Crave (The MacKenzie Family #11) Read Online Free PDF

had—of using her skill to its full potential to her thoughts of spending her life with him.
    Of course he’d never seen her that way. The only reason he’d done what he had and “saved” her was because of her father. Not because he cared about her in any way. But Cal had taught her a valuable lesson. Love was a foolish emotion. The mind and how one used it was all that was important in the chess game of life.
    Her game had changed over the last ten years. Cal had been right about one thing. She was headed for destruction if she’d kept on the same path of her youth—playing the dangerous games of one-upmanship within the hacker community. But she was smarter than that. If she wanted her cake and to eat it too she had to minimize the risk without minimizing the rush of adrenaline she longed for. Not an easy task.
    So she went to her boring job and lived her boring life. And she took tastes of freedom in small doses when she could.
    By the time the clock on her computer screen said four o’clock she was ready to climb the walls of her cubicle. By the time five o’clock hit she grabbed her backpack and dared anyone to try and stop her on the way out.
    Summer was in full swing and the heat weighed heavily across her shoulders as she stepped outside and breathed in the exhaust fumes and hot pavement. Cars sat bumper to bumper, ebbing and flowing as the stoplights dictated, and someone down the street sat on their horn as a group of pedestrians blocked traffic.
    Ahh, she loved the city. No one paid attention. No one cared. You could slip into the shadows without anyone knowing, and you could stand in the middle of a crowded street and be completely anonymous.
    The muted sound of a phone ringing had her digging around in her backpack until she found what she was looking for. One look at the caller ID and she almost didn’t answer it. Their conversations had been the same for the last several years. And she didn’t have the energy for it today. She needed to soak up what was left of the sunlight and get rid of the pounding headache that her cubicle tended to bless her with on a daily basis.
    “Hello, Daddy,” she answered.
    “Evie, come for dinner tonight. “Carla made that roast chicken thing you like. And she says there’s chocolate cake for dessert.”
    “Carla doesn’t make dessert unless company is coming. Who else will be there?”
    She crossed the street at the crosswalk and contemplated grabbing a newspaper from an outdoor stand. A lot of interesting information could be gleaned from what was reported in the papers. And by interesting information she meant the truth. She never knew where her next job was going to come from. She dug for some cash in the front pocket of her overalls and paid the guy, grabbing a paper and shoving it in her backpack.
    “Dr. and Mrs. Reinhold and a couple of private contractors from DyniCorp. It’s very casual.”
    “And I’m sure the private contractors are both single and meet your requirements for a suitable husband?”
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Evangeline. I’m a busy man, and I take offense that my own daughter thinks of me that way.”
    “Uh huh,” she said. “I’m sure you’re crushed. You always said the truth hurts.”
    Her father had made it his mission since her mother’s death to get her settled down. He thought he was being subtle, assigning her bodyguards when she was required to play hostess for him. Or sending former agents or analysts to her home if she needed something done around the house. She’d almost laughed to the point of pain when he’d sent one of them to help her build a fire pit in her back yard. She’d have had it done in a couple of hours if it weren’t for the “helpful” interference of a man who thought he could do it better.
    “Little girl, that’s no way to talk to your father.”
    “I’m going to have to pass tonight. I’ve got plans.”
    “What kind of plans?” he barked. Her father wasn’t used