Lesley fluttered her long lashes closed.“I’m not sure what Cole’s running from, or if he’s hiding at all.But I believe that he feels just as strongly about me.”
Terry’s round eyes brightened to a deeper shade of blue.“But I thought you hardly ever saw him and—”
“But I see the way he looks at me.”Lesley glanced down at her chef’s salad, idly fingering her napkin in her lap.“We’ve both been infected with the same virus.”
“Love?”Terry made the word a haunting question.“But the kind meant to last a lifetime?”
“I don’t know,” Lesley returned sadly, “I simply don’t know.”
The conversation with her sister played back in Lesley’s mind as she drove home.When she pulled into the driveway, she noted that something was different but couldn’t put her finger on it until she’d taken the last bag of groceries into the apartment.Standing on the top step, she surveyed the area.Cole’s car was missing.That was what was wrong.
Without meaning to, Lesley listened for his return the rest of the afternoon.Snow began falling again in soft feathery flakes that covered the ground.Several times Lesley found herself looking out the window.Not that she’d admit openly that she was watching for Cole...or anxious for him.Did he have car problems?Maybe he needed help.
Stop it, her mind shouted as she ran her fingers through the silky length of her hair.She was behaving like a worrisome mother.Cole could take care of himself.
About three, Lesley decided to bake cookies.She was ready to do anything to keep her mind off Cole.When she heard him enter the second half of the duplex, she released an unconscious sigh of relief.
Standing motionless in the kitchen, she heard him walk across the floor.Another pair of footsteps echoed and Lesley straightened.Someone was with him.
As quietly as possible, Lesley tiptoed into the living room and peeked out the window.Another car was parked in the driveway next to Cole’s.Her eyes narrowed in concentration.She’d seen that car before, but where?She bit into the corner of her mouth.Red and flashy, it...She stopped, her mind spinning in deep-grooved channels.That was the car Cole had driven the first day she’d met him—the one parked in the driveway the day he moved into the duplex.Where had it been all this time?What had he done with it?
While she was still musing over these thoughts, the sound of raised voices filtered through the wall opposite Lesley’s living room.
“Engstrom, be reasonable.The one who’s going to end up getting hurt in this is you.Do you have any idea how hard Jennings is looking for you?”
The man had called Cole “Engstrom.”Had he been using a false name all these months?
“He’d never find me here.Coeur d’Alene, Idaho?”
Cole made it sound like the end of the earth.
“Maybe.”
The mystery man didn’t seem to echo Cole’s confidence.
“How’s the report coming?”
“I’m finished.”
“Good grief, you must have half killed yourself to do it in this time.”
A short silence followed.
“Take it with you.See to it that...”
The timer on the stove dinged and Lesley yanked her attention to the kitchen.As quickly as possible she turned it off and took the cookie sheet out of the oven.The aroma of melting chocolate chips filled the small apartment.
Like a thief in the night, Lesley returned to the living room.
“...low profile.”
“As much as possible,” Cole said, “but the girl next door has guessed something isn’t right.”
The other man laughed.“But you’ve always had a way with women.I wouldn’t worry about her.”
“I’m not.”
Was that displeasure Lesley heard in Cole’s cool tones?
