Expectation (Ghost Targets, #2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

you—"
    Reed cut her off with a raised hand. "They can, and they should." He smirked. "And they do." He waved vaguely toward the security recorder in the top corner of the elevator, and said, "And don't even pretend they're not listening in on us right now." He trailed off, bitter, then met Katie's eyes, "I wish I'd known about the calls to Martin."
    "Reed, they were nothing—"
    "I know," he said. "I believe you. But it looked bad." He sighed, and fell back against the wall of the elevator car. "But, hey, you did good. You stood up for yourself, and you survived it." He saw the doubt in her eyes and said with more sincerity, "You did good."
    She snorted, and after a moment he shrugged.
    "All right," he said. "But you survived it. That's what counts." He glanced at his watch and said, "Come on. Let's get some lunch."

3. Home
    Paul Hafstedt from Transactions joined them at the next floor and stepped out ahead of them when they got to the lobby. Reed dragged his feet a bit until Paul got well out of earshot, then asked Katie with a suspicious nonchalance, "What sounds good for lunch?"
    She glanced toward the hall that led to the cafeteria, but she suspected he wanted to get out of the building as much as she did. "Something foreign?" she said.
    He grinned. "Perfect. I'm thinking Scotch." He nodded toward the big glass doors, and said, "I know just the place."
    It was a cold morning, with crisp, refrozen snow along the edges of the sidewalks and a freezing fog stuffing the air like cotton. Reed said, "How cold is it?" and when a voice answered him over his headset, he shook his head. "Jesus!"
    "Careful," Katie said with a stale smile. "You might get an answer."
    Reed glanced over sharply, then cracked a smile of his own. "That's not funny." He glanced back over his shoulder, up and up to the mirrored windows of the Ghost Targets offices, where the Steves were probably still listening in on their conversation, and his smile slipped. "Especially not now."
    "Screw 'em," Katie said. Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of a flickering neon sign set in the wall at ankle height above a tight staircase that plunged down into darkness. She could just see a smoky window onto a room glowing with amber light, and she shook her head. "That can't be your place."
    He frowned. "What's wrong with it?" He glanced back up at the office once more, then shook his head, putting the Accountability audit from his mind. Instead he turned his full attention back to Katie and spread his hands innocently. "What?"
    "Look at that place!" They were standing above it now, and a carved wood sign on the door below said simply, "Bar." The neon guttering at the top of the stairs said, "Ice cold beer." She peered down into the window and shook her head. "You can't be serious. Now, Rick...I could almost see Rick in a place like this. But not you, all buttoned-up shirt—"
    "Rick brought me here," Reed said. He started to say more, but let it go. After a moment, he smiled sadly. "Come on down," he said. "Give it a chance."
    The inside was exactly what she'd expected. The stale reek of real tobacco smoke hung thick in the air, and the acrid scent flooded her momentarily with memories of her father. He hadn't smoked since she was little, but the sense memory was overwhelming. Reed kept her from bumping into tables in the sudden gloom, steering her without ever quite touching her, right up to the bar.
    The bartender was a big man with broad shoulders and a black ink tattoo patterning his right arm from the biceps down to the first knuckle on each finger. He had another black diamond tattoo surrounding his right eye, and even in the dim interior Katie could spot the scar that the ink was meant to hide. She didn't let her eyes linger. She gave a full turn before she took her seat, taking the place in, and when her eyes came back to the bartender, she met his gaze with one of appreciation. "Nice little place you've got here."
    He laughed, a deep belly laugh that rolled