Chapter 8: Paranoia
Julie had been in such a hurry to flee from Science Frontiers that she arrived at her 1st Street apartment building ten minutes early. She approached her front door with caution, and her heart skipped a beat when she heard funky music with a Latin beat coming from her living room. Was Diana there playing some sort of sick joke on her? She listened to Julio Iglesias croon about Amor…
Amor. Amor. Amor. The time is right. We have tonight to spend together…
Please let it be Donovan and not Diana, Julie thought.
She reached in her handbag and pulled out the little pistol Donovan gave her last year, her fingers curled around the cold metal. She held it down at her side with one hand, and then she cautiously turned the doorknob with the other. Her stomach gurgled with fear.
When she had the door all the way open, then she saw Donovan kneeling on the floor in front of the stereo component system she had purchased a few months ago. He smiled up at her then stood. She let him hug her but tensed under his embrace.
"You didn't want to take care of Elizabeth, huh?" he teased.
"She's okay?"
Donovan took her hand in his own, his fingers soft and warm. He pressed a kiss to her earlobe. A chill went down Julie's neck.
"We made it up… totally bogus." He chuckled.
Julie flinched and ducked away. "Stop!"
He still grinned. "Elias said he'd have the chefs prepare something for us after close. Aidele agreed to play the piano. After last night, I thought we could—"
"I can't spend the evening with you," she interrupted, keeping her voice low.
"Why? You have plans? Daddy Warbucks—"
"Shh!" She hurried into her bedroom and opened her closet door and looked inside. Nobody was there. She scanned the room as Donovan walked in. Julie did not see any device like the one Diana had brought to Nathan Bate's office today, but she still felt uneasy. Even if Diana did not bug her apartment, there was always the possibility of Bates having her monitored. She peeked around the curtain.
"What are you doing?" Donovan asked.
There was no identifiable car from Science Frontiers in the parking lot below. Nathan would send an unmarked vehicle, Julie realized. And if they are down there, it is not safe for Donovan to leave.
"Julie, what's going on?" he asked.
Where do I begin? She wondered and thought, If Diana has a recording device in the room, she'll have the evidence to prove her accusation. And if I let Donovan leave and Nathan is monitoring me, Donovan will be captured again.
Julie pulled her mattress away from the box spring and looked between them. There was no bugging device there either.
"What are you looking for?" Donovan questioned.
She felt the tears form in her eyes as she looked at Donovan, and mouthed, "I can't talk about it right now."
"Are you being watched?" he mouthed back.
She nodded, then shrugged, not knowing the answer herself.
He hesitated for a moment, as if thinking then went to her desk for a pen and paper.
