Operation: Midnight Tango by Linda Castillo Read Free Book Online Page A

personally known of at least two inmates dying unexpectedly. That was why she’d been asking questions. That was why she’d been in the infirmary that morning to begin with.
    But to believe the people she’d worked with for the last three years were capable of murder was unthinkable. How did Devlin know about it? There appeared to be a lot more to Zack Devlin than met the eye.
    “How do you know inmates have been dying?” she asked.
    “I know because for the last four months I’ve watched men systematically disappear. Healthy men who are sent to the infirmary. Most come back to their cells deathly ill. Some of them don’t come back at all.”
    Was Devlin just a smooth-talking liar whose very freedom hinged on manipulating her into helping him?
    But in her heart Emily knew something was going on at the prison. She just didn’t know what.
    Things aren’t always what they appear….
    “What’s happening to them?” she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.
    He turned his gaze to hers. She saw a weariness that hadn’t been there before and wondered about its source. “Horrors you can only imagine in your worst nightmares,” he said.
    Emily stared at him, aware that she was frightened. And that the fear didn’t have anything to do with the man standing so close she could see the stubble on his cheek. Deep inside she knew that despite whatever this man might have done, he was not lying about Lockdown, Inc.
    “Who are you?” she asked.
    “I’m the man who’s going to try to save your life, if you’ll let me.”
    “You’re a dangerous fugitive. You’ve taken me hostage—”
    “And you’d be dead right now if I hadn’t gotten you out of there.”
    “You can’t possibly know that.”
    “They would have killed you the same way they’ve killed countless others in the last six months.”
    Looking suddenly tired, he raised his hand and touched the cut on his temple. His lips pulled into a frown when his fingertips came away red. He wipedit on his slacks and looked around. “Look, we need to put some distance between us and that prison. Then we need to find shelter. I have a feeling the weather is going to get worse before it gets any better.”
    “I deserve an explanation.”
    “You deserve to stay alive.” He turned to her, his expression tense. “They’re probably putting together a search team as we speak.”
    “No professional in his right mind would send out search teams in this storm.”
    “No, but a madman would. The people at Lockdown, Inc. have too much at stake to let us get away.”
    “You keep using the term us, ” Emily choked out. “Unless you have a mouse in your pock—”
    “Like it or not, you are now on Lockdown, Inc.’s most-wanted list. Your only chance of coming out of this alive is to stick with me. If the storm doesn’t get too much worse, we might be able to outdistance them. Then maybe I can get us some help.”
    “Help from whom?”
    He looked away, his jaw flexing, as if her question had more ramifications than she’d intended. “We’ve got to go,” he said. “In another hour there may not be any visibility at all.” He shot her a look that made the hair at her nape prickle. “That’s the best-case scenario, Emily. If the weather improves, this area is going to be crawling with heavily armedcops with itchy trigger fingers. If they get their hands on us, we’re going to wish we hadn’t survived the plunge off that cliff.”
     
     

 
    Chapter Five
     
    Zack tried to restart the snowmobile, but the tumble down the cliff had damaged both the track shoes and the engine. After wasting precious minutes, he abandoned the idea and he and Emily set off on foot.
    It didn’t take long for him to realize that neither of them was dressed for hiking in severe weather conditions. No hats. No gloves. No waterproof boots. It would be only a matter of time before the cold took its toll in the form of frostbite or hypothermia. Two problems Zack figured they could do