No Man’s Land by Davis Bunn

Author:Davis Bunn [Bunn, Davis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

Denton didn’t think the couple who took up station on the bar’s last two stools looked anything like academics. Kostas Petridis was a ham-fisted bear of a man. His eyebrows grew upwards a full inch, as though they were magnetically drawn to his unkempt iron-grey hair.

The woman seated next to him, Professor Eleni Petridis, was an elfin princess. Long dark hair silvered with a few delicate strands. Eyes like grand opals, far too large for her delicate face. They remained intimately focused on each other as Denton rose from his table and walked to the men’s bathroom.

Just the same, ninety seconds later, Kostas lumbered in and started washing his hands in the sink next to Denton.

Denton said softly, ‘Ryan was right to run.’ When Kostas glanced worriedly at the stalls, Denton said, ‘They’re empty. I checked.’

‘You think this or you know?’

‘We don’t have time for that.’ Denton set a handwritten note on the sink’s edge. ‘The number to my new satphone.’

‘How on earth should I be able to contact a woman I last saw at our party?’

‘In that case …’ Denton started to retrieve the slip, but Kostas was faster, snatching it away. Denton told him, ‘Memorize the number, destroy the paper. Nothing stays written down.’

‘Do you know what is happening?’

‘What has she told you?’

‘Nothing. She says that is the only way for us to stay safe.’

Denton nodded. ‘Tell her to destroy her old phone, credit cards, all IDs. Stay off the grid. When she’s ready, she should call. I want to help.’

Kostas shifted over, started the hand dryer. Kept his voice down to where it was almost completely drowned out. ‘And you? You will stay safe?’

Denton left the bathroom, returned to their table, told Connor, ‘We should go.’

They returned to both cars and headed north. Connor thought they made a strange sort of procession, her black BMW following Denton’s Land Cruiser, and behind them one or more trackers. She had no idea if they were actually being tailed. All she had to go on was how a pair of headlights had pulled from the road leading to the resort as they passed. She was fairly certain the same headlights were still there, holding steady two cars back. She felt threatened, and the feeling made her mad all over again.

She had agreed on their heading to Denton’s basically because the alternative was far less appealing. There was no way in heaven or earth she was going to invite Denton Hayes to spend the night in her apartment.

But the closer they came to his tiny home, the more she regretted her decision.

The location was nice enough. Sunset Boulevard circled the northern side of Santa Ynez Lake, then swept down the canyon before dead-ending into the PCH. She knew this area well. There was a parking area just off Los Liones Drive she used every other week or so. Los Angeles had a number of such semi-secluded areas, but the Topanga State Park and Temescal Gateway were her two personal favorites. Both

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