Into the Whirlwind Read Online Free PDF

to come, Dad. He was working on the house he’s rebuilding after it burned down last year. He came because he knows how much Charlie means to me. Now I’m telling you, Dad, Dirk means a lot to me, too. I trust him and I respect him. I expect you to do the same.”
    Her father’s silver-red eyebrows shot up. Dirk figured it was rare that Megan stood up to him.
    O’Brien sucked it up, stuck out a strong, freckled hand. “Good to meet you. Thank you for coming.”
    Dirk shook, still reeling from the words Meg had said. He meant a lot to her? What the hell did that mean? She trusted and respected him? If those things were true, why was she sleeping alone when he had stupidly wanted to be the man in her bed?
    â€œI’ve set the wheels in motion,” her father said to both of them. “I’ll have the cash ready, maybe as soon as tomorrow.”
    â€œSo far these guys have been smart,” Dirk said. “We’re looking for a way to track them, figure out who they are, but it’s going to take some time.”
    O’Brien’s heavy eyebrows slammed together. “What are you talking about? We’re going to wait for their phone call, pay the money, and get my grandson back. We aren’t doing anything that might get him killed.”
    Dirk’s patience began to unravel. “You give them the money, we have no leverage. They do whatever they want with the boy. We need to know what we’re up against. If possible, we need to figure out who’s behind the abduction and find them before the deadline is up.”
    â€œIt’s too risky. I won’t have you interfering in this.”
    Dirk cast a questioning glance at Meg. If she told him to stand down, he would. Or at least he would pretend to. Might be better if he left her out of this. Did what needed to be done without fighting to keep his emotions in check.
    Meg read the message loud and clear. She looked from him to her father. “I need your money, Dad. I know how much you love Charlie so I know I can count on you for that. But I need Dirk’s experience, his professionalism. I’ve seen the way he handles himself in dangerous situations. He knows what he’s doing. I trust him to bring Charlie home.”
    O’Brien cast him a forbidding glance. “You’re him, aren’t you? Her mother and I, we knew there was someone. Someone she met on the tour.”
    â€œI was her bodyguard,” he said carefully, not looking at Meg. “We got to know each other fairly well.” Now that was an understatement. They hadn’t spent a lot of time in bed—they’d both had jobs to do and there was a killer on the loose. But if he closed his eyes, he could still see the tiny birthmark on the inside of her thigh, remember the way it tasted beneath his tongue.
    â€œIt was more than that,” her father said with an all-too-knowing glance. “I saw the way she was after you left. But I won’t press the issue. As much as I’d rather do this my way, Charlie is Meg’s boy. If she trusts you that much, I have to trust you, too.”
    Dirk made no reply. The more Meg talked about him, the less he understood why she had broken things off. Clearly, she had cared for him more than he had believed.
    â€œHave you done this kind of thing before?” O’Brien asked. “Handled kidnapping cases, I mean.”
    â€œYes. I’ve worked several ransom cases.”
    â€œAnd you brought the person safely home?”
    He wasn’t going to lie. “The first two, yes. The third time the woman who’d been abducted was killed before the ransom call was ever made.”
    Meg made a sound in her throat.
    â€œThat isn’t going to happen this time—is it?” O’Brien said. It wasn’t a question.
    Dirk glanced at Meg. Her face had gone pale, making the row of nearly invisible freckles across her forehead stand out.
    â€œNo, sir, it