Read Online Night Swimming by Laura Moore - Free Book Online

give us some further data.”
    Someone dutifully made a motion to adjourn. Around the room, hasty seconds and thirds were pronounced in favor of the motion. The committee disbanded rapidly.
    Thank heaven that’s over, Lily thought. She had three weeks, then, before she’d have to deal with Sean McDermott again. She stood, muscles stiff from too many hours spent sitting in planes, automobiles, and over-air-conditioned meeting rooms.
    “Uh, Lily?” Karen said.
    She looked up from the pile of papers that she was shoving into her shoulder bag. “Yes?”
    “I just wanted to say thanks.” Karen’s cheeks continued to sport those telltale stains of embarrassment.
    “Nothing to thank me for,” she replied mildly.
    “Uh-huh,” Karen insisted, setting her braids swinging. “You stood up for me, even though I’m just starting out.
    I know you would have preferred having someone like Ethan down here.” Ethan Ford often worked as Lily’s photographer. He was one of the center’s best, a veteran. But Ethan was currently on leave, his wife having just given birth to their first child.
    “Having Ethan here would have been nice,” Lily admitted with a casual shrug. “It’s always easier to work with people who are old hands, familiar with the ropes and with the way I like things done. But that’s what this project is all about—at least for you: getting experience in the field. So that next time you’ll be better able to handle someone like Ferrucci. Besides, what I told the committee was the truth. You are a great photographer.”
    “You think?”
    “I never exaggerate someone’s professional skills. So,” she continued briskly, as Karen was looking a shade perkier, “here’s what you’re going to do to justify my confidence: You’re going to do a first-rate job photographing every inch of this coral reef, everything from plankton to sea turtles. Then you’re going to take those spectacular slides and shove them down Pete Ferrucci’s throat. Got it?”
    “Excellent advice, Karen. I’d take it if I were you,” Evelyn Roemer said. She had once again materialized at Lily’s side. “Dr. Banyon clearly knows her way around small-town politics—big city, too, I’d imagine.”
    “Yes,” Lily acknowledged. “I’ve run into ‘Pete Ferruccis’ before.”
    “You were great, Lily. Mayor McDermott, too,” Karen gushed enthusiastically. “Together you left Ferrucci without a leg to stand on. It was awesome, the way Mayor McDermott rattled off all that stuff you’d done. He blew everyone away. I could tell they were super-impressed by him . . . uh, I mean by what you’d done career-wise.”
    Lily sighed inwardly. Yet another wonderstruck fan of Sean McDermott. He’d always had that effect on women. Time to let Karen in on what politicians’ staff spent their time doing. “I’m sure we have Ms. Roemer to thank for that polished recitation.”
    Evelyn Roemer’s lips curled in a smile worthy of the Mona Lisa. “You mean did I prep him?” she asked, the cryptic smile still playing about her lips. “No, that’s not Sean’s style. He’s too quick on his feet to need his lines spoon-fed. To tell you the truth, I myself am mystified how he managed to pull that one off. You see, Dr. Banyon, until half an hour ago, Sean didn’t even know you were on this advisory panel.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Lily wanted a drink. Actually, anything would do if it succeeded in banishing Sean McDermott from her mind. Evelyn Roemer certainly knew how to drop a bombshell. Before Lily could ask who, what, when, or why, she had hustled Karen off with the promise of a guided tour of Coral Beach and its brand new organic market where Karen could stock up on food. It turned out that both women shared a passion for bean curd. Lily had forgotten Karen was a vegan and Simone had been far too smart to remind her.
    John Granger had vanished, something for which he had a true talent. Maybe he’d been scared Evelyn Roemer might boss him