Jeff turned off the engine and shifted to face the little girl. "It's a house, Maggie," he told her. "I live here by myself. While you and your mom stay here, I want you to be very comfortable."

Maggie's eyes widened. "It's just you here? Don'tcha get scared being all alone?"

Ashley winced. Until this moment she'd never realized that her daughter hadn't ever lived in a house before. They'd always been in apartments.

"Sometimes it's quiet," Jeff admitted. "But I don't mind that."

He was about to have a couple of days of nonquiet, Ashley thought. Maggie was a sweetheart and very well behaved, but she was a walking noise machine.

He unfastened his seat belt. "Let's get you two inside and settled. I'll bring your bags in later."

Ashley nodded. She could feel the weariness settling over her again. Her consciousness through the drive here had taken the last of her reserves. All she wanted was to sleep for the next four or five weeks. Jeff climbed out of the car, then opened the rear door to assist Maggie from the vehicle. Ashley trailed after them as they went up the two stairs that led to the main house. Before he opened the door, Jeff punched a long code into a keypad. There was an audible snick as the locking mechanism released. She had a brief thought of armed guards waiting on the other side and chuckled at the image of them walking through metal detectors before entering the living quarters of the house.

But whatever security measures existed were concealed because all she saw when she stepped inside was space.

The rooms were huge and sparsely furnished. Jeff showed them the living room, dining room and a study. Only the latter contained any evidence that a person actually lived in the house. The living room had two sofas, a couple of club chairs, along with low tables and a few lamps. But there was nothing personal or decorative. No pictures or photographs on the walls, no magazines, plants or even a pair of shoes marred the solitude. The dining room was the same. A massive table surrounded by chairs. A matching hutch-the glassed-in top of which was empty.