Alive at 5 (Entangled Ignite) Read Online Free PDF

cop seemed puzzled by her response.
    Samantha’s phone rang. She glanced down at the number, sighed, and looked back at the detective.
    “You going to get that?” Johnson watched her, his brow wrinkling.
    “Nope. If my boss wants to fire me, I’m going to make him do it in person.” She pressed a button on her phone. The ringtone ended. “Can this day get any worse?”
    “Talk to me, Sam.” The big man moved closer as if to offer comfort, but he stopped short of touching her. Unexpectedly, he turned to Zack. “And you are?”
    “This is Zack Hunter,” Samantha jumped in. “Ex-Army Ranger, current adventure seeker.”
    He shook the detective’s hand. The cop’s grip was firm, strong, and serious. Zack casually checked the ID clipped to the man’s belt and confirmed his name.
    Johnson turned back to Samantha. “So, what happened out here today?”
    Zack bristled at the subtle blow off, even though he should have been glad the cop hadn’t recognized him. The law enforcement world was a small one. He didn’t want his cover blown in front of this reporter.
    “Isn’t it your job to tell me?” She placed both hands on her hips.
    The detective smiled, as though they’d faced off in this contest before. “I need to see the video you shot before, during, and after the accident. Including the footage you didn’t have time to air.”
    “And I need to see a subpoena,” she stated, but her words lacked bite.
    “Come on now, we’re old friends.” A compassionate smile spread across the detective’s face as he put an arm around her and gave her a friendly squeeze. “And I can tell you’ve been crying. Let’s work together on this, okay? Let’s just forget the normal red tape bullshit.”
    “Stuart.” She glanced Zack’s way. “I mean, Detective.” She cleared her throat and pulled slightly away from him. “I can’t give you the raw video. Station policy. You know that. I can’t afford to piss off my boss any more than I already have, so you’re going to have to go through the red tape.” She shrugged and made a sympathetic face. “And besides, no one shot video of Maxwell’s landing. I put the camera down before I ran over to him. George was still up in the plane.”
    “How well do you know the deceased?”
    Her gaze dropped, and her chest rose and fell. “Maxwell Wentworth and I were good friends. He dated my mother for a while before he got married again, kind of took me under his wing.”
    “I’m sorry.” The detective gave her another squeeze. “Hell, no wonder you froze. Your boss is an asshole for making you do it.”
    Zack’s respect for the man went up a notch.
    Johnson’s gaze moved to the dead man still on the landing field. Then he took his arm from around Samantha’s shoulder and pulled out a small notepad. “Okay. Let’s go over it. You were here covering a story, right? On Wentworth?”
    She nodded. Her phone made a humming noise. She glanced down at it, but didn’t pick it up.
    Zack wondered how long she would continue to ignore her boss, kind of admiring her for being that bold.
    “Notice anything suspicious? Did Wentworth do anything out of the ordinary before this jump?”
    She shot the detective a resigned look and told him about the kid packing Wentworth’s chute.
    The cop nodded. “Forensics will check out the parachute and every piece of gear the deceased—Mr. Wentworth—had on him. We’ll process it all. You know the name of this kid?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t even know if I’d recognize him. I wasn’t really paying attention.”
    Zack watched her energy sink even further and felt a little sorry for her. “Only a handful of teenagers hang around here trying to make a buck or two packing gear,” he offered. “I’m sure we can find him.”
    Now why had he said that? He wanted her out of here. Like, right now.
    Johnson scribbled a note. “Did Mr. Wentworth jump a lot?”
    “Every other weekend. He practically lived up here.”
    “You think