Free Imposter by Karen Fenech Page A

tone was gentle.
“Better.”
A nurse entered the room.   She eased around Burke, and applied a blood pressure cuff to Eve’s arm.   
“Doctor will be in to examine you shortly,” the nurse said.
“I’ll be outside,” Burke said.  He rubbed his hands down his face then got to his feet and started for the door. 
Eve hadn’t removed her suitcase from the trunk of Richard’s car yet and she needed to change out of the hospital gown.  “I could use my suitcase,” Eve said to Burke.  “It’s in the trunk of the car.  Would you?”
Burke nodded.  “Be right back.”
An hour later, Eve was discharged.
“Do you need anything before we return to the cottage?”  Burke asked as he drove away from the hospital. “Something for your condition?” He shrugged, a gesture of helplessness that she didn’t think he made often and one that he didn’t appear comfortable with.   
Eve appreciated the offer but shook her head.  “I’m fine.  Back to my usual self.”
They drove the rest of the way back to the cottage in silence.  Burke had the radio on low.  A talk show host was bemoaning the state of the economy and an irate caller was blaming politicians for the problem. Eve tuned out the pair as they engaged in a lively debate over the issue and turned her attention out of the window.  They were driving through a residential neighborhood.  Lawns were neatly cut.  Flowers were in full bloom.  The air conditioning was on in the car, but Eve’s nostrils flared slightly as she imagined she could smell the honeysuckle on a bush as the car streaked by it.  If she didn’t find out who Richard’s accomplice was, it would be a very long time before she smelled honeysuckle again.  Her shoulders slumped slightly with the thought and she resolutely straightened her posture.  She was innocent. And she would prove that.  
Burke parked in front of the cottage.  They made their way to the front door.  He inserted the key then pushed the door open.  Eve waited, remaining in place so he could go inside first and conduct his usual check of the place.   Burke gripped her elbow.  There was a tension in him that hadn’t been present a moment ago.  Eve didn’t know what had alerted or alarmed him, but there was no doubt that something had.  She felt a rush of adrenaline.  A fine sweat broke out on her body and the slight breeze that stirred the air as it blew across her arms, chilled her.  When she glanced up at him, he shook his head, and removed his weapon from the shoulder holster he wore.
He entered the cottage.
She waited in a state of tension herself for a few moments that felt like hours when Burke appeared in the door way again.
“All clear,” he said.
Eve followed him into the livingroom.  “What made you think it wasn’t going to be?”
“When I turned the key in the lock, there was no resistance.  The door wasn’t locked.”
“Maybe you just forgot to lock it last night when you left here.” Eve tossed back at him that maybe he’d been careless and left the door unlocked, as he’d suggested to her last night about her insulin injection.
Burke nodded.  “Maybe.”
His easy acceptance and capitulation rang false.  What he was hiding?  “You don’t believe that, why not?”
Burke holstered his weapon, hesitated, then said,  “Things have been moved.  Examined.”
“Like?”
“Those books.”
He indicated a short shelf built into the wall by a small fireplace.  She didn’t notice anything off  about them. 
“The pictures on the walls have been touched,” Burke went on quietly, his tone contemplative.
The three photos.  Sure. She’d noticed them upon their arrival at the cottage, on the wall behind a bamboo couch covered with bright floral cushions.  The pictures were photographs of nature scenes hung in a row. All were perfectly aligned. 
Eve was about to question Burke about his belief that the photos had been touched but instead narrowed her eyes. One of the