Chapter 1
CHAPTER
Wait just a minute. Kendra. What the hell is wrong with your computer?
” Olivia stopped just inside the door of Kendra’s condo and fended off her own endearing huge mutt of a dog, who was trying to lick her ear in an ecstatic greeting because her friend and neighbor Kendra Michaels had just brought him back from a long walk.
It was a lost cause; in spite of all the attempts to train Harley, he still had lapses when he was certain that Olivia would be gone forever when she walked out the door.
That was why she usually asked someone he knew and loved, like Kendra, to walk him when she couldn’t arrange to do it.
But today Kendra had decided to take him to her studio, where she counseled early-morning clients in her music therapy practice.
Most were young children, and Harley helped them relax with his playfulness and sweet nature.
Harley loved his time there, but today he had evidently gotten too excited.
“Down!” Olivia told Harley sternly. He just panted happily and rubbed against her.
She pushed him down and frowned at Kendra, whom she could hear chuckling.
“It’s not funny. He loves kids. I knew he’d be hyper when he got back, and I was trying to save you.
I was going to tell you to just leave him at my condo and I’d soothe him myself.
But that turned out to be a disaster, since you didn’t answer your phone—and what the hell is wrong with your email? ”
“Strange,” Kendra said. “It was working fine when I accessed it last night. Are you sure you typed in—” She stopped.
“Don’t give me that expression. I can feel the venom across the room.
I know it was probably my fault. My personal email inbox is probably full again.
I wasn’t blaming you. The entire world knows that you’re one of the sharpest businesswomen in this hemisphere and practically never make mistakes. ”
“Quite true,” Olivia said as she finally got Harley calmed down. “Though you might have enlarged the compliment a bit. Only this hemisphere, Kendra? I might be blind, but I don’t make mistakes when it comes to computers. Do you ever clean out your email inbox?”
“I said I was sorry,” Kendra said. “But we’ll have to check into it. Let’s change the subject. Yes, Harley did have a great time playing with the children, and they loved him. They couldn’t get over the fact that he has one blue eye and one brown. And he was very gentle with them.”
“Of course he was,” Olivia said. “His instincts are great, he just gets excitable with people he knows and cares about. We both realize he should be better behaved.” She added ruefully, “And the only one who’s ever been able to train him even marginally is Lynch, who’s never around long enough to give him any in-depth lessons.
Where is he this time? Any chance of getting him here to do it anytime soon? ”
Kendra shook her head. “I doubt it. The last time I talked to him was four days ago. He was on an assignment somewhere in Denmark and planning on leaving there and doing a little prep work somewhere else before he flies back here. I don’t think he’d be eager to drop everything to give Harley a refresher course.
” She grimaced. “And I know that the Justice Department wouldn’t think it was worth his time.
The last time I checked there weren’t any rogue nations for him to investigate around here, and no wicked international criminals for him to go manipulate. ”
“You can never tell,” Olivia murmured. “Maybe he needs to check it out. He may be their superagent, but I bet he’d come here in a second if you needed him.”
“To train Harley?” Kendra chuckled. “You’ve got to be joking. You know I’d never take him away from his work. We have an arrangement.”
“It doesn’t stop him from whisking you away to the nearest exotic place for fun and games whenever he gets the chance. You’re the one who usually puts on the brakes.”
“Because my job working with my music therapy clients may not be earthshaking, but it’s just as important to me as Lynch’s is to him and you know it. Back off, Olivia.”
Olivia shrugged. “Just thought I’d try. We both know that Harley isn’t the only one who could use a bit of care and attention around here. Between your students and occasionally working with the FBI and police, you don’t have much time to think about yourself.”
Kendra nodded. Olivia was right in that there hadn’t been time for much lately.
Kendra had been born blind, and Olivia lost her sight in a childhood car accident.
They grew up together as students in a special school in nearby Oceanside, but their dynamic changed slightly when, at the age of twenty, Kendra gained her vision via a revolutionary surgical procedure.
Although Kendra struggled with pangs of guilt for leaving her friend alone in the dark, Olivia hadn’t shown a trace of envy or bitterness.
There had been times when their paths pulled them in different directions, but if anything, they were now closer than ever.
“Okay, Olivia. You can back off now. I already have a mother who has the sense to let me live my own life. I don’t need you to hover over me.
Plus, I have coworkers in all my career endeavors that I respect and trust.” She smiled gently.
“And when I want a good meal or a friend to talk to, I can just hop on the elevator and go down to your condo and have you at my mercy.” She gave a mock sigh.
“That’s providing you can fit me into your busy schedule. ”
“I might be willing to push my many clients and devoted fans aside,” Olivia said dryly.
She was joking, but Olivia owned and managed a web destination with hundreds of thousands of daily visitors.
It was called Outasite, and it was geared toward blind consumers, a market long underserved by the media.
The site featured news, interviews, and product reviews, and the worldwide attention made Olivia a frequent commentator on cable news networks.
She smiled at Kendra. “Though the next time you don’t answer my phone calls, I may put you on my reject list.”
Kendra frowned. “I’ve accepted your abuse about not responding to your email. That could have happened, though I’m usually very careful. But my phone?” She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone. “No power.”
“You let the charge go down?” Olivia asked.
“It was fully charged when I left the condo with Harley this morning. It should have lasted me for the next forty-eight hours. But it’s dead as a doornail now.” She was examining the phone, trying different ways to get it to boot up. “I guess sometimes weird things happen with phones.”
“Not with my phones,” Olivia said flatly. “And I know Lynch wouldn’t let you be using anything but the best and most reliable one on the market, since it can be safety gear and you’re constantly phoning each other all over the world.”
It was true, but Kendra didn’t want to read anything into the fact that the phone that had never failed her had become inoperable. “But most of the time we send each other emails. It’s more efficient.”
Olivia snorted. “Not when you don’t send it to the correct address.”
Kendra shook her head. “What the hell are you talking about?” Then she remembered that scrap of conversation Olivia had thrown at her when she’d first come into her condo. “My computer. Why did you say something was wrong with it?”
“Because Lynch emailed you a message but he addressed it to me. Or at least I’m the one who received it. It was crazy. That was why I came storming into your condo. I was fed up.”
“I can see why.” Kendra raised the phone to her ear again. What had she expected? Still dead. “I hope it’s all just a glitch, but it makes me a little uneasy.”
“Because you never assume anything different or bizarre is just an innocent glitch if it’s connected to Adam Lynch,” Olivia said. “You expect something a good deal more contrived or dangerous. Isn’t that true?”
“Not in connection with me. He’s always proven himself to be absolutely honest and trustworthy.” She paused. “And he’s always shown himself to be a friend to you, Olivia.”
“Because he realizes how close you and I are.” Olivia shrugged.
“But yes, I always find him interesting and amusing. And I like having him around, because it makes me feel you’re safer.
” She reached into her pocket, pulled out her Braille smartphone, and handed it to Kendra.
“You might as well read it yourself so that you can see why I thought there could be something a little weird about you receiving a message like that from Lynch. As I said, he can be amusing, but there’s no way he’s not direct and to the point. This sounds a little loony.”
Gazing down at the message, Kendra could see exactly what Olivia meant. Only two lines, and she was as confused as Olivia when she read them.
“ ‘Hope all is well at the farm. Be sure to check out the livestock inoculations.’ ”
“What the hell?” Kendra said. “Livestock inoculations?”
“I warned you,” Olivia said. “I thought it might be some kind of private joke. But if so, it wasn’t very clever and didn’t sound at all like Lynch.”
“Tell me about it,” Kendra said. “My phone’s not working and Lynch has forgotten my email address and he’s suddenly decided to become a farmer. Stop grinning. It’s not funny. It’s annoying. May I use your phone?”
“Be my guest.” Olivia leashed Harley and turned to lead him out the door.
“In the meantime, I’ll take Harley down to my condo and get him some water and a treat while you have your talk with Lynch.
If he wants to make amends for his peculiar behavior today, you might remind him that Harley is really missing him, and all will be forgiven if he spends some quality time training him. ”
“Lord, you’re tough.” Kendra was already dialing. “You’re not even waiting for an excuse from him?”