Page 20 of Silent Threat
“It’s not that bad, right?” Kelly’s eyes swam in guilt. She was standing on her own feet once again, although the producer hovered nearby. “You can find the positive in anything. Say something.”
Annie tried. She really did. But she ended up shaking her head. There weren’t enough affirmations in the world.
Chapter Six
BY THE TIMECole watched Annie drive up the long driveway at Hope Hill, everyone there knew what had happened to her house. She was going to stay in one of the empty rooms tonight because her place had to be inspected for structural damage. Cole sat on the front porch of the main building in an Adirondack chair one of the inmates had built.Patients,Annie would correct, but she wasn’t fooling him.
A calico cat slept in the next chair. Cole had seen about half a dozen cats around the facilities so far. They came and went as they pleased. He ignored the cat and focused on the woman.
Annie drove a green Prius.Naturally.The only way she could be truer to herself would be to ride a bicycle. Maybe she did that too. Cole wouldn’t be surprised if she only drove the car once a week.
He didn’t go to greet her or offer to carry her luggage. He hadn’t been waiting for her. He was taking a break. He only watched her because there wasn’t much to look at out here.
She didn’t appear hurt. She appeared ... admired. A dozen guys crowded around her, some staff, some inmates.
Since the parking lot was well lit and they were heading his way, Cole could read a couple of lips.
“Are you OK?”
“Let me take that.”
“Man, that’s terrible.”
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”
If they could, the men would have picked her up and carried her in their arms.
One of the guys wore a T-shirt that saidMAY THE TREES BE WITH YOU.
Sucking up much?
Not that Cole cared. The patients and staff at Hope Hill could do whatever they wanted as long as they left him alone. And as long as they didn’t figure out his real reason for being here.
Annie smiled at the numb-nuts, laughed at something T-shirt guy said, asked how they’ve been. They wanted to take care of her, but she would have none of it and pulled her own suitcase. They followed her like eager puppies.
She was no sex kitten. She had to be close to thirty. Some of the guys were a good five years younger than she was. What did they see in her? Weren’t they bothered by all the woo-woo?Absorb negative electrons from the earth through the bottoms of your feet.
Cole stood from his chair and left her to her groupies. Might as well head off to the cafeteria and grab dinner. He had work to do tonight, but not until later.
After a bean burger and sweet potato fries—a miracle that nobody had choked the cook yet—he went to the gym. He couldn’t do weights with his injured arm, but he could run on the treadmill. Since most people were still at dinner, he had the place to himself. He liked it that way.
He ran until sweat poured down his body, until he pounded everything out of his brain, until nothing remained but his burning lungs and muscles. He was still running when Trevor Turner came in, a twentysomething former marine.
The kid made a beeline for the treadmill in the corner.
At a normal gym, the equipment faced the wall mirrors. Here, the equipment faced the room, because everybody here preferred having their backs to the wall. They didn’t like people behind them. Military habits die hard. As in never.
Another guy came in and went straight to the weights section, straight to bench-pressing. Alejandro Ramirez. Every time he lowered the weights and the bar dropped into place, Trevor startled. He sped up his treadmill, maybe to block out the clanging Cole couldn’t hear.
As Cole’s boots slapped on the rubber, he knew he had to be making noise too.Thump. Thump. Thump.He was no lightweight. Each step rattled the machine.
Trevor’s eyes jumped from Cole to Alejandro, then back. As both men kept up a steady pace with their own efforts, Trevor’s face became a mask of misery.
Did the noise bother him?
Cole shut off his machine and went over to the water fountain next to Trevor for a drink.
Trevor slowed his own treadmill but didn’t stop completely. “How long are you in for?”
