“Ellen suggested I take you down to some of the fleet offices and introduce you to some of the gang there, but I figured you’d rather go for a ride down River Road. They’re expecting us to be out all day, and I would rather not spend it cooped up in a stuffy office listening to war stories.” Tristan smiled impishly.
“Perfect! One more thing, though?” Claire asked excitedly.
Tristan finished off the last of her tea. “What would that be?”
“What night are you planning for our date? A girl has to know these things in advance. I may have to get an emergency pedicure or something,” Claire said jokingly.
“Right now, Friday seems like a long way off, but I think that will have to be it. Besides, that should give us plenty of time in advance in case we need an emergency pedicure or have some sort of apparel conflict.”
Tristan drove down River Road, pointing out old plantation homes and different sites along the way as she listened to Claire’s excited chatter. They stopped at different fleets but remained on the levee, and Tristan gave Claire a pair of binoculars to look at the barges being set up for tow by their vessels.
“You can tell when a barge is empty by how high it sits up in the water. When they’re loaded, they are only a few feet above the water’s surface. When the barges are being loaded, the tankerman will open different valves to maintain an even flow of the product to keep the barge from tipping to one side, or listing, as we call it.”
41
Murky Waters
Tristan stood behind Claire and pointed over her shoulder at the white markers visible on the side of a passing empty barge. “When they load the barges, they sink it evenly into the water until they reach the desired ‘draft.’ So, if you are loading to a nine-foot draft, you will fill the compartments until the barge sinks into the water at the nine-foot mark on the bow and stern.”
Claire was barely aware of what Tristan was telling her. Instead, she was distracted by the closeness of Tristan’s body and the way her free hand felt on her shoulder. The sudden compulsion to turn face-to-face with Tristan was so strong that Claire had to step away, pretending that she had found something else of interest through the binoculars.
When they drifted into a comfortable silence on the drive, Claire wondered what was happening to her. She had seen so many sides of Tristan in the last forty-eight hours that the woman sitting next to her confused and intrigued her. And yet, she found herself undeniably attracted to a virtual stranger.
She glanced over at the subject of her desire and watched Tristan’s profile as she smoked a cigarette. The smoke spiraled around her dark head before blowing out the window. Aside from Tristan’s good looks, there was something that drew Claire to her.
Something she sensed in her presence when they first met.
Looking at her now, Claire realized that it was a lonely feeling the mysterious woman projected that Claire wanted to take away.
As promised, Tristan delivered Claire to her Jeep at 5 p.m. She noticed an envelope clipped to Claire’s windshield when she drove up. She glanced over at Claire, who stared wide-eyed at her vehicle.
“Claire? Is something wrong?”
Claire’s face was pale, and she sat staring at Tristan for a moment before she could find the nerve to speak.
“Claire, what is it? You’re white as a sheet.”
Claire stammered a moment. “It’s ... nothing. I just remembered there was something I was supposed to do.” She hated to lie, but she wanted to be alone at that very moment. She felt as though her whole world had been turned upside down and didn’t want to have to explain anything.
42
Robin Alexander
Tristan was sure she was lying but was afraid to push the issue.
She was tempted to reach over and comfort Claire, but her behavior was so strange that Tristan was reluctant.
“I’m fine, really. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Claire said as she quickly jumped out of the parked truck and shut the door. Tristan watched as Claire pulled the envelope off the windshield and got into her vehicle. Tristan noticed the troubled look on Claire’s face as she started her Cherokee. She appeared to be crying as she drove off.
Claire didn’t look back as she pulled out of the parking lot. She was too stunned over her find that she could barely concentrate.
She lit up a cigarette in an attempt to calm herself. When traffic came to a stop, she debated opening the envelope. She stared at it for a long time, knowing what would be inside. Each time she reached for it, the car in front of her would start to move, so she decided to wait until she got home.
Once inside her apartment, Claire went straight to the room that served as her office and dropped the envelope on her desk. Then, she closed every blind in her apartment. She had goose bumps from head to toe. Now more than ever, she regretted not going to the police.
After pouring herself a glass of wine, she went back into her office. Sitting at her desk, she lit another cigarette and sipped her wine until she felt calm enough to open the brown envelope. As she reached inside, her heart sank when she felt the smooth picture paper. She pulled out the photos, and a small typed note was clipped to the stack. It simply read, “You cannot hide from me.”
Claire shivered as she saw her own image walking into the Valor building. The second was taken of her getting out of her Jeep at home. The third was the most chilling. It was taken of her in the very room she sat now. Nausea welled up inside of her when she realized the unknown photographer had been standing outside her apartment.
As Claire imagined a dark figure watching and recording her actions, she was overcome. She bowed her blonde head and cried out of fear and frustration. She wanted a new start and the problems of the past to remain behind in Houston. If this person were willing to go to the trouble to follow her here, what else would he or she be capable of?
43
Murky Waters
Feeling utterly alone and confused, Claire drowned her sorrows in a bottle of wine. After making sure the door to the apartment was locked for the tenth time, she lay on the couch, too afraid to get into her bed. Maybe she would be too relaxed and not hear if someone tried to get in. Ultimately, she felt safer on the couch.
She despised how this faceless person made her feel threatened in her own home. Feelings of anger would quickly be replaced by feelings of terror each time she heard a noise outside. She drifted in and out of sleep the entire night, jumping at the smallest noise, usually made by the icemaker or air conditioner.
The wine that Claire consumed did not keep her from dreaming.
Disconnected images filled her sleeping mind. Dark figures followed her every step, but when they drew close, there was no face. She ran as fast as she could, but she was moving in slow motion. When she awoke, the same agonizing fear she felt in her nightmares clung to her as she dressed.
When Claire got out of her Jeep that morning, she was swamped with feelings of paranoia. Walking as fast as she could into the building, she glanced around nervously. Once inside, she looked back through the tinted glass windows at the parking lot to see if anyone else was out there. To her dismay and relief, there was not a soul in sight.
When she made it to the third-floor offices, Claire was relieved to see Tristan already there. Even though they were only getting to know each other, Claire felt comfortable in Tristan’s presence. She silently debated whether she should confide in Tristan, then thought better of it. They hadn’t even gone out on their first date.
She decided not to burden Tristan with her problems until she knew where things would go between them.
Claire smiled at Tristan and went straight to her office. She put away her things and sipped her coffee as she waited for her computer to boot up. Today, she would bury herself in her work until she could work up the courage to call the police to see what could be done.