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His gut squeezed painfully.
When did it happen? he wondered, his gaze sliding over the shadows as he searched for any sign of a disturbance. When had he lost himself in her? Not that it mattered now. He glanced at the digital readout of his watch as he spied the open window of the dormitory.
A second later, a dark figure appeared on the fire escape.
Damn!
His pulse began to thunder.
He’d thought she would come up with something a little more imaginative.
Jaw tight, he observed her climb down the grating as a half moon cast its solitary glow over the rugged terrain and wide buildings of the campus.
A deepening sense of outrage burned through him as he watched her scurrying through the deepening night, avoiding the grove of trees and gazebo flickering with tiny lights.
His gloved fingers clenched over the binoculars.
How close she’d come to out-witting him.
Isn’t that what attracted you in the first place?
He remembered reading her application for admittance, studying her essay, staring at the picture that had been enclosed. She’d wanted to come here.
She’d gotten to him at his first glimpse. Her intelligent eyes had smoldered with rebellion, her mouth had been curved into a disturbed pout and there had been something about her expression, in the supposedly candid shot, that had screamed disobedience. And more. So much more. Her image had taken his breath away.
That which had intrigued him most about her, had proved the most deadly.
But there was no time for recriminations now.
She was on the move, her slim, dark shadow dashing across the moon-washed open spaces, only to stop and hide in the deeper shadows. Across the campus lawns, avoiding the paths, keeping to the night-shadows of the solitary trees and tall buildings, she skirted the chapel and administration building before heading due west. Away from the road leading to the outside world.
The muscles of his jaw tightened as he followed her movements. She stopped again, at the corner of the cafeteria where she waited.
Odd.
Was she second-guessing her break for freedom?
He doubted it, but another painful thought sliced through him. What if she were meeting someone? Another lover. Jealousy burned hot through his blood.
Like a criminal, she skulked along the side of the stone and cedar building housing the cafeteria and gym. Glancing over her shoulder, she hesitated but a second before running with the grace and agility of the athlete she was across an open space, past the flagpole with its chain clanging in the stiff wintry breeze, and between the administration building and chapel.
So near!
He followed her movements as she ran along the east wall of the admin building. When she reached the back portico, she veered at a ninety-degree angle toward the buildings housing the livestock. A round-about path that he concluded was just to ensure that she wasn’t being followed. If found out, she could make up some lame excuse and probably had already formed one.
Quickly she glanced over her shoulder once more.
He held his breath.
Then, as if assured she wasn’t being followed, she took off again. At a dead sprint. This time she headed directly toward the stable.
Of course.
The horses.
Foolish girl.
Finally, she’d made a mistake.
