Imposter Read Online Free Page A

diner on a country road.    
“This is the stop?”  Eve made no effort to hide her impatience.
“I could go for something to eat,” Burke said, turning the car into a gravel parking lot.  “How about you?”
The dashboard clock in the car read eight-eleven p.m.   She’d been late finishing work at the lab, in anticipation of her three day absence, and missed lunch.  The idea of food wasn’t unappealing, but the notion of sitting down to a meal with Burke, the normalcy of it, struck her as incongruous given their circumstances.  Still, she needed to eat.  Had to was more like it, whether she was hungry or not because of her diabetic condition.   After three years of living with the disease, she’d learned the routine and respected the necessity of adhering to it. But it left her feeling vulnerable.  She didn’t care for the feeling.     
Burke parked beside the only other vehicle on the lot, a pick-up in need of a wash, and turned off  the car engine.  The diner was back lit by the lowering sun, lending a red glow to the peeling whitewashed structure.
Burke took his black wallet out of the inside pocket of his jacket.  The shoulder holster beneath and the gun it held were revealed for an instant. He opened the wallet, and again Eve glimpsed his picture ID as he extracted a pair of twenties.  He slid the wallet beneath the driver’s seat.
It was an odd thing to do and Eve was sure her facial expression reflected that thought, but she said nothing.  If he chose to be careless with his Agency ID, then that was his concern.
“Ready?”  Burke asked.
Before she could answer, he was standing on the gravel and swinging the car door to a close.
The atmosphere inside the diner was cozy.  Small round tables lined two walls.  Garth Brooks crooned a soft country tune from a radio atop the long counter that glistened from the wipe-down it was getting from a waitress.
They took seats by the window.  She expected Burke to choose a location that backed against a wall.  He didn’t. Too many spy novels, she supposed, had fostered that idea. Seated across from him, she acknowledged that though he lacked the polished looks of the actors who’d portrayed the James Bond character in the movies, Burke would have done that character justice on the Hollywood screen just the same.  His suit covered what appeared to be a hard, athletic body.  The light shadow of beard that now darkened his cheeks and jaw added to his sexy appeal.
Not that how he looked mattered to her. 
The waitress left the counter and ambled up to their table. Eve was glad of the distraction.
“We’re about ready to close,” the woman said.  Deep grooves dug into the sides of her mouth and brow as she spoke.  “Grill’s been cleaned.”  She tilted her head and the purple stones in her earrings twinkled in the light.  “The best I can offer you at this point is a cup of coffee and a sandwich.”
“That’ll be fine,” Burke said.
The waitress ticked off the choices on her fingers. “Ham and Swiss or Tuna Salad.”
“Tuna,” Eve said.
“The same. And the coffee you mentioned would be great.  Black, for me. Eve?”
“Black for me, too - Bu - John.”
Clearly she wasn’t any good at this cloak and dagger stuff, but if the waitress noticed that Eve had almost called her companion by the wrong name, she didn’t react. 
“I’ll be right back with your coffees,” the waitress said.
Eve stretched out her arms on the wooden tabletop and linked her fingers in a tight grip.  By this time tomorrow night, she should be on her way back home. That Richard had used his skill to harm anyone angered her.  She could not comprehend how he would have done this.  As much as she was angry at Burke for refusing to listen when she told him she was innocent, she was glad that he’d learned what Richard was planning before he could sell the formula.
She focused on Burke. “How did you find out what Richard was involved in?”
Burke raised a