Deadly Lies by Chris Patchell Read Free Book Online

pool beside the large order of fries heaped on her plate. The black-tipped fingers pinched together to capture a fry, then hesitated and fell back to the table.
    “When she didn’t call on Saturday night—” Her voice suddenly choked off. She stopped, cleared her throat with a wet, noisy sound, and continued. “I figured maybe things had gone well. She made me promise not to tell anyone. I thought maybe she had spent the night with him, and I didn’t want to blow her cover.”
    Alex nodded as if in agreement. Misguided loyalty was something he understood. The fact that she was talking to him now, spilling Natalie’s secret, was proof enough that her indifference yesterday had been a well-crafted act. She played the part so well, in fact, that he had to wonder what things in her life had caused her to shut down. He recalled the dirty kitchen, the half-empty vodka bottle,and her mother’s watery expression. Compassion for the girl flooded through him.
    As he silently reviewed the information Emily had provided, he found himself doodling on the page where he had written his notes. The face of a teenage girl quickly took shape, her features mostly hidden by an unruly fringe of bangs. Dark eyes downcast. Expression pensive.
    Alex looked up and saw Emily studying the page, too, and his pencil stilled. He loved to draw, had ever since he was a kid. Even though the sketch was rough there was no mistaking Emily’s face. He turned the page.
    “Weren’t you worried when you found out she didn’t show up on Sunday?”
    “Sure, but I thought she’d come home.”
    “Anything else you can tell me?”
    “No,” she said. “That’s all I know.” Her eyes met his. Fear glimmered in their depths. “Please find her.”
    Alex nodded and closed the notebook. He took a sip of his milkshake, then quietly thanked Emily. Hope fluttered within him for the first time all day. A secret meeting. An email account. It was a damned good place to start.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    J ill Shannon’s fingernails clicked against the hard shell of her computer’s mouse. Jamie had been maddeningly unavailable. During the long week she spent in San Jose trying to corral the burgeoning number of project issues, he was holed up in meetings and otherwise occupied. Or so his administrative assistant claimed.
    Lost in thought, she started at the sound of a knock on her door. Dana Evans glanced down at her through eyelashes so ridiculously thick, they had to be fake. She wore a knee-length black skirt, a sleeveless olive-green scoop-neck blouse, and high-heeled black boots. The look suited her, Jill grudgingly admitted to herself.
    “Got a minute?” Evans asked.
    Jill made no attempt to hide the scowl on her face.
    “Sure.”
    Dana strode in and closed the door behind her. A nauseating cloud of floral perfume filled the office, almost choking Jill. A closed-door meeting? Her eyebrows rose in surprise. Jill swiveled in her chair, facing her unwelcome guest.
    “I came to apologize. My feedback the other day was rather blunt.”
    Jill nodded. Blunt was one way to put it. She had other words for it.
    “It’s fine.”
    “So, that’s it. We’re square?” Dana asked.
    “Sure,” Jill said, hitching her shoulders in a casual shrug. Whatever. She had no interest in airing her opinion on Evans’s unprofessional behavior. That was Jamie’s job.
    Still, the way Dana stared at her caused her hackles to rise. There was more to Dana’s visit. She could feel it. Whatever it was, she wished Dana would just cut to the chase and get the hell out of her office. The woman gave her the willies.
    “Is that it?” Jill prompted, keeping her gaze locked on Dana.
    Dana smiled then, a rather unpleasant smile. Though at first glance she’d thought Dana attractive, on closer inspection Jill found the woman’s features coarse, her hazel eyes a little too far apart. Dana spent hours at the gym, no doubt about it. The thick muscles of her arms testified to the number of