Free A Treasure Worth Seeking by Sandra Brown

left it out on the porch. The boys across the street said that Mike needed me."
    He wiped the sweat out of his eyebrows with the back of his hand and attempted to dry it on his shorts. His movement was mechanical, for it was obvious that his mind was on something else.
    "You'll be glad to know that your identity has been confirmed."
    He said the words offhandedly, as if they weren't really important. She looked at him in surprise, but the rigid planes of his face remained intact. "I called a cohort in Houston last night and he got right on it. What he couldn't do last night, he followed through with this morning. We know everything there is to know about you, Miss O'Shea."
    His reverting back to the formal means of address hurt her to the quick. Last night, just before he returned to his chair, he had whispered her name in the darkness and the sound of it coming from his lips had thrilled her. He didn't even remember.
    "We know that your garbage is picked up on Tuesday and Friday. I hope you remembered to put it out before you left."
    Was that supposed to be a joke? She didn't think so because he wasn't smiling. He wasn't looking at her either.
    His eyes darted around the room, studying first one object then another. If he looked at her at all, it was with a brief and sweeping glance. Since she had come in the room, he hadn't once met her eyes.
    "You, of course, are free to go," he said matter-of-factly.
    Why was he acting as though nothing had happened between them? Why didn't he smile, or tease, or torment?
    Why didn't he beg her forgiveness? Why didn't he do something?
    "I'm sorry if I have inconvenienced you."
    Perhaps if he hadn't said that last sentence, she would have left and remained fo rever bewildered by the enigmat ic man she had once met in San Francisco. It was that casual dismissal that infuriated her. Her puzzlement turned into boiling anger and she lashed out at him.
    "I guess everything you did was in the line of duty!"
    He knew immediately to what she was referring, and Erin saw immediately that her anger was contagious. "Exactly," he said precisely.
    Yesterday she had stormed at him for treating her with such abuse, but he hadn't even begun. Little did she know what degradation he had planned for her. Her eyes shone like burning coals as she glared at him.
    "You—" she started.
    "Mrs. Lyman is ready for you to come to breakfast.
    She's cooked up something special," Mike said, grinning as he came into the room.
    He had interrupted Erin's well-chosen epithet and she felt robbed of the opportunity to blister the ears of Mr.
    Lance Barrett and shake his impregnable indifference.
    "We're not here to eat," Lance snapped to the hapless Mike and his grin dissolved under the cold blue eyes.
    "No, sir," he said quickly. "Only she's been cooking all this stuff and said . . ." He licked his lips nervously.
    Lance's stare hadn't relented one iota. Mike whipped the napkin out of his belt and asked, "Is there something you need me to do, Lance?"
    Lance released a deep breath with a whooshing sound as he raked agitated fingers through the hair that was still sweat-plastered to his head. "No. Go on and eat breakfast. I'm going across the street to clean up. Then I need to make some phone calls to the main bureau, but if you need me, call. It shouldn't take me more than an hour."
    With that, he came from behind the desk and stalked out of the room without once glancing in Erin's direction.
    She stood immobile for a moment, stunned and angry, until Mike said abashedly, "Mrs. Lyman is waiting for you. I think I've had enough." He had been intimidated by Lance's overbearing attitude.
    Lance Barrett had that kind of effect on people.
    MELANIE PROVED to be an accomplished cook, but all the while Erin was eating the sumptuous food Melanie had prepared, she was contemplating her future plans. She didn't know what to do.
    Whether it was to her liking or not, she had become embroiled in her brother's life and he was in desperate