Death on Tour - Janice Hamrick [108]
“It was absolutely brilliant. Barbara joined the tour as Jane. I think the one thing the Carpenters didn’t count on, apart from your having seen the real Jane, was how beaten down and terrified Barbara had become. Ben told Anni he hardly recognized her, she’d changed so much. It was a constant effort to keep her playing her part.”
“But wait, what happened to the real Jane? She didn’t have her passport.”
“They had it all planned out. As soon as the tour ended, and Ben and Lydia were safely on their way home with Barbara, Jane reported that her purse had been snatched and her passport was gone. There was a day or two of hassle, but in the end, the Australian embassy came through with a new one and she flew home.”
We sat together in companionable silence while I mulled it all over. “Well, I guess that’s it then. Everything is all wrapped up.”
“Hmmm. Well, not quite.” He gave me a crooked smile, his eyes uncertain.
I raised my eyebrows.
“We still don’t know whether you’ve forgiven me for suspecting you were involved.”
I laughed. “That sort of goes both ways. Do you forgive me for the same thing?”
“Absolutely. I even forgive you for chucking that rock at my head.”
I gasped, feeling my face go bright red. “You knew that was me?”
“Mohammad ratted you out. Not that it mattered. I told you, the police had so much else to work with, they didn’t really care about what had been done to me. But Mohammad was desperately trying to tell everyone who would listen that he had never hurt anyone.”
“I’m really sorry about that. I was trying to hit Mohammad, but I missed.” I looked down at my hands. “I’ve always been a terrible throw. I don’t know why I thought I could hit him.”
Alan laughed, a real, happy laugh that made me start giggling a little. “It all worked out. You saved me from them, and you didn’t kill me in the process. So what about it? Are we square?”
“Yes,” I agreed.
He rose. “So how about dinner then?”
I stood too and reached for my purse. Looking up at him, seeing him again after all this time, he seemed even more attractive than I’d remembered. Part of me had actually hoped that the vacation magic would have worn off. It had not. My mind was shrieking warnings. So I’d go to dinner with him, but then what? He probably was just being nice, just here out of obligation, to say thank you. Even if he wasn’t, long-distance relationships never worked. I’d get my heart stomped all over again. I realized I didn’t care, as long as I could be with him even for a little. I told my mind to shut the hell up.
“Dinner sounds great. By the way, how long are you going to be in town?” I asked, trying to sound casual.
He hesitated, then reached for my hand and drew me close. Gently, as if afraid I would run, he slipped an arm around my waist and brushed his lips against mine. Then I was in his arms, and he was kissing me as though he would never let me go.
I’m not sure how many minutes passed before he finally answered.
“I can run WorldPal from anywhere I want. So I guess it depends on you. How long do you want me to stay?”
I started laughing out loud. “A very, very long time.”
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DEATH ON TOUR. Copyright © 2011 by Janice Hamrick. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hamrick, Janice.
Death on tour / Janice Hamrick. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-67946-0 (hardback)
1. Women teachers—Fiction. 2. Tourists—Crimes against—Fiction. 3. Americans—Egypt—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3608.A69655D33 2011
813'.6—dc22
2011001295
First Edition: May 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-7951-1
First Minotaur Books eBook Edition: April 2011