e conditions you mentioned. Short. Professional. A business meeting, nothing more. Adelina h

y ten o'clock, t

ance of a prison warden who senses her inmate is about to escape. She had spent the morning in a state of barely

her voice pitched somewhere be

he wasn't the awkward, bookish nerd she had pictured-he was tall, sharp-jawed, and maddeningly indifferent to her charms. She had not forgotten. But sh

d his mind," Beryl murmur

was really about. It wasn't about Beryl's last-ditch audition. It was about the condition

bell ran

to the door, smoothing

ike an agent on a mission. His gaze swept the room with the same polite but remote expression he had worn at the first meeting. When his eyes p

lready positioning herself between him and

ght, girlish chatter. Now she was poised, sophisticated-a woman of substance. She handed Douglass the cup with a measure

is eyes already searchin

ice cool. "The first meeting made it clear that this is a more.

glad you came back. Beryl has been hoping for another chance to talk with

h. "I don't think we got off on the ri

y. "That won't be necessary." His tone was polite, but it left no room for argum

eck. She opened her mouth to protest, but Marlene silenced her wit

e look of a man who had already made a preliminary choice and was now evaluating whether that choice could withstand c

her voice quiet but clear. "Rai

the fragile surface of small talk. Marlene's mouth open

arrowing as he studied her. "It is," he said. "Which is why I need a reli

white. She had bee

g she had been waiting for. "Then perhaps we could spea

r a long moment. Then

hooting to her feet. "

e doing?" Marlene hissed, steppin

ive mother, her gaze calm and un

living room and onto the front

ands in his pockets, his posture guar

she had practiced a hundred time

er voice steady despite the wild beating