Falling Awake(53)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

There was no need to add the fact that Ellis was also her new lover. She could see from Ian’s nervous expression that he had already figured that out for himself.

“Jarrow.” Light flashed ominously on the lenses of Ellis’s dark glasses when he nodded at Ian.

“Cutler.” Ian stepped back as if he were afraid Ellis might bite. “Nice to meet you,” he said woodenly. “Izzy, I’ll call you.”

“Bye, Ian. Sorry for the wasted trip.” She ate another bite of pickle. Juice squirted. “Tell everyone back at the center that I said hello.”

“Sure.” Ian turned and hurried away.

Isabel looked at Ellis. “What are you doing here?”

Ellis watched her finish the pickle. “I thought I’d take a break from going through those files and have lunch with you. But it looks like you’ve already eaten.”

She examined the empty plate and the remains of the pickle. “No problem, I’m still hungry.”

“I like a woman with a healthy appetite.” He watched Ian vanish through the lobby doors. “Did Randolph Belvedere send him here to try to talk you into returning to the center?”

“Uh-huh.” She licked pickle juice off her fingers. “I declined and then I started to tell him why all of my previous relationships, including the one I had with him, failed so miserably.”

“Sounds like a real compelling topic of conversation.”

“Apparently Ian didn’t think so.” She frowned at the lobby doors. There was no sign of Ian. “I think you scared him off, Ellis.”

“Don’t blame his speedy departure on me.” Ellis lowered himself into the chair that Ian had just vacated. He pushed the plate of uneaten food aside and smiled at her. “It was your fault.”

“Because I tried to talk to him about my failed relationships?”

“Doubt it. I think it had something to do with the way you ate that pickle.”

They both looked at the plump, wet, round-headed pickle sitting on Ian’s plate.

Isabel felt herself turn very pink. She cleared her throat.

“It does sort of resemble a—” She broke off.

Ellis nodded somberly. “Yes, it does, doesn’t it? And you ate every bite. A sight like that could make some guys nervous.”

“But not you,” she said, oddly satisfied by that knowledge.

25

isabel’s phone rang shortly after five o’clock that afternoon. She had just gotten out of her last class and her thoughts were on dinner. Food seemed to be playing a major role in her day, she reflected.

She took the call as she walked across the parking lot to her car.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Wright? This is Tom out at Roxanna Beach Self Storage.”

Alarmed, she held the phone to her ear with one hand and fumbled for her keys with the other. “Is there a problem? I paid for the first two months’ rent in cash, just as the manager insisted.”

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line.

“I don’t want to worry you, because I think everything is okay but I just went by your unit and noticed that the padlock is missing. Did you forget to replace it last time you were out here?”

“No, I most certainly did not. Are you sure it’s my unit you’re talking about?”

“Number G-fifteen. Says here on the form it’s yours.”

“Yes, that’s mine.”

“There’s a lot of big furniture boxes inside. Doesn’t look like anything’s missing but—”

“There’s something wrong here. I checked that padlock when I left. Look, I’m on my way. I’ll be there in ten or fifteen minutes. Keep an eye on that unit until I get there, understand?”

“Sure, but like I said, I don’t think there’s anything missing. Probably you just forgot to lock up.”

“I did not forget to lock up. See you in a few minutes.”

She ended the call, dumped the manual and her notebook onto the passenger seat and got behind the wheel.

She shoved the key into the ignition and roared out of the parking lot. She punched in Ellis’s number with one hand while she drove toward the old highway. He answered on the first ring.

“I have to stop by Roxanna Beach Self Storage on my way home,” she said. “There’s a problem with the lock on my unit.”

“What kind of problem?”

“The attendant says it’s missing. He thinks everything is okay but I know I locked up the last time I went out there. I’m sure of it.”

“I’ll meet you there,” Ellis said.

“There’s no need for you to drive all the way out there. The storage company is on this side of town. It will take you at least twenty minutes and I—”

“I’ll see you there,” he repeated.

He ended the call before she could argue further.

She drove to the sprawling rental locker facility on the outskirts of town and parked just inside the gates. There were two other vehicles in the lot, a battered pickup and an aged sedan.

She got out and walked swiftly across the graveled lot to the office.

There was no one behind the desk. A small sign announced that the attendant would be back in five minutes.

She was irritated by the delay until she recalled that she had more or less ordered the attendant to keep an eye on the storage unit until she arrived. She started briskly along the graveled path that led to locker G-15.

“Are you Ms. Wright?” A scrawny man with narrow features partially veiled by the brim of a gray cap waved at her from the space between two long storage buildings. He wore an ill-fitting gray work shirt bearing the logo of the Roxanna Beach Self Storage company. A small duffel bag dangled from one hand.

“Yes. You’re Tom, I assume?”

“Yes, ma’am. Everything’s okay.”

“I want to see my unit for myself.”

“I’m telling you, there’s nothing wrong there.”

“What about the padlock?”

“It was all a mistake. I got mixed up about the locker numbers, that’s all.”

“As long as I’m here, I’ll double-check.”

She went quickly past him, her low-heeled pumps crunching on the gravel.

“Suit yourself,” Tom muttered. He slouched along in her wake.

“If any of my furniture is missing, I’m going to—”

She drew up short at the entrance to the locker. The garage-style door was closed but she could see that the heavy-duty padlock she had purchased was gone.