“Remarkable.” Jeremiah shook his head. “It’s absolutely incredible.”

“And a promising start to our adventure. I’ll leave you to rest, Mr. Adams. I imagine you must be tired from the morning’s activities. The bedroom is just through there.” Scott nodded toward a closed door on the far side of the room. “And remember, if there is anything you need, use the phone.”

Scott left, swiping the key card against a panel to open the door. It closed behind him with a quiet but significant click.

Chapter 3

Jeremiah stood in the middle of his new living room. There was almost complete silence, except for a steady hum coming from somewhere above his head. It must have been some sort of air circulation, he decided. He began to explore his surroundings.

He was happy to note a few of his favorite authors on the bookshelves and delighted to see a complete set of Shakespeare, small books bound in ancient-looking cracked red leather. In the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator and found it stocked with all the necessities, but in a wide enough array to cover any taste: three kinds of milk, five different juices and an assortment of fruits and vegetables, many of which he didn’t even like. There were two six-packs of beer from a microbrewery he’d never heard of. At least, he thought with some relief, Scott had stopped short of hiring someone to snoop through his home refrigerator and duplicate its contents here.

In the bedroom, he sat tentatively on the edge of the king-size bed and noted the total lack of any feminine touches in the decor. There was no vanity table or makeup mirror, no tall lingerie chest like the one Diana had at home. The attached bathroom was bigger by far than the one they shared and had both a shower and a claw-foot tub, as well as a doored-off toilet. High shelves in a walk-in closet held a full wardrobe in his exact size. He absently fingered the assortment of khaki pants and jeans, T-shirts in every color and a hanging rod that held about twenty-five casual buttoned shirts. There wasn’t a suit or tie to be seen. He wouldn’t need business attire for a solid year, he realized.

Back in the living room, he picked up the landline phone. It had no dial on it, no way to call out. Before he even put it to his ear, he heard a woman’s voice on the other end.

“Hello, Mr. Adams. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Oh, n-no,” he stammered. “I was just testing the phone.”

“I see. Have you had a chance to go through your provisions? Is everything satisfactory?”

“Yes, yes, fine. They seem to have thought of everything.”

“Well, if you should ever require anything from the outside—specific food, books, even furniture—all you have to do is pick up the phone and we can usually arrange it for you,” she said. “We can handle most requests.”

“Well, I might let you know I probably won’t eat the asparagus. You can cross that off the shopping list.”