“I don't know. Leslie didn't sound like a hick. She must have something on the ball if her work is seriously being considered.”
“Yeah—if,” Marty stressed. “You don't really know what you'll find.”
Wayne just shrugged, unconcerned really. For what he was being paid he would agree to be staked out naked on an anthill. “I've got to pack. And find a map,” he grinned as he stood to leave.
“One thing, Wayne,” his friend said, stopping him. “I don't want my little lady upset while we're in Japan. You do your job however. Just tell her what she wants to hear while she's gone. She wants to hear that this person is a threat. If she doesn't get that from your reports, she will get tense. And a tense Sarah doesn't make for a very compatible traveling companion. I want her compatible. Agreed?”
“I'm way ahead of you, pard. The Evil One of Amherst will come through for both of us. Rest easy.”
W ayne stepped back from his cluttered bed and took inventory. “Okay, figure five weeks tops. Shirts, slacks, socks, towels, tape recorder, camera, long-range microphone, addresses, phone numbers, sheets, silverware, blank tapes, film, bugs, swimsuit. Wonder if I'll need more than one good suit. Might as well. I'm taking everything else,” he grumbled to himself.
The clothes were more or less crammed into suitcases. The surveillance equipment was handled with more care as it was packed into customized black bags to be stowed carefully in the back of the trunk of his nondescript car. The household items and then the suitcases were placed in the front of the trunk. He'd throw the bedding in the back seat in the morning.
He rechecked the map of California to trace the route he would drive. Six hours and he would be in Amherst. Middle of the San Joaquin Valley. Farmers. Ninety miles from the state capitol. Ninety miles from the coast. Ninety miles from Yosemite. Ninety miles in the middle of nowhere. If it weren't for the incredible amount of money he was going to make, he'd tell that neurotic model to take a flying leap.
Wayne already had a motel reservation for the first night or two. That way he would have time to get a bearing on the town, locate Leslie's address, secure his own apartment nearby, and arrange with a furniture rental store for the basic necessities. He had done this so many times before that it was second nature to him. His landlady knew when she saw those mysterious black bags go into his trunk that he would be gone for some time and she would collect his mail. Her monthly bonus assured that she would ask no questions or give out any answers.
After resetting his answering machine, he went to bed and wondered, as he fell asleep, what it was like in Japan.
CHAPTER 4
J ack Newby wandered through his silent house. The irony of his nickname The Loner, given to him by the Professor, struck home. He was alone. Jane was gone and he didn't know where she was. He knew the Professor was involved. There had been no proof, no sign, but he knew, deep down, that Rex had taken Jane away from him.
He hadn't known it was possible to miss someone so deeply. He, who had been alone for most of his life, had finally found love and happiness. It had taken him by complete surprise, but he had welcomed the new sensation. And now she was gone.
All the little noises she made as she worked around the house were absent and the silence echoed off the walls. Jack looked at their wedding portrait on the mantle and gently touched the yellow porcelain rose beside it. She loved flowers, especially roses.
He gave a sad smile as he remembered that foggy day in February when he….
“Leslie? I said to take a break, not take the afternoon off. Leslie?” her boss Mona repeated as she stuck her head into the lounge in the back of the boutique.
…. in February when he had gone all over town to find a yellow rose for….
Leslie's pen froze over the page and her head jerked up. She turned an unseeing face towards the voice that
“Yeah—if,” Marty stressed. “You don't really know what you'll find.”
Wayne just shrugged, unconcerned really. For what he was being paid he would agree to be staked out naked on an anthill. “I've got to pack. And find a map,” he grinned as he stood to leave.
“One thing, Wayne,” his friend said, stopping him. “I don't want my little lady upset while we're in Japan. You do your job however. Just tell her what she wants to hear while she's gone. She wants to hear that this person is a threat. If she doesn't get that from your reports, she will get tense. And a tense Sarah doesn't make for a very compatible traveling companion. I want her compatible. Agreed?”
“I'm way ahead of you, pard. The Evil One of Amherst will come through for both of us. Rest easy.”
W ayne stepped back from his cluttered bed and took inventory. “Okay, figure five weeks tops. Shirts, slacks, socks, towels, tape recorder, camera, long-range microphone, addresses, phone numbers, sheets, silverware, blank tapes, film, bugs, swimsuit. Wonder if I'll need more than one good suit. Might as well. I'm taking everything else,” he grumbled to himself.
The clothes were more or less crammed into suitcases. The surveillance equipment was handled with more care as it was packed into customized black bags to be stowed carefully in the back of the trunk of his nondescript car. The household items and then the suitcases were placed in the front of the trunk. He'd throw the bedding in the back seat in the morning.
He rechecked the map of California to trace the route he would drive. Six hours and he would be in Amherst. Middle of the San Joaquin Valley. Farmers. Ninety miles from the state capitol. Ninety miles from the coast. Ninety miles from Yosemite. Ninety miles in the middle of nowhere. If it weren't for the incredible amount of money he was going to make, he'd tell that neurotic model to take a flying leap.
Wayne already had a motel reservation for the first night or two. That way he would have time to get a bearing on the town, locate Leslie's address, secure his own apartment nearby, and arrange with a furniture rental store for the basic necessities. He had done this so many times before that it was second nature to him. His landlady knew when she saw those mysterious black bags go into his trunk that he would be gone for some time and she would collect his mail. Her monthly bonus assured that she would ask no questions or give out any answers.
After resetting his answering machine, he went to bed and wondered, as he fell asleep, what it was like in Japan.
CHAPTER 4
J ack Newby wandered through his silent house. The irony of his nickname The Loner, given to him by the Professor, struck home. He was alone. Jane was gone and he didn't know where she was. He knew the Professor was involved. There had been no proof, no sign, but he knew, deep down, that Rex had taken Jane away from him.
He hadn't known it was possible to miss someone so deeply. He, who had been alone for most of his life, had finally found love and happiness. It had taken him by complete surprise, but he had welcomed the new sensation. And now she was gone.
All the little noises she made as she worked around the house were absent and the silence echoed off the walls. Jack looked at their wedding portrait on the mantle and gently touched the yellow porcelain rose beside it. She loved flowers, especially roses.
He gave a sad smile as he remembered that foggy day in February when he….
“Leslie? I said to take a break, not take the afternoon off. Leslie?” her boss Mona repeated as she stuck her head into the lounge in the back of the boutique.
…. in February when he had gone all over town to find a yellow rose for….
Leslie's pen froze over the page and her head jerked up. She turned an unseeing face towards the voice that
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