Dying to Have Her Read Online Free PDF Page A

life, to branch out on his own as a private investigator. It was interesting work. He refused cases that had to do with wives spying on their husbands or vice versa. Most of what he took on were missing persons cases.
    Of course, a few of them had turned out to be wives— or husbands—who had gone off with their lovers. And in a few cases he had been too late. Two had involved kidnapping victims who had been killed almost immediately after being abducted. The best he had been able to give the families was closure, and that was hell. It was, even after all these years, heart-wrenching to tell someone that a loved one wasn’t coming back. But on the positive side, he’d twice found the victims of kidnappings: a woman buried alive in a coffin behind her abductor’s home and a child tied up in a closet. That had felt good, damned good. Rewarding.
    He glanced at the phone on the small table between the couch and one of the leather chairs. He didn’t pick it up to call Sharon. He would do so, soon. He couldn’t help but think about the last time he’d been about to take off on a good wilderness trek. Just before he left, he’d been called to take on a case. Well, he wasn’t a cop anymore. His time was his own.
    To his amazement, the phone rang as he stared at it.
    Let the machine pick it up! he commanded himself.
    He forced himself to remain still. Probably just Sharon, calling him. The machine picked up. He heard his own voice. Then he was surprised to hear the voice of Bill Hutchens, an old coworker.
    “Liam, pick up if you’re around. The boss has asked that I call you and twist your arm. Liam, pick up, pick up …”
    Let it go! he told himself. But it seemed that his hand reached out of its own volition, and his fingers wound around the receiver.
    “Yeah, Bill, it’s me. What’s up?”
    “Accident on the set of Valentine Valley.”
    Despite himself, Liam felt his heart thud against his chest. “Serena?” he inquired.
    “Serena’s fine. But that Jane Dunne who was just hired … dead. Falling spotlight.”
    “And it was an accident?”
    “Olsen wanted me to call you. The producer, Joe Penny, seems afraid that we might wind up with a higher body count.”
    “More lighting equipment is going to fall?” Liam murmured skeptically.
    “Serena was on the set at the same time. Penny wants you watching her.”
    “Me?” Liam said incredulously.
    “With great subtlety, if you will. This hasn’t been discussed with the lady in question yet.”
    “You want me to play bodyguard to a woman who doesn’t know she has a bodyguard?”
    “Something like that—for the moment. Olsen wants to talk to you, then he’ll explain it to her. She’ll know the score soon enough. Hey, not my idea. Olsen wanted you called in.”
    “No. I’m taking off to the lodge. With a date.”
    “Charlie Eagle is a date?”
    “Bill, you asshole, you’ve been in Hollywood too long. No, I have a date with the woman I’m seeing now.”
    Bill whistled softly. “The blonde I saw you with at the Italian restaurant the other night?”
    “That’s the one. So—no. Tell Olsen thanks, but I can’t take the job.”
    “I’m supposed to twist your arm.”
    “Twist it. The answer will still be ‘Fuck, no.’”
    “You can name your terms.”
    “The department can’t afford me. You can’t begin to imagine the terms I’d demand.”
    “The department won’t be paying—the show is picking up the tab. And this is Hollywood. They give millions of dollars here to assholes who can’t even act but can attract teenage kids. They’ll pay you what you ask—the lady is a major investment to them.”
    Liam’s fingers tightened around the receiver. No, he wasn’t doing it.
    Yes, he was.
    Dammit, no.
    He’d been the one to actually walk away, but she’d been the one with the ability to change things—well, at least that was the way he saw it. Serena had her own opinions. He’d closed the door; he’d made himself walk away. There hadn’t