She grabbed a pen, scooched Caviar another inch off the papers and heard the phone ring. She picked it up.
No one there, just a hangup.
She settled back down for a solid twenty minutes, when the landline rang again. Again she picked it up.
Again, there was no one on the other side.
Abruptly she stood up, rubbed her hands down her thighs. Not that she spooked easilybut she spooked easily. She had from the time of her parents death, but her next-door neighbors death had certainly brought her nerves out of storage. No matter how certain the police were that Jons death was an accident, Sophie still felt something more had happened.
As if to punctuate her edginess, she jumped when she heard the sudden rap on her front door.
Cord stood on the other side. Im sorry to bother you, but Caviar shot between her legs, through his and into the open door of Jons apartment. Cord stared after the loose feline, then back at her, frowning at her expression. Whats wrong? I mean, besides the cat.
Nothing.
Youre white as a sheet.
Too much rain. Not enough sun. It was a dumb thing to say, but abruptly she realized her heart had picked up a new, exuberant pounding-not from fear this time. It was from being inches too close to Cord. That problem, thankfully, was readily fixable. Ill chase after Caviar. The thing is, hes used to being able to shoot back and forth between the two apartments-Oh. Midflight, she stopped abruptly. I forgot to ask why you knocked on the door. What do you need?
Do you know anything about the fancy technology my brother set up in his place?
Like what? She forgot being spooked. The groan in his voice was just funny. Pretty clearly, Cord wasnt the kind of man who tolerated frustration well-or enjoyed asking anyone for help.
She identified the crisis two seconds after entering Jons apartment.
Shed encountered precisely the same problem the first time she babysat for Caviar. The light switch on the living room east wall didnt turn on lights. It had been rewired to turn on Ravels Bolero, close the living room drapes, and start the gas-lit fireplace.
She hiked across the room to the light switch by the drapes, hit it.
The seductive music quit. The gas-lit fire fizzled out. Only the drapes stayed closed.
What the hell was that? Cord murmured.
You dont recognize a staged seduction scene when you see it?
He scraped a hand through his hair. Umto tell you the truth, no.
The thought seeped into her mind that Cord really wouldnt stage anything artificial or contrived with a woman. He wouldnt need to. But she shifted her attention back on track. You had to know your brother loved gadgets. I always wondered why he didnt make his living as an inventor. Good grief, whats that smell?
Normally, shed have waited for an answer before charging into someone elses space, but it was fairly obvious that Cord-no matter how smart-was way, way over his head. No one had been inside the place since the police investigation, and naturally their prime concern hadnt been housekeeping. She had a key, but since Caviar was already safe at her place, she figured she didnt have a reason-or right-to use it.
The bottom line, though, was a symphony of ghastly smells emanating from the kitchen. The sources were easy enough to identify-an uncleaned litter box, some garbage rotting in the disposal and trash, and then there was the opened refrigerator door, which Cord had obviously been trying to clean out.
That was where I was working, he said. Obviously, I couldnt do anything else until I cleaned out the rotten fruit and meat, and it was pretty disgusting, so I threw open the window and then walked into the other room for some fresh air. Only, I turned on the living room light-
And immediately got stripper music, she said wryly.
He washed a hand over his face. Look. The smells have to go. And then the place has to be completely aired out before I can pretend to tackle anything else. I dont suppose youd be up for a walk somewhere? Lunch?
I dont think But she hesitated. You want to talk about your brother, she murmured compassionately.
It was his turn to hesitate. Yeah. Of course I do.
Okay then. Well just take a quick break, all right?
Right.
Cord hadnt been lying. He needed fresh air, thinking time away from his brothers place would help to clear out the cobwebs in his head.
More by instinct than intention, he steered Sophie at a brisk pace toward Georgetown. The hike down Pennsylvania Avenue was as peaceful as a tornado drill, between nonstop sirens and barking horns and the occasional thrown-up barrier when a fancy limo or security entourage took over the streets. Oddly, all that craziness struck Cord as comforting. It was just a status quo day around D.C.
What distinctly wasnt status quo was the woman striding next to him.
Looking at the surface facts, Sophie was everything the cops had led him to expect.
She knew his brothers apartment, knew all the details of Jons corny seduction setup. Very well.
She was jumpy around him, the way a guilty person was jumpy.
And she was so damned easy to be with that he had to believe she could con anyone. God knew, shed gotten him to readily talk, when Cord had never been a chatterer with anyone.
Of course, he did have stuff he could naturally ask her. I hate to admit it, he muttered, but Im downright confused by my brothers place. Im not a techno-innocent. An understatement, not that he was going to get into security programs and codes with her. I can usually get around any computer system. But I dont know what Jons interest was in all thatgadgetry.
Her chuckle was warmer than sunlight. I take it youd never been in your brothers apartment before?
No.
But surely you knew he was a hard-core tinkerer. He seemed to spend his insomnia time inventing stuff that had no use to anyone-except him.
Damn, but she forced him to chuckle now. Yeah, in a way. I mean, as a kid, no clock or watch was safe around Jon. He loved inventing things, putting spare parts together and coming up with god-knows-what. But Im finding switches and locks that seem to go nowhere in that apartment.
Even worse, because he was renting. Im afraid youll never get your damage deposit back, she murmured.
By then theyd reached the Potomac. The river was the color of pewter, the skies a matching moody gray. Yet, in spite of the gloom, in spite of the stress surrounding Jons death, Cord found his spirits lifting from just being around her. Since theyd walked this far, he chose a restaurant he was familiar with-a second-story bar, with a view over the river. She wanted a hot mug of tea; he ordered a tall-necked amber.
Im not worried about the damage deposit. Im justtrying to understand what was going on in his life.
It doesnt sound as if you and Jon were very close.
Sure we were. As a close as a cougar and a fox raised in the same den.
Uh-oh, she murmured, and had him smiling again.
He was honest. No reason not to be. I keep trying to think back to something Jon and I saw eye to eye on. Maybe we could agree the sky was blue on some summer days, but thats about the end of it.
She cocked her head, her gaze compassionate. So you really must feel stuck, having to deal with all his business and stuff.
I do. But theres no one else to do it, so thats that. He took a long pull from the bottle. Are you from a big family?
She cocked her head, her gaze compassionate. So you really must feel stuck, having to deal with all his business and stuff.
I do. But theres no one else to do it, so thats that. He took a long pull from the bottle. Are you from a big family?
Yes and no. Originally there were five of us-my mom and dad, and three girls. I was the baby. She dropped her eyes from his. Unfortunately, there was a fire when I was around five. We not only lost our parents in one fell swoop, but for a long time we lost each other. No one could foster the three of us together, so we were separated.
Thats not just rough. Thats god-awful, he said quietly.
I have to sayit was. But I was fostered out to a really terrific couple-older-both professors at Georgetown. It was a quiet, safe home in every way. Couldnt have been a more calming situation for a terrorized little kid. They were wonderful to me.
Are they still around?
I only wish. But cancer took Mary a few years ago, and William had a stroke the next year. They were both past sixty when they took me. Anyway, my oldest sister-Cate-never stopped looking for the two of us. She found me first, then Lily. We may not all live in the same city, but were close enough, phone talk or e-mail talk all the time. She lifted her eyes, Which is partly why Im sorry you werent close with your brother. Familys everything when the road gets rough. As a little girl, I used to have nightmares about being abandoned, lost without anyone. Finding my sisters again has been so great
Cord fell silent, trying to imagine a sedate, older couple taking in a rambunctious five-year-oldand what that must have been like for Sophie, to not only lose her parents, but then her sisters. Yet again, he couldnt fathom that anyone with that background could turn into a money-grubbing, ruthless woman whod pair with his brother. No matter how he turned those cards around, they just didnt play. If she was a hussy who blackmailed people for sport, hed eat snails.
More complicated yet, the more he spent time with her, the more he felt an electric, emphatic pull toward her. He wanted to hear more. To look more. To touch.
His grip tightened around the long-necked bottle of beer. Sophie, you were around Jon enough. Can you tell me what his job was, how he made a living?
His job-no. I mean, he used to laugh and say he was a bureaucrat, then just drop it. Its not as if I was in Jons confidence. The only reason I knew some things was becausewell, because he was gone so much. He needed someone around for Caviar, to be there to pick up packages, his mail, that kind of thing. It wasnt one-sided. Whenever Id leave for the weekend to see my sisters or something like that, he offered to watch over my place the same way.
Cord figured he was going to have to get blunter, or theyd never get down to any brass tacks. The picture Ive gottenJon had a lot of women friends.
Color climbed her cheeks. Yes. Id say more than a lot.