After Midnight: (A Penguin Special from Signet Eclipse) (Killer Instincts) Read Online Free PDF Page B

intelligent, honorable, loving, tender . . . he possessed a million wonderful qualities that made him the perfect candidate for fatherhood.
    But what did
she
have to offer? Would she teach their child to kill someone? To wield a knife? To shut down emotionally whenever things got too rough?
    Kane brought out her softer side, but she wasn’t sure it was soft enough for a
baby
. She couldn’t envision herself cuddling and cooing and lavishing attention on a child. Sure, maybe her maternal instincts would kick in once the doctor put that newborn in her arms—but what if they didn’t?
    “Minute’s up.” Noelle’s mocking voice broke through her terrified thoughts.
    Abby’s throat closed up again, and she was embarrassed to realize she was near tears. “I can’t do it. Will you . . . can you . . . go in there and look for me?”
    Noelle grumbled with impatience. “I never took you for a pussy, Sinclair.” Then she marched into the bathroom.
    She was gone for all of five seconds. When she returned, her face revealed nothing. Not a single hint as to what she’d found.
    Gulping, Abby met those expressionless eyes and said, “Well?”

Chapter Four
    Later that evening, Morgan hung up the phone and turned to the group with a grim look. “That was Special Agent Riggs. They’ve agreed to an exchange with Nazara. Five million for the boy.”
    Kane had been taking a catnap on one of the twin beds in Morgan’s suite, but at the boss’s report, he shot into a sitting position, instantly alert. “When is it?”
    “Six a.m. tomorrow. At the market. Nazara wants it done in a public place, and he won’t budge on the location.”
    Kane hopped off the mattress and made a beeline for the kitchenette, grabbing the pot from the cheap coffeemaker to pour himself a cup. Abby and Noelle were seated at the table, going over the list of associates Aswad had given them, but they hadn’t connected a single name to the abduction. The four of them had spent the entire day and evening visiting every potential safe house where Nazara could be stashing Tommy Aberdeen, all to no avail. They’d run out of places to check and people to talk to, and now it looked like the task force had given up on finding leads too.
    Noelle sounded annoyed by the plan Morgan had outlined. “It’ll be impossible to get a perimeter set up. Too many people, too many alleys to hide in. The market is a damn maze.” She leaned back in her chair with a smug look. “Besides, we all know there won’t be an exchange. Nazara’s not stupid—he won’t bring the boy. The second he gets his cash, he’ll order one of his thugs to kill the kid.”
    “I know.” Morgan’s tone was laced with displeasure, as if he hated agreeing with the woman even for a second.
    The two of them had been exchanging enigmatic words and derisive barbs all evening, which had seriously grated on Kane’s nerves. A part of him wished they’d just get it over with and sleep together. There was no doubt in his mind, especially after watching their interactions today, that a good, hard fuck would do wonders for the pair.
    Or at the very least, it might shut them up for a while.
    “Which is why we need to find Nazara tonight, before the exchange ever takes place,” Morgan added.
    Kane chugged his coffee and poured another cup, desperately needing the caffeine to jump-start his brain. “Riggs still can’t trace the calls? What the fuck are they doing over there?”
    “Nazara’s smart. He only calls from payphones,” Morgan said flatly. “He stays on the line for no more than ten seconds, then moves to a different phone, delivers another piece of information, and hangs up.”
    Abby joined the conversation, sounding as frustrated as they all felt as she gestured to the papers in front of her. “There are no leads here, Jim.” Along with Noelle, she was one of the rare people who ever used his given name, which always reminded Kane that they had a history. Abby’s adoptive