The Courage Tree - Diane Chamberlain [97]
“Poor baby.” Janine’s voice was thick. “And she only had one shoe. Oh, Joe.”
“I know. It’s hard to think about. But it’s good news, Janine.” He told her about Valerie’s plans to bring in the other dogs.
“I’ve got to come back there tonight,” Janine declared.
“Yes,” he said, “I think you should.”
“Lucas can’t come until tomorrow,” she said, “so I’ll drive myself.”
It was fine with Joe if Lucas never returned to the search site, but he didn’t like the idea of Janine driving to West Virginia alone at night. Especially not in the emotional state she was in.
“If you told him what happened, wouldn’t he leave tonight and drive with you?”
“No,” she replied. “He’s got to work. It’s all right, Joe. I’ll be fine.”
“What work?” Joe asked, annoyed.
Janine hesitated. “I don’t know, exactly.”
“If he really cared about you, he wouldn’t let you drive alone.” What the hell did Janine see in this guy?
“Joe. Please. You’re being ridiculous.”
“Look, I’m coming to Vienna to get you,” he said, surprising himself. “I don’t want you making that trip alone.”
“That’s completely unnecessary,” she said. “I think you’re—”
“I should come home to get some clothes, anyway,” he said. “So you just sit tight, and I’ll be at the cottage in a few hours. I should be there around—” He looked at his watch. It was four o’clock. He’d need to allow time to stop at his town house in Reston. And he’d need time for a little sleuthing as well. Janine may not care what Lucas found so important to do in the middle of this crisis, but Joe felt the need to know. Something was not right with that man. “I’ll be there around nine or nine-thirty. Okay?”
“Yes, fine. If you insist.”
He returned to the folding chair next to Paula’s. “I’m going to Vienna,” he said. “I need to get a change of clothes and pick up Janine. The gardener can’t bring her back until tomorrow. He’s got something more important to do.”
“What’s that?”
“I wouldn’t know. And Janine doesn’t, either. It’s another of his big secrets. Doesn’t sound like they have much of a relationship, does it, if he won’t tell her why he can’t come back here tonight?”
“Maybe she knows and she just doesn’t think it’s any of your business,” Paula said.
Joe stiffened. “Is that what you think?” he asked. “That it’s none of my business?”
“I think you’re obsessed with Lucas Trowell,” she said. “I think you are dying to prove him to be a bad guy, so you can woo Janine back for yourself.”
“Wrong,” he said, annoyed. “I just want to make sure he isn’t a bad guy. I don’t want Janine to get hurt.”
“Uh-huh,” Paula said, and he knew she didn’t believe him. He couldn’t blame her. He didn’t really believe himself.
“Do you want to go with me?” he asked. “You’re missing work, and—”
“I’m not going back to work until Sophie’s found,” she said. “I’ve got loads of vacation time. But I will go with you to get some clothes and things. Unless—” she shrugged “—unless you wanted to drive back with Janine alone.”
“No, no, that’s all right.” That had been his plan, or at least his fantasy. But he could hardly tell Paula she wasn’t welcome to go back to Virginia with him.
They drove in silence through the mountains and onto Route 66. His mind was hard at work, and it wasn’t until he dropped Paula off at her condo in Reston that he finally spoke.
“I’m going to stop at my place and run a few errands,” he said. “Then I’ll pick up Janine and come back for you here around nine-thirty or ten.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “You’ve got something up your sleeve,” she said. “What is it?”
God, this woman could see through him!
“I don’t know, exactly,” he said. “But I think I might pay a little visit to the gardener. Without his knowledge.”
She shook her head in disapproval. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but I have a feeling I can’t talk you out of it, so I won’t even try.”
“Good.” He smiled at her. “I’ll see you later.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Janine had to admit she felt alone. She’d been abandoned by Lucas when she needed him most, and she didn’t understand why he could not be with