Hunter's Quest

Chapter Fourteen

Kristie rarely slept past seven in the morning, so she was astonished to roll over, peer at the clock, and discover it was after eight. Even more amazing—she smelled coffee. Jason sat in one of the chairs, calmly reading the newspaper and sipping from a paper cup. He grinned at her.

"Waking up, sleepyhead?"

"I can't believe I slept this late," she grumbled. "I never sleep late."

"You had an exhausting day yesterday."

"Yeah. Now get out, so I can get up and get dressed. It's your turn to get breakfast."

"Your wish is my command," he said, picking up the keys from the dresser. Moments later she heard the crunch of tires on gravel as the car pulled away.

She showered, did her hair, and dressed. She fingered the makeup case, debating, before she flipped the lid up and opened a tube of pink lipstick. The pristine finger of color ran smoothly across her lips. The pink shading made them look fuller and contrasted nicely with her skin. She liked it.

Jason returned with a bag of bagels and cream cheese, plus two giant-sized cups of coffee. He still favored the left arm, but it didn't look quite as stiff.

Half an hour later they were on their way back to Scottsville to visit the lawyer whose office had burned. She offered to let Jason drive and was surprised when he declined.

"I'm working on those trust issues," was the only explanation he offered.

As they approached Scottsville, Kristie's muscles began to tense and her nerves jangled. "Are we sure this is a good idea?" she asked.

"No. But I'm running out of alternatives." He looked at her. "You can drop me if you want. I'll call you when I'm done."

"No."

They found the lawyer's office in an elderly four-story, red-brick cube of a building right in the middle of downtown Scottsville, catty-cornered from the fire station and just two buildings down from the town administration center. There was no parking lot associated with the building, just the diagonal on-the-street spaces. Kristie spotted an empty place but was hesitant to park in such plain sight.

"No, I don't think so," Jason agreed when she voiced her doubts.

They ended up parked two blocks away, on a side street. Kristie refused to use the main sidewalk through town, so they walked around two residential blocks, cut up a driveway, and clambered over a low fence to come at the building from behind. They walked three sides of the structure but the only alternative to the front door they could find went down into the basement and was locked in any case.

Reluctantly, they went around to the front and darted, heads bent, for the entrance as quickly as they could without attracting attention to their haste. No one stopped them and they got inside the tiny lobby without meeting anyone else. A signboard next to the single elevator showed that Blaine Templeton, Attorney at Law had the only office on the top floor. A CPA had part of the second floor and another lawyer the third, but clearly there was a lot of empty office space in the structure.

The building was quiet, almost eerily so, until they pushed the button for the elevator and it creaked toward them. The doors wheezed open and then shut behind them.

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Kristie whispered to Jason on the way up.

"The elevator? It doesn't feel too sturdy to me either, but it was inspected last October." He pointed to the posted placard.

"Cute. The whole thing."

"Just trying to lighten the mood." Before he could say more, the lift rattled to a halt and the doors groaned and opened, spilling them out into a hallway that ran the length of the building. Three doors opened out from it on either side. Neither of the first two bore any signs identifying them and both looked unused. The second door on the left was the office they sought.