Triumph by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online

“Dixiecon?”
    “Doesn’t exist.”
    “Russ Thorn?”
    “Nobody I know. I was just trying to save your bacon with your boss, that’s all.”
    “I appreciate it,” Kelly said tightly. “Now, where were we?”
    Deke watched her settle back into her chair. She knew her easy, you-can-talk-to-me pose was useless and that her body language expressed only tension. He straightened where he stood, jamming his hands into the pockets of his dusty jeans.
    “I need you to step back and keep quiet.”
    She raised a finely shaped eyebrow. “I don’t know how to do either of those things. And you haven’t told me why you need me to cooperate.”
    “I just do.”
    “I think we’re done talking,” Kelly said briskly. “For today, anyway.”
    “Okay, but I didn’t come here only to talk. I found something that belongs to you.”
    Kelly looked at him with surprise. She hadn’t noticed anything missing after the mad dash to the van and back to the station. “What?”
    “Your press pass.” Deke handed over a flat plastic bag. “Someone stuck it into the chain-link fence and used it for target practice.”
    Kelly took that in, uncharacteristically silent for a moment.
    “The cops missed it,” he added.
    “Do they know you have it?”
    “No.”
    “Hmm.” Kelly examined the pass inside without taking it out. As a reporter, she’d had to get used to occasionally dealing with aggressive, fixated freaks. They either shouted at her in public or when she was on assignment, or fired off a blizzard of e-mails. This was different. A single bullet hole pierced the laminated surface of the pass. Her face had been obliterated.
    “Good aim. That wasn’t a lucky shot,” she said in a quiet voice.
    “How do you know that?”
    “When I was a teenager I used to shoot playing cards for fun,” she answered. “Back at the ranch, I mean.”
    He glanced at the old photo, then took her in from blond hair to sleek heels, shaking his head. “And to think I had you pegged for a city girl. You still shoot?”
    His gaze made her uncomfortable. “I’m out of practice. I don’t own a gun.” She looked at the press pass through the plastic again and set it on her desk.
    Kelly lifted her head and stared at Deke for a moment.
    “My guess would be that someone’s after you,” he said.
    “Oh, I don’t know,” Kelly said nonchalantly. “Maybe it’s just bad guys having a little fun.”
    “Or sending a message,” Deke pointed out. “Keep away. Spelled with bullets.”
    Kelly frowned and leaned back a little in her chair. “Why me? No one knew we were going to be there, or why we were there. Laura picked that building at random.” She studied him for a long moment. “You really can’t fill me in on what was going on?”
    “Absolutely not.”
    Annoyed all over again by his continued refusal, Kelly struggled not to show it. “As a confidential source, your name never has to be mentioned. It’s not like you’d appear on camera. Let me know when you’re ready.”
    Deke shook his head. “I’m not going to change my mind.” “Then I’ll begin investigating on my own,” she said firmly.
    “With or without you.”
    “Kelly—”
    Stalemate. He stopped talking before she could do any more arguing. She rose from her chair and moved him toward the door by walking toward him. Her office was her domain; he couldn’t stand in her way. But she almost wished he would. Kelly scooped the press pass from her desk, back in news-professional mode.
    “Thanks for coming in. I’ll walk you out. Let’s use a different door.”
    In silence, she led him past a long glass case filled with news awards and plaques. Deke hung back, studying a row of golden statuettes.
    Kelly turned on her heel when she realized that he’d stopped. “Those are Emmy Awards, if you’ve never seen one. Local Emmys. That’s why the statuettes are small.”
    Deke seemed impressed anyway. “I never would have known. I have no basis for comparison.”
    “A