Material Witness Read Online Free PDF

woman of the night? You know, the one sent
out into bedlam—”
    “Cassie. Okay, okay.”
    There was mumbling in the background.
Cassie recognized a man's voice and guessed that Maureen's boyfriend had spent
the night. Interrupting a romantic interlude gave Cassie none of the
satisfaction she'd craved earlier.
    “Why are you calling at this unbelievable
hour?”
    “I'm at the police station.”
    “Oh. My. God!” Maureen's voice was
now crystal clear and she was fully awake. Let the guilt begin. “You got
yourself arrested? You were only supposed to take notes.”
    “Arrested? Are you insane? How about
shot at and dragged across a glass-laden barroom in a dress that couldn't warm
a cantaloupe.”
    Maureen's high-pitched gasp distorted
the connection. “Shot? Are you hurt? Are you okay?”
    “I'm fine.” Cassie blew out a
frustrated breath. She was too tired to lay on a guilt trip, no matter how much
Maureen deserved it. Her energy was completely depleted and Maureen's sudden
concern poured enough water on her flames to cool her down. “I'm just tired,
and I want to go home.”
    She looked up just as Jake was
approaching. He'd offered to drive her home. If she didn’t take it, she’d have
to wait for a cab. He had to go home, too.
    “Are you okay, I mean, really?”
Maureen said, cutting into her thoughts. “Adam and I will pick you up and bring
you over here tonight. You probably don't want to be alone.”
    “I'm fine. It’ll be dawn by the time
you get here. I just didn't want you to hear about the shooting from someone
else or read about it in the morning papers.”
    It was a lie. Jake assured Cassie her
name wouldn't be used in the papers. Even if Maureen remembered Rory's was one
of the bars she'd suggested Cassie go to, she wasn't likely to put two and two
together. But Cassie was no good at delivering guilt trips. She could murder
all she wanted in her dreams and on paper, but in reality, she was a softy.
    “I'll see you in a few days,” Cassie
said before she hung up the phone. For a split second, she wished she hadn't
refused Maureen's offer to stay at her apartment tonight. She really didn't
like the idea of being alone.
    As if he'd timed it that way, Jake
sat down on the edge of his desk just as she placed the phone in the cradle. He
handed Cassie her purse.
    “All set?”
    Cassie peered up at Jake, into slate
blue eyes that seemed to burn with fire and ice at the same time. “Is that
offer for a ride still good?”
     * * *
    The streets appeared colder and
particularly lonely as his sports car ate up the pavement toward Cassie's
apartment. Every once in a while, he’d glance at her as they passed under a
glowing streetlamp.
    She'd pulled her dark hair down from
the upswept style she'd been wearing all night. Chocolate curls framed her face
and covered her shoulders, blending into one with the color of his leather
jacket. It made her look even more vulnerable than she had appeared earlier.
    What they'd gone through tonight was
enough to send most people over the edge. Or at least in search of a bottle of
Jack Daniel's to help them forget. Instead, Jake’s mind wandered to elicit
thoughts of a woman who was sweet enough to rival sugar cane. He wasn’t about
to give in to his sweet tooth no matter how much of a shock to his system
tonight had been.
    “What you said at the bar, about not
being married, is that true?” she asked.
    As they passed under another
streetlamp, the light illuminated her face and then left it dim. The image of
her lips remained in his mind until the next streetlamp grew near.
    “Yes, it's true.”
    She nodded and looked out the window
away from him. “Oh.”
    A moment passed in silence.
    “Why do you ask?”
    “I thought maybe it was a line you
used when you were undercover.”
    She didn't elaborate further. Had she
been thinking about him all this time? Wondering? Jake didn't know if he liked
the implications of why. He knew he’d been doing a whole lot of