Read The Fright of the Iguana Online
Authors: Linda O. Johnston
The Fright of the Iguana (35 page)
What woke me in the morning wasn’t the clock radio or dog barks, but my cell phone. Groggily, I checked the caller ID, assuming hopefully that it was Jeff. Close, but no cigar. It was his computer geek, my good friend Althea.
“Hi, Althea,” I said. “I was hoping your boss was calling.”
“You haven’t heard from him either?”
That immediately made me sit up straight in bed. My sudden stiff posture also stimulated the dogs to awaken and watch me.
“What do you mean?” I asked with trepidation.
“The people he was scheduled to see in the east called this morning. He was supposed to get there for his seminar an hour ago. They tried calling him, and when he didn’t answer his cell phone they called the hotel where he’d made a reservation. He didn’t check in last night. They left word at the office for someone here to call them first thing. I couldn’t track him down anywhere and thought that maybe you knew where he was.”
Icicles of fear started sending streams of cold all through my suddenly shaking body.
Damn. Here I was, half decided to move in with the guy. I loved him . . . I guessed.
Had he realized that I was actually considering making a commitment and decided this was an excellent time to bail out?
No. Surely not. Jeff would at least have the guts to tell me point-blank he’d been joking, or had changed his mind. And he surely wouldn’t abandon his own P.I. and security company simply to foil me.
That left another possibility. By deciding I just might give this living together thing a try, I’d somehow jinxed him.
Was he lying hurt somewhere? Worse?
I’d no idea, but I sure as hell was going to find out.
“Is there any possibility that he’s gone undercover on some supersecret government assignment?” I asked Althea.
“Well, sure,” she said. “But when he’s done that before, he’s at least given me a cover story.”
“Maybe his security system installation and seminar were supposed to be that cover story this time,” I said.
“Maybe. But even knowing that doesn’t explain why he didn’t appear.”
Which was absolutely true. And wouldn’t he have at least made up something to tell me, too?
Well, wherever he was, he hadn’t been missing for long. Maybe I was worrying for nothing. Althea, too.
Maybe not.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can, Althea,” I told the woman at the other end of my phone. “Okay, Lexie and Odin,” I then said to my canine companions. “I think I’ll move back out of here today, just to see if that makes any difference in the universe as to when Jeff shows up again. And in the meantime, we’re going to do everything in our power to go find the guy. You both love him, and I suspect I do, too. So let’s get ready and go after him.”
Both dogs stood and wagged their tails enthusiastically.
Just like I’d told Tracy Owens, one way or the other, I’d be fine—with or without Jeff in my life.
But I sure as hell wanted to ensure that any disappearance from it had been planned, big, deep government operation or not.
And so, the three of us prepared for our day of tracking down my potential live-in lover.
But the thought that remained right at the forefront of my mind: Where the hell was Jeff?
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