Chapter 29: Chapter 29: A connection is made

Noel's day was full of building a profile of Gem Techtronics from the various sources she could call upon for information. To all she gave the same story: that she was putting together a proposal and wanted as much background material as she could lay her hands on.

That morning she had forced herself out of bed early and driven straight to work instead of for a swim. Her boarder had not stirred and she hadn't bothered to leave an explanation. Let him figure it out. She had begun by ringing Catherine Patton's number every half hour. By the time the phone was answered she had practically forgotten the purpose of the call in her anxiety to actually get through. Catherine Patton's voice therefore gave her an adrenalin surge that left her heart pounding.

'Catherine Patton speaking.' It was a mature confident voice with a strong American accent. 'Hello?'