chapter 12
Summer punched on the lights in the guest cottage. “I want to see exactly where you’re installing the infrared sensors for the beach access.”
Gabe dropped the blueprints onto her desk. “Be my guest.”
Summer peered at the diagrams intently. “Along the main path?”
“For starters. More sensors will go near the garage. They’re marked by the broken lines on the diagram.”
Summer peered some more, then dug into her briefcase. Muttering, she slid on a pair of glasses.
“Reading glasses?”
“One more word and you’re toast, Morgan.”
Gabe sat down in an overstuffed leather chair and stretched out his long legs. “In that case, no comment from me.”
“Good.” Summer ran her fingers slowly over the diagram, as if feeling her way over possibilities and dangers. “This array should cover everything.”
Gabe held back as long as he could. “Aren’t you a little young for reading glasses?”
Summer ignored him. “We need more surveillance cameras, one at the back porch and one along the path near the garage. The bushes make it hard to see anyone coming up from the road.”
“I already asked. Ms. O’Connor nixed the additional cameras. The senator is going to work on her, but for now she says they’re too intrusive.” Gabe crossed his arms behind his head. “What gives with the glasses?”
“It’s genetic.” Summer shoved a strand of hair behind her ear, frowning. “My dad had the same thing. Hit him hard when he was thirty. He hated it.” She looked off into space for a moment. “I was going to get the surgery, then this mission came up and everything got put on hold.” She toyed with her wrist. “Who is the team handling the upgrades?”
“They’re reliable, don’t worry.”
“It’s my job to worry.” Summer rubbed her neck. “Are they civilians?”
“Yes and no.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, the matter is taken care of. No more questions needed.”
She swung around, staring at him. “In case you forgot, I’m a federal agent. It’s my job to ask questions.”
“Fine. You asked, and that’s my answer.”
“So he’s really hush-hush.” Summer nodded slowly. “In that case, it’s fine with me. Just as long as he’s good.”
“He’s so good that you’ve never heard of him. And you never will.”
“Are you in the CIA? SWAT maybe?”
Gabe shrugged. “I’m a professional. That’s all you need to know.”
“Not by half. What are you looking at?”
Gabe steepled his fingers. “You. I’m trying to figure you out.”
“Don’t bother. I’m as dull and boring as they come, Morgan. I do the job and then I go home.”
Gabe watched the smooth curve of her neck when she lifted her hair. He saw the muscles tighten at her thigh when she leaned over the desk. No, she was wrong. He had a ticklish instinct that she was far from boring once you got beneath all that spit-polish and edgy nerve.
Not that he’d ever get there or see her in anything but an ugly, plain-Jane dark suit.
Irritated that he couldn’t seem to stop imagining Sum-mer Mulvaney with her hair loose, her lips soft, dressed in something light and gauzy, Gabe stood up and checked his watch. “Time for a grounds check. I won’t be comfortable until that new equipment is online. Right now a Russian tank battalion could probably get in here.”
Summer pulled off her glasses. “I’ll go with you.”
Gabe opened his mouth to nix the idea, then stopped. She was assigned to Cara O’Connor and her family, and that made them partners.
Whether he liked it or not.
He pulled on a black nylon knapsack. “Let’s get moving.” He looked at her feet and nodded. “Rubber soles. Good.”
“I know my job, Mr. Morgan.”
Gabe smiled blandly. We’ll see about that.
Audra’s heart was pounding. She twisted hard, then gasped. “What are you doing here?” A small hand gripped her tightly, half-hidden in the bushes. “If Mom finds you outside, she’ll kill us both.”
Sophy held Liberace against her chest, shivering. “I heard a noise. When I went to your room you were gone, so I checked the window.”
“I closed it,” Audra snapped.
Behind her Tracey snorted. “Busted.”
“The window wasn’t completely closed, not quite. I saw the rope you used to raise and lower the ladder, too. It was still hidden in the tree branches. But I already knew something was wrong. And since I knew that Tracey sneaks out at night—”
“How do you know that?” Audra demanded.
“I just knew.”
Tracey sprawled on a pink chaise, laughing. “Good work, Sophy. You ought to be a spy. Want a Camel?”
“Shut up, Tracey.” Audra glared at her friend.
“No. I want to hear about Sophy and this stuff she knows. How does it work, Sophy?”
The younger girl chewed her lip. “I don’t plan it, but it comes and goes. It’s like the TV channels in a storm, you know? The picture can get wavy, but you can still see it.”
“Let’s go, Sophy.” Audra was angry at her friend, but some part of her was still curious, unable to stop picturing exactly what Tracey and her mystery friend did when they sneaked outside at night. Was that abnormal? Audra wondered. Did you go to hell for having too much curiosity and too many bad thoughts?
“Chickens,” Tracey called as the girls crossed the porch.
“I don’t like it when you smoke.” Sophy stroked Liberace’s head. “I don’t like Tracey very much, either. She’s going to get in trouble someday. Besides, she’s too old to be your friend.”
“She’s only a year older than I am.”
“But she acts a lot older.”
“Why don’t you like her?” Audra demanded.
Sophy shrugged. “Just because.”
“Did something happen?” Audra was seized by a flood of dark possibilities. “Did she do something to you?”
Sophy continued walking. “No, she just gives me the creeps. She doesn’t like herself very much; you can see it in her eyes. One day I saw her talking to Uncle Tate, only she was acting odd.”
Even though he wasn’t their uncle, Sophy called him that. Audra thought it was stupid, but it was better than Dad, which just didn’t feel right. “Talking about what?”
“I couldn’t hear. But she was laughing and touching his arm, and then he looked mad and he said something back to her and then her face got red. She walked away really fast.” Sophy looked up at her sister. “Uncle Tate just stared after her for a long time. He didn’t look happy, either.”
Audra had a cold, sick feeling in her stomach. Maybe she wouldn’t see Tracey anymore. Maybe that was best.
“Come on,” Sophy said impatiently. “It’s late, but we can sneak down to the kitchen. Patrick left us some German chocolate cake.”
“I don’t want any,” Audra said tensely. She couldn’t stop thinking about Tracey and Senator Winslow. What if they were—
Without warning, Liberace wriggled out of Sophy’s grip and shot along a low branch of the tree. Audra went after him while Sophy giggled.
Somewhere a clock chimed quietly in the depths of the night.