Deadly Code by Lin Anderson Read Free Book Online Page B

for sitting in front of a computer all day.
    Rhona was suddenly aware of the waiter standing behind her, staring over her shoulder at the screen. She turned to a face full of pleasant blandness.
    'What do you think?' she said.
    'Looks kinda Celtic.'
    'Yes.'
    He topped up her Manhattan from the cocktail shaker and headed for the door, before she could ask him anything else.
    'Have a nice day, ma'am.'
    Reality LA-style had returned.
    The door clicked shut behind him. Rhona put the chain on this time and turned back to the screen. The guys in the Computing Department had done her proud. The smudge was now a distinguishing mark. A mark that might help them find the owner of the foot.
    An hour later Rhona was sitting in LA's most popular restaurant on Main Street, Santa Monica, trying to keep her attention on what Andre was saying. She had made two phone calls after the waiter left.
    DI Bill Wilson had told her that the investigation had been taken out of his hands, and by implication hers.
    Rhona was not amused.
    'You know where the samples are?'
    He hesitated for a second. 'No.'
    She had worked with Bill Wilson for years. If he was lying to her, he must have a very good reason.
    'What the hell is going on, Bill?'
    'Just concentrate on your conference. We'll talk when you get back.'
    The second phone call was worse. The answering machine wasn't on so Rhona let the phone ring out, determined to waken Sean. But it wasn't Sean who answered. It was a young female voice.
    Rhona was past the niceties. 'Who the hell are you?'
    She could tell the girl was taken aback by her attitude. Rhona didn't care.
    'I'm Esther, the new singer with Sean's band.'
    'And what the fuck are you doing in my flat?'
    Rhona listened in silence while the girl stumbled through some lame excuse about staying for a few days until she got her own place sorted out, then the phone was commandeered by Sean.
    'It's true,' he said.
    'Like hell it is.'
    'Esther was in a squat. It got raided. She had nowhere else to go.'
    'You had no right to let her stay in my flat.'
    Sean went silent Somewhere in the background Rhona heard the girl say she would pack and go. A door closed then Sean was back on.
    'She's ill. It would better if she stayed here for a few days.'
    'Is she on something?'
    Silence, then: 'Chrissy's been in touch, I take it?'
    Sean's voice was dry. A bad sign. Sean never lost his temper, even when she was trying to goad him into an argument. But the quiet tone showed how upset he was.
    'Well, is she?' she repeated.
    'She says not.'
    'Christ, Sean. This could lose me my job.'
    'What are you talking about?'
    'If she's taking stuff, she's dealing in it or doing something else to pay for it. . .'
    'And mixing with undesirables doesn't look good on your CV.'
    Sean had told Rhona about his conviction for possession as soon as things got serious between them. Rhona had dismissed it then. It was ten years ago, she'd said, it's past, forgotten. But at the same time Rhona knew there would be someone out there who would love to know that information about her. So she told Bill Wilson. He'd said there was no big deal. It was on record that most cabinet ministers had smoked dope in their student days and marched with CND. Either that or they were gay. He told her to forget it. That's what she'd done. Until now.
    'Maybe you'd rather I moved out too?' Sean was saying.
    'Maybe I would.'
    The words were out before she could stop them.
    'We'll talk when you get back.'
    His voice was low and sad and it made her feel like shit. Plus she was pissed-off with people telling her they would talk about it later, in the car, when she got back.
    By the time Andre arrived she had finished all the Manhattan mix in the shaker. It hadn't made her feel any better. She just wanted to get her paper delivered and get home where she belonged.
    Or maybe she didn't want to go home at all?
    If Andre sensed her mood, he said nothing about it. He was all charm and good fun. Even now, when she wasn't