quickly to face him. Fallon was watching her with a look that matched his tone. She had seen that same expression and felt the deep sense of aloneness that went with it many times since meeting him. It was as if he spent most of his life locked in some other dimension. She longed to reach out to him, but it was not as if she lived in a normal dimension, either. She was certain of one thing, though. She must not move too fast with Fallon Jones. He did not fully trust her yet, and until he crossed that boundary she had to feel her way.
Then, again, she thought, she had not entrusted him with her secrets, either. That makes us even, she thought.
“Of course not,” she said, keeping her voice light with an effort. She turned back to the sink and ran water into the kettle. “It was just a little joke, boss. I’ve got no problems with what you call your conspiracy thinking. After all, most of the time you’re right.” She shut off the faucet and looked at him. “Right?”
Some of the tension went out of him, but it was replaced by some of the soul-deep weariness that she had sensed in him the first time he walked through the door of the café.
“Most of the time,” he said. “Not always. And when I do screw up, I put people in danger.”
“Now you’re talking about the Nightshade case, aren’t you?”
“It’s not just Nightshade. Yesterday at the Zander house, if you hadn’t called me—” He stopped.
“But I did call you,” she pointed out. “What’s more I had enough sense not to go into the basement alone. Give me some credit. I told you, I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for years.”
Energy heightened a little in the atmosphere. She knew that he had tapped in to his talent.
He went to the counter where the industrial-size coffeemaker sat, picked up the package of ground coffee and started to fill the machine. He did not bother with a measuring spoon.
“How, exactly, can you take care of yourself?” he asked.
She leaned back against the sink and folded her arms. “That’s one of the things I admire about you, Mr. Jones. Your interrogation technique is so amazingly subtle.”
He filled the machine with water. She noticed that his jaw was clenched.
“I hope you’re not grinding your teeth,” she said. “That sort of thing leads to crowns and root canals.”
“I’ve tried not to push you,” he said.
“I know. You’ve been very patient, all things considered. You weren’t able to find out anything about me online, were you? Just my picture-perfect bio.” She could not conceal her pride. “Even the brilliant director of Jones & Jones hit a brick wall when he went looking for me. Am I good, or what?”
He smiled wryly. “You’re good. I found a nice, neat narrative of your life all the way back to your birth and it’s all fake, isn’t it?”
“Yep.”
“I’ve known from the beginning that you’re running from something or someone.” He flipped the switch on the coffee machine. “You chose Scargill Cove as a hideout, and I’m pretty damn sure that wasn’t by accident.”
“Coincidence?”
“I’ve explained to you that we have this policy about coincidences at J&J.”
“Right,” she said. “Out of curiosity, how long were you prepared to wait before you pounced?”
“Pounced?” He looked baffled.
“Before you started demanding answers,” she clarified.
He watched the coffee fill the pot. “I was planning to wait a little longer, but given recent events, I think maybe now would be a good time for you to start talking.”
She considered that. “Okay, but I really don’t see any connection between the discovery of the Bridewell curiosities and my presence here in the Cove. Aside from the fact that I have a talent for finding things, of course. I mean, it’s what I do. Even when I don’t want to do it, if you see what I mean.”
“Talk to me, Isabella.” He looked at her with his shadowed, unreadable eyes. “I need some answers.”
“I understand,” she said. “And now that I’ve worked with you for a while, I know that I can trust you. It’s not like I have a choice, anyway.”
“Why is that?”
“I knew the night I arrived in Scargill Cove that this was as far as I could run. I’m good at living off the grid, heck, I was born off of it. But it’s only a matter of time before they find me.”