A Killer's Agenda by Anita M. Whiting Read Free Book Online Page A

amount of them, but Brad Norton was different. A smile played about her lips as she took stock of the man in front of her.
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    A Killer's Agenda
    Damn! The man looked good standing there with the sunlight
    shining on his raven hair and his tanned skin. The breadth of his shoulders and his muscular build were attraction enough, but there was something else that appealed to her. Something below the surface. What was it Alicia had said? She needed a man with layers. She had the definite feeling that Bradley Norton had a lot.
    “I gather you took my advice and contacted some of my
    previous clients?” she asked, curling into one of the overstuffed chairs. She caught his look of surprise when she slipped out of her high heels and tucked her feet underneath her. “I seldom find the need to impress, Mr. Norton. What you see is what you get.”
    “I have to admit what I see certainly is worth looking at,” he said, smiling.
    “Well, well. It appears this meeting is starting off a little better than the previous one.”
    He walked over to the big desk and leaned against it. Folding his arms across his chest, he stretched his long legs in front of him.
    “Comfortable?” she asked, fighting the urge to smile.
    His lips twitched. “I figure if you aren’t into protocol then I shouldn’t be either.”
    She laughed. “Touché! I like a man with a quick wit.”
    “Good. Because you’re right, I did talk to some of your previous clients and I have to admit, I’m impressed. It appears I was wrong.
    You’re very good at what you do, Miss Leahy.”
    “Alex. Yes, I am, Mr. Norton.”
    “Brad,” he corrected. “I apologize for acting the way I did when we first met. You have to understand, however, that what I’m
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    Anita Whiting
    about to hire you for, if you’ll accept, is very important and very personal to me.”
    “I never take a case where the client doesn’t feel just as you do, Brad. In fact, I have a few rules that I always follow. I don’t take cases where I don’t trust or like the client, no matter how
    interesting they are and I see no point in wasting my time with a client who isn’t totally committed to solving what he or she has hired me to do.”
    “Are you clairvoyant?”
    “Among other things. It is one of the reasons I have been as successful as I have. Make no mistake, I have the credentials.” She motioned to the wall where several framed diplomas hung. “I
    graduated with a degree in criminology and worked for several years with the local police force before I hung my own shingle out.”
    “And the other things?”
    “Personal,” she responded. When he didn’t pry further, her
    opinion of him went up a few notches. “You’re not the only one who’s done some research, you know. You’re quite an interesting character, Bradley Norton.”
    “Ah… people singing my praises, are they?”
    She shrugged, smiling lightly. “Perhaps. For instance, I know you graduated top of your class in high school, went to Yale and made the Dean’s list more than once. Norton Securities is listed in Forbes as a Fortune 500 company and, unlike popular opinion, you started that company from scratch with your own money.”
    His gaze shot to hers. “It appears you have very good
    informants, Alex.”
    “I do. I also know you lived with your aunt for most of your adolescent years. Her death must have been very hard for you.”
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    A Killer's Agenda
    “It was,” he said, frowning. “Do you always investigate your clients so thoroughly?”
    She eyed him steadily. “Absolutely. I seldom make a mistake
    when I take a case and it would be foolish to go in blindly.”
    “So I can assume I passed the test?”
    “You wouldn’t be here talking to me if you hadn’t. Now, what I don’t know, other than the fact that your aunt was killed by what the police termed a drive-by shooting, is why you suspect
    otherwise?”
    When he was finished some fifteen minutes later, she leaned
    back in her chair