Read Online A Trespass in Time by Susan Kiernan-Lewis - Free Book Online

little in the way of the costume covering it. Rowan couldn’t help but notice that she was falling out of her “merry widow” bra and directing both barrels right at him.
                Rowan turned to her and smiled, his eyes boldly tracing her figure. “You know?” he said. “Now that you mention it, I’m thinking that maybe we could be a little better.”
     
                The next day, after a grueling morning of work that failed to occupy her thoughts, Ella ate lunch at her desk. As she spread out the waxed paper of her tuna sandwich and her apple, she got a thumbs up from Heidi leaving for lunch with several office mates. Hugo was with them. He winked at her and Ella found herself wondering exactly what it was that he did for their company. He wasn’t an investigator like she was and he was only sometimes in the office. If he was still speaking to her after learning about her notorious lineage, she would have to ask him about it. It surprised her that she didn’t know.
                Before lunch hour was over, her cellphone buzzed. As she dug it out of her purse she found herself hoping it was Rowan although he hadn’t called in weeks and never called in the day. It was her father.
                “Hey, Dad.”
                “Hi, sweetie, can you talk?”
                Her guard went up instantly. For her father not to bother with weather forecasts or questions about her life in Heidelberg meant he was calling with a purpose.
                “What’s up?”
                “Just wondering how my Number One daughter is doing.”
                Ella frowned and looked at the digital clock on her computer. Had he been drinking?
                “I’m fine,” she said.
                “So, did your investigations prove fruitful?”
                Okay now she really did think her dad was totally losing it. He must be driving Susie crazy
                “My investigations?”
                “About your mother’s family.”
                As soon as the words were out of his mouth, she knew that the need for an important conversation with him had been in the back of her mind ever since she first learned about Vogel. There was no question about him not knowing. The CIA would have cleared her mother early on so that little secret would have been long out. Unfortunately, now was not a good time to talk about it.
                “Not fruitful, really,” she said. “But if you could give me any leads, that would be great.”
                “Okay,” he said.
                She waited but her father didn’t speak.
                Now wasn’t a good time anyway, she reminded herself. “How’s Susie?” she asked.
                “Good, good,” he said. “She’s taking up pottery. She really loves it.”
                 “That’s nice,” she said. “Good for her. Well, Dad? I’m right in the middle of my work day…”
                “Of course, sweetheart,” he said. “Still carry your Taser?”
                For the love of God…
                “You know I do,” she said, watching her supervisor walk past her frowning. “Gotta go, Dad,” she said.
     
                That night she didn’t bother going home to change first. She and Heidi went straight out to dinner and the clubs. They were at a table in a noisy club with music and dancing. They had left their dinner wines far behind and were forgetting the strains of the day to the tune of Absolut martinis straight up. They both smoked and Ella thought that Heidi was just about the best accessory a single girl could have. She was so effortlessly elegant—kind of like a German Grace Kelly—that she brought up Ella’s game, too. Or at least that’s the way Ella saw it. She examined the pink lipstick stain