Page 33 of Critical Doubt

A flush of red warmed her cheeks. "It was pretty perfect, probably because it was only a night. We didn't deal with each other in the light of day. We didn't get to know our flaws, our weaknesses, or our bad habits. We didn't have time to annoy each other or get bored."

"I doubt you would ever be boring, Savannah."

"You probably wouldn't be, either."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I've become quite boring in the past year. It's the only way I can stay sane."

"The bells don't ring when you're alone?"

"Not as often, but they're never completely gone." He paused. "But we were talking about you."

"Were we? I thought you had decided you didn't really want to know anything more about me."

"You said that you saw a photo of me about two years ago. Did you ever think about looking me up?"

"Not really. I was afraid that seeing each other again would ruin a beautiful memory. I also had no idea if you were involved with anyone." She took a breath. "Were you involved with someone when you got hurt?"

"I was seeing someone last year, but she disappeared pretty quickly when she realized I wasn't myself anymore."

"Sounds like she wasn't worth keeping."

"What about you? Is there a man in your life?"

"I've dated a few guys over the past year, but I work a lot and I've made my career my priority. Once I decided to take a path that was completely my own, I wanted to make sure I succeeded, so I put all my energy into being the best FBI agent I could be."

"Is the job what you thought?"

"It's actually better than I thought. No case is the same as the last. I enjoy being part of a team. I formed friendships from my first day at Quantico that have sustained me ever since then. I'm now on a special task force run by one of my former classmates, and it's great. We always have each other's back, and we have the latitude to do what we need to do to get the job done."

"If you've found a way to sidestep bureaucracy, I'm impressed."

"That's all because of Flynn, my boss. He's a brilliant guy, and he brought down some very bad people, making quite a name for himself. His methods are unorthodox, but his results can't be denied, so he was put in charge of his own task force, and we are all reaping the rewards of that."

"I'm glad you found a career that suits you."

"I got some great experience working in Army Intelligence, so it wasn't a bad interim step for me." She turned down Todd's street and pulled into the short driveway in front of the garage.

As he got out of the car, he looked around. The street was as quiet as it had been earlier. He wondered if whoever had come by in the night had returned, but when they reached the front door, it was still locked. That was a good sign.

When he stepped into the living room, he saw the broken vase and shattered glass in front of the grandfather clock. Everything looked exactly as it had when they had left.

"I should probably clean that up," he muttered.

Savannah followed him into the kitchen as he went in search of a broom.

He hadn't paid much attention to the kitchen the night before, but now something felt off. He glanced toward the side door. The dead bolt was not on. And the blinds on the window next to the door seemed askew.Had someone come into the house?

Savannah paused by the kitchen table. "Todd has a lot of bills from the Emery Care Center in Jacksonville."

"That's probably where his mom is," he said, barely paying attention to her words. His gut was churning. Something was wrong.

"Some of them say past due. Was Todd having financial problems?"

"I don't know. He has a job with a private security firm. But I have no idea what his mother's care might cost."

As he moved through the kitchen, toward the adjacent laundry room, he heard an odd sound—a tick, tick, tick. There was no clock on the wall or anywhere in view.Was his brain throwing out some new sound to torture him?

He pushed open the laundry room door, and the sound got louder. It seemed to be coming from behind the dryer.