Trifecta by Pam Richter Page B

windows overlooking the grounds, she was visible inside the guest
cottage. 
    Damn, Aaron Quijada was coming!  She could see him walking
quickly toward the cottage with Bruno.  He bent down by the side of the pool and
put his hand in the water, testing the temperature. 
    Julia jumped up and ripped off the sheet of paper that
had just come out of the printer.  She quickly folded it into tiny squares and stuffed
it into her blouse, inside her bra.
    Then she pressed the save button on the computer and when
it said Y or N, she pressed N, for No.  She had to get rid of the message before
Quijada got here. 
    Julia quickly entered 092611 as a code into the computer. 
The directory for the manuscript appeared instantly.  The secret pass-code was the
probably the date Brian had begun the book, but backwards.
    Aaron knocked on the side of the door and she called for
him to come in.  As he was moving toward the desk, she had time to save the whole
book again, without using a code.  She would edit the manuscript, in case there
was anything inflammatory in it.  The original would still be on the computer's
hard drive, safely hidden from prying eyes.
    "Ah.  I see you found my manuscript," Quijada
said, as he bent down and peered at the screen.  She accessed the first chapter
and showed it to him.  As he stood beside her she almost felt faint and thought
it was an emotional reaction, until she began to sneeze.  It was some kind of cologne
he was wearing that was causing her eyes to water and her nose to itch fiercely. 
    "Are you all right," Quijada asked, backing away.
    "Fine," Julia answered, pinching her nostrils
to keep them from itching.  "Probably some pollen in the air."  She couldn't
tell him it was the overpowering, obnoxious scent he was wearing,  a sickening combination
of spicy and fruity.  Kind of like the sweet smell of juicy fruit gum, with the
horrible addition of cinnamon and cloves.
    "How'd you find the book?" Quijada asked.
    Julia decided to tell him the truth so he wouldn't think
she was holding anything back.  He had tried to find the information on the computer
himself, and had failed.  "Brian used a special access code.  I put everything
back into the main directory.  Now you can just turn the computer on and hit this
key," Julia said, pointing to F5.
    If Quijada really was guilty in Brian's death, and suspicious
that secrets were buried somewhere within the manuscript, she hoped she had put
those notions to rest.  Now that Quijada could get the material anytime he wanted,
he would be less likely to do so. 
    The thought of Quijada sneaking over here in the middle
of the night to read it was a little preposterous.  It was a large body of work. 
It would take a lot of time to read the whole thing.
    She thought of something else to allay his suspicions. 
"I'll print the whole manuscript, right away, and give it to you.  You can
go over it and see if you would like anything added or changed.  At the same time,
I'll be editing and making suggestions as to where the pictures should be inserted."
    "You can print it all, right now?" Quijada asked.
    "It will take a few hours, but yes, I'll do it right
away if you like."
    He was nodding, thoughtfully.  But he was also leaning
too close to her.  She could see black tufts of hair sprouting from his ears and
nose.  He had large facial pores, which looked black inside, and his face had small
pock marks.  From far away he was a good looking man in a swarthy, exotic way, but
close up he repelled her.  His eyes were watery and his features seemed course and
oversized.  On top of that, his cologne was making her sneeze.
    Julia noticed him back away, very rapidly.  If he was a
hypochondriac, afraid of germs to an excessive degree, she could act like she had
a cold and keep him at a distance.  The man had a menacing aura about him.  He also
had the arrogant attitude of one used to wielding great power. 
    Julia didn't want to believe she was really