Stalked by Brian Freeman Read Free Book Online

had a relationship a few years ago.”
    “If anything, that means I know her better than Stride. When our little affair came to an end, I saw what her temper was like.”
    Serena frowned. “Maybe we should talk about why you wanted to see me.”
    “Absolutely.” Dan stood up and crossed the thick gray carpeting. He made sure the door was locked. He leaned back against the office door and studied Serena. “Before we begin, it’s critical that none of this gets back to Stride, okay? This is not a police matter, and I can’t have it become one.”
    Serena nodded. “No offense, but if it’s so important that Jonny not find out, why hire me?”
    “Everyone tells me you’re good,” Dan said.
    “I am, but there are others around who are good, too, who don’t happen to be sleeping with a man you hate.”
    Dan returned to the sofa and sat down again, even closer than before. “You think I hate Stride?”
    “Don’t you?”
    “Stride and I have had our disagreements over the years, but that’s water under the bridge. I’m moving on to bigger things.”
    “Okay,” Serena said, but she wasn’t convinced.
    “What’s your hourly rate?” Dan asked.
    She gave him a number.
    “I’ll pay that plus twenty percent.”
    Alarm bells went off in Serena’s head. “Why would you want to do that?”
    Dan eased back into the leather folds of the sofa and cradled his coffee mug in both hands. “Because there may be some risk involved.”
    “Oh?”
    “That’s another reason why your background as a cop is important to me. You’re used to dealing with risky situations.”
    “Let me hear what you have to say first,” Serena told him.
    Dan nodded. “I’m being blackmailed.”
    “Then you should call the police.”
    “No way,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t risk this information coming to light.”
    “Someone blackmailing the county attorney raises all sorts of issues. You know that. You ought to be talking to Stride.”
    “Maybe so, but that’s not an option in this case.”
    “What does this person have on you?” she asked.
    “You don’t need to know that.”
    “That’s going to make it hard to help you,” Serena said. “I don’t like flying blind.”
    “Let’s just say that it’s sexual in nature. Okay?”
    Serena’s mind flitted to Maggie’s question.
Have you two ever done anything… strange
?
    “An affair?” she asked.
    “You’re not a detective anymore. Forget the interrogation. It makes no difference what I did. It’s enough that I was stupid and shouldn’t have done it.”
    “Does Lauren know?”
    Dan snorted. “No, and you don’t tell her a thing, okay?”
    “What did you tell her about hiring me?”
    “I said it was a political deal. Dirty tricks. She bought it.”
    “I take it you want me to find out who’s blackmailing you.” She wondered if he had fantasies of her conducting a hit for him.
    “No, I don’t care. I don’t want to know. I just want to make this go away, and I need you to be my intermediary. This man has already given me a price, and I’ve got the money right here in cash.”
    Dan extracted a thick envelope from his suit pocket and deposited it on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
    “He’s going to call me in the next couple days about a drop,” Dan continued. “I want you to make the payoff for me.”
    “Why not do it yourself?” Serena asked.
    “And risk having the media there with cameras? No thanks. I want this all done at arm’s length. Just you. No one else.”
    “This is a blackmailer. He won’t be satisfied with one payoff. He’ll be back for more.”
    “I’ll take that risk.”
    Serena sighed. “Do you really need me to tell you this is a very bad idea?”
    “Bad idea or not, I’m willing to pay a lot of money to have you handle this for me.”
    “You know there’s no such thing as private investigator’s privilege. If this were to wind up with the police, I’d have to tell them what I know.”
    “That’s why I