Laurie twisted around in the seat so she could look directly into Jack’s broad face. In the half light, it was impossible to see his eyes. “You’re not serious. I mean you’re joking, right?”

“Well, there’s no way I could phone GenSys or even go up to Cambridge and walk into their home office and say: ‘Hi folks, what’s going on in Equatorial Guinea?’”

“But we’re talking about Africa,” Laurie said. “That’s crazy. It’s halfway around the world. Besides, if you don’t think you’d learn anything going up to Cambridge, what makes you think you’d learn anything going to Africa?”

“Maybe because they wouldn’t expect it,” Jack said. “I don’t suppose they get many visitors.”

“Oh, this is insane,” Laurie said, flapping her hands into the air and rolling her eyes.

“Hey, calm down,” Jack said. “I didn’t say I was going. I just said it was something I was beginning to think about.”

“Well, stop thinking about it,” Laurie said. “I’ve got enough to worry about.”

Jack smiled at her. “You really are concerned. I’m touched.”

“Oh, sure!” Laurie remarked cynically. “You’re never touched by my pleas not to ride your mountain bike around the city.”

The taxi pulled up in front of Laurie’s apartment building and came to a halt. Laurie started to get some money out. Jack put a hand on her arm. “My treat.”

“All right, I’ll get it next time,” Laurie said. She started to climb out of the cab, then stopped. “If you were to promise to take a cab home, I think we could rustle up something to eat in my apartment.”

“Thanks, but not tonight,” Jack said. “I’ve got to get the bike home. I’d probably fall asleep on a full stomach.”

“Worse things could happen,” Laurie said.

“Let me take a rain check,” Jack said.

Laurie climbed out of the cab and then leaned back in. “Just promise me one thing: you won’t leave for Africa tonight.”

Jack took a playful swipe at her, but she easily evaded his hand.

“Good night, Jack,” Laurie said with a warm smile.

“Good night, Laurie,” Jack said. “I’ll call you later after I talk with Warren.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Laurie said. “With everything that’s happened, I’d forgotten. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

Laurie closed the taxi door and watched the cab until it disappeared around the corner on First Avenue. She turned toward her door, musing that Jack was a charming but complicated man.

As she rode up in her elevator, Laurie began to anticipate her shower and the warmth of her terry-cloth robe. She vowed she’d turn in early.

Laurie treated Debra Engler to an acid smile before keying her multiple locks. She slammed her door behind her to give Mrs. Engler an extra message. Moving her mail from one hand to the other, she removed her coat. In the darkness of the closet, she groped for a hanger.

It wasn’t until Laurie entered the living room that she flipped the wall switch that turned on a floor lamp. She got two steps toward the kitchen when she let out a muffled scream and dropped her mail on the floor. There were two men in the living room. One was in her art-deco chair, the other sitting on the couch. The one on the couch was petting Tom, who was asleep on his lap.