Man with a past by Jayne Ann Krentz

illness. „Oh, Cole, my stomach…“
    Immediately he hunkered down beside the bunk. „Want me to carry you into the bathroom?“
    „No, I, uh, think I’ll be all right this time. I’m feeling very sleepy, though.“ She closed her eyes, relieved to have found a way around the faint menace that had crept into his words. It was far more pleasant to have Cole in this helpful, concerned mood. „You’re rather good at this nursing business. You must have done it sometime during your past, hmm?“ Even on the verge of sleep, her body feeling devastated by the seasickness, Kelsey still found herself struggling for information about this man. She was drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
    „No, Kelsey, I was never a nurse.“
    She thought there was a tinge of amusement in his tone, but she could no longer be sure. She could no longer be certain of anything, in fact. The blurriness in her mind seemed to be overwhelming her thought processes. Sleep beckoned as an escape after hours of fighting the seasickness, and she gave into it with a vast sense of relief.
    She awoke only once during the night, turning sleepily onto her side in the dimly lit room. Cole had switched off all the lights except the small one over the dresser. He was still here, she thought, aware of a deep sense of comfort at the knowledge.
    He stood in front of the dresser, reading intently. Perhaps he’d found a magazine. She started to close her eyes again and was almost asleep, when something registered on her drowsy brain.
    The black leather attache case stood open on the floor beside him. The papers he was examining must have come from the case.
    The attach^ case had been locked, she thought, unable to fight the pull of the drug-induced sleep. She knew it had been locked. Big, shiny chrome locks that Walt Gladwin had closed. He hadn’t given her the keys, saying that Valentine had a set of his own.
    Cole had no right to be prying into that case, Kelsey tried to tell herself, but it was useless to struggle against the pleasant oblivion that was claiming her. She sank heavily back into the depths of slumber.

5
    Kelsey was immediately aware of two things the moment she awoke: the first was that Cole wasn’t in the room and the second was that her stomach felt calm. It was some time before she realized the black attache case was gone. She was on her way to the shower, gloryingin her victory over the seasickness, when she remembered the midnight vision of Cole poring over the contents of the attache case.
    Half-convinced the memory was a dream, she automatically glanced around for the case. It wasn’t in the room.
    Brow furrowing in concentration, she checked the small closet, glanced under the bunk and then yanked open the dresser drawers. Nothing. Surely Cole wouldn’t have taken it. He could have no possible interest in a bunch of computer printouts and analysis sheets. And she must have imagined that late-night scene of Cole studying the papers.
    This morning what she really wanted to remember was the way he had taken care of her last night. She had awakened with a sense of loss at the realization that he wasn’t with her. During the night he had offered comfort and practical assistance. His touch had been gentle and soothing.
    She certainly hadn’t looked like anyone’s idea of a glamorous mistress last night, Kelsey reminded herself as she gave up the search for the case and went on into the bathroom. There was no denying that Cole’s concern had been deeply comforting. Somehow it had soothed much of the inner anger and resentment she had been experiencing all week.
    She ought to have known better. After all, Kelsey thought savagely, nothing had changed in their relationship. She knew no more about him than she ever had.
    Except now she knew he could deal very competently with a sick female.
    And what had he done with her attache case, she wondered nervously. For that matter, where was Cole? One thing was certain, she thought with dark humor: he