Deadly Lies by Chris Patchell Read Free Book Online Page B

Although part of her knew she should stop pushing, she couldn’t. He was going to tell her the truth. He owed her that much.
    “Why not? Too personal?”
    Jamie’s face flushed scarlet as he stared at her, the thin veneer of tolerance stripped away. She knew at once that she had pushed him too far.
    “Personal. Inappropriate. Take your pick.” His words were clipped and icy.
    “Is it?” She crossed her legs, eyes defiant. She knew she shouldn’t push any further, but she couldn’t stop the flood of resentment she feltfrom spilling over. She already played second fiddle to Alex’s career. She wasn’t going to stand in line for him behind another woman, especially not a bitch like Dana Evans.
    Jamie leaned so close she could smell his cologne. Leather and soap. Unbidden images sprang to mind—nights in her hotel room, the taste of his mouth on hers. His voice grew dangerously quiet.
    “This isn’t the place.”
    “Then when? I haven’t seen you all week.” Her voice bumped up a notch in volume, and she cringed inwardly, hearing the whiny tone of a disgruntled teenager. He shot a meaningful glance over her shoulder, and she said, more softly, “You’ve canceled our one-on-one. You’ve avoided me all week. Just when are we supposed to talk?”
    “I have a video conference with the team in India this evening, but why don’t we meet for dinner afterward? Say around eight-thirty at A. P. Stumps? We’ll get a booth, have some wine, and talk things through. Sound good?”
    His smile was disarming, and despite herself she felt the frigid wall between them shift. This was more like it. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe Rachel’s paranoia about cheating men was rubbing off on her. Maybe Dana Evans wanted Jamie back and was trying to scare off the competition.
    “I’ll wear something nice,” she added with a wicked twinkle in her eye.
    Jamie nodded and gave her a tight smile.
    “Lovely,” he said.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    T he five-degree drop in temperature was welcome, Alex noted as he opened the door to the lab. The sophisticated cooling system hummed, pumping out cold air to compensate for the cluster of computer servers and workstations running on overdrive.
    Alex strode purposefully to the back, anxious to get an update on Natalie’s secret email account. She had been missing almost two days now, and every hour was critical. He went in search of Kris Thompson, the unit’s top technical guy—
girl
, he corrected himself. Too young to officially bear the title of Guru, Kris was a recent MIT graduate and the most gifted hacker Alex had ever met, although her technical prowess was overshadowed by her innate shyness.
    Kris was as straight-laced as they came. Raised Mormon, she had broken with the church and her family when she left for college, but the deep-rooted, conservative morals remained. Her sharp mind was masked behind a shy smile and an assortment of shapeless sweaters. Alex sometimes wondered if her dedication to her job was at the expense of her social life. Or in place of one.
    Kris looked up as Alex approached.
    “What did we get from Natalie’s hard drive?”
    “I found two email accounts. The default one you’ve already seen. Nothing of interest, just friends, school assignments, the usual. The second was linked to her Me account.” This news confirmed what Emily had told him.
    Kris’s mouth was set in a grim line. “There’s a handful of emails from a guy who goes by the handle ‘47Knucklehead.’”
    “Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.” Alex rubbed his chin. “What does it mean?”
    Kris stared at her screen as she shrugged. “I’m guessing that it’s not a nickname from an overly critical parent. I’ve done a lookup on the term, and aside from the obvious, there are a few other references. A kids’ clothing line, brand name for acoustic-guitar strings …”
    “You’re kidding, right?” asked another technician whose workstation bordered Kris’s. Terry Parrish raked his