Tarin’s legs almost buckled as her head whipped around to the right and her hands pressed hard on her chest. “Bill,” she managed to squeak out. She dropped back against the solid support behind her for fear she’d be a puddle at his feet.
“You’re early.”
She schooled her features before giving him her best smile. “I am. It was a great morning for a walk, so I thought I’d beat the traffic and go for one here. Any suggestions? After I got here I realized I didn’t know the area. So my plan wasn’t a good one.”
He fixed her with that unsettling, unwavering stare and then without another word, he left. She sagged into the building, certain he’d noted the heels which weren’t made for strolling.
“You’re early.”
She snapped upright so fast that she whacked her head against the brick siding. “Ow.” Pain exploded through her skull.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Her hand cupped the area as though it could ease the ache. “Fine.”
She opened her eyes only to have them stretch wide open. Graham in shorts was something new. Graham in a close-fitting shirt and skintight shorts was enough to get her heart rate pumping as though she had just gone on the bike ride for which he was dressed. Perhaps it was because he was standing so close and peering into her face or perhaps it was her own common sense rising, but she realized she was ogling him. She was tempted to wipe her chin of real or imaginary drool.
She snorted in an effort to choke back the laugh that was threatening. She pressed her fingers against her lips in an attempt to stop anything else from escaping. But it did nothing to discourage her eyes from trailing the long lean line of Graham’s chest down to the form-fitting shorts. She wished he’d turn around.
Oh wow.
She blew out a breath as she pushed herself away from the wall and stepped away from temptation. When she saw his gaze linger on her temple she brushed her hair forward to ensure it hid her injury.
“I’m fine. I was going to get myself a latte; can I get you something?” She’d never been to the coffee place down the street but was sure it couldn’t be that hard to find as Graham often walked there. She started strolling before he even answered.
“If you wait I can come with you? Or pay you?”
She waved over her shoulder.
Finally, he yelled after her, “A mocha latte would be awesome.”
She wiggled her fingers to let him know she’d heard. A few minutes later she returned with one mocha latte, having downed what she hadn’t spilled of hers.
“Here.” She set his cup on his desk before returning to her office. The door was now left open unless Guy and Graham were discussing sensitive information. She slumped at her desk, feeling out of breath and tired; even muscles ached that she hadn’t even known she had. Running after a two-year-old should have kept her in better shape, but she didn’t realize she’d have to walk halfway across the city to reach the coffee shop. She kicked off the heels that had become a second skin and realized for the first time how painful they really were.
Wiggling her toes, she logged onto her laptop. She had no idea how long she sat there listening to Graham tap away at his keyboard. A sense of doom hung over her like the rain cloud that followed Linus around in the Peanuts comic strip. When no explosion came, no swearing, suggesting he hadn’t discovered her snooping, she figured she had a temporary reprieve.
A quick glance at the time and she realized she’d just wasted an hour. She first followed up on Graham’s responses to work she’d completed the prior week before starting on a new list of emails.
It was the third one that stopped her. She’d read it three times but still couldn’t comprehend its meaning.
02 CW 2013. It triggered a memory. Someone who had been there and who had a conscience, when she’d been drugged and lost that week of her life, had given her a code. It struck her that he had been trying to help her. It might not be exact but it was familiar. Excitement coursed through her as she realized she might be onto something. Whatever had been said to her wasn’t coming to her fully but it was there, she could feel it.
“You look—uhm—did you find something?”
She quickly schooled her face into the professional expression she’d been well taught before looking at Graham. “Uh—no. Just thinking of something else.” Her hand was busy moving the cursor to close out the email and open the next one in the event he decided to step around and check it out. She was trying not to be obvious but she noticed he glanced at her hand.
“You never told me why you were in so early?”
“I need to leave at 3:00 if that’s okay? Something came up but I didn’t want to bother you with a phone call. So I showed up a few hours before I’m to start. I hope that’s all right?”
“Yeah. It’s not like we keep regular hours. I want the work done. Everything okay? Are you okay? How’s the head? Anything else happen?”
“Yes. Things are good. Nothing serious. Thanks.” She smiled, glancing briefly at him before refocusing on her screen.
“Did you hear from the woman you were to meet?”
“Yeah. She sent me an email, said she’d panicked that her ex had followed her.” In reality Tarin knew she’d never hear from her again, but she really needed Graham to drop it. The last thing she needed was for him to look closely into her life.
His reluctance to go was palpable but she refused to look up. Once he was gone, she resisted the urge to flop across her keyboard in relief. Before getting back to work she leaned forward, peering as far into his office as she could. The open door made her feel unsettled. When she didn’t see or hear him, she assumed he was seated at his desk. She reopened the message containing the code. Scanning it quickly, she noted all the information, copied it, forwarded it to her personal email and then deleted any trace of what she’d done. Her hand shook as she opened the next one, hoping he wouldn’t ask about it.
Working like crazy, she got through over seventy messages, researched and discarded just about all of them as fake. It was quite jolting when she heard the soft sound of bells ringing. It took her a moment to remember she had set the alarm. Noting it was almost 3:00 she grabbed her bag and raced out of the office to meet Bailey. She’d been so tempted to cancel but this trip to Caspian Winery was what she had been waiting for. Finally, she’d meet the people behind it and the one who might be connected to the nightmare in her life.
But even as she hurried away from the building, she wondered how she could possibly use the code or anything she’d find at Caspian Winery. She had no proof of anything.