He was also aware that it added another dimension to his pursuit of the elusive Jabberwock. Quietly slipping out of the bed, he pulled on Cam's robe and padded silently across the carpet into the other bedroom, where he peeked out between the drapes. The rain had ended. In its wake, the sky appeared as a vast blue canvas that some capricious painter had daubed with a few random blotches of white. Looking out toward the street in front, he found a dark cloud on the horizon. The gray van had moved closer, so that it now sat opposite the condo next door to Lori.
A clock on the bedside table caught his eye as he started back toward the hallway. It showed past nine-thirty. Had they slept that long? Or had it been well into the hours past midnight when the intensity of their lovemaking had given way to a warm afterglow, a languid sense of contentment bordering on exhaustion?
Back in Lori's bedroom, he found her beginning to stir. He sat on the side of the bed as she glanced up through half-closed lids, her long, dark hair swirling about her face. She would have protested that she looked a mess, but to him, she had never looked lovelier.
"So you're the guy I went to bed with last night," she said, smiling.
"You were expecting maybe Paul Newman?"
"Ha! Guys who drive race cars and make salad dressing don't do much for me." She sat up, pulling the sheet across her bare chest with a twinge of embarrassment.
It was a female reaction that Burke had never understood, but he passed it off with a grin. "So, private eye-photographers are your thing, huh?"
"We had something magical going last night," she said. "I've never been on such a high before, not even when I tried smoking pot in college. And I'd never have thought I'd feel this way the day after burying my father. But I think he'd have approved."
"I don't know that this is what he had in mind when he asked me to look in on you occasionally. But I agree. At least he would have understood." He took her hand and squeezed it affectionately. "At the risk of putting a downer on your reveries, I'd best give you the news. Our friends in the van have moved up for a closer look. They're parked right across the street."
She frowned. "I'm not surprised. Since they can't hear what's going on inside, they're determined to keep a closer watch on the outside."
"They probably have somebody posted in back, too."
She nodded. "He'd be in the woods beyond the fence, staying out of sight."
"They may have put a tap on your phone."
"Very likely. With you here, who cares? Why don't you go down and put some coffee on. I'll try to get my act together, then I'll fix us some breakfast.
They ate in the dining room. Lori opened the drapes, letting the glaring sun beam in through the sheer curtains that covered the windows. She had gone all-out on breakfast, grapefruit, eggs, Canadian bacon, hash browns, blueberry muffins.
"No grits?" Burke asked.
"Grits," she said with a turned-up nose. "We're in Virginia, but that's about the only Southern thing I can lay claim to."
"Well, you can cook as good as a Southerner," he said, reaching for another muffin. "Now if we can just figure how to get me out of here."
Right now, getting him out of there was not a subject she was anxious to pursue. They had just begun to really get to know one another. "I don't see any way you could manage it in the daylight," she said.
"Not without running into a welcoming committee." He looked toward the door to the patio. "We don't have many advantages on our side, so we'd better make the best of what we're given."
She tilted her head with that half-amused, contemplative look. "They have a van in front, probably a man in the woods at the rear. And you're seeing advantages?"
"For one thing, they probably don't know I'm in here. Secondly, even if they did, they don't know when I'm liable to come out."
"Our advantage is surprise, in other words."
He nodded. "And we'll choose the optimum time to spring our surprise."
"Am I supposed to guess?"
"The hour between two-thirty and three-thirty a.m. is at the low ebb of the life cycle. Even people who've rested up during the day tend to get bored and drowsy then."
"So we should make our move at three—"
"Not we," he said pointedly. "Me."
She gave him a caustic look. "I told you I wanted to help."
"And help you shall, dear lady. But here, where you can monitor our chums at Langley. With your contacts, you should be able to keep up with what they've managed to find out about me."
She looked disappointed, a little hurt. "I can do better than that. You're ignoring the fact that I've been through the rigors of the Agency's training program at The Farm. Plus the years I put in with the Clandestine Service. I'll wager I'm a hell of a lot better than anybody out in that van."
He smiled. "I have no doubt you're better, Lori, but I'm keeping you as my ace in the hole. Right now it's just a matter of checking out the New Orleans airport, looking for an airplane. If I can find Jeffries and his Jabberwock training site, then I'll need help."
She knew he was hedging, that he was reluctant to expose her to any danger. She appreciated his concern, but she wasn't about to let him off the hook. "All right. I'll be your ace, but don't think you can keep me in the hole for long. I'll give you some safe phone numbers and the times to call. I want to know that you're okay, and I want to know what's going on."
"You'll know everything I know. I promise. Now, getting back to tonight, we want to make our move appear random, so instead of three o'clock, we'll make it at three-oh-nine."
She noticed he took pains to say "we" this time.
She smiled. It was a minor point, but she liked the way he was thinking now. He was acting more like the professional she knew he could be. "Remember, you won't have the rain for cover tonight. There may be a moon out instead."
That obviously bothered him. "It sure would help to know what the moon'll do tonight."
She shrugged. "Sorry. I don't have an Old Farmer's Almanac."
"Too bad. That's what we need, information on what phase the moon is in, how big and bright it'll be. Better yet, moonrise and moonset tables. You could call and get it, but that would be a sure tip-off to our listen-in buddies."
She thought about that for a moment. "I have a briefcase full of sea charts and weather information I brought back from sailing last Monday. Walt Brackin — he and his wife were on the sailing expedition — left it with me. They were headed for a day or two at Virginia Beach and he didn't want to have to fool with it."
She brought the briefcase to the table and they sifted through its contents, ultimately finding what they were after. The moon would not be a significant factor.
When he had finished outlining his plan, she felt much better. Burke was leaving nothing to chance. Events of the last few days had obviously left him with no illusions about the threat he faced.
"I'll put those clothes you had on last night in the washer," she said as he helped her clear the table.
"Good. Since they're all I've—"
The ringing phone interrupted him. Lori answered it.
"Hi, doll. You okay?" Chloe Brackin’s breezy voice was as upbeat as ever.
"I'm fine," Lori said. "Slept late, ate a big breakfast."
"We thought we might drop by this afternoon. Just for a few minutes, if it's all right with you. We're supposed to play doubles with one of Walt's partners and a friend around four. We could stop by your place three-ish."
Lori glanced at Burke. She could hide him in the bedroom upstairs for a short time. If she discouraged them from coming, the watchers might get suspicious. "Sure, Chlo, come on over. I have Walt's briefcase full of charts to get back to him."