Beneath the Surface by Cat Johnson Read Free Book Online Page B

squeaked across the tile floor as Beth pulled her chair closer to the desk and plunked her weary body heavily into it. “We wait and don’t tell a soul, just like he asked.”
    “What is going on here, Beth?” Robby asked again.
    “Honestly? I don’t know, Robby. I wish I did.” And that was the absolute truth.
    The rest of the day passed in agonizing slow motion as the three kept busy, Beth in particular in an attempt to keep her mind off what could possibly be going on right beneath their feet. They remeasured the cracked Guastavino ceiling tile in the Whispering Gallery and reset the motion detector. She delved into the stack of paperwork on her desk she had been avoiding. Mostly, she watched the clock and jumped each time the phone rang or someone knocked on the door, but none of the calls or visitors was the one she wanted.
    Finally, she went home for the day, holding tightly to the hope that she would find Rick waiting in the hall outside her door. Or maybe even inside her apartment. If he really were a cop, he could get in no problem, she supposed. It was all just so farfetched and confusing. It would be even if she weren’t sleep deprived from spending most of last night in the throes of passion with the man in question.
    She arrived home seeing neither hide nor hair of Rick. She ate some leftovers in the fridge, but still nothing from him. She got ready for bed while keeping an eye and ear on the local nightly news on television hoping to pick up some clue that the police had been alerted to what he suspected. Nothing again.
    Beth fell into a fitful sleep full of dreams about sex and guns, trains and drugs, and woke up possibly feeling more exhausted than she had before going to bed.
     

Chapter Six
    “Hey Beth. Are you taking the tour today?”
    She sighed. “Is it Wednesday again already?”
    Robby laughed. “Yes. It is.”
    Beth groaned. She had dreaded Wednesdays and those lunchtime tours for weeks now. They only reminded her of Rick. The day they had met. The night that followed. The fact she hadn’t heard from him in a month. Nor had she heard one word on the news about any drug ring busts, leading her to believe the whole story had been one big lie, which meant Rick was one big liar.
    “Since you don’t look all that enthused about it, do you think I can give the tour?”
    She glanced up when Robby began talking again and frowned. “You really want to?”
    Robby nodded. “Yeah, sure. Classes end soon and graduation isn’t far away. I guess I’m feeling a bit nostalgic about leaving you and this job and all.”
    Beth smiled. “I’ll miss you and Lyssa too. You better come back and visit though.”
    “Oh, we will. And don’t be surprised if you see my resume and job application cross your desk, as soon as we get back from our trip across Europe. We’re taking the Eurorail.”
    She laughed. “Haven’t you had enough of trains after this internship?”
    He shook his head. “No way. I’m just getting started. Hey, it’s getting late. I’m gonna head upstairs now for the tour.”
    Beth nodded. At least one of them was on the ball. “Thanks, Robby.”
    Alone again in the office, she leaned her elbows on the desk and rubbed her face hard with both hands. She groaned when her cell phone rang in her bag. About two weeks ago she had stopped jumping each time her phone rang. That had been about the time she had given up on Rick. She located it in her oversized bag now and glanced at the caller ID.
    It said Private which was not that odd since a few of her colleagues had unlisted numbers. With a sigh she flipped it open. “Hello?”
    “Hi.”
    “Rick?” Her hand holding the phone began to shake as Beth’s heart pumped harder.
    “You remember me. That’s a good sign.” There was the sound of a smile in his tone.
    “It’s been a month.” She struggled to control the shaking in her voice.
    “I know.”
    “Where have you been all this time?”
    “Doing my job.”
    “Why should I