Beneath the Secrets: Part One Read Online Free PDF

Blake watched Milo Mendez round his massive cherry wood desk, a picture of greed and arrogance in the way he moved, the way he wore his fine silk grey suit. And most definitely in the glint in his dark eyes as he settled into a leather chair and claimed the position of power in the room.  
    Not about to give him that power, Blake feigned interest in his surroundings, not the man, inspecting the wall of windows to his left and the leather couch and chair to his right with exaggerated interest. “Nice office.”
    “Sit,” Mendez ordered, indicating a visitor’s chair, his tone etched with irritation.  
    Out of the blue, as they often came, a flashback of his Whitney lying in a pool of blood ripped through Blake, and carved out his insides. Mendez might not have pulled the trigger, but he was deep inside the wallet of the man who had. It was all Blake could do not to rip him from behind his desk and beat him senseless. His fingers flexed, curling into his palms, and the twitchy feeling that he used fast cars and fast woman to escape crackled along his nerve endings like raw electricity.  
    Silently Blake reminded himself that pleasure was always sweeter after being denied, and his revenge over Whitney’s death was the only pleasure that had mattered for over two years. Mendez’s beating was coming and Blake was damn sure going to enjoy the hell out of it.  
    Blake ambled toward the visitor’s chair and dropped into the leather seat, schooling his features into a bored mask of indifference.  
    “Thank you for joining me on such short notice,” Mendez offered cordially, like he had a truly cordial bone in his low-life body.  
    “Money talks and you made it worth my while,” Blake replied, referencing the wad of cash he’d been handed before he’d agreed to take this trip.  
    “And as long as you’re worth my while, I always will. As for why you are here. Unfortunately, my head of security has failed to address a critical problem I’d asked him to handle. He’s now made an untimely departure, leaving me with the need to hire someone competent to address my problem.”
    Blake read between the lines. He was dead. “If he failed you, then I’d say the departure wasn’t untimely at all.”
    Mendez gave him a quick incline of his head, approval glinting in his eyes. “Indeed. Nevertheless, I still have my problem and I still need it fixed.”
    “I’m contract only. I’m not looking for a staff job.”
    “Good, because I’m offering you money for solving a problem, not a full-time job.” He didn’t wait for a reply. “As I’m sure you’re aware, Newport operates several national restaurant chains. One of those chains runs what I’ll call a special inventory distribution and it’s come to my attention that some of those orders have been shorted. I need you to find out who’s behind it and make them go away.”
    In other words, someone was skimming drugs and selling them on the side and Mendez wanted Blake to put a stop to it. Worked for him. In fact, it had a limited downside. He simply took down one drug dealer to get to another. “How many locations are involved?”
    “The restaurant has two hundred nationally, but the supply chain starts right here in California.”
    Blake read between the lines. “And you don’t know if that’s where the problem originates.”
    Mendez’s expression tightened. “Our dearly departed head of security couldn’t seem to find a problem anywhere, despite my knowledge otherwise.”
    “So I’m starting from scratch with a national chain of employees as suspects.” Blake whistled. “That’s a big project.”
    “I thought you were the best at what you do?” Mendez challenged.
    “I am,” Blake assured him, “which is exactly why I’m committed to a high-paying client in Europe next week. There’s no way I can take this on for you right now. When I get back—”
    “I need this handled now,” Mendez snapped, his anger palpable. He didn’t expect to be