The Outsider's Redemption by Joanna Wayne

Author:Joanna Wayne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Cody stormed into the room, doubts pouncing to the surface then rampaging through his mind. “What do you mean you don’t have the disk?”

“It was here, and now it’s gone.” Her voice rose to a shaky high. The shiny lining of the coat caught the reflection of the overhead light as she held it toward him. “I had sewn a special pouch into the lining, halfway between the pocket and the hem.”

“So that’s why you held on to that coat as if you were about to be abandoned at the North Pole. You haven’t let it out of your sight all day except when you went to the bathroom, and it was in my sight then. If you stashed the disk in the lining, it can’t be gone.”

She dropped to the bed. “It can’t be, but it is. The man who tried to kidnap me must have found it and taken it with him.”

“That’s impossible. You said yourself, you were standing in the door when he pushed his way in. If he’d found the disk, you would have seen him.”

“Then that leaves only you, Cody. You’re the only person besides me who’s had the coat in your hand. When I went to bed last night, it was on the hanger. When I woke up, it was tangled in the bedcovers.”

“You tossed and turned all night and kept kicking your feet out from under that short sheet. I threw the coat over them so you’d keep warm.” Cody took the coat from her hands. “The disk must be stuck in the lining somewhere. We may have to rip the coat apart to find it.”

“Too late. The early ripper gets the disk.” She walked over and lifted the hem, tucking her finger inside a ragged slit. “Someone cut the lining and lifted out the disk. If it wasn’t you or the man at the fishing camp, then who could it have been?”

Cody fought the frustration that turned his stomach to a pit of acid. He replayed the events of the morning, knew the man who’d broken into their room and tried to abduct Sarah couldn’t have taken the disk. If he’d had it, he wouldn’t have been taking Sarah with him. He’d have killed her on the spot the same way he’d killed the night watchman.

He examined the damage. It zigged and zagged just beneath the seam that Sarah had apparently hand sewn into the lining, and part of the tear ran along the bottom edge of the pouch. It must have caught on something and been torn during their trip to the cabin. It could be anywhere.

“When was the last time you put your hand on the disk, Sarah?”

“After the attack in the airport.”

“You mean you carried this coat around for two days without even checking to make sure the disk was still in place?”

“Don’t go accusing me, Cody Gannon. You’re the one who insisted I leave my coat and purse with you every time I went to the bathroom.”

“That was to keep you from sneaking away the way you did at the airport.

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