Lifting her camera, she snapped a few shots, smiling when the man’s dog pranced around the corner. Both man and dog looked equally rejuvenated by the run. Both man and dog then dove into the pool and swam laps. The dog looked to be chasing after the man, but Claire still thought it was probably lots of fun. Chasing balls was next, the man threw and the dog chased and Claire snapped pictures of all of it. She couldn’t see the man very well from this distance, but she was hoping the digital pictures could be enhanced on her computer tomorrow night.
Mitch tossed the ball one more time to Duke, then called him in with a whistle. Duke immediately came to Mitch’s side and rubbed against his leg. Something wasn’t right, Mitch thought, rubbing the dog’s ears as they walked inside. Both master and canine were well worn out but something was making his neck itch. That was a feeling he’d learned never to ignore so he as he walked into the house, he surreptitiously looked into the area close to the house. Nothing seemed out of place but he closed and locked the doors, setting the alarm for the night before heading into the kitchen for some water.
Looking out the living room windows without turning on the lights made him invisible in the darkness. It took several minutes of patience and luck but he saw a slight movement on the mountain to the right. A small figure was walking down a pathway, accidentally caught in the bright moonlight. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have seen the person. He couldn’t identify who it was, or anything else about the intruder, but he’d make sure that, if they came back again, he’d get better look.
Chapter 5
The coffee shop was too empty, she thought. She needed more people, others that would cover her usage more effectively.
Glancing at her watch, she noted that she still had plenty of time on her lunch break. Slipping back out of the shop, she went back to her car and drove about a mile south, finding another shop that was much busier. This one was unfamiliar, but probably better because it served sandwiches at lunch time instead of just coffee and pastries. More chaos, more cover, she told herself as she paid for her computer time and coffee, then sat down at the assigned terminal.
While she logged on, she looked around, checking just in case to see if someone was watching her. She knew she was being paranoid, or maybe just overly dramatic, but after the last visit to a coffee shop, she was being a bit more cautious. The tall men who had arrived about fifteen minutes before she’d left had looked suspiciously like law enforcement. The taller one was gorgeous with his penetrating grey eyes and muscular body, but since she wasn’t in the market for a boyfriend, she had dismissed him as she’d walked by.
Well, she’d tried to at least. The obnoxious man had taunted her in her dreams at night, coming to her bedroom and making love to her until she woke up crying out in frustration. That was ridiculous, she thought. She had never felt anything like that for a man. Ever! She’d been mildly attracted to some of her boyfriends, but none had driven her to distraction like in the romance novels. Or like that man had with only his glance. She’d felt his eyes on her and had looked away as she normally did when a man was too obvious. But for some reason, this time, she wasn’t able to dismiss him so easily. He hadn’t been intimidated by her non-verbal rejection which was highly unusual.
Nor did she want anyone like that. She was so tired of dating men who thought it was their right to crawl into her bed after the first date. Men were just horrible beings, she told herself, not for the first time. The fact that the tall man had invaded her dreams only made her more determined to find Gary. He was nice and considerate, always thinking of her feelings. She doubted the tall guy would even buy her flowers much less respect the fact that she wasn’t going to sleep with him.
Claire could just imagine a date with that one. Dinner at some cheesy restaurant he thought would impress her, champagne or some other alcoholic drink that was intended to loosen her inhibitions, a bunch of talk based on what he liked and where he’d traveled, what he did for a living and how important he was. Not a single question about her hopes and dreams. And then, at her door when he so “respectfully” walks her to her doorway, the embrace that only he thinks of as passionate while all she could do is back up and push against his shoulders in an effort to get his tongue out of her throat.
Ugh! Men, she thought, tapping the keys on the well used keyboard a bit more firmly than normal as she thought about the mornings after those dreams. She’d actually had to take a cold shower! How ridiculous was that? Women didn’t take cold showers, men did!
Her fingers only hesitated once, and that was right before she pressed send to start the program that would break in and download what she needed. She was irritated that her moral compass was jumping in at this point in the game. In the end, her fear for Gary overrode her internal code against breaking the law.
It took less than thirty seconds before she knew there was a problem again. Someone was onto her, she realized. How could they have known what she’d come up with this time?
She pressed a few more keys, initiating her backup program, all the while, looking around at the other patrons. With the second program running, she gave herself a sigh of relief. It was working this time, and from the looks of the information coming through, the data was accurate now.
Thankfully, she was done in less than sixty seconds after that. Not waiting around, she tapped a few more keys, which launched her cover up program, grabbed her cappuccino and flash drive and was walking out the door less than ten minutes after she’d walked in.
As she stepped behind the building to get to her car, she heard the car zooming by. Initially she told herself to just keep moving, but something inside her wouldn’t stop. Peeking around the corner, she waited, wondering if her instincts were correct.
Sure enough, the same two men who had been at the previous coffee shop were entering this one. Coincidence? She didn’t think so.
Relieved that she’d missed them, if only by a close time period, she hurried down the street, ducking through the pathway that had become overgrown with leaves and vines. Her feet were aching a bit with the high heels and the longer than normal walk, but something inside her told her not to slow down.
Her car was visible across the parking lot and she pulled her keys out, more than ready to drive away and be gone. She’d just unlocked her door with the fob remote and was about to open the door when a hand stopped the top of the door from opening.
Spinning around, about to protest at whoever was pressing against her door, when her eyes took in that man. The one from the coffee shop a few days ago. The one from her dreams. And the one who had just zoomed by in a sleek, expensive car before storming into the coffee shop she’d been in only moments before.