Sea of Suspicion Read Online Free PDF Page A

way to be nice to others. She sighed. It wasn’t her best quality. “You said the university was getting a good deal. Particularly when I agreed to start teaching immediately—”
    “Don’t worry, Susie.” He wrapped a beefy arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. She squirmed, uncomfortable with the intimacy, but he gave her a dazzlingly white smile. “I made it quite clear to them that you are a first-class researcher who’ll be a huge asset to this department. Especially now.”
    She’d have to be deaf and blind to miss the subtext in that statement. Damn. She pulled away, unease swirling in her belly.
    “Anyway, I dealt with the matter and it’s all sorted now.” A slight frown dented his brow.
    She rubbed her arms and pressed her lips together. She was allowing personal feelings to affect her professionalism. “Thank you, Jake.”
    “Oh, and I’ve got something else to show you.” A fleetingly handsome expression touched his features. “Follow me.”
    She hurried after him, their footsteps echoing through the empty building. He headed through the old Victorian part of the marine lab, down the stairs into the deserted basement. Jake paused opposite the ladies’ room and smiled at her expectantly.
    “What is it?” she asked when the silence stretched and nothing happened.
    He gave her a conspirator’s wink. “Don’t ask me how many strings I pulled to organize this so quickly, but—” he put his hand on a big metal door opposite and swung it open, “—I got you allocated a Constant Temperature room all to yourself.”
    A thrill of excitement shot through her as she stepped inside the enclosed space. The air smelled cold and stale as a crypt but she inhaled gratefully. The room was stacked full to bursting with old aquaria, broken PVC pipes and moldy tubing. Jake stepped in behind her and she squeezed through the junk to make more room.
    “There’s seawater and freshwater outlets.” He pointed to the taps.
    “This is fantastic, Jake.” This was exactly what she needed to start breeding octopi and build her research program. She picked up a PVC joint she might be able to salvage. Tossed it into a relatively sound fiberglass tank. Whoever had claimed this room previously hadn’t used it for anything except growing penicillin. It was going to take a lot of scrubbing and hard work to get this space up to standard, but no one said the life of a marine biology professor was easy or glamorous. “Thanks so much.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    She turned to face him and felt a flash of apprehension because he was standing close and she was squeezed tight into a corner. A shudder of revulsion passed through her as his stare dropped hungrily to her breasts. No wonder his wife had looked at her with such jaded resignation when they’d been introduced last week.
    Jake’s cell phone rang, breaking the awkward moment and he excused himself. Susie raised her eyes to the heavens. Why couldn’t life be simple for a change?
     
    Eight hours later, she was washing lettuce in her friend Leanne’s kitchen. Leanne also worked at St. Andrews University and had married a lecturer in the computing department. They’d been best buddies since post-grad days at the University of Miami, where Leanne majored in psychology, Susie in marine biology. They’d hooked up in the sub-aqua club. It was Leanne who’d told Susie about the job vacancy here.
    Susie’s eyes misted and she grabbed her friend in a tight embrace. “I can’t believe I’m here, with you. That we live in the same country, let alone the same continent.”
    “I love you too, Blondie.” Leanne hugged her back using only her elbows, a baton of garlic bread in each hand. “Now get back to work.”
    After the awful period following Dela’s death in Australia, life was finally beginning to feel good again. And tomorrow Susie promised herself a day off. She’d explore the coastal path, absorb the scent of the sea and the pale blush of the