The Innocent: A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel by Taylor Stevens

Author:Taylor Stevens [Stevens, Taylor]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, Crime, Contemporary Women
ISBN: 9780307717146
Amazon: B004W3FIR6
Publisher: Crown
Published: 2011-12-27T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Elijah didn’t come, and in the protracted silence, Munroe waited with the deliberate patience of a predator on the hunt. The world of information, of infiltration and surveillance, of buying and selling secrets, was a world of endless waiting, idle stress, and measured self-control, a learned and practiced skill of knowing when to move, when to stop, and how to maintain a holding pattern for indefinite periods of time.

This was a holding pattern.

Like the four hours that had been spent in this room yesterday in order to allow Bradford his ten minutes of reconnaissance and placement, the waiting would buy her what she wanted. If she hadn’t already been handed a book and asked to stay, she would have requested something, anything, to prolong the visit until the missing vans returned and the house began to fill again. Elijah, with his desire to bring her into the fold, had solved that problem.

As if on cue, from beyond the front door came a mounting wave of sound, of footsteps and voices, all drawing closer to the house.

Munroe switched off the light in the alcove and moved through the darkened living room toward the front door. She chose the chair closest to the entrance, positioned so that its back was to the front of the building, and its direct view to the foyer blocked by a small wall segment. Here in the darkened corner she could see the side and back of each person who passed, and the disadvantage of not being able to clearly scan faces was compensated by placement. Unless someone specifically turned around and peered into the room, she would never be noticed.

Through the front door they came, mostly teenagers, tromping in from the cold with the weariness of a hard day’s work. Based on the size of the vehicles and the size of the crowd, if this was the return of only one van, it had headed out with more people than seat belts.

There was conversation and a form of lighthearted jostling among the youngsters as they passed, and with no consciousness of noise level, the building took on a tone closer to what Munroe expected to be its natural state.

They passed in groups of two or three, loaded with coats and heavy bags, and were it not for the information she already had, by looks alone it would have been easy to assume that they were students returning from school rather than from begging in the street, which made up much of their daily routines.

From beyond the open front door and still out of sight, the voice of a woman called to several in the group. Three of the teenagers, having just passed through the foyer, paused and then turned. They stood but several feet from where Munroe sat, each face clearly illuminated by the hallway lighting.

And in that moment, time stopped.

Munroe measured out the heartbeat trying to escape her chest.

Feet away was the mirror image of a younger, female Logan.

Munroe fought the urge to stand,

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