"How long have you been here?"
"About an hour."
Both of them fell silent, and for several minutes the only sounds were the ticking of the clock above the kitchen sink and Tommy’s muffled voice from the living room. Nick noticed she hadn’t touched her tea. Then Laurant looked up at him, and he saw the tears in her eyes.
"Are you feeling overwhelmed?" he asked.
She brushed a tear away and answered, "I was thinking about that woman… Millie… and what he did to her…"
The tea was cold, and she decided to make another cup. Then she decided to fix a cup for Nick too. The chore kept her busy and gave her a moment to try to get a grip on her emotions.
Nick watched her work and thanked her when she put the unwanted tea in front of him. Waiting until she sat down again, he said, "I was wondering how you’re going to hold up."
"You’re hoping I’m tougher than I look?"
"Something like that."
"Exactly what is it you do for the FBI?"
"I work for the lost-and-found department."
"What is it you find?"
"When I’m lucky?"
"Yes, when you’re lucky."
He leaned over to hit the rewind button and then glanced back at her. "Kids. I find kids."
His eyes were the most intense shade of blue, and when he looked at her directly, she felt as though he were trying to see inside her mind. She wondered if he were analyzing her every move as though she were a chess piece. Was he trying to find her vulnerability?
"It’s specialized work," he commented, hoping that would put an end to the discussion about his job.
"I’m sorry we had to meet this way… under these circumstances."
"Yeah, well…"
"Look how I’m shaking," she said as she put her hand out for him to see. "I’m so angry I want to scream."
"Then do it."
The suggestion brought her up short. "What?"
"Scream," he said.
She actually smiled, so silly was the notion. "Monsignor would have heart failure, and so would my brother."
"Look, just take a few minutes and try to chill out."
"How do you propose I do that?"
"Let’s talk about something else, just for a little while… until Tommy comes back."
"I can’t think about anything else right now."
"Sure you can," he advised. "Try, Laurant. It might help calm you down."
She reluctantly agreed. "What should we talk about?"
"You," he decided.
She shook her head, but he ignored it and continued on, "It’s odd, don’t you think, that we’ve never met before today?"
"Yes, it is odd," she agreed. "You’ve been my brother’s closest friend since you were little boys, and he lived with your family all those years, yet I don’t know much about you at all. Tommy came home for summer vacation, and you were always invited to come too, but you never did. Something always came up."
"My parents went over once," he said.
"Yes, they did. Your mother brought family photos with her, and there is one of you… actually it’s the entire family… and Tommy… standing in front of a fireplace at Christmas. Would you like to see it?"
"You’ve got it with you?"
She didn’t have any idea how telling it was that she carried the photo with her. He watched her dig her billfold out of her purse. She’d put the picture in one of the plastic covers that came with all the billfolds, and when she handed it to him, he noticed her hand wasn’t trembling anymore.
He looked at the photo of the eight Buchanan kids clustered around their proud parents. Tommy was there too, squeezed in between Nick’s brothers Alec and Mike. His brother Dylan was sporting a black eye. Nick figured he’d probably given it to him during one of their family football games.
"Your mother helped me learn all the names," she said. "You’re a little blurry though, and Theo’s elbow is blocking half your face. No wonder I didn’t recognize you today."
He handed the billfold back to her, and as she was putting it away, he said, "I know a lot about you. Tommy had pictures up on the wall, the ones the nuns sent of you when you were little."
"I was very homely."
"Yeah, you were," he teased. "All legs. Tommy would read me some of your letters too. It used to tear him up that he couldn’t bring you over to live with him. He felt so guilty. He had a family, and you didn’t."
"I did all right. I spent my summer vacations with Grandfather, and the boarding school was really very nice."
"You didn’t know any other way of life."
"I was happy," she insisted.
"But weren’t you lonely?"
She shrugged. "A little," she admitted. "After Grandfather died."
"Are you comfortable with me?"
The question jarred her. "Yes, why?"
"We’re going to be spending a lot of time together, and it’s important that you feel you can relax around me."
"How much time will we be spending together?"
"Every minute of every day and night until this is over. It’s the only way, Laurant." Without pausing to give her time to absorb that bit of news, Nick commented, "Your brother went crazy when he found out you were modeling."
She smiled again. "Yes, he did get a little crazy. That episode merited a long-distance call to the Mother Superior. I couldn’t believe my own brother would tell on me."
"The Mother Superior… her name was Mother Madelyne, wasn’t it?"
His memory was impressive. "Yes," she answered. "After Tommy told on me, Mother called the people I was supposed to be visiting during the summer break. They were very wealthy, and I had met an Italian designer through them."
"He took one look at you and wanted you, right?"
"He wanted me to model his spring fashions," she corrected. "And I was in several shows."
"Until Mother Madelyne dragged you back to the convent."
"It was mortifying," she admitted. "I was put on probation, which meant pots and pans for six months. Overnight, I went from glitz to dishwater hands. Do we spend every minute together, Nick?"
He didn’t miss a beat. "When you brush your teeth, I’ll squeeze the toothpaste."
Once again he switched back to the topic of her past. "Eleven months later you were on the cover of one of those fashion magazines, and when Tommy showed it to me, I couldn’t believe it was the same scrawny little kid with skinned knees."
He was giving her a compliment, but she didn’t know how to respond, and so she said nothing at all.
"You and I are going to be inseparable," he said.
"Do you mean that first thing in the morning you’ll be standing on my doorstep before I’ve even gotten dressed for the day?"
"No, that isn’t what I mean. I’ll be getting dressed with you. What side of the bed do you sleep on?"
"I beg your pardon?"
He repeated the question.
"The right side."
"Then I’m on the left."
"Are you joking?"
"About the bed? Yeah, I am. But I’m going to do whatever is necessary to keep you safe. I’m going to blatantly invade your privacy, and you’re going to let me."
"For how long?"
"As long as it takes."
"What happens when I take a shower?"
"I’ll hand you the soap."
"Now I know you’re joking."
"Laurant, I’m going to be close enough to scrub your back. That’s just the way it has to be. You need to understand that I’m going to be the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you look at before you close your eyes at night. You and I are in this together."
"But if you’re spending all your time with me, how are you going to catch him?"
"I work for a powerful organization, Laurant, remember? They’re already investigating. Leave it to us to catch him. It’s what we’re trained to do."
She rested her chin in the palm of her hand. She didn’t say a word for a long minute, and then she straightened up again and looked him right in the eyes.