His Absolute Betrayal - Elise's Love Story: The Billionaire's Continuum (#2) (A Contemporary Romance Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

asked.
    "I may have forgotten to tell her all of the details," Lucent said.
    I took a sip of my coffee.  I assumed that if Lucent hadn't told me, it must not be that big of a deal.
    "Huh?" Margaret said.  "You didn't tell her that the police are searching for you?"
    I wasn't sure if I was thankful for swallowing my sip of coffee before she said that, or if I would have preferred spitting it out instead.  I choked on the steaming liquid forcing its way down my throat.  Coughing and hacking, I shoved my coffee to the middle of the table and tried to stand.  Lucent was next to me, then with me, on me, rubbing my back firmly.
    I gasped, swallowed, choked, swallowed again, then somehow managed to regain some of my composure.  Tears stung my eyes and my throat hurt, but at least I wasn't coughing.
    "The police?" I asked, my voice harsh, both from having just choked in surprise and probably because I wasn't too happy at this revelation.  Was I the last person to know about this?
    "We discussed this," he said.
    "We certainly didn't discuss that," I said.
    "Why do you think we came here?  What did you think the point was?"
    "I thought," I said, pushing him away and returning to my seat.  "I thought," I continued, having lost my train of thought, "that we came here because of what happened?  With the man in that room and worrying about maybe someone else or something?  I don't know exactly, but I didn't think we were running from the police.  Why would we do that?  We didn't do anything wrong, did we?"
    "No," Lucent said.  "Not quite."
    "So..." Margaret interrupted.  She picked up her own cup of coffee and pointed to it.  "I'm going to take this?  And go over there?  You two can talk.  I'll just start opening up shop.  I would maybe suggest you figure this out quick, though.  Rob's going to be here and who knows what'll happen then?"
    "We'll be gone shortly," Lucent said.  "Please, Miss Mitchell, if you can keep what I've told you private, that would be appreciated."
    Margaret started to leave, but not before giving me a quick hug.  I hugged her back, entirely unsure why we were hugging or what the point of it was.  It seemed like some kind of consolation, but I didn't think I needed to be consoled?
    Except, maybe I did.  Apparently I was on the run from the law, with police out searching for me.
    My friend went to do her opening library tasks, leaving me and Lucent alone.
    "Do you want to tell me what that was about?" I asked him.
    "I was planning on it.  It didn't seem important at the time, and I didn't have a chance to do it before now, either.  If you'll recall, we were both somewhat distracted this morning?"
    "Yes, this morning, but we've been here since last night, Lucent."
    "I found out late last night.  I anticipated something like this happening, but I didn't know exactly how it might come about."
    "You anticipated the police hunting through the city for us?  We're fugitives, is that it?  Why don't we just go to the police station and correct this."
    "That's ill-advised," he said.
    "Why?" I asked.  "I don't see why it would be.  We didn't do anything wrong."
    "We didn't," he agreed.  "That's not what it looks like, though.  The police investigators found my coat at the scene of the crime, along with other evidence that the fire in the data storage room wasn't an accident.  It's possible there's more going on, as well, though they aren't going to publicly acknowledge that for the time being.  I am assuming that last part, because that's how police procedure usually takes place."
    "They think we started the fire, then?" I asked.
    He nodded.  "Indeed."
    "So why don't we just go and tell them we didn't start the fire?"
    "Of course," he said, rolling his eyes.  "Why didn't I think of that?  What do we tell them, then?  That we just happened to find our way into a room that should have been inaccessible, and I mistakenly left my coat there?  The signs of arson can just as easily be explained