He looked up in surprise and their gazes met. She rocked back on her heels, startled at what she saw there. It was like looking into the depths of nothing. It wasnt that he was a psychopath. Shed looked into the eyes of guys like that a time or two. After all, punks and jerks were her specialty.
Rather, it was as if everything Gray was had been stripped away from him. As if he was completely, utterly lost. He wasnt caught in the abyss. He was the abyss.
Shaken, she offered lamely, You dont have to bother with a curtain rod. She looked into his eyes again, and this time saw only a wall of gray-green. Had she been hallucinating there for a minute? She mumbled, If you have a roll of duct tape, just tape the curtain to the wall. Minimizes leakage of light.
But it wont be very attractive.
She shrugged. Im more about functionality than beauty.
Thats too bad, he remarked as he climbed to his feet. Lifes too short not to enjoy its beauty.
The words made sense, but they felt recited. Like hed heard them before and was parroting them back with no conviction or real understanding. What in the heck was going on with him? Is this why Jeff had sent her out here? To rescue his buddy?
Gray fetched a roll of duct tape from a drawer in the kitchen and she followed him to her bedroom. Bemused, she held the fabric in place as he neatly taped the curtains to the wall. Their shoulders brushed as he taped his way across the top of the window frame, and a strange little shiver of pleasure washed over her.
That was weird. Shed just dumped the latest loser, Ricky The Rocket Rossini, and was still deep in her mandatory, man-hating, post-breakup phase. There werent supposed to be any shivers, thank you very much.
Gray cleared his throat as he stepped back from her hastily. I got weather stripping for around your door frame, too. Its the self-adhesive kind and shouldnt take long to install.
Stunned, she stood there in the middle of the tiny room and stared at the open doorway through which hed disappeared. When he came back, holding two rolls of narrow foam stripping, she demanded, Why are you going to all this trouble for me? You barely know me.
He stared at her and looked downright confused. Because its the polite thing to do?
She scoffed. Whats your angle? What do you want from me?
He drew himself up to his full height, clearly not missing her implication. I dont want anything from you, he snapped. Not in that way. If you can help me figure out what Luke Zimmer and this Proctor guy are up to so we can both go back to our regularly scheduled lives, that would be fantastic. But thats it.
He didnt give off a gay vibe. Was it possible he was straight and actually wasnt interested in her? Truly? Every guy wanted to do her. It was just a fact of life shed learned to live with. But this one didnt?
She wasnt quite sure how she felt about that. She supposed she ought to be vastly relieved, particularly since they were going to be working together. But somehow, she wasnt. Man-hating phase, darn it. She would be relieved he wasnt panting after her, and thats all there was to it.
Im glad weve got that clear, she declared. Yup. Relieved. That was her. Except something buried deep in her gut felt restless at the notion.
Hungry? he asked casually.
Uhh, sure. Dang, a man who could cook was smexysmart and sexy!
Whats your pleasure, maam?
Her gaze snapped up to his, startled.
For supper, he clarified dryly.
Darn it. So much for relieved. I prefer vegan. But Ill take simple vegetarian.
He snorted. You are going to stick out like a sore thumb around here. This is the land of hardcore carnivores.
Ill be fine with a salad for now if youve got the stuff. Ill go shopping later and lay in my own food supply.
Grocery closes at nine, he commented from deep within the refrigerator. He emerged with an armload of salad fixings.
Great. How was she supposed to live her night-owl existence in a town that rolled up its sidewalks and went to bed about when she was waking up? And she wouldnt even have satellite TV or streaming, Wi-Fi internet to keep her company in the wee hours. This place was going to suck.
She hopped off the stool. If youve got a knife, Ill start chopping. But youre going to have to move those pictures so I can fix my breakfast.
Would you like an omelet to go with that salad?
You know how to make omelets?
He shrugged. Sure. Theyre not that hard.
Hah. She had literally ruined a pot while boiling water before. The crash of the Hindenburg came to mind when she thought about her one and only try at omelet preparation. As she recalled, a fire extinguisher had been necessary before it was all said and done.
What kind of salad dressing do you like? he asked.
Anything sharp and tangy.
Shouldve known.
Whats that supposed to mean? she demanded.
In my experience, womens food preferences match their personalities.
Im sharp? Hey, shed been on her best behavior for him.
As in clever and intelligent, yes, he replied smoothly.
Nice save, she retorted skeptically. She wasnt about to tell him what a sucker she was for a high-quality, smooth milk chocolate to see where he went with that. Instead, she said, Tell me about you.
He went still. Completely, head-to-toe, not-moving-a-muscle still. That was weird. He formed words, but they sounded torn from deep inside him. Not much to tell.
If only she had her laptop and a wireless connection! Shed know everything there was to know about this mysterious man in two minutes. What had happened in his life to make him so brittle and closed? She said lightly, You know everything about me. Dont you think I deserve a little reciprocation, here?
I do not know everything about you, he declared.
He was trying to divert her away from the subject of his life. Interesting. She had to find access to the internet, somehow, and get the scoop on this guy. Name one thing you desperately want to know about me, she declared.
What did you have on under that leather jacket this afternoon? he shot back at her.
Her jaw dropped momentarily before she managed to control it. That was way out of left field. Revealing, too. The man found her attractive, after all, huh? That restless feeling in her tummy felt a little better. Tell you what. Ill wear the same thing tomorrow, and you can find out for yourself if youve got the courage to try.
He whirled and had his hands on the counter on either side of her so fast she barely saw him move. Trapped between his arms and more titillated than she cared to admit, she stared up at him defiantly.
He spoke quietly, his voice a dangerous caress. Be very careful about teasing me, little girl. You may get back more than you bargained for.
Little girl? She hadnt been one of those since she was about six and her moms latest boyfriend made a punching bag out of her for the first time. She ought to be offended. Tell Gray to go to hell. But he actually did make her feel young and rather foolish with that extreme self-control of his.
That sounds like a challenge, she responded belatedly. It was a lame comeback, but all she could manage with his large, muscular frame only inches from her own. Darned if her breathing wasnt going all wonky, too.
He pushed away from the counter and she let out a careful breath. He turned around and something metal flashed in his hand. Knife. Her own hands flashed up defensively and her foot lashed out and connected with his shin. Hard.
Ouch! He leaped back from her. Whatd you do that for?
The knife Saw it coming Didnt stop to think She trailed off into silence, too embarrassed to continue.
He was studying her far too intently for her comfort. Are you a trained martial artist? he finally asked.
Ive had some self-defense training. Although her reaction had a lot more to do with a long string of jerkwad boyfriendsher moms and hersthan any self-defense training. But she wasnt about to tell Mr. Perfect that. Hed probably never had a bad breakup in his entire life. But then, he probably never dated nut-balls, either. His women were no doubt as perfect and well-bred as he was.
He laid the knife down carefully on the counter in front of her. If youd like to chop up the tomatoes and cucumber, Ill wash the lettuce.
Crap. She berated herself silently for making a fool of herself over a stupid knife and vented her irritation onto the hapless veggies, which she minced nearly into pulp.
The omelet turned out to be as irritatingly perfect as its maker, all fluffy and light and neatly folded. It didnt help her bad mood that Gray was quiet through the meal, alternately staring at his food and glancing up thoughtfully at her. Shed inadvertently revealed far too much of herself to him, and clearly he wasnt hesitating to draw all kinds of no doubt accurate and damning inferences about her.
Too jumpy to stand those thoughtful looks any longer, she leaped up and cleared the table. While she washed and dried the dishes by handapparently dishwashers were off-limits in this wacky placehe gathered the pictures hed piled together earlier and spread them out across the table.
She dried her hands and approached them.
Sit beside me, he ordered absently.
Startled, she sank into the chair hed pulled up beside his. It brought their ankles, knees, hips, elbows and shoulders into a proximity that threatened to destroy her concentration. Really, she ought to just jump the guys bones and get him out of her system so she could work with him. Otherwise, the next few days could be seriously miserable.
Gray filled her in efficiently. Luke Zimmers upbringing was pretty normal. Middle class, Midwest, average home, average income. He ran with a neo-Nazi gang in high school, however, in he shuffled through the printed pages a suburb of Chicago. But his current political leanings are more antisocial than that.
Whats more antisocial than neo-Nazis? she blurted. Shed hung out with a skinhead or two, and theyd been way too violent for her taste.
Gray continued, Zimmer moved into this area several months ago, apparently at Jeffs request.
Given that Jeff mentioned a cult leader to both of us, Im assuming Luke got sent here to infiltrate Proctors group on behalf of Winston Enterprises?
A flicker of something suspiciously like respect passed through Grays opaque gaze. Thats a good guess. Although why Proctors a threat to an international conglomerate with no business dealings anywhere near here is a mystery to me.
Maybe Lukes profile can give us a clue into what kind of a person Proctor is, or at least what the orientation of his cults stated beliefs is.
The respect thing flickered again in Grays gaze as he replied, My main impression of Zimmer is that hes severely paranoid. I did a little reconnaissance on him yesterday, but without electronic equipment, I couldnt get even remotely close to him. Although I dont know if his paranoia predates his relationship with Proctor or is possibly a result of it.
Enter the girl with eagle eyes.
He smiled a little at her. If you can point your eagle eyes at this guy and learn more about him, that could be enormously useful.
Does Luke have a job? she asked.
Not that Im aware of.
Hows he paying his way, then? she asked. Even losers had to eat and buy drugs.
Im working a little too off-book to just stroll into the local bank and ask.
I could hack into the banks computers she broke off but nobody uses computers around here, do they?
A few folks actually have them. They have to use hard-wired, buried cable lines, though, and there are no Wi-Fi networks.
She shrugged. It probably doesnt matter, anyway. Guys like Luke work in cash. Leaves less of a trail for the cops to follow. What else do you know about him?
Hes twenty-seven years old. Computer science major at Cal Tech. Didnt graduate, though. Busted a couple of times for pot possession by campus cops. Thirty days in jail and a fine the last time. Nothing remarkable about his family. Two brothersone older, one younger. He got decent grades in high school, ran about a 2.5 GPA in college. Nothing else shows up on him in the system.
She doubted she could dig up more than that if she had a computer and internet access at her disposal. He didnt sound like the kind of guy whose life would leave much of an electronic trail. Anyone interviewed the family? she asked.
I dont have those kinds of resources at my disposal.
She frowned. What the heck did that mean? What can I do to help your investigation?
Anything you can see and learn is more than I have to go on now.
And who do you work for, exactly?
He leaned back in his chair. Crossed his arms. Pressed his lips into a thin white line. He even spoke tightly. At the moment, Jeff Winston.
He might have dodged her question, but all that body language spoke volumes. He had secrets to keep. You do realize I have the equivalent of military top-secret clearances or better, she commented.
He didnt seem impressed. And he didnt open his mouth. There were not too many employers in the United States who demanded complete and total silence from their employees. She considered him thoughtfully. He didnt look like a mercenary for a private security firm. He was too clean-cut for that. Too by-the-book. Government, then.
Okay, Sparky. Im going to assume you work for some spooky, secret government agency until you say otherwise. Which begs the question of why you dont just have your peeps poke around a little and hand you a complete list of names of every known associate of one Luke Zimmer. Order up a little surveillance detail on his cronies, and youd know what ole Lukes up to in under a week. I dont see why Jeff thought you would need my help at all.
Its not that simple. Given our total lack of ability to use electronics in this area, the manpower required to mount the sort of surveillance op that youre proposing would be prohibitive. Not to mention, people in this region routinely live completely off the grid. Theyre nearly impossible to track by any other means than direct visual surveillance. For all I know this kids using a fake ID and isnt going by the name Luke Zimmer at all.
She nodded. Fake identities are pretty easy to get.