Meant for Her Read Online Free PDF

around the big dining table with glasses of wine, and promised himself he would do everything in his power to make the ceremony tomorrow.
    Everything except walk away from a case.
    The door opened behind him and Hank turned to see the face he hadn’t even realized he’d been missing. It was there in the hitch of his breath as he looked at her.
    “Thanks for coming, Mr. Jared.”
    Her blonde hair was tied up and away from her face, her eyes calm and clearly grateful.
    “Of course.”
    Was this the face of a traitor?
    If Julie Trueblood had hacked into the Navy computers to protect her father, she no doubt believed that what she had done was right. As she held the door wide for him to enter, he realized that the moment might come when he would need to arrest her. Hank crossed the threshold and hoped he wouldn’t have to do that.
    “The power’s been out since this morning,” she said. “There’s a generator in the barn, but we haven’t been able to get it working.”
    “Maybe I can fix it.”
    “I’ll pretend I wasn’t hoping you would say that.”
    “Why?”
    “So I can seem like a tough, independent woman who doesn’t need a man to do anything mechanical.”
    “And fry it up in a pan?”
    “Exactly.” She had a beautiful smile, he noted, just as it fell. “Of course, I’m already hamming up the damsel in distress routine pretty well.”
    “I’m glad you called. Someone breaking into your home is unsettling for anyone. Given the circumstances, you were right to call me.”
    She accepted his words with a nod. “Come on in,” she said, stepping aside and motioning for Hank to follow her down the dim hallway. “Watch yourself, it got dark all of a sudden.” She trailed her hand along the wall to navigate in the dim light as she called out, “I think it’s about time to pull out the candles, Gwen.”
    They stepped into the kitchen, where a tall woman with flowing blonde curls was busy unpacking boxes of candles and candle holders. “One step ahead of you,” she said. She smiled warmly at Hank, and he knew they must often be mistaken for sisters.
    “Gwen Trueblood, this is Hank Jared,” said Julie.
    Hank extended his hand. “That’s a lot of firepower, Ms. Trueblood.”
    “Call me Gwen,” she said, lighting candles as she spoke. “I heard you may be able to fix our generator.”
    “I can give it a try.”
    “Wonderful,” she said, taking a flashlight off the counter and handing it to Hank. “Any tools you might need are out in the barn with the generator. Julie, will you show him where it is?”
    “Sure thing.” Julie grabbed a down jacket off the back of a kitchen chair and pulled on tall winter boots before leading the way out the back door. When they were alone, she turned and waited for Hank to walk beside her.
    “Mr. Jared, I owe you an apology.”
    He could smell her scent, clean and light, floating on the crisp winter air as he stepped closer. In a different time and place…
    “It’s Hank,” he said. “An apology for what?”
    “For losing it when you were in my office,” she said, her embarrassment plain. “For throwing you out on your ear when you tried to be compassionate.”
    At her words, Hank remembered the way she had fit in his arms, warm and solid. He knew that he wanted her back there again, and the knowledge made him uneasy. “It must have been quite a shock,” he said with sincere sympathy.
    Julie frowned. “You know, then.”
    He nodded. “I did have to work for it, if it makes you feel any better.”
    She turned back toward the barn and began walking slowly through the snow as she spoke. “I hadn’t seen my father in ten years.”
    Hank knew the admiral wouldn’t believe her. “That must have been hard for you.”
    “I understood it. My father came to see me the day he disappeared.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “I read the official report. It says the last time you saw him was the night before the disappearance.”
    “I lied. I got home from school