Midnight Heat Read Online Free PDF Page B

looked for that final pattern, where all the pieces fit, where the answer was incontrovertible. Where the answer was fact. And for her, proof.
    And she was just as certain that he was fighting the process tooth and nail. Why? Because it went against his logical mind to believe in something so farfetched?
    Or was it because of her? Was it personal?
    The undercurrents zinging around his office hadn’t escaped her. She’d fought recognizing the interest in his eyes, the probing looks, the open calculation of what she was really all about. The idea that he’d actively focused his powerful interest not only on solving her case, but on herself as a woman, shook her more deeply than she wanted to admit. Or deal with. Not now.
    She looked at him. Animated, intense, alert. And attuned to her.
    She’d roused the predator.
    Great
. Now what in the hell was she going to do with him?
    Get him to keep her job, that’s what. And that’s all.
    “I appreciate your dedication.” She finally did smile when he frowned. “And I’ll hold you to your promise. If you don’t file your report until you get all the answers, then I know I’ll be proven innocent.”

THREE
    Adria answered her phone two days later, crossing her fingers that it was Pete. She’d left three messages on his machine, none of which he’d answered.
    “Ms. Adria Burke?” It wasn’t Pete. It was a woman.
    “Yes?”
    “I’m a reporter. I’d like to ask you a few questions about the incident that occurred over Metro Airport last Monday.”
    “No.” The answer had been immediate, instinctive. Had someone finally put two and two together? Had the mysterious “inside source” divulged the existence of the third plane? “I have no comment to make on the current investigation.”
    “So, you’re saying there is an ongoing investigation?” the woman asked, her tone polite,yet entreating. It was that “trust me” voice Adria was convinced all reporters were taught the first day of journalism school.
    “I’m not saying anything,” Adria replied in the same tone. “However, I’d like to ask you a question.”
    There was a pause while the woman obviously weighed the value of taking the bait. “Go ahead,” she said finally.
    Adria tightened her grip on the phone. Dane had shown her the article before she’d left his office that evening. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to remember the byline. Sarah. “Is this Sarah Greene? Are you the reporter responsible for the story in the
Post
several days ago?”
    “Yes, I am,” came the quick, assured, response.
    So, she was confident. Because of her source? Adria was dying to find out who it was and how much information this person was privy to, but she knew better than to ask straight out. “I’m sure you know that until the standard investigation is concluded, all involved are encouraged not to discuss the matter. Well, obviously you got someone to bend the rules a bit and discuss this with you. I have to admit to being curious as to who this person is.”
    “I don’t reveal sources, Ms. Burke, if that is what you’re getting at.”
    “What I’m getting at is you wouldn’t be calling me unless you thought there was something going on here. As far as I know, this is just a standard review.” That was a lie, but one she told without compunction. This reporter would likely sell her down the river for a story, so Adria figured she might as well steer the boat as long as she could. “But if it’s more than that, my job could be at stake. Now, frankly, I’m not all too concerned about the outcome of the investigation with the facts as I know them.” Another lie, but she held an even tone. “So if you’ve uncovered something that may change that fact, then I’d like to know what it is. I don’t care who told you, just what was said.”
    The pause this time was almost nonexistent. “You’re saying that if I pass along the information my source is giving me regarding the case, you’ll talk to me