A Matter of Trust Read Online Free PDF Page B

them. There was no danger here.
    “I was into computers before most of my peers, when I was still a kid really. It just came easily to me. Pretty soon I was hacking into places I probably shouldn’t have been, but it got me turned on to the possibilities very early. One thing led to another.”
    “We have that in common,” Michael noted.
    Sloan regarded her with surprise. “What?”
    “An early fascination with something other people don’t understand.” Her face took on a distant expression, and she continued musingly, “It sets you apart. It can be hard.”
    “Yes.”
    Their eyes met, and Michael sensed that there was more that Sloan wasn’t saying. There was a harsh undertone in her deep voice that hinted at pain, and Michael had the distinct impression the security specialist was censoring her replies. She wondered, too, if Sloan had felt the same numbing isolation that she had experienced before Nicholas.
    With that thought, she suddenly realized how wrong she had been about Nicholas, perhaps from the very beginning. At seventeen, what she believed to be a partnership of equals had very likely only been youthful dependence spawned from aching loneliness. Now, when she thought of Nicholas, she saw only a remote, calculating stranger. Not someone who loved her. And not someone she loved. My God, has my whole life been a lie?
    The flicker of sorrow in Michael’s expressive eyes didn’t escape Sloan’s notice. It bothered her, and she had no idea why. Impulsively, she asked, “Have you eaten?”
    “No,” Michael replied cautiously, wondering where the conversation was headed. She was surprised by the question, realizing she hadn’t even been aware that she was hungry, and surprised even more that Sloan was inquiring. The other woman didn’t seem the type for easy familiarity any more than she was.
    “Actually,” Sloan began hesitantly, still uncertain why she was doing what she seemed to be doing. Maybe it was because they appeared to share some of the same disaffected past; maybe it was nothing more than that they had been able to talk so easily. She shrugged. Nothing wrong with being friendly, right? “I’m about to catch a show in Old City. A friend is performing, and the food there is serviceable. Want to come along?”
    Normally Michael wasn’t impulsive, but when she thought of the long night ahead, this seemed like a harmless enough diversion. “Why not?” she said and instantly wondered at this uncharacteristic whim.

    *

    Michael almost backed out a dozen times.
    We’re virtual strangers; what if we have nothing to talk about?
    Unfortunately, she had agreed to let Sloan drive, which at the time seemed to make sense. She hadn’t thought about the fact that she wouldn’t be able to make a hasty retreat if the evening turned into a disaster.
    She sat in the front seat of the sports coupe, staring out the window at the busy city streets. It was close to 11:00 on an unseasonably warm Friday night in April, and an unusual number of people were still walking about, taking advantage of the weather. She realized that she was rarely out at this time of night, unless it was to travel home from the office. And at those times, her mind was on automatic, busy constructing answers to questions most people hadn’t yet asked. That was one of her strengths, her ability to see both the problems and the solutions inherent in a project before they developed. She sorely wished that ability extended to her private life as well.
    Beside her, Sloan drove with quiet concentration. She seemed efficient, aggressive without being reckless, and intensely focused on maneuvering the powerful sports car through the narrow, crowded streets. Michael was surprised to find that she wasn’t uncomfortable, even though she was doing something completely foreign to her. She rarely socialized outside the obligatory business meetings, and when she and Nicholas had been forced to entertain, she had done so reluctantly. She simply