The Waiting Game Read Free Page A

gleamed briefly in Adrian’s eyes. "The industry? You sound like an insider. Lowell uses words like that."
    Mildly embarrassed, Sara’s mouth turned down wryly. "That’s how he always referred to his government work. I guess I picked up the term."
    "And some of the skills?" he asked too blandly.
    She looked away, reaching for a carrot. Sara knew he was referring to the fact that he had found her prowling around his study. "Obviously I didn’t pick up the skills. If I had, you would never have caught me the way you did this evening. How did you sneak up on me so quietly, anyway? Must be those
    sneakers you’re wearing. But I was certain I’d hear any car pulling into the drive."
    "I walked back from the tavern. The car is still in the garage behind the house."
    "Oh." Chagrined, Sara chewed industriously on her carrot.
    "You’d better practice checking out those sorts of details if you plan to follow in your uncle’s footsteps."
    "Don’t worry, as much as I like my uncle, and in spite of the fact that I happen to be in the market for a new career, I do not intend to go into intelligence work. I can’t think of anything more depressing and grim. Imagine living a life in which you couldn’t trust anyone or anything. Besides, I like to limit my close association with violence to reading thrillers," she added with a small smile. "It’s okay on a fantasy level but I certainly wouldn’t want to make a career out of it."
    "If you feel that strongly about it, you’d better give up the habit of going through other people’s desks.
    You could have just as easily turned around and found yourself facing an irate homeowner holding a gun as a friendly, trusting soul such as myself."
    She eyed him thoughtfully for a moment. "Actually, you did take the whole thing quite calmly."
    "You didn’t look that dangerous," he informed her gently. "In fact, you appeared rather inviting standing there in the twilight, gazing into the apple. Besides, as soon as you said you had one just like it, I knew who you were."
    "You were certain I was Uncle Lowell’s niece?"
    "When he gave me the crystal apple he told me he’d given a second one to you. He had them made up specially for us, you know."
    "No, I didn’t know. That is, I didn’t realize he’d had a second one made until I saw it sitting on your desk. When I spotted it, I decided I probably didn’t have any reason to go on being suspicious of you,"
    she added apologetically. "Unfortunately, I came to that brilliant conclusion a bit late. You’d already snuck up and found me in what I guess qualifies as a compromising situation. You really don’t know where Uncle Lowell might have gone or why he would say he was off hunting?"
    "No. But I do think Lowell can take care of himself. My guess is he’d want you to stay out of the way until he’s handled whatever needs handling."
    "Then you do believe something’s happened to him!" she pounced.
    "I didn’t say that," Adrian protested mildly. "I only meant that he probably had his reasons for disappearing. Maybe he just wanted to take off by himself for a while. Maybe he’s got a woman friend and didn’t feel like explaining all that to his neighbor. There could be a hundred different reasons why he’s not at home, none of them particularly sinister."
    "I don’t like it," Sara muttered, feeling pressured by the logic.
    "Obviously, or you wouldn’t have taken the trouble to find me. So Lowell told you to look me up if you were ever worried about something having happened to him?"
    "He said you’d want to know, or something like that. I wasn’t exactly certain what he meant. He doesn’t have a lot of close friends. I assumed you might be one of them."
    "But you weren’t sure where I fit in so you decided to take a quick look around my desk drawers while you waited for me to return. Are you always that impulsive?"
    "It seemed prudent, not impulsive, to take the opportunity to find out what I could about you before I confronted