by Debra Webb
“Interesting.” No wonder it felt as if he could read her every thought. If he’d read half these books, he probably could.
His desk was cluttered, as before, not that he’d been here to tidy it. He’d scribbled notes on two different pads. His penmanship was better than she’d expected. None of the notes he’d taken applied to her so she stopped reading. A coffee mug sporting the University of Alabama logo held pencils and pens. Definitely a Southern boy. She’d known the slight drawl was more than his attempt at cranking up the charm.
There was only one photograph. A small framed snapshot of Todd and an older couple. Considering the resemblance between him and the other man, she would guess these were his parents. She doubted the picture had been taken very long ago since Todd looked exactly as he did now. His hair seemed about the same length. She was pretty sure she recognized the shirt. Maybe he’d visited home recently.
Serena laughed at herself. She was definitely paying too much attention to this man.
The bathroom door opened and she quickly, guiltily, set the photograph back where she’d found it and turned to face her host. Her jaw practically hit the floor when he waltzed out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. Water dripped from his wet hair and slid down his chest and back.
She should look away or say something to remind him that she was here, but she couldn’t move…definitely couldn’t speak.
He padded over to the bed and grabbed the clothes he’d selected. She could only imagine that he’d forgotten to take them into the bathroom with him. Otherwise he wouldn’t be traipsing around in front of her half…half naked.
When he straightened and would have turned back to the bathroom, two things happened. He noticed she was standing there gawking at him and his towel sank even lower on his lean hips.
Her gaze should have been locked with his, but it wasn’t. Her full attention had taken the same route as the towel.
“Sorry, left my clothes out here.”
With monumental effort, her gaze made the journey upward…over a ribbed abdomen and a sculpted chest, both gleaming with beaded water. An appealing sprinkle of body hair disrupted the incredible landscape of sleek skin stretched tautly over well-defined muscle.
“Five minutes and I’ll be ready.”
Finally her gaze collided with his and the full impact of her humiliation dawned on her. She’d spent no less than half a minute visually examining his torso. Judging by the expression on his face, she couldn’t be sure if he was surprised or annoyed or…possibly intrigued.
Somehow she managed an up-and-down motion of her head. He held her gaze a beat or two longer before he pivoted and strode back into the bathroom.
She blinked, told herself to snap out of the trance she’d clearly slipped into.
She was an idiot. She knew and now so did he.
Maybe they didn’t need to talk. Definitely not here. Neutral territory would be much safer. Her office. Anywhere but here. The whole place reeked of him. She could smell the soap he’d used and the shampoo clear across the room.
Keeping her attention on simple things, such as the plaid sofa instead of the rumpled bed, she resumed her seat in one of the matching upholstered chairs.
The roar of the hair-dryer signaled he would be ready soon. Or she hoped it did. She rounded up her purse and clutched it in her lap.
A strange vibrating sound made her jump. She caught her breath and mentally grappled to identify the noise. Another pulsating throb tugged her gaze toward the dinette table. His cell phone scooted around on the Formica top as it buzzed again. With the hair-dryer still going, there was no way he could hear it.
Should she answer it?
No. Probably not. If it was the Colby Agency, a message would be left. If the caller was his girlfriend, Serena didn’t want to know.
How dumb was that?
After four rattling buzzes, the phone fell silent once more. So did the hair-dryer. She sat stone-still and waited for him to emerge. This time he would be wearing clothes. Jeans, like he always wore, with a khaki-colored shirt this time. Same leather jacket and sneakers. She hadn’t noticed until this morning that he wore sneakers. Not just any old sneakers, either, the big-name running shoes promoted by major athletes. Navy and black. Maybe the dark color was why she hadn’t noticed.
Her head spun and she closed her eyes to regain her bearings. She should have had breakfast this morning. She hadn’t had time, or she’d thought she hadn’t.
The bathroom door opened and her gaze swung in that direction.
“How about some breakfast?” He patted his stomach. “I’m starved.”
She glanced at the time on the digital readout of his cable television receiver. There was still time, she supposed. Her stomach rumbled. She could eat. If he cooked she could question him about the meeting at the Colby Agency and his conclusions on where they should go from here.
Setting her purse aside, she got up so as to put them on even ground. “You cook, I’ll ask the questions.”
One side of his mouth quirked as if a grin had tried to make an appearance. “No problem. I’m pretty good at multitasking.”
He forked his fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. The move called her attention there and she noticed that he’d shaved.
“Toast and scrambled eggs okay with you?”
“Sure.”
When he’d gotten the process started, she asked, “What did you learn at the meeting last night? What were the conclusions reached?”
He looked thoughtful as he broke half a dozen eggs into the sizzling skillet. The man hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he was starved.
“Landon is still the number one suspect,” he said when he’d added a little milk, salt and pepper and started to stir the concoction. “But Delia Neely just moved into a tie with him.” He looked directly at Serena then. “Are you certain there isn’t more you can tell me about her? Molly didn’t talk about her at all?”
She didn’t have to think. “No and no. What little I know, I heard by way of rumors. Molly never mentioned his affairs. I just assumed she knew because I would see the look in her eyes whenever she talked about him coming home late or going out of town on business. And she always got this distant look in her eyes, like she knew. Between that and the vague warning she’d given when we first met, I’m pretty sure she knew more than she talked about.” Serena let the memories filter through her thoughts. “It was as if she had resigned herself to her fate of being a wife whose husband fooled around.”
Todd deposited two slices of bread into the toaster. “Braddock’s going to look into Delia’s past a little more deeply. Maybe he can locate some next of kin.”
It could have been Braddock who called a few minutes ago. “Your cell phone vibrated while you were…getting ready. I didn’t answer it.”
He scraped the eggs onto two plates. The piles were enormous. As he set the pan aside, the two slices of nicely toasted bread popped up. He placed them on one plate, then added two more to the toaster before taking the three steps necessary to reach the table to check his phone.
“Braddock.” He glanced at her. “I should call him back.”
She nodded. If the food got cold, it would just have to get cold. If there was news on Molly’s case…
She mentally crossed her fingers and waited while he made the call. He made several one-word comments—yes, no and uh-huh—then ended the call.
He shoved the phone into the pocket of his jeans then went to the refrigerator for the orange juice. Her nerves jangled as she waited, but he knew she was waiting so she refused to ask. Damn him. He enjoyed being in control far too much.
As he filled two glasses he said, “Braddock nudged the agency’s contacts at Chicago P.D. to see if they had anything new and if any mention of Wright’s murder came into play. He got nothing.” Todd set the juice aside and leveled his gaze on hers. “The routine background search found no next of kin on Delia. No recent activity on any of her accounts, bank
or credit card. She appears to have dropped off the planet. But he’ll keep digging.”
“Has he learned anything from Dr. Landon yet?” Part of her still wanted to tie the whole situation to his work. The stem-cell frontier was so controversial. The race to learn what secrets the research held was ruthless. Achieving that funding was of extreme importance to Landon.
Todd carried the two plates to the table. She followed with the glasses of juice.
“Nothing,” he said when they’d both taken their seats. “Every avenue he’s discussed relative to his work has been both legal and widely accepted. He fully expects the private funding will be sufficient to accomplish all of Milestone’s goals. He’s certain he’ll be one of the major pioneers.”
And he would be, if all went as planned.
But none of that explained why his wife had abruptly gone missing. Or one of his former lovers.
“I want to believe him,” Serena admitted as she picked at her eggs. “I want him to be the kind of husband Molly went on so about. I want this to have nothing to do with their marriage or the baby.” Her eyes sought and found his. “But at the same time, for Molly’s benefit, it needs to be about him. Otherwise, there’s no reason why a ransom demand hasn’t come. That scenario leaves only one conclusion, that Molly is dead, and I’m not ready to accept that.”
“You’re that certain she didn’t just leave.”
Serena nibbled her toast then washed it down with the orange juice. How could she make him see that the idea was both ludicrous and impossible? Molly would have done anything to keep her family together. That family unit was the most important thing in the world to her. There was absolutely no way she would do anything to damage it in any way. But she wasn’t sure she could properly relay that certainty without telling him how she knew.
She and Molly were sisters. Serena knew.
Why didn’t she just tell him?
Serena stared at her plate. Because Molly had begged her never to tell anyone. She was so afraid the truth would change how Charles Landon looked at her. She couldn’t bear the idea of him seeing her as anyone other than the girl who’d grown up with a wealthy family…the perfect upbringing.
Serena carefully placed her fork on the edge of her plate and looked directly at Todd before answering. She let him see what she wanted him to see, sheer determination, absolute certainty. “There is no way she would have left. She loved him too much. Her marriage and the family they were creating were all that mattered to her. Everything else was secondary, even the affairs. She would never, ever leave him. Her whole life revolved around him and that baby.”
He didn’t let her off that easily. “How can you be so certain? You’ve only known her a little over a year. Maybe she didn’t let you see the truth. How can you be sure she didn’t lie to you? After all, Landon is your boss. Perhaps image was more important to her than you realized.”
Anger flared before she could stop it. “She wouldn’t lie to me. She did not leave her husband. No way. Not under any circumstances.”
“All right. I get it.”
His sudden about-face startled her. In an effort to cover her surprise, she scooped up a forkful of eggs and crammed them into her mouth.
“Let’s go with your theory. Molly was taken against her will and is being held, or worse.”
Serena’s throat tightened and the eggs barely went down.
“Maybe Landon wanted to get rid of her, which seems out of character if he wanted the baby she was carrying,” Todd offered.
“The only thing he loves more than his wife is his work,” Serena countered.
“So if she had learned something or somehow was poised to injure his professional career, he may have wanted her out of the way.”
“Right. I’m nearly certain that would be the only way.”
“You do realize,” Todd said, “that if that turns out to be the case, Molly and her baby are likely already dead.”
Serena looked away, couldn’t bear to maintain eye contact. He was right, she knew that. “And if that’s the case,” she said just as pointedly, her gaze going back to his, “I want him to pay.”
“Then there’s Delia Neely,” Todd suggested. “She had or was having an affair with Landon. The only thing that stood in her way of having him all to herself was his wife and unborn child. That she abruptly dropped out of sight six months ago is suspicious in and of itself. But that doesn’t mean she was planning a way to get rid of Molly.”
“But she could have,” Serena countered. Anticipation zinged her. That scenario suddenly felt like the most logical. It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered the possibility before, but she hadn’t had enough details to give it credence.
“But what about Arthur Miles?” She hadn’t really pondered his possible involvement. “Could he have done this to get back at Landon for gaining control? For hogging the limelight?”
“It’s possible,” Todd agreed. “We looked at that aspect when we reviewed your case, but it seems unlikely since the takeover move happened more than two years ago. Why wait this long for vengeance? Plus,” he added, “Landon is spearheading this funding drive. Miles needs him to ensure Milestone Labs stays at the forefront of this research.”
Serena supposed he was right. “What do we do now?”
“Since Braddock is on top of Landon,” he considered out loud, “why don’t we focus on Delia?”
A surge of hope sent renewed anticipation through her veins. “I think that’s an excellent idea.”
“Eat up,” he encouraged. “We have our work cut out for us.”
TODD ACCOMPANIED SERENA to her office. He had no choice but to hang out there while she attended a morning briefing. He hadn’t seen Braddock around. Landon had likely warned him that his morning would be occupied with meetings and Braddock should come in later.
Considering Delia Neely’s known bank account had been inactive for six months, there had to be one that hadn’t been discovered as yet. All they had to do was find it. Assuming she was alive.
Keith Devers in the research group at the Colby Agency was on top of that, but there was something Todd could do. It would be very useful if he could prove whether or not Milestone Laboratories was still in any way involved with her. It was a stretch since her employment had ended six months ago, but he had to check it out. So far Braddock hadn’t found any ongoing connection between Landon and Delia.
But to do any looking here, Todd needed Serena.
Speak of the devil: she walked in.
“He got the funding.” Her eyes looked wide with uncertainty or something on that order. “More than he’d asked for. He’s ecstatic.”
“That’s good, right?” If Todd had Landon pegged right, getting the funding he wanted took the pressure off. And besides his affairs, was the only possible motivation for wanting rid of his wife.
Serena dropped onto the edge of her desk. “It changes everything, in my opinion.” She shook her head. “If you’d only seen him. He was like a kid at Christmas.” She choked out a laugh. “He even pulled me aside after the meeting and told me that he was thrilled. That the only thing missing now was Molly and the baby.”
Now there was a guy with some extreme confidence or who was seriously not guilty.
“I have a plan.”
Todd still wasn’t sure how well this plan would work out, but considering what she’d just told him, it was about their only available lead right now. Her expectant expression made him ache to find some answers for her. The memory of how she’d looked at him this morning made him want to take her into his arms again. But he couldn’t do that. He was supposed to be watching her…in case she was involved in Molly Landon’s disappearance. But he knew better. This woman was innocent. In far more ways than he cared to consider.
“Is there any way to get into Milestone’s accounting system to see if any payments have gone out to Delia Neely since her abrupt departure?”
Serena regarded his question with no small measure of skepticism. There w
as no way to get into the accounting system without proper clearance…unless…
“Maybe.” She moistened her lips and asked herself if she could really do this. “Arthur’s nephew, Nolan, is a hacker of sorts. He might be able to get in.”
“A hacker?”
She nodded. “That’s why he got thrown out of college. He changed his grades and a number of other students’. For a price,” she added.
“What’s he going to want in return?”
Serena couldn’t tell if Todd was curious or if the idea ticked him off. Strange. “I don’t know. He’s always asking me out. A date maybe?”
The little rhythmic flexing and contracting that started in his tense jaw sent a flutter through her chest. Was he jealous? Or just being protective?
“See what you can get from him. I’ll touch base with Braddock to see when he’s coming in. Maybe he’ll have some new information. You have your cell phone?”
She patted her lab coat pocket. “Yes.”
“Call me the second you have something. I’ll be here somewhere.”
Now to find Nolan.
After asking around on two floors, Serena located him in the third-floor lounge.
“Hey, Nolan.”
He looked up from his crossword puzzle. “I was just on my way to your floor.”
His cart of undelivered mail sat next to the table.
“That’s okay. I wasn’t looking for my mail.”
His face perked up. “Are we having lunch again?”
Okay, she had to do this right, had to make the effort worth the trouble for him.
“Actually.” She eased down into the chair opposite him. “I was hoping we could go see that new movie we talked about the other day.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “We could do dinner, as well, if you’d like.”
That he practically drooled made her feel uneasy on one level but inordinately satisfied on another.
“Just name the time. I’m available whenever you say the word.”
Guilt abruptly nagged at her. Leading him on this way was not a very nice thing to do. But she was desperate.
“How about Friday night?” If he helped her out, she would go out with him no matter what.
