie to him, Derek. I don't blame him for being scared."

"Neither do I. But if anyone can reach him, you can. You have a way with people that's amazing."

"I hope that holds true in this case. After Wallace left Ben's factory, all he wanted to do was have it out with Cindy-which I doubt was pretty-and then lock himself in seclusion. I told him I'd get his partners to gang up on him and drag him out if need be." Sloane raked her hands through her hair. "I feel so d.a.m.ned helpless."

"You're not. You're getting answers. So am I. We're closing in on this case. We'll get there."

She twisted around to gaze up at him. "Speaking of which, if I haven't said it enough times, thank you for what you did for my father."

"I didn't do it alone," Derek reminded her. "Your friend Diane worked with me every step of the way. Your dad's technically in custody. So's your mom, on trumped-up charges of obstructing justice. All that's only for Xiao's benefit. This way, if his Red Dragons poke around to make sure the cops found the stolen painting where they planted it, they'll find out that your father's been arrested and is being held at the Nineteenth Precinct-along with your mother, so Xiao doesn't try going after her. But don't worry. They're in a comfortable break room, not a cell. The charges are pending until we wrap up the case. But we all know the anonymous tip was an obvious setup."

"And a scare tactic. That phone call Xiao made nearly gave my parents heart attacks. As for the setup, Xiao might as well have hung up a neon sign."

"Yeah." Derek made a derisive sound. "Out of the blue and at the exact same time that Wallace and Leo are getting their packages and Ben is being pushed over the edge by Jin Huang, the Nineteenth Precinct gets a call from one of the victims of Xiao's Upper East Side burglaries, claiming he'd gotten an unsigned note saying he could have back his priceless painting The Bird-for a finder's fee of twenty-five thousand dollars. Of course, when he called the phone number provided, he got a voice mail message saying he'd reached Matthew Burbank and a.s.sociates. Then, low and behold, when the cops ransack your father's office, they find The Bird shoved behind one of his office file cabinets."

"Not to mention that The Bird just happened to be stolen a week before my parents' place was ransacked. Now I know why my mother said Xiao's guys spent a long time shoving things around in my father's office, when they already knew d.a.m.ned well where the Rothberg file was. Could there be a more obvious plan to frame my father for art theft?"

"Nope. Then again, Xiao wasn't going for subtlety."

Sloane frowned. "You're sure the police will drop the charges?"

"Positive." Derek counted off on his fingers. "Your father has an alibi for the night The Bird was stolen. Johnny Liu has a vendetta against your father and his partners-one he unleashed on all of them simultaneously. And the FBI has a solid case against Xiao Long, who we'll try to establish has a connection with Johnny Liu. Trust me, there'll be no problem. All the charges against your father will be dropped. Diane and the Bureau are already working on it."

"I owe both you and Diane a huge debt of thanks for jumping on this and getting it resolved so quickly."

"You can thank Diane by buying her lunch. As for me, I have other ideas for how you can express your undying grat.i.tude."

Sloane smiled. "With pleasure, Agent Parker."

"Oh, one more thing I forgot to tell you. When I talked to Leo, he told me he was rifling through your file that night in the hopes of finding the dossier the Bureau had compiled on him, and that it might contain something that would give him a clue as to where his fiancee was. He realized it was a long shot, but he saw the file and acted on impulse. I can't blame the guy."

"Neither can I. I'd move heaven and earth to find you."

Derek gave her a deep, slow kiss. "You won't have to. I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere."

"Derek, let's get married."

Sloane's proposal came out of the blue. Derek was so stunned he nearly fell off the sofa. "What did you just say?"

"I said let's get married. Soon. Before I reapply to the FBI, and hopefully am accepted. Before I go down to Quantico and put in my time at the Academy. This way, when I graduate, the Bureau will be more apt to place me in the New York Field Office with you. We'll be married, but there'll be no conflict of interests. You handle Violent Crimes, and I handle White-Collar Crimes. Different squads, same Field Office. This way, when I start my new professional life, my personal life will already be exactly where I want it."

Derek was still staring at her. She'd obviously given this a great deal of thought. Even so, he had to be convinced she was a hundred percent certain.

"You're sure this is what you want?" he asked bluntly. "That you're ready to make this official? To commit to a lifetime? It's a huge step."

"Unless you're not ready, or it's not what you want." Sloane's tone was teasing, but her gaze was serious as she searched Derek's face.

"Are you crazy?" Derek gripped her shoulders. "Say the word, and we'll get a marriage license tomorrow." He frowned. "If we lived in New York, we could be husband and wife the next day. In New Jersey, there's a three-day waiting period. But, okay, we'll be married this weekend."

Sloane laughed. "I see you've done your research. But let's slow down, just a little. And not just because of this Johnny Liu case that's about to explode wide open. Although, truthfully, I'd like to put it behind us so we can enjoy our day."

"Fine. What else?"

"I'm not a big fan of traditional weddings, but I'd kind of like to have our families there, and a few close friends. And I'd also like a little time to savor the thought of becoming your wife. How about a December wedding, right before the holidays? That'll give us six weeks to plan."

"Done. Let's pick a date."

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT.

Sloane and Derek drove into the Field Office together the next morning. Once inside, they went their separate ways. Derek headed off to fill Rich in on The Bird and all the other happenings of yesterday. And Sloane went into one of the conference rooms for her morning's first order of business: calling the Nineteenth Precinct to check on her parents.

They were both hanging in there. So, Matthew reported, were his friends, all of whom he'd spoken to. Everyone was strung out, but holding it together. Each in his own way was taking steps to put his life back together. Leo was welcoming the bittersweet knowledge that Amalie had never stopped loving him, but had left him to protect her children. He was worried sick about her, but convinced, thanks to the FBI, that Xiao Long hadn't yet located her. If he had, she'd be dead, killed right before Leo's eyes. So Leo was focusing on a plan, once this crisis was behind them, to hire a PI to find her -hopefully so they could enjoy the happy ending they'd been deprived of.

Ben was calling his AA sponsor and arranging to attend a meeting. And to Sloane's pleasure and surprise, Wallace had decided to take her advice and attend the Jaspar Museum's evening fund-raiser.

The details of her father's update lifted a huge weight off Sloane's shoulders. All these fundamen-tally decent men she'd known all her life had been through h.e.l.l. All of them were at their breaking points. And all of them were fighting their way back.

Relieved beyond measure, Sloane shifted her focus to checking out a completely different extraneous detail that had been bugging her.

The background check that Derek had run on Cindy Liu had been so clean that it practically sparkled. It had also been superficial, the only personal detail being her close relationship with her uncle. Something about that didn't sit right. It was almost as if the details of her life had been scrubbed clean.