As though he’d read Geoff’s mind, Russell changed the subject and asked, “So what’s the medical verdict on you regaining your memory?”
Geoff stared at him. Why did he want to know that? he wondered as suspicion once again seeped out of the deep dark hole in his mind. Was he afraid of what Geoff might remember? And then, realizing that the question was the kind that any friend might ask of him in this situation, he forced himself to relax. The situation was making him more jumpy than usual. “Medically they say there’s very little chance of it returning after so long, but I haven’t given up hope.”
“No, of course not. It’s not in your makeup to give up on anything.”
Did that comment have a slightly wry tone? “No, it’s not.” Apparently at least one aspect of his character had not changed. “So then, taking the discussion back to Future-Tech, do we have anything to worry about? Pete Sherwood seemed to think that my resurfacing could present legal problems if certain clients got wind of it.”
Russell grimaced. “It’s difficult to predict, of course, but I don’t think so Countless investigators for the Fort Knox case have already been through everything and found nothing concrete to pin on Future-Tech or its officers. Frankly, I doubt that there’s anything for anyone to find.” He raised a brow. “I hope you’re not going to waste your time trying to rekindle your own investigation?”
Geoff shrugged. “I have some questions I want answered, but...an investigation? No. I don’t think so.”
Russell seemed to sag m his chair a fraction. A sigh of relief? Geoff wondered. Or just a relaxation of worry on the part of a fnend? “I’m glad to hear it. You need to worry about getting well again.”
Devon sat at a small square oak table in the center of the restaurant waiting for Geoff. He wasn’t late; rather, she’d taken off a little early to beat the traffic. Now, she sat there fingering her napkin and recalling that just a couple of weeks ago, she’d been sitting in this same restaurant with David, confident in the course of her life. How ephemeral and mercurial life was at times.
Abruptly, she shivered and looked around. For the second time in as many days, she felt eyes on her. Someone watching her. Yesterday, she’d blamed the sensation on David and dismissed it, but today, when she looked around, there was no one looking her way. At least not that she could see. So what, then, accounted for this strange sensation of being observed? She’d just turned forward again when she caught sight of Geoff weaving his way across the crowded restaurant toward her, and all negative thought fled as a ripple of pleasure coiled through her.
“Hi,” she said as he pulled out a chair and sat down. “How was your meeting with Russell?”
“Interesting,” he responded. “How was your meeting with your client?”
“Good,” she said with a smile. “I managed to avert a couple of minor catastrophes and get one very important contract back on target. All in all a very satisfying morning.”
He offered her that fleeting little smile that she was coming to like far too much, and then nodded to the menu that lay open on the table before her. “What have you decided on?”
“A small pepper steak with Caesar salad, I think What are you in the mood for?” Her question was entirely innocent, but the moment the words were out of her mouth something deep in his eyes flared with heat and the air between them charged with awareness.
Finally, he blinked, cleared his throat and said, “That sounds fine I think I’ll have the same ”
The waitress had no sooner taken their order and left when a rather high-pitched female voice called, “Devon, how are you?” Devon looked beyond Geoff to see Carla Miles, an old friend she hadn’t seen in quite some time, approaching their table Carla, who had a tall, thin boyish figure, had discovered at a young age that black showed off her beautiful blond hair to perfection and, thus, was clothed in her usual shapeless black dress, black hose, and flats. She accessorized her look with dangling strands of colorful beads, large colorful earrings to match, gold rings on almost every finger, and lots of eye makeup. The result was that she looked a bit eccentric.
In actuality, however, Devon thought the look suited her. Carla was eccentric Devon smiled as Carla stopped at her table “Hi, Carla How are you? I haven’t seen you in ages ”
“Oh, I know, hon. It’s been a coon’s age. But life is just so—” Carla broke off abruptly as she flashed a glance in Geoff’s direction Her face paled, and she flashed a glance at Devon. “Listen, hon, are you meeting anyone for lunch?”
Devon frowned, not understanding “Yes, I—” But she got no further before Carla interrupted.
“When whoever it is gets here, I think you should ask them to sit there.” With a jangling of gold bracelets, Carla indicated the chair at right angles to Devon rather than the seat across from her where Geoff sat.
“No, you don’t understand—” Devon tried to explain that Geoff was the person she was meeting, but once again Carla interrupted her.
With icy fingers, Carla gripped Devon’s forearm where it rested on the table, and leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “I’m serious, hon. I don’t know how to tell you this, but...well, Geoff is sitting in the chair across from you.”
For one second more, Devon continued to consider Carla in confusion, and then the light began to dawn. Carla had not yet heard about Geoff’s miraculous return from the dead! Devon smiled a secret smile, winked at Geoff who was looking at Carla as though she’d lost her mind, and said, “I know.”
Carla jerked up to a standing position again. “You mean you can see him, too!”
Devon nodded. “Mmm-hmm. But there’s a reason for that.”
“What?” she asked, staring at Devon with enormous blue eyes.
“He’s...alive!” Devon couldn’t help teasing her friend. After all Carla had scared the dickens out of Devon on more than one occasion with her séances.
“He’s—” Carla started to echo Devon and then stopped to stare openly at Geoff for the first time. Then slowly, she extended her left forefinger to give him a very firm jab in the upper arm “Well...well...I can’t believe it!” she finally managed to get out. “How did that happen?” She looked at Devon as though she expected her to recount some strange new method of resurrection.
“Why don’t you give me a call tonight and I’ll explain it. Okay?”
Carla nodded “Sure, hon. I’ll call you.” And then, still staring at Geoff as though she suspected he might disappear at any instant, she made her way past their table.
After she had gone, Geoff and Devon stared at each other for a moment with lips twitching, and then suddenly Geoff laughed. It was a full-throated, hearty sound, and Devon realized it was the first time since finding him that she’d heard him give in to mirth For that, she would always be grateful to Carla; Geoff didn’t laugh as easily as he once had.
“She thought I was a ghost?” Geoff asked when he could talk again.
Grinning, Devon nodded. “Carla’s always been a bit psychic or something. She says she sees and talks to ghosts quite regularly.”
“So I would have been ..just another ghost to her?” Geoff asked with a smile on his lips
Devon shook her head “Actually I think you would have been the first one she has ever really known beforehand Poor Carla. I hope she recovers from the shock I guess I’m going to have to make some phone calls so that your presence doesn’t give anyone else who knows us a heart attack or something ” She reached for a bread stick and tore a piece off. “Have you called your mother yet?”
Geoff nodded. “Shortly after Christmas, but her answering machine said she was in Phoenix for the winter, so I just left my number and hung up. I don’t think what I have to say is appropriate to leave on a machine. She might think it’s just a crank call. If she doesn’t check her messages and return my call, I’ll try again in a month or so.”
Devon nodded in agreement just as their meals arrived Over lunch, Geoff told her about his morning and his conversation with Russell. It irked h
er that no one had ever felt it necessary to tell her any of the details that Geoff had learned, but that was going to change right now. If she and Geoff were to stand any chance of being together in the future, then she had to be part of his life on more levels than just the personal At least, unlike her father, Geoff didn’t try to protect her by shielding her.
She frowned thoughtfully At least he wasn’t doing that this time. But had he before? Was that, perhaps, part of the reason for the nft that had developed between them? They’d always communicated up to that tune, but it was possible that, whatever had been bothering Geoff, was something he’d felt he had to shelter his family from But what could have been so sensitive or so bad?
“Devon—” Geoff called her back from her thoughts.
“Hmm?” she asked around the bite of tender steak she’d just popped into her mouth.
“Was there ever an investigation into the cause of the plane crash?”
She nodded. “There’s automatically an investigation into any accident. Especially one involving casualties. They need to determine if it was pilot error, the weather, or some other cause.”
Geoff frowned. “This was a small charter flight, right?” When Devon nodded he asked, “Who was the pilot?”
Devon went still Uh-oh! This was one more thing he didn’t know. She cleared her throat.
“Devon—” he prompted, eyeing her warily now.
“Either Spencer was piloting the plane, or you were. You chartered the plane without a pilot because you both had pilot’s licenses ”
Geoff froze in midchew and stared at her. Then, he slowly swallowed what was in his mouth “I’m a pilot?”
She nodded. “You were Your license would probably have to be updated or something by now. I don’t know exactly how it works. But, flying was just a hobby. You and Spencer had taken lessons together for fun a couple of years earlier.”
Slowly, thoughtfully, Geoff nodded “I see ” Then, looking down he sliced his steak. “So what was the result of the investigation into the crash?”
Devon frowned. “It was deemed an accident Some problem with the altimeter compounded by a thick cloud cover.” She studied him. “Why? Do you think I may have been right the other night?” The thought that someone might have deliberately tried to murder her husband, along with his sister, his brother-in-law, and herself if she hadn’t backed out in anger at the last moment, was staggering. Who would do such a thing?
Geoff nodded. “It’s plausible. And I don’t want to dismiss the possibility without knowing for certain.”
“I’ll make some phone calls and see what more I can find out, if you like?”
“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.” He looked at her then, his green eyes glowing with male admiration.
She swallowed. “You’re welcome,” she managed to murmur. Heck, for that look, she’d jump through hoops.
He frowned thoughtfully. “There are a lot of answers I need to find.”
And she intended to help him find them, if she could. But first she had to make sure they were looking for the same ones “What are the questions?” Devon asked.
Geoff looked musingly over Devon’s right shoulder as he began to list points. “First, I need to know where that money in Spencer’s account came from. Someone was either framing him, or someone was paying him for services rendered If the latter, then he’d obviously gotten involved in something he shouldn’t have. And, if that was the case, then I need to know what it was and who was paying him.”
Devon nodded. “And second?”
“The second thing I need is the information on the plane crash And third, I need to retrace the steps I made two years ago. I need to find out what my suspicions were then because, if what I’m coming to suspect is true, and the crash wasn’t an accident, then I must have been close to finding some answers.”
Almost two months had passed, and the children had long since returned home There had been only one more ominous occurrence, and that had taken the form of a threatening message left on Geoff’s home office answering machine. “If you’re smart you’ll leave the past in the past,” it said. “Or you’ll wish you had ” The voice had been electronically disguised, which made him wonder if the person was concerned about him recognizing their voice. He hadn’t bothered telling Devon about it There was nothing she could do, except worry, and he was doing enough of that for both of them.
Even with the worry though, their days began to fall into a predictable routine Since Geoff’s presence at Future-Tech was still not absolutely necessary—although he was gradually reassuming more of the responsibilities—he returned home every afternoon to welcome the children home from school and ferry them around to whatever extracurricular activities were scheduled for that day. Those hours before dinner were also the best time for him to focus on rebuilding his relationship with his sometimes difficult and usually headstrong son
They had made some definite strides. Tyler had finally started talking to him. telling him about his day at school, about misadventures his friends had had. and even occasionally. if Britanny wasn’t with them, about girls he was interested in Yes, Geoff was content with the way his relationships were progressing with his children He just wished he could be as satisfied in other areas of his life.
Devon continued to hold him at arm’s length, and it was driving him crazy. She maintained that she wasn’t willing to get close to him, to give them a chance, until she knew what had happened before—and they’d made very little headway in their investigation.
He still had no idea what he’d uncovered in his previous investigation of the problems at Future-Tech, or even if they were connected to his strained marriage Thinking that the money deposited to Spencer’s account sounded like a good place to start his current investigation, he’d tried to trace it to its source but had run up against a brick wall According to Pete Sherwood, it appeared to have been deposited in cash via night deposit.
The net result of all of this was that Geoff was frustrated on two fronts both at work and in his personal life That made him jumpy and irritable—especially around Devon, although he’d done his best to hide it Damn’ The only way to ease his frustration was to find the answers he and Devon both required. But how? His memory stubbornly remained in absentia rather than proving to be the boon he’d expected it to be once he was back in familiar surroundings
Now, as Geoff sat with the other parents and caregivers waiting for Tyler to finish his karate lesson, he decided he was going to have to focus on the office at Devon’s again. The first time he’d gone through it. he’d found nothing of particular interest except a series of encrypted disks. and he still hadn’t been able to break the encryption code.
Other than the disks. they’d come across only a personal organizer containing nothing of note—although some pages were missing—and a few files: invoice copies, his own bank records, and some correspondence.
Damn’ There had to be something somewhere. What was he overlooking?
“What’s the matter?” Tyler’s voice tugged him from his thoughts.
“Hmm? Oh, nothing important, sport. Are you ready?”
Tyler nodded, but continued to eye Geoff from the corner of his eye as they made their way to the dressing rooms.
When these sideways glances continued even as Tyler was dressing, Geoff finally decided to prod him a bit. “What’s on your mind, son?”
Tyler paused in the act of putting his socks on and looked up. Then, with a slight grimace, he said, “Nothin’. It’s not important.”
“Remember what I said the other night about communication being the key to avoiding misunderstandings?” Geoff asked. Tyler nodded, and Geoff continued, “Then let’s communicate, okay? Tell me what’s up.”
Fastening his gaze on the floor, Tyler’s face took on a mutinous expression for an instant, then, with a sigh, he shrugged and plunged “Well...I was wondering, that is...didn’t I do good today?”
Geoff frowned. “I’m no karate expert, but from what I
could tell, you did just fine Why?”
Now Tyler raised his gaze to stare accusingly at Geoff. “If I did good, then how come you looked so mad when I finished?”
“Mad?” Geoff’s brows arched in surprise. “Tyler, I wasn’t mad. A bit worried maybe, but not mad.” He saw a dawning expression of confusion in Tyler’s eyes and quickly went on. “And I wasn’t worried about you You hardly need anyone to worry about you now, do you?”
Tyler squared his shoulders. “‘Course not.” Then he frowned “So what’re you worryin’ about then?”
Geoff studied the boy, wondering how much he could say without muddling things further Finally though, he decided to be honest He couldn’t very well demand it of Tyler without delivering it in return. “Well,” he said, “before the accident, I left some computer disks in my office that were coded. The program that I used to code them was in a laptop on the plane, and I’m afraid I haven’t remembered enough about computers yet to figure out how to read them. I think I need the original encryption program, but I don’t know what it was, so,” he shrugged, “I’m stuck.”
Tyler frowned. “Encryption. Is that like when you save stuff so nobody can read it but you on your computer?”
Geoff nodded.
“I still got a copy of that Info-Safe program you gave me to learn how to use. It’s on Britanny’s and my homework computer. I don’t know if it’s the right one, but you can use it if you want to.”
Geoff’s pulse began to beat just a little faster and he leaned forward to grasp Tyler by the shoulders. “I gave you a copy of an encryption program?”
The boy nodded. “I think so.”
Geoff swept him into a big hug. “You’re a lifesaver, sport.”
A Season Of Miracles Page 20