Secure Location by Beverly Long Read Free Book Online Page A

what?” the man asked.
    “Meg got pushed while we were walking along the River Walk. Subject ran up the stairs, disappeared into the 400 block of St. Mary’s Street. Caucasian. About five-ten and one-sixty. Dressed all in black. Had a hat on so I couldn’t see his hair. Moved fast so he’s either young or in good shape.”
    “Got it. I’ll call it in. Is Meg okay?”
    “Yeah. This time. You need to find this bastard.”
    “We will.” Myers hung up. Cruz took one more look up and down the street. Nothing jumped out at him. Then he looked over the cement railing to make sure Meg was all right. The young men were surrounding her, way too close for Cruz’s liking. He charged back down the stairs.
    He shouldered his way through the group and wrapped an arm around Meg’s shoulders. “Okay?” he asked.
    She nodded. “He got away?”
    “Yeah.” He turned to look at the group. “I’ve got this, guys,” he said. He kept the tone light because he really didn’t want to have to kick their drunk asses but he would if they didn’t back off and stop looking at Meg like she was dessert.
    Liquor-provided bravado caused one to step forward. “Hey, we were just having a conversation with the lady,” he said, his words slurring.
    Cruz shook his head. “She’s done talking for the night. Excuse us.”
    He took a step forward and the guys were smart enough to let them through. He kept one arm around Meg’s shoulders, holding her close.
    She wouldn’t have drowned. The water wasn’t that deep. He’d learned that much from the brochure he’d scanned in the hotel lobby while he was waiting for Meg earlier. Probably only three or four feet. But then again, if she’d have hit her head on the stone walkway, it could have been a very different story. Anger burned in the pit of his stomach. She had been deliberately pushed. The guy was getting more aggressive each time. Crimes against property were one thing. A personal attack took it to a whole other level.
    “I called Myers,” he said. “I gave him a description, so maybe we’ll get lucky.”
    “Did you get a good look at him?” she asked, sounding surprised.
    “I saw enough to know that he’s white, a little shorter and a little lighter than me, and he moves like a young guy.”
    “Good arm strength,” she added, with a smile that trembled.
    He tightened his grip and realized that it felt like the most natural thing in the world to have his arm around Meg. She fit. Always had. Always would.
    Always wasn’t the same as forever.
    She made that more than clear when they got to the hotel and she moved away. Cruz let his arm drop and tried to ignore the sharp pain of disappointment. She probably didn’t want Slater hearing that she’d been friendly with her ex.
    “Will the list be ready yet?” Cruz asked.
    “I’m sure it is.”
    She led him to her office. It was just as big and impressive as it had been earlier that day but this time, probably because he wasn’t light-headed from just seeing her for the first time in a year, he noticed something else. It was bare, almost stark. Sure, there was the desk, credenza and matching chairs. But where was her collection of miniature glass giraffes? Or the Monet print that she loved? Or the brass bookends that she’d picked up cheap at a flea market but were so damn heavy that she’d had to give the guy an extra twenty bucks to carry them to her car?
    “Where are your things?” he asked.
    There was a slight hesitation before she answered. “Probably in a box somewhere that I never got around to unpacking,” she said finally.
    Maybe. But she wasn’t making eye contact.
    There was a manila folder on her chair. She opened it, scanned the contents and handed it to him. It was a list. Behind the single sheet, there was a stack of pictures. Head shots. Smiles. Happy new employees. He counted the pictures. “Only eight?” he asked.
    “We have very low turnover,” she said. “Others quit but these were the ones