Wish of the Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

haven’t finished my coffee, so I’m feeling fuzzy. Let me think.”
    Sympathy rose within Macie as she studied Susan’s bleary eyes and pale skin. “Late night?”
    “You have no idea.” Susan rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. “My boss was in meetings most of the day yesterday. My hand still aches from taking notes. Why do you ask?”
    “Something’s missing from my desk,” Macie said. It was the first excuse she thought of that made sense.
    Susan straightened her seat. “Stolen?”
    “Oh, no. Borrowed, I think. My three-hole punch,” Macie said.
    “You can borrow mine if you need it,” Susan offered.
    “Thanks. I don’t need it right now, I’m just wondering how it wandered off.”
    Macie hadn’t thought it would be easy, but she was still disappointed. There wouldn’t have been many opportunities for someone to get into her purse. Thinking of the note caused a little shiver of fear.
    For now, she’d hang onto it. She’d hand it over to the police along with the laptop if, or when, they found something of interest.

Chapter 7  
    Macie raised her hand to knock, but the door opened before she had the chance. Rylan stood there in a rumpled blue shirt, looking tired and scruffy. He hadn’t shaved and his hair spiked up in places as if he’d been running his fingers through it.
    She followed him inside. “Have you found anything?”
    “Not exactly, but I discovered something odd. There are files in a hidden folder.” Rylan pointed at the computer.
    “What was in them?” Macie asked.
    Rylan rubbed the back of his neck with jerky fingers. “I don’t know yet. They’re password protected.”
    Macie sighed. “That again?” She hung her purse on the back of a chair.
    Rylan rolled up he sleeves and sat at the computer. “We got through before. We’ll get through again. I already tried everything we tried before on the list.”
    “How many files are there?” Her mind shuffled through the possibilities.
    “Seven.” Rylan pointed to the screen with his finger
    Macie moved so she could view the computer. “I think Karen would have made it easy so she could remember with that many files.”
    Rylan’s hands were poised over the keyboard. “Okay, so like the days of the week?”
    “Maybe. That isn’t a bad idea.” Macie followed his fingers as he typed, watching the play of the tendons under the skin.
    Rylan tried to open the files to no avail.
    “Colors of the rainbow?” Macie suggested. She smelled his aftershave—a distracting mix of spicy musk that made her want to move closer.
    “Good old Roy G. Biv, huh? Okay.” Again, he wasn’t successful.
    Macie tapped her fingers on the table. “Seven deadly sins?”
    “So … sloth, lust, greed, envy, pride. What else?” Rylan prompted.
    “Wrath and gluttony.” Ugh . Macie didn’t want to think of how many applied to her, though right now, lust seemed to be her biggest problem.
    Rylan’s fingers flew over the keys. “No go.”
    “Seven wonders of the world?” Macie tapped her forehead, bidding inspiration to strike.
    Rylan laughed. “Who knew there were so many things grouped by seven?”
    “We might not even be on the right track.” Macie’s hand clenched in momentary frustration.
    “Maybe not,” Rylan agreed.
    “Seven dwarfs?” Macie proposed. Karen’s interests had been so varied, nothing jumped out to Macie.
    “Happy and Dopey?” As Rylan hit enter and instead of the usual wrong password prompt, a spreadsheet opened. “Bingo! That was genius.”
    “I wonder what’s in here that has someone so worked up?” Thinking of the note still made her uneasy.
    “What do you mean?” Rylan asked.
    Macie opened her purse and withdrew the note, still in the plastic bag she’d placed it in. She handed it to Rylan.
    As he read, his expression turned thunderous. “When did you receive this?”
    “Yesterday,” Macie responded.
    Rylan glared at the paper. “Okay. It’s time to go to the police.”
    “What would they do?