The Second Ship (The Rho Agenda #1)(92)

Mark’s smile warmed her soul. With a slight nod, he turned and disappeared through the door.





Chapter 68





The knock on the door of the McFarland house came just as they had all seated themselves for Sunday dinner, Heather’s father at one end of the table, Mr. Smythe at the other, with the other family members congregated around the feast in hungry anticipation.

“Damn. It’s probably one of those magazine sales people,” said Heather’s dad, rising.

“Now be nice,” her mother called after him.

As he opened the door, Heather’s heart leaped into her throat.

“Jack. Janet. We were just sitting down to dinner. Don’t just stand out there, come on in and join us.”

“Thank you, but we wouldn’t want to impose. We just stopped by to check on Heather.”

Heather’s mother moved across the room toward them with a look that brooked no opposition.

“Nonsense. I won’t hear of it. You two are adopted members of our family as surely as if you lived next door. Besides, I’m not going to have room in my refrigerator for all the leftovers if you don’t help us. Here now. Jack, you grab that chair, and Gil, you get another and we’ll just make room.”

Mr. Smythe shook Jack’s hand. “You might as well get used to the drop in anytime routine that we’ve abused over the years. If Anna really minded, she would have run us off a long time ago. You may have noticed that shyness isn’t one of her faults.”

Janet laughed, leading the way toward the others, who had risen to welcome the new arrivals. “How can we refuse? To tell the truth, we were just headed out to eat, but I would much rather have some good home cooking.”

Jack’s eyes locked Heather’s in an analytical gaze that made her feel as though he were wearing x-ray specs, hardly the most pleasant of thoughts.

“It’s great to see that you’ve recovered from your ordeal,” Jack said.

“Thanks to you. If you hadn’t come along when you did, I doubt I would be here.”

“Do you remember much of it? Sorry. I shouldn't ask.”

“No, it’s all right. Especially since the answer is no. I don’t remember much of anything. Just getting hauled out the window, banging my head, and waking up in the hospital.”

“I noticed the police outside. I’m glad to see they assigned a watch, even though I doubt the Rag Man will return.”

Heather’s mother put her hand to her mouth. “The whole thing has me so nervous that I don’t think I could stay here if it weren’t for the police.”

Heather’s father put a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Anna. I’m having the best alarm system they make installed tomorrow. No one is going to be getting past that. And if someone does try to get in, I’ll let Mr. Smith and Wesson talk him out of it.”

Janet moved over to put an arm around Heather’s shoulders. “Jack, I think we’ve had quite enough of this conversation tonight. If nobody objects, I propose that we divert our attention to the wonderful meal cooling on the table.”

Jack nodded. “Sorry. You’re right, babe. I didn’t mean to upset everyone.”

Heather’s mother managed to recover her smile. “Apology accepted. Now if everyone will sit down, I’ll get the biscuits out of the oven before they burn.”

As good as the meal was, Heather’s appetite had departed. While she was grateful to Jack for having saved her life, she found herself wondering what else had brought him here this Sunday evening. It was stupid, really. Jack would naturally want to check in on a person whose life he had saved the night before.

A quick glance at Jennifer revealed she was also having a difficult time eating everything on her plate. Even Mark appeared distracted, but that was most likely because Janet sat beside him, asking about the upcoming basketball tournament.

Heather half expected a couple of buttons on Mark’s shirt to come flying across the table as his chest expanded. The smirk on Jack’s face indicated that he had also noticed the effect his wife was having on Mark.

As the evening wore on, all signs of the earlier tension in the room evaporated. By the time Jack and Janet said their good-byes, Heather almost regretted seeing them go, and both sets of parents certainly did. They were such a charming couple, you just wanted them around. Something about that scared Heather worse than anything else she knew about them.

Shortly after the departure of the Johnsons, the Smythes also made their way back to their own house. Heather followed Mark and Jennifer out onto the driveway. Catching Mark’s eye, she leaned in close.

“You better get that bug detector working, quick.”

“Fret not. I’m on it.”

As Heather watched them disappear through their doorway, a single thought blocked out all others.

It was definitely time to give Jack and Janet something new to think about.





Chapter 69





2:30 a.m.

Donald Stephenson moved through the near darkness of the cavernous room with his head bowed in thought. One of the advantages of not needing sleep was that it gave him more time for thought, and deep thought was something at which he excelled.

Everyone knew that he worked long hours and slept very little, but only he knew how little he slept: never. And judging by the incompetence of the team of scientists that worked for him on the project, it was a very good thing he did not need any rest. Complete morons, the lot of them.