Page 20 of Preying Game

Chapter 8

For Jonah, getting through the day was like wading through thick mud where every step made you feel like you couldn’t possibly go an inch farther.

His only option was to focus on Hayward, using every lead he could get on the Web. He found a town by that name. A county. Many people, including a professor at Johns Hopkins University. But an academic didn’t seem like the right kind of guy.

Still he looked the prof up and determined that he was a very unlikely suspect.

The process was frustrating, particularly since Jonah didn’t feel like he was doing anything besides eliminating leads. But it did keep his mind off contacting Alice. There was no use torturing himself by trying to do that until the two of them could have some quiet time.

oOo

Getting through the day was agony for Alice, especially since she sensed that Hayward was watching her every move more carefully than usual.

Finally, the exhausting physical routine was over, and she was alone in her cell again, eating her unexciting dinner. Still, she couldn’t throw off the tension that seemed to weight her down like the blanket a dental technician used before X-raying your teeth. Moments after Jonah had flickered into existence in front of the door, Hayward had come bursting into the room. When Jonah came back, would they be interrupted again?

She didn’t say “if.” In her heart, she was determined it would be, “when.”

After dinner, she forced herself to act as she normally did, taking a shower, putting on a nightgown, and climbing into bed.

When the lights dimmed, she breathed out a sigh of relief. Lying under the sheet and light blanket, she considered tactics. Should she try to make her mind blank? Or should she call out to Jonah and let him know she was waiting for him?

One thing she did understand—when he made it here, they must not talk out loud. Her exclamation was what had brought Hayward bursting into her cell this morning.

She closed her eyes, imagining the dark-haired man she had seen. When she could, she’d thought about him during the day. She guessed he was a little older than she was, but not much.

In her mind, she called out to him. Jonah, I’m waiting for you. I’m trying to help you come here. Then she couldn’t stop herself from adding, I need you.

When she heard no answer, she felt a sharp pang. Still, she kept her gaze fixed on the spot by the door where he had appeared for a few seconds this morning. Did she see something flickering in the darkness? Or was that only what she was praying for?

To keep herself from speaking, she pressed her fingers to her mouth.

Jonah, she whispered in her mind. Had she really seen him for a few seconds this morning? She told herself it was true—and that Hayward had known it, too.

But that wasn’t proof of anything. He’d only been reacting to her reaction.

She wasn’t really expecting an answer when she called out again. But she heard him answer, Yes.

Thank God.

She kept her eyes focused on the place where she hoped he was standing. At first nothing changed. Then, all at once, she saw him, tall and broad shouldered. Well, he wasn’t exactly there. He still looked like a ghost. She could see the door in back of him, through his body. Last time he’d been wearing only a pair of faded jeans, maybe because he thought he wasn’t going to make it here. Now he had added a dark tee shirt.

He stood where he was for a long moment, looking around the cell.

This is where he keeps you?

Yes.

He made a rough sound. The bastard.

The way he said it sent a shiver along her nerve endings. She’d been thinking of Jonah as kind and gentle. Now she was seeing another side of him—the dangerous security agent.

It’s okay, she said quickly.

The hell it is.

I’ve survived—so far.

Because you have grit.

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