Read Online Out of Sight Out of Mind by Evonne Wareham - Free Book Online Page A

He didn’t much want to be in the car if she was planning to drive them into a traffic island, but an opportunity was an opportunity.
    ‘Did he know?’ He lifted his arm. ‘The owner of the coat? About the mind reading?’
    ‘Neil,’ she corrected automatically. She’d recovered herself. Shot him a get-back-in-your-box-and-stay-there look.
Good girl
. ‘He knew.’
    She wasn’t going any further than that, he could see by the way she turned the steering wheel.
So, back down now, buddy, before this gets sticky.
    ‘What’s your doctorate?’ Nice harmless change of subject. ‘Psychology?’
    ‘Chemistry.’ She was parking the car beside a row of shops. He looked expectantly at her. ‘Shoe shop.’ She pointed. ‘Then you can throw away those revolting trainers.’
    Everything was fine, until it came time to pay. Madison bit her lip as Jay’s hand went automatically to the pocket where his wallet should have been. She saw the recoil, then the shutters came down, leaving his face devoid of expression.
    ‘I’ll take care of this.’ She slid her card to the cashier. ‘Is there anything else you need?’ She turned, deliberately neutral, towards him.
    ‘No.’ He’d mooched to the front of the shop, eyes away from her, studying the street. ‘Thank you.’
    When she left, he followed. She bit down an involuntary smile. His indecision over letting her carry the parcels, set against accepting the contents, was coming over her shoulder at her, almost strong enough to touch. The warmth of his fingers as he lifted the bags out of her hand sent a frisson up her arm. She flexed her fingers to dispel it, stopped and turned. ‘What?’
    ‘I want you to keep an account.’ His voice was gruff and he didn’t meet her eyes. ‘Everything you spend.’
    ‘I can afford to buy you a couple of pairs of shoes,’ she objected quietly.
    ‘Not the point.’ His eyes came back to hers, as she’d hoped. ‘Keep an account. I’ll repay you. Everything. When I get straight.’
    ‘Okay.’ She wasn’t going to push it. ‘But you know what I’d really like, more than money.’ She looked pointedly at the waste bin, standing at the kerb.
    He took barely a second to catch on.
    The rueful smile, as he ceremonially dumped the bag with the old trainers, had the corners of Madison’s mouth twitching. She turned hurriedly towards the car.
    ‘Impressive place.’
    Madison pulled into her designated parking slot and turned off the engine.
    ‘I suppose it is.’
    She looked around. The lab was a long, low building, a curve of white plaster and glass, set well back from the road to Amersham, surrounded by wide lawns. She’d stopped seeing it, she realised, with a jolt. The shiny windows, close-cropped grass, tasteful flowerbeds of pale lemon daffodils, edging the approach to the double doors. She didn’t look any more, not even at the flowers. It was just the place she worked.
    ‘Good design.
Clever
design,’ Jay corrected softly. ‘Unthreatening,’ he explained, when she raised her brows. ‘All that white. Open.’ He waved a hand at the immaculate green. ‘Nothing to hide. Clever,’ he repeated.
    ‘Or truthful.’ Madison could hear herself, a shade tart, as she opened her door. ‘It’s just a research foundation. Nothing bad happens here.’
    ‘Good to know.’ Jay slid out of the car and padded after her. ‘Good. To. Know.’
    Madison closed her ears to the mockery in the drawl.
    She made her decision as she crossed the foyer to sign in, leaving Jay to negotiate the doors in his own time. Not the interview rooms at the front of the building, where she usually conducted initial assessments. Jay was coming with her, into her office. Her own domain –
private
domain. Her mind twisted over the tangle of power and threat
that
represented.
    ‘I’ll need a visitor’s pass, for Mr …’
Hell.
The security guard behind the desk was looking at her expectantly. Her eyes flipped frantically for a second, before settling