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Gabriel
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Feeling a renewed sense of urgency, Gabe grabbed his go bag and Fred’s, then headed out to his SUV. It was too much of a coincidence to believe that two of Darius’s upper level minions had chosen now to come for a visit.
He punched in Silas’s number and gave him a quick update, along with a change in plans. After a brief internal debate, he called Virginia Miller. She answered on the second ring.
Gabe let out the breath he’d been holding. “Ms. Miller, it’s Gabriel Michaels.”
“Yes, Commander. What can I do for you?” If she was still disappointed with him for turning down her dinner invite, it didn’t come through in her voice. In fact, she sounded glad to hear from him.
“How is your schedule this afternoon?”
“Pretty light. In fact, I was just about to go into town and do some shopping.”
Perfect. “I’ve got some errands to run myself. Would you like to meet for coffee? There’s a little diner off the interstate that I’m told has good blue plate specials.”
He winced, wondering if a woman like Virginia even knew what a blue plate special was. Then he reminded himself she hadn’t always lived in a multi-million-dollar estate.
There was a brief moment of silence before she said, “Yes, I know it, and yes, they do.”
“Great. See you in about thirty minutes?”
“All right. See you then.”
He pressed his foot down on the accelerator and made it to the diner early. He scoped the place inside and out, then selected a booth in the back corner near the emergency exit and with an excellent view of both the interior and the parking lot.
Virginia arrived a short while later. Unlike the previous times he’d seen her, she was dressed more casually in jeans and a soft-looking sweater. Her hair wasn’t secured in a knot at the back of her head; it hung loose and flowed freely over her shoulders. His fingers itched with the desire to touch it, to see if it was as silky as it looked.
More noticeable, however, were the dark circles under her eyes. “Are you feeling all right?”
“Just had some trouble sleeping last night,” she said, nodding when he picked up the carafe of coffee and held it over her mug. “This waiting...the not knowing, it’s frustrating.” She added cream, stirred, then wrapped both hands around the mug and lifted it to her lips. She closed her eyes in bliss, opening them again when the server returned to take their order. “It’s affecting everyone.”
“How so?”
“Gregory wasn’t skulking around the halls this morning, and Maya barely glared at me when I went into the kitchen.”
His lips quirked. At least she was able to find some humor in the situation.
Gabe knew why the others were preoccupied, but it didn’t appear as if Virginia did. That answered one of his many questions, at least.
“So . . .” she said, looking directly into his eyes after they were alone again, “I’m guessing this clandestine meeting is about more than just Rosie’s excellent meatloaf.”
“Clandestine?” His lips curled at her use of the word, something they seemed to do easily in her presence. “We’re in a public place, ordering the house special.”
She smiled back, her eyes challenging. “That’s not a denial.”
No, it wasn’t. “Maybe Fred convinced me I was too hasty in turning down your generous offer of raiding the kitchen last night.”
“Fred did, huh?” Her pretty eyes flared with feminine interest before she looked down at the hound who had moved from Gabe’s side of the booth over to hers, and was now shamelessly placing his big head in her lap.
“Yes, I think he’s smitten with you. He pouted all night.”
She reached down and stroked Fred’s head and ears. “Well, I’m pretty fond of him, too. But I still get the feeling it’s more than that.” She lowered her voice, hope lighting her tired eyes. “Did you find something?”
Several things, in fact, but nothing he was willing to share with her just yet.
“Ms. Miller, I’m going to ask you something and I want an honest answer.”
“All right.”
“Do you feel as if you’re in any danger at the estate?”
Her eyes widened slightly before she looked back down at Fred. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Please, just answer the question.”
“Well, things haven’t been great with Chris gone. I’m sure you’ve picked up that Gregory and the others, well, they don’t care for me very much. They resent the fact that Chris has kept me around, regardless of their opinions. But no one has openly threatened me or anything, if that’s what you mean.”
“But?” he prompted.
She shook her head. “But nothing. I’m probably just being paranoid. This whole thing has me off-kilter.”
Gabe didn’t think so, not after what he’d seen on the surveillance cameras. “Never discount your instincts. What is your gut telling you?”
“That someone is watching me,” she whispered. “Sometimes I even think I see things in the shadows. Ridiculous, right?”
“Considering your boss disappeared without a trace two weeks ago, no, I don’t think that’s ridiculous at all.”
“But it doesn’t make sense. Sander may not care for me personally, but he does take the security of the estate very seriously. Besides, I’m just a PA. Why would anyone be watching me?”
Gabe shrugged. “Maybe someone thinks you know or have access to information critical to the case.”
“I wish I did. Don’t you think if I did know something important, I’d have told you by now?”
“Maybe it’s something you don’t realize is important. Or maybe, they think Christos will try to contact you.”
“Commander, why are you telling me all of this?”
He considered telling her that two of Darius’s men had landed in Washington and were quite possibly already on the estate, then decided against it. She looked jumpy enough as it was. Yeah, she had shown spirit and backbone, but this wasn’t just a matter of holding her own against resentful staff. More importantly, he still hadn’t ruled her out as a possible suspect in Christos’s disappearance, though that seemed less and less likely the more time he spent in her presence.
“Because I think there’s a lot more to this than you realize.”
She opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it and closed it again. She took a deep breath. “Okay, fair enough. I don’t suppose you can tell me everything, so I guess I’ll just have to trust your judgment. What do you propose we do?”
His opinion of her rose another notch. She was being remarkably sensible about all of this, something which, in his experience, most women in her situation wouldn’t be.
“You continue business as usual, just take extra precautions. Be more alert, keep your eyes and ears open, and don’t go anywhere alone after dark.”
“I can do that. The only place I tend to go in the evenings is out into the gardens anyway. What are you going to do?”
He sat back. “I’ll be continuing the investigation from within the estate.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “I’m sorry, did you say from within the estate?”
“Yes. A place as big as that has to have guest rooms, right?”
“Yes, of course. And being on site will make it easier for you, won’t it?”
He nodded.
The corners of her mouth quirked, then grew slowly into a full-on grin. “Have you told Gregory yet?”