Chapter 7Time had a cruel streak, moving slowly when you wanted it to speed up. Another hour until he would be ringing the doorbell at the Hatcher home. No postman here; he’d been instructed to ring just once. Apparently, noises scared Stefan. Noah wondered what else frightened him or, worse, who did? Did the Hatcher residence represent a gleaming treasure of a home, or was it a gloomy reflection of his involuntary solitude? Did a man forced to live inside his mind ever feel free?
For the past hour, Noah had been sitting in front of his computer at his room in the Ocean’s Breeze, dressed, ready, and more than anxious for his luncheon, as Mr. Taustine had referred to it, with Stefan Hatcher. His fingers tapping on the desk, Noah was killing time by attempting to do additional research on t
