Don't Say a Word - Barbara Freethy [88]
"I think your mother got out of the spy business, if she was ever in it, after that trip to Moscow, or maybe when she married your stepfather. From what you've told me about your idyllic childhood, I can't believe Sarah was anything but a devoted homemaker."
"I don't know what she was anymore, and that scares me, too," Julia confessed. "We were so close. We shared so many conversations. All the best moments of my life were with my mother. And now I can barely remember those times. My memory is blurred by all the terrible lies that continue to be revealed. Now when I close my eyes, I see Susan Davidson's face crumpled in pain when she realized Sarah had been alive. I hear Brady telling me that Sarah was in Moscow. Even your voice echoes through my head-your words, T saw your mother in the square that day.' What's real? What's not real? Why don't I know?"
"Your brain is too full," Alex replied, a smile spreading across his lips. "You've had a lot of shocks tonight. Give yourself a break. You don't have to figure everything out in the next five minutes."
"Maybe I do," she countered. "Who knows what the next five minutes will bring?"
"Nothing bad, I promise. Even the bad guys need to rest."
"How can you joke?"
"Because worrying is a waste of energy. Let's go home." He paused, his eyes suddenly sparkling. "I have an idea. Why don't you let me drive?"
His obvious attempt to regain control of the car made her smile back at him. "No way. I drove us here. I'll drive us back." 222 Barbara Freethy His sigh was long and dramatic, and eased the te-sion of the moment. "If you must."
"I must," she replied, her hands steadier now as sh pulled away from the curb.
"I'll sleep on the couch," Julia said as they climbe the stairs to Alex's apartment a short while later. I don't want to completely disrupt your life."
"A little late for that sentiment. You're the o-who knocked on my door last week and started thi ball rolling."
"It's not all my fault. You took the picture. Yo started this twenty-five years ago."
"Thanks for the reminder." He paused as he too' out his key. "You know we slept together last nigh' and it was just fine."
It hadn't been just fine. She'd spent most of th night fighting an urge to roll into his arms and make love to him. And last night she'd had a barrier, an engagement ring and a fiance. Now she had neither. But she still had a brain, and right now it was telling her that getting further involved with Alex would not be a good idea. She might not have wanted the steady, suffocating relationship Michael had offered, but she also didn't want to get her heart trounced by a love 'em and leave 'em type, no matter how sexy he was.
"The couch works for me," she said lightly. "Unless you'd rather I go to my dad's apartment and get out of your hair. I just don't want to put him in danger."
"No, you can stay here." Alex opened the door and flipped on the light.
Julia gasped at the sight that greeted them. Whoever had ransacked her apartment had done the same to Alex's, with just as much brutality and violence. Every piece of furniture had been upended, flipped over, ripped, cut, trashed. Even Alex's photographs had been snatched from the walls, the tables, the bookcase. Shattered glass lay on the floor where some of the picture frames had been thrown in ruthless abandon. The fury of the search seemed even worse here, as if the person had grown more frustrated and angry with each passing second.
"Dammit," Alex swore. "I should have seen this coming."
She should have seen it coming, too. Why hadn't she considered the fact that someone might follow her to Alex's apartment?
"I swear, if they broke my camera equipment…" Alex disappeared into the bedroom before Julia could tell him to be careful. She could hear him opening the closet door, slamming a dresser, muttering to himself. She was afraid to move, worried she'd step on something important,