Silver Linings, стр. 13

There was no sign of Hugh. She assumed he was out scouting around or doing whatever men like him did in situations such as this.

When she walked over to the ledge near the cave's entrance and peered out, Mattie could see the small patch of green foliage clinging tenaciously to a rocky overhang that jutted out above the sea.

Above and below the natural veranda there was nothing but sheer cliff. The facilities were definitely primitive, but there was not much choice.

A few minutes later she returned to the cavern and washed her hands in seawater. Then she turned her attention to the contents in the string bags.

Hugh's trip to Cormier's kitchen had been brief, but he had managed to make quite a haul. Mattie found several more small tins of fancy pâtés, marinated oysters, a jar of brine-cured olives, some homemade tapanade, sun-dried tomatoes, bottled spring water, and a wedge of hazelnut torte. There was also a bit of brie and a chunk of Stilton and some day-old French bread. Hugh had even swiped a white linen kitchen towel.

Mattie surveyed the lot and decided the only thing that vaguely resembled breakfast was the brie. She tore off chunks of the bread and began to spread it with the cheese.

When a boot scraped on the rocky floor behind her, Mattie started nervously and leapt to her feet. She whirled around, clutching the knife she had been using to spread the cheese.

“Hugh.” She inhaled deeply. “Don't ever sneak up on me like that again. I'm very jumpy these days.”

“Sorry. Didn't know if you'd be awake yet.”

He switched off the flashlight he was carrying and sauntered into the main cavern from the tunnel they had used yesterday. He was looking disgustingly refreshed and energetic, Mattie thought in annoyance. An occasional night spent on a gritty stone floor apparently did not bother him in the slightest.

His jeans and khaki shirt were a little stained but basically did not look much different than they had yesterday. Other than a day's growth of beard Hugh appeared none the worse for wear. He looked like Mr. Macho Adventurer, always at home in primitive jungles, barren deserts, or other perilous locales.

Mattie, who had been congratulating herself on surviving the night, suddenly felt weak and puny.

“Want some brie and French bread?” She did not look at him as she held some food for him.

“Thanks. Paul always said living at the edge of the world was no excuse for sacrificing the good things in life.”

“So I gathered. Mr. Cormier was obviously a gourmet.”

Hugh grinned around a large bite of bread and brie. “Hey, stick with me, babe, and it'll be nothing but the best all the way.”

Mattie winced. “Nothing but the best and plenty of it?” She nodded toward the huge pile of flowers.

Hugh looked pleased as he followed her glance. “Nice, huh? I found 'em right outside the front door this morning when I went out to take a…Uh, when I went outside.”

“For your morning ablutions?” Mattie smiled sweetly.

“Yeah, right. Did you go out?”

“Yes, thank you.” She glanced back toward the bright heap. “And thank you for the flowers,” she added politely.

Hugh's expectant expression hardened. “Don't fall all over me or anything on account of a few flowers.”

“Don't worry, I won't.”

“Ouch.” He took another bite of cheese and bread. “You're certainly back in fighting form this morning, aren't you?”

“Believe me, the last thing I want to do this morning is fight.” She frowned at the tunnel entrance behind him. “What were you doing in there?”

“I left a little before dawn. I was going to bury Cormier.”

Mattie bit her lip. “Oh, Hugh. I should have gone with you.”

He shook his head. “Wouldn't have done any good. Somebody had already taken him away.”

She was startled. “His family, perhaps?”

“Cormier had no family. He was alone after his wife died. Whoever took his body cleaned the place out; the sword, the rest of his medieval collection, and everything else that wasn't nailed down.”

“Good heavens, I forgot all about the damn sword. Do you think it's possible someone killed him for his collection? Aunt Charlotte said it was extremely valuable.”

“Possible. But it's more likely somebody he trusted, maybe a member of his household staff, was overcome with revolutionary fervor,” Hugh said.

“You shouldn't have gone back there,” Mattie declared. “You might have run into whoever came for Cormier's body.”

“I'm not entirely stupid, you know. I took a few precautions. The cars are gone, too.”

Mattie looked up, startled. “Oh, my God. My suitcase was in that car. All my clothes. And my vitamins.”

Hugh cocked a brow. “Your vitamins?”

“I always take vitamins first thing in the morning.”

“Why? Don't you eat properly?”

She scowled at him. “My diet is a very healthy one, thank you. But I supplement it with vitamins to counteract the effects of stress and tension.”

“I always thought sex was supposed to be good for that.”

Mattie looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Well, I don't get a lot of sex, so I have to use other techniques to combat stress.”

“Easy, babe.” Hugh's eyes gleamed. “I can take care of the shortage of sex in your life for you. Like I said, nothing but the best if you stick with me.”

“Oh, shut up. What do you think happened to the cars?”

“Someone must have hot-wired 'em. They got lifted along with just about everything else.”

“Looters.” Mattie wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Yeah.”

Mattie's fingers clenched around the slice of French bread. She looked directly at Hugh. “So what, exactly, are we going to do next, O great, exalted leader?”

“Keep an extremely low profile, as Charlotte would say. We'll stay out of sight today. With any luck the situation, whatever it is, will cool off a little. Tonight I'll go out and see if I can find us a boat.”

“We're just going to sit in here all day?” Mattie was alarmed.

“Afraid so. What's the matter? You worried about having to make conversation? Just think of all the stuff we have to talk