As Cold As Ice by Mandy Rosko Read Free Book Online Page A

their names, though.
"All three are well, though one of the clerks is on stress leave.
The man you brought down, the collector, was a little more eager to
get back to work."
    Jessica nodded. "That makes sense, given his
line of work protects the people."
    Layton's eyes darted up, and though he'd
tried to hide it, she'd already seen the shocked calculation.
    Maybe he hadn't expected her to say
something like that. Wasn't that why she was there?
    Layton put down the piece of paper and
locked eyes with her. His eyes were blue, but not the same deep and
rich blue Soren had. His were cold, so cold and so pale that it
even made Jessica shiver, and considering what her powers were,
that was a feat in itself.
    "If you believe that, then why did you
attack them?"
    Jessica had thought about what she would say
long before Soren had come up with this idea. She'd always known
that the day would come when she'd get caught, and that her only
chance for not being locked up and having needles stuck into her
for the rest of her life would lie in her history of working for
Head Office.
    "I did what I did because I was in love with
Jack Marilla. He was an ex-boyfriend, and I thought he needed
help."
    Again, Layton’s brows lifted. He was getting
a little more honesty than he thought he would. Hopefully, that was
a good thing.
    "I see. I was unaware there are tender
feelings between the two of you."
    "Were," I corrected. "He and I had been done
for about a month before I was brought in. If you need records to
prove it, I can provide them."
    "That would be helpful, and photographs
would also be beneficial toward your defense, though we did a scan
of your home. There were photos of him in there with you, but
nothing that seemed of the romantic sort."
    "We were careful," Jessica said. "We didn't
want to risk our employment with fraternization, but we were still
a couple. We wrote each other emails through addresses you do not
have on file, for either of us."
    Layton's eyes sparkled, as if he'd been
hoping to hear something like that.
    Of course he was. He wanted to know anything
Jessica might've been holding back that would help him find Jack
and her brother.
    "I see. I trust there will be no harm in you
giving me the address?"
    Jessica nodded, and she listed the digital
addresses she and Jack had used back when they were sneaking around
after hours.
    She repeated them when Layton grabbed a pen
and a fresh sheet of paper. He didn't write them down, of course;
instead, he pushed them forward, toward Charles, so he could do the
honors.
    Charles wrote quickly, hanging onto her
every word.
    It didn't matter if she gave the address to
Layton. It didn't matter if she gave it to anyone at all. Jack
would know not to try and contact her through those accounts. He
was smarter than that.
    She hoped he was, anyway.
    "Wonderful," Layton said. "I see we can have
this little mix-up cleared sooner than we'd planned."
    Jessica smiled. "I hope so."
    "Coffee?" Layton offered.
    Jessica accepted, and Layton pressed a
button somewhere on his desk and ordered two cups. He didn't so
much as mention anything for Soren or Charles.
    The rest of the meeting went by pretty well.
Jessica thought so, anyway, which in turn made her paranoid. What
if it was a trick by Layton to get her to lower her guard, when she
still needed to be watching out for anything and everything that
could land her in a basement cell for the rest of her life?
    She tried not to let that bother her. She
tried not to think about it, though a trickle of sweat did bead at
the back of her neck, slowly sliding down centimeter by centimeter.
It made her neck itch, but she forced her lips to continue smiling,
showed off her white teeth, and continued to answer questions.
    Soren told her to be honest, so she was as
honest as she could be about everything. The more truth she put
into her story, the less she would have to remember later.
    She told Layton about how her parents had
thrown her and Ethan out of the