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today. He all but scuffled his toe with misplaced modesty. I meant that I m surprised you ve turned to a life of crime in your mature years. She did her best to sound properly repressive. Oh, you re right, of course. It was the wrong thing to do, he muttered without any real contrition in his voice. You need to talk to an attorney about this, Dad. Are you planning on turning me in? He fixed her with a piercing look over the top of his glasses. No, because you re going to do the right thing. You always do. He snorted and took a sip of his scotch, hiding his pleasure at her compliment. * * * * For the next two days, except for brief stops at the paper, Ciara followed Zach. She spent early evenings across from the precinct. She spent the rest of the nights, noting arrivals, departures, and license numbers at the In Place. The man barely slept. She smothered an ear- popping yawn. The only variety had been a series of calls on her cell phone. Crank calls would ve been pleasant compared with the ones she was getting. The most recent had threatened to mess her face up so bad that her boyfriend wouldn t recognize her. Obviously, her caller didn t know her that well. She didn t have a boyfriend. A couple of scary phone threats by some mechanical voice were not going to deter her. She regarded the threats as proof that she d made somebody nervous. That meant she was closer, though to what she wasn t certain. The longer she watched Zach the more completely hooked she became. The man should be labeled as a controlled substance. Watching him run qualified as aerobic exercise because it made her heart rate accelerate. She shouldn t even watch him breathe if she wanted to stay detached. The very fact that she needed to stay away from him added the extra appeal of forbidden delight to his already potent charms. This qualified as a genuine problem. Lamentably, she had no solution. When not watching Zach, she got excited in a different way. Dad was right. There was a juicy story here, somewhere. While the scoop remained out of reach, she was making progress. January s allegations of blackmail seemed more plausible with each piece of the puzzle she uncovered. Lieutenant O Brien lived above his pay grade. As did Chief Logan. Yesterday she d found the attorney registered as the agent for the holding company owning the club was the FBI agent s second cousin. It wasn t a compelling connection, but it was a suggestive coincidence. There had to be a traceable connection and real evidence. All she had to do was find it. More upsetting, Zach almost certainly had to be in on the blackmail. If he d been innocent, he would ve busted her for prostitution at the club. Every time she thought about him being one of the extortionists it made her feel sick. It was just possible that he was as conflicted about her as she was about him and that s why he hadn t arrested her. Despite the improbability of her theoretical justification for his behavior, she clung to it, stubbornly hoping. DANGEROUS SURRENDER Evanne Lorraine 84 If Zach were part of it then Lieutenant O Brien was suspect, too. In fact, for her purposes the whole police force was guilty until proven innocent. Her cell phone chimed, interrupting her speculation. Hi. It s January. Have you gotten anywhere identifying the blackmailers? Nothing concrete enough to put in print. Ciara set down her binoculars. I was hoping ..., January said, her voice falling with disappointment. Did he call again? Sympathy warred with excitement in Ciara s head. Yeah, he wants fifty to keep my face blacked out. January s voice bottomed out to match her spirits. Fifty? Ciara echoed vaguely. Fifty thousand dollars, January explained edgily. Of course. Ciara swallowed a gasp. I m not paying. January sounded weary. What s the big deal? It s just skin. It ll probably turn out to be a total non-event. Could you come over? The last sentence quavered. Clearly, the heiress s just skin comment was sheer bravado. Certainly, I m on my way, Ciara said staunchly. Shoving her dad s old bird watching binoculars into their case, she hustled to her car. Stopping by January s to lend moral support was the least she could do. She couldn t help caring about the lonely woman who hid behind the empty-headed flirt act. Ciara spent two hours at January s place. The story remained tantalizingly unconfirmed. She needed serious proof, from more than one source before she could run a story accusing police officers of being involved in a criminal conspiracy. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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