Rick and Paula were away. As were Karen’s kids. She e-mailed the lodge where Sam and Alex were staying and told them she would also be away for a few days. She realized she should let someone know where she was going. She dialed a number and a familiar voice picked up, at home.

“Saul?”

“Karen?” Lennick sounded surprised but pleased. “How are you? How’s that gang of yours?”

“We’re all good, Saul. It’s why I’m calling. I’m heading out of town for a few days. The kids are off in Africa, if you can believe it. On safari. Sam’s graduation present. With my folks.”

“Yes, I remember you talking about that,” he said blithely. “It certainly pays to be young now, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, Saul,” Karen said, “I guess it does. Listen, they’re a little hard to reach there, so I left your office number at their next lodge. You know, just in case anything comes up. I wasn’t sure who else to call.”

“Of course. I’m delighted, Karen. You know I’ll do what I can do. So where are you heading? Just in case I need to reach you,” he explained.

“Down to the Caribbean. The British Virgin Isles….”

“Excellent. The island are nice this time of year. Any specific place?”

“I’ll leave my cell number with you, Saul.” She decided to hold the rest back. “If you need me, you can reach me there.”

Saul was Charlie’s mentor. He had overseen the shutdown of Charlie’s firm. He had learned things about him. Archer. The offshore accounts. He’d never said anything about it to her. With a chill, Karen suddenly wondered, Does he know it all?

“I know that Charlie was up to some things, Saul.”

He paused. “Just what do you mean, Karen?”

“I know he was handling a lot of money. Those accounts we spoke of, offshore. That’s what those passports and the money were about, weren’t they? You never got back to me, but I know you know that, Saul. You knew him better than I did. And you’d protect him, Saul, wouldn’t you, if something came out? Even now?”

“I never wanted to worry you, Karen. That’s part of my job. And I’d protect you, too.”

“Would you, Saul?” Suddenly Karen felt she understood something. “Even if it threatened you?”

“Threatened me? How could it possibly threaten me, Karen. What do you mean?”

She was about to press him—ask him if he knew. Did he know that her husband was alive? Was Saul part of it? Part of why Charlie was hiding or, as a foreboding thought flashed through her, even the person he was running from? Was he a part of what came between them? Saul? He would have known about Jonathan Lauer. He never told her about that. Karen felt a nervousness snake through her, as if she had crept into a forbidden space, a closed vault, chilly and tightly sealed.

Saul cleared his throat. “Of course I would, Karen.”

“Of course you would what, Saul?”

“Protect you, Karen. And the kids. Isn’t that what you asked?”

Suddenly Karen felt sure. He did know. Much, much more than he was telling her. She could feel it in the quiver of his voice. Saul was Charlie’s mentor.

He knew. He had to know.

And now Saul knew that she knew, too.

“You never told me.” Karen wet her lips. “You knew that Jonathan Lauer had died. You knew he’d tried to contact me. You knew that Charlie was handling this money. Charlie’s dead, right, Saul? He’s dead—and you’re still protecting him.”

There was a pause.

“Of course he’s dead, Karen. Charlie loved you. That’s all you should be thinking about now. I think it’s best to keep it like that.”

“What did my husband do, Saul? What is it with you people? Why are you holding things back from me?”

“You enjoy yourself down there, Karen. Wherever you’re heading. You know I’ll take care of whatever needs to be done up here. You know that, don’t you, dear?”

“Yes,” Karen said. Her mouth was dry. A chill of uncertainty passed through her, a window left open to a world she once trusted.

“I know that, Saul.”