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Two more such meetings ensued, both under the cover of night, both in out-of-the-way places. He decided not to pressure her for more; the right time for them to be together would come soon enough.
He’d wait.
The next time she wanted him to meet late at night, he asked if she was married.
”I’m not. But there is something I have to tell you. I’m going to my class reunion Saturday. If you can pick me up after the dance Saturday night, we can spend some time together and I’ll explain everything.”
Anticipating an intimate evening with her, he sloughed off her mysterious words and booked a hotel suite near the college. He imagined her in bed with him and could almost feel her silken skin against his; hear her crying out his name when he made love to her.
But another, darker, image kept imposing itself over the bedroom scene—an exciting image, enticingly wicked. He couldn’t wait to be with her.
15
Friday morning when Lisa arrived at the office, Sha
“Tell me what?”
“We had an intruder last night!” Sha
“An intruder?”
“Sure seemed like it.” Sha
“You must have been terrified. Did you call the police?”
“No, but I went to the station, and Stan was there. He promised he’d have whoever was on patrol last night check out our building every time they passed through town.” She paused, breathless. “He said we needed a security system.”
Lisa snorted. “For what? No one keeps money here and neither of our computers are anything a thief would want.”
“Yeah, I told him that.”
Frowning, Lisa looked around the room. “You’ve succeeded in spooking me. Now I’m seeing things that look out of place.” She glanced over at her file cabinets. Top-of-the line, they were equipped with an ultra-secure lock system, and appeared untouched. But some of her things looked out of order.
“Are you sure? Do you want me to call Stan?”
“No, I’m not sure, and don’t call Stan yet. Wouldn’t the lock be broken or something if someone had gotten in?”
Sha
“The door looks all right, and it’s still locked, so that couldn’t have happened.”
“But it could have,” Sha
“Maybe you were just spooked by the wind.”
“Lisa, you haven’t got a real complicated lock on that door. I bet I could open it with a screwdriver and a credit card.”
Sha
Sha
Sha
“Okay, call Stan, but try to get the locksmith here sometime after two.”
By the time Stan, a fiftyish, rather rotund police officer with thi
After hearing their story and carefully inspecting the premises, Stan said, “Whoever broke in was probably looking for cash. When he didn’t find any, he ran out when he heard someone else in the building.”
“We called a locksmith to have stronger locks put on, “Sha
“Good. We’ll keep a close eye on your building for the time being. Call us if anything else happens.”
Stan, visibly taken with Sha
At noon Lisa and Sha
She said, “You’ll get to go out on interviews with one of those guys that were in the office. Which one, the nerdy one or the older, dark, mysterious-looking guy?”
“This won’t be a social event, Sha
“Who knows, he might turn out to be a real nice guy.”
“He isn’t. He’s arrogant and a
“Are you afraid to be alone with him?”
“No. He’s irritating, not threatening. TJ has spent a lot of time with him and is convinced he’s i
“Have you heard from Tyler?”
Lisa was trying to forget about Tyler, but it was difficult, especially on sleepless nights. “Tyler isn’t up for discussion. Back on the subject at hand, we’re meeting Sunday morning to go over what we accomplish in Saturday’s interviews. If you have anything for us that soon, let me know.”
Sha
The locksmith arrived promptly at two. Lisa was working on a client’s file when the scream of the locksmith’s power drill masked the entry of a visitor. She looked up to see James Wilson standing in front of her desk. Startled at his presence, Lisa jerked back in her chair, reflexes on alert. “You frightened me.”
“Sorry about that. I got your call this morning and I decided to drop in since I was going to be in the area.”
Lisa had forgotten she called him before coming into the office that morning and wished she’d prepared for her talk with him. He wasn’t someone she wanted to reveal her hand to, merely wanted to maneuver information from.
“Have a seat, Mr. Wilson. I’d offer you coffee, but I’m afraid we don’t usually keep it going after lunch.”
He sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk, casually draping one long leg over the other knee. “No need for coffee. And call me James.”
James Wilson’s good looks and his surprising drop-in put her on edge. Lisa wasn’t sure whether her unease came from her libido’s response to him or if she just didn’t like him. The division between attraction and repulsion could be as narrow as the one between love and hate. He was engaged, she reminded herself—to the police chief’s daughter.
She’d limit her explanation to what had taken place at the center’s meeting. He’d find out about it soon enough. “I wanted to let you know I talked to Amanda Hawkins from the Center in Oconomowoc about the increase in missing women. She hadn’t been aware of it yet but moved forward with it and met with the heads of the other women’s centers in Milwaukee and Waukesha County. They’re all concerned. Unfortunately, the most they can do is caution women on developing new relationships.”