Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row

had more projects going than he could juggle, however. He'd have to give this some thought before he took any action. He put everything back in the envelope and slipped it into his desk drawer.
    Turning on his computer, he switched mental gears to his final article on his tour of the disaster area. His hands hovered over the keyboard for a fraction of a second before attacking. Halfway through, he reached for his phone, lifted the receiver, and replaced it again. He needed to verify a fact. All it would take was a call to Valerie, but it would also be a good excuse to call Holly. With a disgusted shake of his head, he picked up the receiver again, punched the interoffice code for research, and was put on hold.
    He wasn't going to call Holly just yet, because more than anything else he wanted to hear her voice. That in itself was a bad sign. One of his personal rules was never to call a woman from the office or when he was out of town on business. In his mind that implied that he was thinking about her when he should be working, that there was a depth of affection he didn't feel.
    He tried to always play it straight with women. He made sure they knew the only commitment they would hear from him was his commitment to remain a free-wheeling, uncommitted bachelor. For some reason he never understood but thoroughly enjoyed, that knowledge rarely turned a woman away.
    As part of an investigation, however, Holly wasn't protected by his personal rules.
    The sense of freedom he had expected to feel Monday night after Holly left hadn't come. During the next two days alone in the camper, he had thought about calling her to make sure she had returned safely and to firm up the bond they'd begun. The more often the thought occurred, the more determined he became not to call her until he got back. At any rate, it would be infinitely better for his plan if she started to worry whether he would get in touch with her again.
    It would be even better if she called him first.
    "Research. Sorry to keep you holding."
    "Hey, Valerie. Did you miss me?" he asked with a smile in his voice.
    "Oh, were you away?" she replied in the same tone.
    "I guess you've been busy."
    "Swamped. My husband is threatening to sue the paper if I don't start getting home before midnight."
    "Well, as much as I hate to add to your troubles, I need a few statistics for my hurricane wrap-up."
    "That's an easy one. I pulled together a whole folder of facts right after Brigitte hit. Come on down and see if it's what you need."
    David was at Valerie's desk within a few minutes.
    "Have fun," she said, handing him the thick folder. "I can't let you take it away but you can copy whatever you need on my machine."
    He found what he needed and, while making the copies, he duplicated a sheet of paper he'd brought with him—the tabloid write-up on Frampton. Returning the file to her desk, he showed the paper to her. "It looks like something was cut out and it might be important to a piece I'm working on. Could you track the original article down for me?"
    She smiled. "The database should have a listing of all articles printed about him. But it may take me a while to get to this. I have a long list of top priority questions to work through first."
    "No problem. It's on my back burner for the moment. Still no progress with the Dominion rosters?"
    Valerie shook her head. "Sorry. With all my calls, I've gotten chummy with a woman in the registrar's office and she said that the FBI has ordered all the old files temporarily sealed."
    David let out a whistle. "That's a little telling, wouldn't you say?"
    She gave him a shrug. "I just do research, not analysis. And by the way, I even put up a post on Craig's List offering to buy a yearbook but no takers on that yet either."
    David grinned and started to walk away when an idea occurred. "Do you think you could get your new friend to verify if a specific person attended Dominion the same year as Erica Donner?"
    She shrugged. "I can try."
    "The names are Rachel Greenley and Holly Kaufman. They might have been freshmen or sophomores. I need you to put this one on your top priority list."
    Valerie smirked at him and he blew her a kiss on his way out the door.
    Satisfied that he was doing something toward the story that he was still certain was hiding just around the corner, he got back to his article on the hurricane.
    Why had Holly left without a word or note of goodbye?
    He cut off his train of thought. Images from their last afternoon