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“Finally. The doctor said it would take a while, the mole was deep.”
“Good.” He bent down and kissed the spot in an almost fatherly way.
“I don’t think you’ll even see it in a month or two, you suppose?”
He backed away and nodded. “You look perfect to me, Shelby Ryan, with or without it.”
“And you are so sweet to me.” She turned to find her clothes, while Padraig pulled on his work boots.
When he stood up, towering over her, his handsome, hard body was a feast for her desiring eyes.
“See you at six,” he said, waving as he walked out the door.
Though she couldn’t see him, she felt his energy retreat as he walked away from her apartment and left her to the rest of her life. She’d count the hours until she’d see him again. The last couple of weeks felt much like it had been when they first got together. Not a wrinkle in a seamless relationship, which almost made her regret the decision to take off for Vienna. But she really had no choice. The ticket had been purchased weeks before, she’d made a commitment, and Christine would never forgive her if she didn’t show up as planned.
She actually invited Padraig his time, but he kept telling her there was something about his Visa, would screw things up if he didn’t stay put. She didn’t think that was right but refused to press him on the issue. There was a deep darkness in him that sometimes scared her. She had the feeling that he too had things to hide, maybe things having to do with his former life. In that way, they were very much alike.
Chapter Two
Shelby swung her travel bag over her shoulder and moved quickly through airport security, breathing a sigh of relief when she walked right through without being pulled over for a random search. She’d put as little as possible into her bag, just in case. But just in case didn’t happen this time. She purposely dressed conservatively, in brown pants and a matching blazer, a cream silk shirt underneath. Her hair had been neatly tied back into a simple bun and at her ears were a pair of small pearl earrings. Maybe her brown boots with the tall high-heels suggested the innately sexy female behind the demure clothes, but high heels were in fashion that year and a woman of her age wore them with a natural grace. Nothing in her attire was meant to attract attention and apparently her low profile caused no suspicions.
Her only worry as she moved on through security was that she’d arrive in Vienna and find her checked bag missing. On her last trip to Europe, she’d waited hours in a Spanish airport for her luggage to arrive.
The transatlantic flight proved uneventful; the weather monotonous, nothing to see with hardly a cloud in the sky. She slept a while, knowing she’d need the sleep just to catch up with the time change. Then she read when she awakened, only to find herself dozing off again from time to time until the huge jet began its descent into the ViennaAirport.
Though Shelby moved through customs with practiced ease, she always sighed with relief once the ordeal was over. This time seemed no different as she passed through the security checks without a hitch, at least until two security guards stepped in front of her just as she’d gone through the final gate. She practically banged into their puffed-out chests, and stepped back, momentarily stunned. “Something the matter?” she looked up, trying to maintain her cool.
“Shelby Ryan?”
“Yes. That’s me.”
“Your passport, please.”
“My passport, why? I thought—” A nervous shiver ran down her spine.
“Please, if you will, Ms. Ryan—” The fair-skinned guard peered down his haughty nose at her. He looked like a classic Aryan foot soldier. Little Nazi, Shelby thought to herself.
“Yes, of course,” she tried to redeem herself with a soft smile, then handed over the document she held in her hand. Both guards glanced through it carefully, then the fair-skinned one took hold of her by the arm, escorting her to an area behind a metal screen.
She struggled against his firm grip, “Where are you taking me?”
“We need to search your bag,” the dark-haired guard answered tersely, as he followed them behind the screen. His expression was much more surly and forbidding than that of his patronizing colleague. Strangely enough he spoke in perfectly modulated English with just a trace of an accent, which made something about him rather chilling. As if she’d been overtaken by some dark force, her determination to contest the frightening procedure seemed to vanish
Shaking like a leaf by then, Shelby handed over her shoulder bag and watched as the fellow began to sift through its contents. When he reached the carefully taped and folded manila envelope at the bottom of her bag, a cold smirk crossed his lips.
“What’s this?” He held up the small goldenrod-colored package.
“A computer disk.”
“Tell me about it, Ms. Ryan.”
“There’s nothing to tell. Music, I was told. You can see that I haven’t opened it.”
“And where did it come from?”
“A friend gave it to me. It’s nothing subversive, if that’s what you think.”
Seemed his smirk would be perpetually evil. He studied the innocuous wrapper as if he might find some clue to its contents, though it was obvious with a single glance that the wrapper had no markings. Abruptly, and without explanation, he slipped through a door and was gone for a very long time. Maybe twenty nerve wracking minutes passed during which Shelby was forced into a plastic chair while the blond, blue-eyed guard looked down at her, barely disguising his scorn. In time, he rifled a cigarette from his pants pocket and lit up. Then he cocked the open pack in her direction, silently offering her one.
