In Broad Daylight Read Online Free PDF

his gut, or whatever part of him
    that was instrumental in allowing attraction to set in, was telling him a great deal, none of
    which included the phrase "hold off." If being a cop, a good cop, wasn't so ingrained in him, he might have followed through on one of any number of instincts.

    As it was, he felt something stirring within him, something beyond the enormous sexual
    pull that kept harassing him. Harassing him because it couldn't go anywhere. She was part
    of a case. And she was married.

    She was also human. He saw the strain on her face before she locked it away.

    Leaving Nathan behind him, he crossed to her. "You looked tired. Why don't you take a
    break?"

    The sound of the detective's voice coming from behind her startled Brenda. She'd been
    allowing her mind to wander for a second. And grasp onto some awful scenarios. Regaining
    control over her emotions, she turned around to face him.

    "That won't help Annie."

    The sincerity he heard in her voice crept through the layers of steeliness he'd imposed
    around himself whenever he was working. He had to admit she impressed him. Someone
    else in her position would have been looking to distance themselves from the police as they
    covered their own tail. But she didn't. Her concern was completely centered on the missing
    child. "You know, about that lie detector test—"

    Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly and she raised her chin again, as if bracing herself for
    a further confrontation. "Anytime, Detective."

    Anytime.

    If he'd had the luxury right now, he would have allowed his thoughts free rein in a
    fantasy. But he didn't have that luxury. What he had was a missing child.

    Dax looked into her eyes. Nothing there made him doubt his decision. "I think we can skip
    it. The department doesn't like having its time wasted."

    Was she finally allowed to get off the hook—or was he just toying with her? The thought
    that he suspected her of being involved in the kidnapping made her furious, never mind
    that logically, she knew it was his job to suspect everyone.

    Brenda measured her words out slowly. "Then you finally believe that I didn't have
    anything to do with this?"

    He knew he was stepping outside the lines, but they paid him for going with instincts, and
    his professional one told him exactly what Nathan's told him. That Brenda York wasn't
    involved in this.

    His eyes held hers and something inside him fidgeted. It gave him pause. But commitment
    was a funny thing. Any kind of commitment, even to a state of mind. It meant boxing
    himself in and he didn't like to do that either. He liked the freedom that noncommitment
    represented.

    So, he didn't answer her.

    Instead, he said, "You've been a great help with the kids."

    She'd had a calming effect, putting questions to them that had needed to be answered.
    They'd asked children from all the grades if any of them had seen anything suspicious.
    There'd been a few conflicting stories, none of which had amounted to anything. But even
    that was headway. It meant the kidnappers were very good at their job and that this had
    all been premeditated.

    "I'm not too good with them myself," he added since the stillness made him
    uncomfortable.

    "No children of your own?"

    He knew that if his late mother had had her way, he would have been married for years by
    now, with half a dozen kids. Truthfully, pleasing his mother had been the only reason he'd
    ever considered the state of matrimony—and very nearly made a fatal mistake he would
    have regretted, one way or another, for the rest of his life.

    Dax shook his head. "No wife of my own."

    She gave him an amused look. "That doesn't answer the question."

    Dax grinned. Sharp lady. "No, no kids of my own. You?"

    She paused for a moment, as if about to say something, then shook her head. "No, I don't
    have any children." She nodded toward the last of the children filing out the door. "Those are my kids."

    He had the feeling she'd almost said something else, but