Beyond the Edge by Susan Kearney Read Free Book Online

better control. She took his attempt to manipulate her in stride, and he could only admire her tenacity.
    “You owe me an explanation of your criminal activities.”
    “I am not—”
    “A crook?”
    As she repeated Nixon’s famous denial, a spark of amusement lit her eyes. A twitch pulled at his lips, and he almost smiled. Fallon was having quite an effect on his sense of humor as well as an impact on other parts of him. She’d put him on notice that she wasn’t a woman to trifle with. He couldn’t helpwondering if she made love with the same vigor with which she defended herself.
    He offered her a glass of wine. “Truce?”
    Fallon frowned at it suspiciously and refused his offer. Instead she took the one he’d just sipped from. “Have you drugged me?”
    He grinned inside where Fallon couldn’t see it. The risks were too great to tell her the truth, and she’d just given him the lead he’d been searching for to set up a convincing lie. “Drugging you wasn’t intentional. You were not supposed to be in that office.”
    Her fingers twisted around the glass stem, sliding up and down. His mouth went cottony dry, thinking how those hands would feel skimming over his neck, his chest, his stomach and lower. Damn it! Not now.
    Dragging his thoughts back to the subject at hand, he concentrated on her inquisitive words. “The drug causes hallucinations?”
    “Do you recall the scent of almonds?” When she nodded, he continued. “You inhaled the drug. Its side effects are similar but not identical to LSD. Time is distorted and certain memories are forgotten.”
    Her eyes, green as the potted palm plants swaying in the breezeway, darted to meet his. “That’s why I can’t remember walking from the stairwell to the parking garage?”
    “Exactly.”
    “And the drug’s side effect makes me sick?”
    “Yes.”
    Her full lips thinned into a cynical smile. “But why am I sick only when I leave you?”
    “I can’t tell you that.” Kane spread caviar onto a cracker, popped it onto his tongue and washed the salty-crispness away with a sip of wine.
    “Why not?”
    Because he couldn’t think up a good answer. “It’s classified.”
    “Really?” She raised a delicate eyebrow. “What government do you work for?”
    “I can’t tell you that either.”
    “Great. I feel much better now. You won’t let me call the police. You won’t tell me who you work for.” She was ticking off her points on each finger. “You won’t tell me why I’m sick. Do you really expect me to believe you?”
    Kane leaned forward and held her gaze, assessing her anger. At the radiant flush on her face, the inquisitive gleam in her eye, and the haughty tilt of her chin, admiration welled up and his heart squeezed like a vise. For an instant he regretted what he must do to her, then sternly reminded himself of the lives at stake. He shouldn’t care whether he lied to her or not.
    Kane didn’t let his sympathy for her break through the hardness in his voice. “How else can you explain the nausea?”
    She shot him a frustrated look, clearly unable to account for the strange illness. “How long will the drug’s effects last?”
    “The hallucinations should be gone soon.”
    “But?” she prodded.
    “Occasional flashbacks will occur, so you shouldbe prepared for memory lapses. The nausea will continue for some time, I’m afraid.”
    “How long?”
    Kane contained a sigh. He could hardly tell her it would last until he finished his mission. “Days. Maybe weeks. I’m not sure.”
    Her mouth set in annoyance. “You mean I could be stuck with you for an entire month?”
    “Yes.” He didn’t dare remind her that he could make the time interesting for both of them. Or that the maximum nausea-free distance between them would keep shrinking.
    She drummed her nails on the table. “Instead of scaring me to death, why didn’t you explain earlier?”
    “I tried. You didn’t want to listen. So I waited for most of the