Red Alert by Jessica Andersen Read Free Book Online Page A

Unless she’s able to come up with a licensor willing to accept her terms—highly unlikely—the deal will go through one week from today.”
    His use of her first name struck a chord she wasn’t entirely comfortable with, and had her hissing out a breath. A week. He was going to be dogging her tracks for the next seven days, probably ambushing her attempts to gather investors.
    She didn’t know much about Erik Falco, but she had a pretty good idea he wouldn’t give up easily. Hell, he’d been working to get the deal done for months, and it hadn’t been until the last few days that Cage had begun yielding to the hospital’s growing financial pressures.
    Come to think of it… “None of this started until Cage agreed in principle to FalcoTechno’s offer,” Meg said slowly. “What if someone’s trying to sabotage the deal?”
    “If that’s the case, I expect you’ll track them down and offer to help.” Erik’s grimace suggested he was being sarcastic, but he continued. “It is possible, though. Several other companies are in the running for the NPT technology.”
    “Nobody’s in the running,” Meg snapped. Her eyes itched, her brain felt as if it were stuffed with cotton batting and she was perilously close to tears. She bit her lip until the urge receded. “But I think it’s a valid hypothesis. If—and this is only hypothetical—if we agree that Erik and I were the target of these attacks, then our attacker could be someone trying to tank the deal.”
    Detective Sturgeon flattened an index card on the table in front of him, apparently eschewing his partner’s technology. “Names?”
    Erik flicked his fingers to dismiss the question. “I’ll work that end of things.”
    Meg expected the detectives to rip a layer off him for the I’ve-got-money-I’m-above-your-rules attitude.
    Instead Peters said, “We’d appreciate it—on an unofficial basis, of course. But I’ll still need a list of everyone who might have reason to want you or Dr. Corning dead.”
    The last word sent a chilly spear through her midsection and she fought a shiver.
    “I’ve got a few names,” Erik said, not sounding particularly upset by the fact. “How about you, Doc?”
    “There’s nobody,” she said, pressing her fingers to her temples, where stress and nerves pounded in an increasing rhythm. “I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt me.”
    “When the NPT technology is released, there’s going to be a big shift in the open market,” Erikpointed out. “Jobs’ll be lost. Cash equity is going to move around. Money is a powerful motive.”
    Meg scowled, hearing the sentiment echo in her father’s voice. For some people, money is the best motive.
    Even as a young girl, she’d known he meant her mother. Though many years and a few awkward meetings with the woman who had birthed her had given Meg some perspective, the fact remained. Her mother had cared less for her family than she had for things that couldn’t be bought on an academic’s salary.
    The door opened and a dark-haired cop stuck his head into the room, interrupting. “Detectives? I think you’ll want to see this.”
    Sturgeon rose and followed the man out. Peters shut down his PDA and said, “Wait here, I’ll see what’s up.”
    But before he cleared the room, Sturgeon was back. The older detective spoke quietly in his partner’s ear. Peters stiffened and cursed before turning to Meg and Erik. “We’ll have to continue this later. We’ll be in touch.”
    Erik rose. “A break?”
    “Yes, but not in your case,” Sturgeon answered on his way out the door.
    Peters paused and leveled a finger at Erik. “Don’t go Lone Ranger. You’re not on the job anymore. Find out what you can from the sidelines and leave the heavy lifting to us.”
    “I don’t have much of a choice,” Erik said, leaning on the two-toned cane.
    But Peters’s eyes darkened speculatively before he let the door swing shut in his wake, leaving Meg to think he’d noticed,