A Dangerous Arrangement by Lee Christine Page A

could hear him inside, so eventually I just opened the door. He had earphones in, that’s why he didn’t hear. I definitely caught him by surprise.’
    â€˜And he tried to conceal what was on the bed?’
    â€˜Yes. I definitely felt like I was intruding. I was going to ask if I could see him outside, but he said ‘just a sec’. I looked away, at the computer. There was all this programming language on the screen. That didn’t strike me as odd. But then the screen changed. I can’t remember exactly what it was. But it was holding a machine gun in each hand. I felt uneasy, because the guns were pointing straight ahead, as if they were trained on the person using the computer.’
    There was silence at the other end.
    Marina waited, imagining Dean, dark brows pulled into a frown, brown eyes focused on one spot as he thought about what she’d said.
    â€˜It wasn’t a Lego figure by any chance?’
    Lego ?
    Marina frowned. ‘No, it wasn’t anything like that. It was more reptilian. Maybe even some kind of hybrid.’
    Another pause.
    â€˜Okay, what happened then?’
    â€˜He saw me looking at it. He told me he played computer games with people from all around the world and had even developed some himself. Since Venice, I’ve been trying to remember more physical things about him, like, maybe a tattoo I’d glimpsed. I’d forgotten all about the image.’
    â€˜You’ve done well. This is good.’
    The hope in his voice brought a smile to Marina’s lips. ‘I was thinking that image could have been part of a game he was working on.’
    â€˜Absolutely. How long ago was this?’
    â€˜Quite soon after he moved in—roughly five months.’
    â€˜This is definitely something we can follow up. If the game’s hit the market, we should be able to follow a company trail leading to Yu, or whatever his name is. Will you stay on the line while I relay it to Rask?’
    â€˜Of course.’
    He put her on hold, and Marina rotated the icepack and sipped her lukewarm coffee. She wanted to help Dean Logan, help right the wrong done to him by Victor. And not only because she found Dean attractive. It ran deeper than that. Helping him took her mind off her own grim reality. He didn’t know it, but they were fighting the same battle—a battle for their livelihoods and the passions that drove them. Dean had been brought down by the actions of her flatmate. She’d been brought down by her own body. And in her heart, deep down where conviction lay, she knew which one was harder to fix.
    â€˜Marina?’ He was back on the line. ‘We’ll run searches on the kinds of images you’ve described. If we email you some pictures, can you look them over, see if anything jogs your memory?’
    â€˜Of course. How’s the investigation going?’
    He gave a sigh. ‘We’ve been interviewing the staff, and those who had photographs have handed them over. Most were taken on smartphones, and they’re not that good. Still, it’s better than nothing. They’ve been sent to Interpol and every airport in Australia along with the photograph we kept on file. We’re hoping facial recognition software will throw up a match with the passport he used. If he’s left the country.’
    â€˜I see. Well, good luck.
    â€˜Thanks.’
    A long silence stretched between them. Marina waited, giving him the chance to wrap up the conversation.
    In the end, the tension got the better of her and she felt compelled to speak. ‘Anyway …’
    â€˜How’s the string quartet?’
    There was amusement in his voice, like he knew exactly what he was doing.
    It made her smile. ‘It’s going surprisingly well.’
    â€˜Surprisingly? Weren’t you expecting it to go so well?’
    â€˜I wasn’t sure.’
    She hadn’t been sure she’d make it through a performance.
    â€˜Are