“I do. Both men definitely have the same condition with their right eye.”
She grabbed his arm. “I’m not crazy, am I? I’m not imagining this?”
He took her slender hand between both of his. “You’re not crazy, Claire. He may not be the same man. I mean, it would be quite a coincidence, but there’s enough of a similarity between them, especially that coloboma in his eye, to warrant further investigation.”
She disentangled her hand from his and, leaning forward, threw her arms around his neck. “You don’t know how much that means to me to hear you say that.”
Her soft hair brushed the side of his face, a few strands clinging to his lips, and the smell of her musky perfume engulfed him. He dropped one hand to her waist to steady her so she wouldn’t topple out of her chair.
A tremble rolled through her body and she pulled away, wiping a tear from her cheek.
“I’m sorry.” She sniffled. “I usually don’t get emotional like this, but it’s been a long time since I could confide in someone.”
“I understand, but—” he clicked the mouse twice and closed both videos “—I’m just looking into it at this point. It may lead to nothing.”
She dabbed her nose with a tissue and squared her shoulders. “Of course. I didn’t mean to put any pressure on you.”
He bit the inside of his cheek, drawing blood for his punishment. He should’ve comforted her, held her, wiped her tears instead of bringing her back to cold, hard reality.
“What’s the first step?” She snapped the laptop closed and swept it from the desk.
“I’m going to send those stills and close-ups I copied to your thumb drive to our team at Prospero. I need to get to my secure computer, which I left in the hotel safe.”
“We should go back to your hotel anyway, so you can bring the rest of your stuff over to the house.” She stuffed the laptop back into her bag.
“Exactly, but I’m keeping the hotel room and I’m leaving a few of my things there.”
“Like your secure laptop?”
“Yeah. Speaking of security, I think you should put both thumb drives back in the bank once I complete my transmission.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been guarding those little storage devices with my life.” She waved the other thumb drive and zipped it into an inner pocket of the coat she’d flung across the table.
“So,” he said as he held up one hand and ticked off his index finger, “we head to my hotel back in DC, I send the images and then we return here to stash everything back in your safe deposit box.”
She glanced at her expensive-looking watch. “If we can get back here in time. It’s already late.”
“Then we’ll put both thumb drives in my hotel safe this afternoon, and come back here tomorrow after you drop off Ethan and Lori at the airport.” He stood up and stretched, glancing out the window at the rows of stacks. They’d had the laptop with its gruesome images facing away from the window—just another couple of coworkers poring over a project together.
“Sounds like a plan.” She shoved out her hand and then laughed when he took it lightly in his own. “Don’t worry, Mike. I’m not going to fall apart again.”
He squeezed her hand and pulled her in until they were almost nose to nose. He was close enough to see the flecks in her deep blue eyes that gave them their purple hue. “You have every right and reason to fall apart.”
She lifted her shoulders. “Doesn’t mean I should.”
She broke away from his grasp and spun around to sweep her coat from the table and sling her bag over her shoulder. “Let’s get down to business.”
He stuffed his arms into his jacket and opened the door for her. The giggling teens had finished whatever it was they were doing, a homeless guy slouched in a chair in the corner and the stacks were empty.
Mike stepped outside behind Claire, and an insistent car alarm assaulted his ears, an unwelcome jolt after the peace and quiet of the library. He stuck his fingers in his ears. “That’s so annoying.”
“Mike.” Claire quickened her pace down the library steps, clamping her bag against her side.
“What? Is that your car?”
“I think it is.” She plunged her hand into her coat pocket and aimed the key fob in front of her, pointing it at her car at the curb.
The alarm went silent, but the alarm bells in his head replaced it. “That was your car.”
“I hope nobody bumped it. I haven’t even had it a year.”
While Claire inspected her front bumper, Mike trailed around the perimeter of the car. He ran his hand along the driver’s side door, skimming his fingers along the windows. “Claire?”
“Yeah?” Her boots clicked as she walked toward him. “Everything looks okay in the front.”
“Did you have these scratches on your window like this before?”
She bent forward rubbing her fingers over the grooves in the glass. “No.”
“Feel the edge of the door here. Rough, isn’t it?”
Her eyebrows collided over her nose as she bent forward and traced a finger along the seam where the window met the door. “It does feel rough. How would that happen?”
His eyes met hers, wide in her pale face. “Someone was trying to use a slim jim to break into your car.”
She gasped and shot up to her full height. “Do you think the alarm scared them off? Who would do that in broad daylight on the street?”
“Someone who thought he could make it look like he was just opening the door with a key.” His lips formed a thin line and a muscle jumped in his jaw.
“You don’t think...?” She flung out one arm. “How would anyone even know we were here? I don’t have any business in Brooktown.”
He headed toward the trunk, crouched down and poked his head beneath the chassis of her car.
“Mike, what are you doing?”
A few minutes later, his fingers greasy from his exploration, he straightened up and stalked to the front of the car. He dropped to his knees and trailed his fingers along the inside of the wheel well. They tripped over a hard, square object.
“Bingo.”
“Bingo? Bingo what?” The slightly hysterical edge to Claire’s voice told him she knew what was coming.
He yanked the tracking device from her car and held it up. “Someone’s been following you.”
She swayed and braced her hand against the hood of the car. Spencer knew. She’d given herself away somehow. She’d been naive to think a man like Spencer would allow himself to be investigated without turning the tables.
“I—I don’t understand. I’ve been so careful. Why would he have me followed?”
Mike squinted at the tracker and then tossed it in the air. “He doesn’t trust you. He probably never forgot that you suspected him of murdering your mother.”
“That was almost three years ago. Do you mean to tell me he’s been tracking my movements for three years?”
“Maybe. Have you been anywhere, done anything in those three years that would tip him off to anything?”
“Just coming here, where I have no reason to be. I