Relief swelled a bit since she actually had no idea how she was going to make it back to Louisville. Finding out what Stefan was up to out here in the middle of the Kentucky countryside had trumped that concern.

Thank God for Southern men.

“Eric, you’re a good guy.”

He winked. “Maybe so good I can get you to forget this man who is preventing you from having coffee with me.” He settled back with a sigh and closed his eyes.

She laughed and shook her head, disappearing down the overgrown lane.

It was a long lane.

Panting, she finally made it to the end where it opened up into a clearing. She was also now highly unhappy with her choice of skirt and heels. Of course, she’d imagined herself basking in the air-conditioning of Duskoff International all day, not slapping mosquitoes in a field near the meandering Ohio River.

Sunlight glinted off the top of a vehicle in the distance. Keeping to the tree line, she mounted the slope of the hill hiding the bottom half of the car and found a building.

A gleaming, shiny building right in the middle of the clearing.

It wasn’t a house; it was more industrial than that. Yet there was nothing to tell her exactly what the structure was meant for. The building was bland, nondescript, and very out of place here in the tranquil surroundings.

It was high afternoon, inching toward twilight. High afternoon was the hottest part of the day and Sarafina’s hair was limp and lay plastered to her head. She slipped off her shoes and let them dangle from her index fingers as she padded through the cool grass toward the building. The few windows there were had coverings over them, but there was a door at the back of the structure.

Of course it was locked. Stefan wasn’t going to hide a building way out here and not lock the doors.

Stymied, Sarafina turned in a circle, wondering what she could do. She was so close to finding out what Stefan was up to. She was right here, if only she could take a couple steps closer.

Trees surrounded the building. In the distance, down the bluff, was the river. She couldn’t get into the building, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t more to find around the building. Perhaps a search of the land would turn something up.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER SARAFINA HAD SEARCHED every last inch of the property and had nothing to show for it but bug bites. Stefan’s limo was still parked outside and no one had come in or gone out.

Twilight had long since faded into night, taking the warmth from the air and leaving only chill. It was time to go back to the mouth of the lane and hope Eric hadn’t left. She’d return to the hotel and try something else.