The Green Trap Read Online Free Page A

with the funeral arrangements and all that.”
    â€œOh, Paul, I’d appreciate that so much! I just can’t seem to think straight for two minutes in a row. I’m such a mess.”
    â€œI’ll be there, Irene. Tomorrow. Soon’s I can make it.”
    â€œThank you, Paul. Thank you.”
    â€œSee you tomorrow, then.”
    â€œTomorrow. Yes. Goodbye, Paul.”
    â€œGoodbye.”
    He clicked the phone shut. Sandoval focused her green eyes on him. “Would you mind if I went with you? Perhaps your brother kept some records or files at home.”
    â€œGo with me?”
    â€œIt’s important that we discover what he was working on. Whatever it was, it got him killed.”
    â€œI can’t believe that—”
    â€œPlease, Dr. Cochrane,” she said, her green eyes pleading. “Let me go with you. Please. I’d be so grateful.”
    Cochrane shrugged. “Okay, I guess.” He found himself thinking, Fly out there with this good-looking woman? Sure, why the hell not?

PALO  ALTO:
COCHRANE   RESIDENCE
    C ochrane noticed that Sandoval got attentive glances from men at the airport. And from women, too. Striding through the corridors with her, sitting next to her on the plane, Cochrane caught a definite whiff of admiration from the men. For a nerd you’re doing okay, they seemed to be saying. She’s a keeper.
    Sandoval had made the flight arrangements for the two of them, to San Jose. “It’s closer than San Francisco,” she had explained. “Smaller airport, easier to get in and out.” She’d made the rental car reservation, as well. No Corolla for her; she drove a four-door sandy gold Infiniti north on Highway 101, tooling past the massive old dirigible hangar at Moffett Field well above the legal speed limit.
    â€œIt might be best if you introduce me as a friend,” she said, her eyes on the massive eighteen-wheelers whooshing past. “The family might get nervous if they realize I’m a federal agent.”
    Cochrane nodded easily. He pictured the looks on their faces when hetold Irene and the others that Sandoval was his girlfriend. It made him smile.
    â€œYou think that’s funny?” she asked.
    â€œI think it’s cool,” he replied.
    She smiled back at him.
    He phoned Irene as they neared Palo Alto, and she was at the front door of the house when they pulled onto the driveway: a slightly fleshy woman with frizzy dark hair hanging loosely and tiny, squinting eyes magnified by a pair of square heavy-rimmed glasses. Irene was wearing a bulky sweater and shapeless jeans, with flat sandals. She looked tired, spiritless. For the first time Cochrane noticed that her hair was flecked with gray.
    As they got out of the car, he saw that Irene was surprised by Sandoval. Surprised and immediately tense, from the way her jaw set. Suspicion? he wondered. Or guilt? Or maybe just the automatic competitive instinct of a woman.
    He went to his sister-in-law and embraced her, then turned to Sandoval.
    â€œIrene, this is Elena Sandoval,” he began.
    Sandoval smiled and extended her hand. “I thought it would be best if Paul didn’t make this trip by himself. I’m so sorry about your husband.”
    â€œYou knew him?” Irene asked, her voice sharp.
    â€œNo, but if he’s anything like Paul he must have been a very special kind of man.”
    Cochrane felt his cheeks redden.
    Irene looked from her to Cochrane. “I thought you’d be staying here at the house,” she muttered.
    â€œWe have reservations at the Marriott,” said Sandoval. It was news to Cochrane.
    Almost grudgingly Irene took them inside and offered them sandwiches and beer. From the way she talked directly to him and almost totally ignored Sandoval, Cochrane saw that his sister-in-law didn’t trust this woman. Maybe I shouldn’t, either, he thought briefly. Then he dismissed the idea. She’s a