Searching for Secrets Read Online Free PDF

Heckertt was not going to march to Kirk Reynolds' schedule. She slipped her feet into comfortable brown loafers and walked back to the door and opened it.
    "I gather I've gotten you away from something," Kirk said, with an edge of sarcasm to his tone.
    She could feel him studying the damp auburn hair that framed her face. "I figured if you buzzed five times it had to be important." She stood aside so he could enter her living room.
    She watched Kirk take in the simple furnishings of the long room. He scanned the oak dining table and chairs in the small dining area, with the antique icebox sitting nearby, and then studied the sofa and loveseat with the small pattern of navy blue and rose. He scrutinized the several book shelves and his gaze lingered on the needlework she had sitting on the sofa.
    "Through with your inventory, Officer Reynolds?" she asked.
    He grinned. "Sorry. Habit. Look, I got to thinking about whoever robbed you last night, and I don't like it."
    She gestured that he could sit on the sofa. "I rather disliked it myself."
    "Do you have keys to your school building?"
    Christa was surprised by the question. "Of course. Teachers go in an out at odd hours. Why do you want to know?"
    "I'd like to go over there and try to lift some prints myself." he began.
    "You said you'd have to impound the computers..." she began.
    He shook his head. "I would if we actually need them for evidence to prosecute somebody, but now I just need to get at them."
    Christa regarded him. "I wasn't kidding when I said my kids had been all over those. There can't be any decent prints left."
    "What about on the inside? Did you put it back together?"
    Christa nodded. "It was only a matter of replacing the screws. I couldn't tell if he, or she, had disassembled any of the components, so I figured I'd put the housing back on and see if it worked."
    "So, our burglar could have had his hands in there. I might be able to dust the inside..."
    "That could ruin it," she said, perturbed.
    "I'll be careful. Do you have one of those mini-vacuums? You can clean it out when we're done."
    He was really very persuasive. And besides, Christa thought, if they could identify who had tried to steal the hard drive, all the better. "Just give me a minute to dry my hair, and I'll go over there with you."
    "Do you mind if Amy joins us?" he asked.
    "Ah, now I see. You want your niece to have a special tour before her first day of school." She was half amused and half annoyed. If he'd asked her that, she would have been happy to oblige. This concern about her burglar was probably just a ruse to make the little girl happy.
    "IT'LL GIVE FRANCES SOME MORE TIME to unpack," he said. Kirk's eyes followed Christa as she left the room. As soon as she saw her, he knew she had been in the shower when he knocked. He felt like a voyeur, and tried to quell the thought of her with water running down her perfectly shaped frame. All he wanted was to identify the people who seemed so interested in her school's computers. That was all, wasn't it?
    CHRISTA LED THE WAY so that Kirk could see the most direct route to drive to Amy's new school. Since there was no one else there, they parked at the curb. Christa walked a few steps ahead and unlocked the main entrance. As she opened the door, she thought she felt a slight breeze from inside the building. How odd. She held the door and Kirk and Amy walked through.
    "Amy, your classroom is around the corner to the right. As soon as I let your Uncle Kirk in my classroom, I'll walk around and show you the kindergarten room." Christa glanced sideways at Kirk as he held the little girl's hand. The child trusted him totally, and he seemed to deal with her so naturally. Christa felt an intense pang of longing, and pushed the thought from her mind.
    As they neared her classroom, the breeze was more pronounced. Looking left, she saw that the bottom panel of one of the hallway windows had been broken. "Damn," she said, stooping to look at it. "Mrs.