Once She Knew by Sheila Connolly

Author:Sheila Connolly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mysteries & Thrillers
Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing
Published: 2013-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

21

The food disappeared with alarming speed. Everything tasted wonderful, but maybe cardboard would have tasted good under the circumstances. When the last carton had been scraped bare, Claire sat back in the fuzzy chair and sighed with contentment. With a full stomach and a couple of glasses of wine in her belly, and with Leah at her side, she felt like she could handle anything.

Jonathan, on the other hand, looked like he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Not that she blamed him—he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, since he’d sat up with Rick through half the night, surfing the Web. And all this dodging and hiding took its toll, as she could testify.

They had suspended serious conversation while they ate, but with the food gone, Claire knew she had to lay out the cards to Leah.

“Jonathan? You still awake?”

He hauled his eyelids up. “More or less.” He looked at his watch. “Damn, I’ve got to give Rick a call, see if he’s got anything new. Leah, is there a pay phone—or I should say, a working pay phone—anywhere nearby?”

Leah gave him a searching look before answering. “I get it—you don’t want to leave a trail here, right? Thanks for thinking about me. Yeah, there’s a mini-mart on the corner, and they’ve got a phone at the back. Who’s this Rick guy?”

Jonathan unfolded himself from the love seat and stretched. “I’ll let Claire explain while I make my call. Left or right when I leave the building?”

Leah gracefully uncurled from her position on the floor and stood up. “Right. You can’t miss it.” She followed him to the door and shut it carefully when he left, then turned and leaned against it, her arms crossed. “Okay, girl, you gonna give me the truth now?”

The purple chair felt like a soft, cozy nest, and Claire roused herself with an effort. “Yes.”

“Then maybe you’d like to start by explaining why you’ve gotten yourself into such a goddamn mess? Look, I know you. You aren’t stupid. Did the guy brainwash you?”

Claire almost giggled. “No.”

“Oh, God, tell me you’re not sleeping with him!”

“Leah, no! Well, we have shared a bed, but it didn’t have anything to do with sex. Mostly exhaustion. But you know as well as I do who he is. Or, wait . . .”

Leah refilled her wineglass and sat down in the seat Jonathan had vacated. “Come on, spit it out.”

Claire’s amusement evaporated. “All right. You know about that stupid book, but that was five years ago. He says he’s a journalist now. Maybe he always was—heck, I didn’t exactly have time to do a background check. But he claims he’s legitimate. So, he’s been in the Middle East—he hasn’t said where—at least once, maybe more, in the past year, looking for some kind of scoop or something. I think he wants to redeem himself, prove he’s serious.”

“Yeah, right. He’s got a long way to go. But, funny thing—he sure is collecting some great publicity, with this bogus kidnapping and all.

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