looking for Jeff Bridges inStarman , some organization hoping to find proof that there was life in outer space? What were they doing here?
Frank Bergen's gaze swept the room. "Do you live here alone?''
"Yes."
"Are you alone now?"
"Y...yes."
Bergenlooked skeptical. "Have you ever been to the Grayson mansion up onNorthcliff Road ?''
So that was what this was all about, she thought. They had found her fingerprints at the mansion. "Is that why you're here? You've come to arrest me for breaking and entering?"
Bergengrimaced. "When was the last time you were up there?"
"A couple of days ago. I'm writing a mystery, and I thought the mansion would be a good setting. I've been up there a couple of times. To take pictures." She was babbling and couldn't seem to stop. "My car broke down and I spent the night there. I didn't take anything. Except pictures. Would you like to see them?"
Frank Bergen grunted softly and made a note in a little black book pulled from his inside coat pocket.
"What is this all about?"
"A couple of joggers said they saw lights on in the house. We're just checking it out."
Lainey glanced at the police officer. "Why would that interest SETI?"
Edward Falk stepped forward. "Is this yours?"
Lainey glanced at the paperback book in his hand. It was the mystery novel she had taken up to the house to read to Micah.
"I wrote it, if that's what you mean."
"We found it at the mansion."
"So? Lots of people read my books."
"So we're a little short on leads, that's all,"Bergen explained. "We figure some transient probably left it behind."
"Mind if we look around?" Falk asked.
She glanced at the police officer, wondering if his talk of a search warrant was just a bluff, but he didn't look as though he was bluffing.
Lainey shrugged, more confused than ever by SETI's interest in the old Grayson place. What were they looking for, and why did they think she had anything to do with it, whatever it was?
"Help yourself," she said, hoping that, if she acted as if she had nothing to hide, they'd go away.
They didn't. The shorter of the two suits stayed in the front room with her while the policeman followed the other suit into the kitchen.
Lainey could hear them moving from room to room, felt her nerves stretch to the breaking point as they neared the guest room. Her fingernails dug into her palms as she waited for... what? A shout of discovery? A gunshot?
She glanced around the room, and then her gaze fell on the black box on top of the television. Casually, she crossed the room and picked up the box and the cup she'd left there earlier.
"Would you care for a cup of coffee?" she asked, rattling the cup as she glanced over her shoulder.
Falk shook his head and Lainey walked into the kitchen, careful to keep the box hidden from his view. She slipped it under a dish towel and poured herself a cup of coffee. When she turned around, she saw Falk standing in the doorway.
"Sure you won't have a cup?" she asked.
"No, thanks."
He stepped aside to allow her to return to the living room. She was relieved when he followed her.
A few minutes later,Bergen and the police officer entered the room.
Frank Bergen glanced at his partner and shook his head. "There's no one here."
"Want me to dust the place for prints?" the police officer asked.
Frank Bergen regarded Lainey for a long moment, then shook his head. "I don't think so." He shoved his notebook into his coat pocket with an air of finality. "Let's go, Ed. Sorry to have troubled you, Miss St. John."
"What is it, exactly, that you're looking for?"
"A fugitive. Thanks for your time."
Lainey nodded. She watched them drive away, then closed and locked the door. If Micah wasn't here, where was he?
Part One Chapter Nine
"Lainey?"
She whirled around at the sound of his voice. "Micah!"
He stood in the doorway, wrapped in one of her flowered sheets, and a bandage. "Have they gone?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have involved you in this."
"It's all right," she said with a shrug, although a thousand questions crowded her mind. "They said you were a fugitive."
"I'm not."
"Why didn't they find you? Where did you go?"
"I went out the window."
"You might not be safe here," Lainey said. "They might come back."
"Then I'll go out the window again. Unless you wish me to leave."
"No." She didn't want him to leave. Not now. Not ever.
"Lainey..."
Her gaze met his and something warm and tangible arced between them, a need