Silent Warrior: A Loveswept Classic Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

to Grimshaw.”
    “A copy?”
    She shook her head.
    “Cali—”
    “Don’t lecture me, McShane. I know it was stupid. But I really thought it was more a matter of policy. I didn’t think Grimshaw would do more than look at the files and toss it as useless.”
    “Did you look at the file names at least?”
    “Encrypted.”
    John simply smiled at her.
    “Okay, so I looked that far. But I didn’t decode it.”
    His smile vanished. “If you gave them his notes, then why did they come after you?”
    “They didn’t believe I gave them all I had. They want the whole thing. I was questioned politely but at length by Grimshaw and another agent. They showed up less than forty-eight hours after they received the disk.”
    “Tipped their hand a bit, I’d say.”
    Cali nodded. “They were a bit intense. They’d checked me out. I came up clean. I wasn’t sure whether they were relieved or disappointed about that. My work history interested them a great deal. Nothing I said convinced them I hadn’t decrypted the information.”
    “Couldn’t they?”
    She smiled then. “Apparently not. I did offer to help them out.” Her smile widened. “For a price.”
    John smiled in return. Cali felt her pulse speed up even as she was perversely irritated. Sharing even a small moment of connection with McShane was disconcerting. She almost liked him better when he was being dictatorial.
    “They didn’t take you up on it.”
    “No. They took everything I had instead.”
    John fell silent, his attention shifted back to the notepad in front of him. He scribbled some more, then studied what he’d compiled. Cali remained silent,doubting he’d answer any questions she asked at this point. He tapped his pen against the paper. “You have no idea what he was working on? Not even a hint?”
    “None. The file names didn’t reveal anything either.”
    “But Grimshaw seems to think there was more work done on this somewhere.” He looked at her. “Question is, does he just want the material? Or does he want to make sure nothing further was developed?”
    “I’m not sure. Probably both.”
    “Is there anywhere else Nathan could have stashed more information?”
    “That’s what I came here to find out.”
    It only took a split second for him to follow. “The photo.”
    “Why else would he put it in there? It was the only thing other than the notes and the diskette in the box. I don’t know. Maybe there was something on the diskette for me. Maybe I should have broken it.”
    John shook his head. “I don’t think so. He didn’t have time. Maybe he intended to leave something more substantial in there for you later on. But he also knew that the disk could be decrypted. A note to you on there would have been decrypted right along with it. But the photo—”
    “Meant something only to me.”
    “Exactly.”
    “I know it’s not much to go on. I didn’t know what else to try. At first I thought they’d leave mealone once they were convinced I didn’t have anything else. They didn’t want my help, so I thought they’d taken it in-house to resolve. Instead they just took my house.”
    John tossed his pen down. “So all you have now is the photo? You want me to protect you from people who are trying to kill you for something you don’t even have?”
    “McShane, if they believed me, trust me, I wouldn’t be here right now. But they don’t. I’ve told them everything, they’ve taken the rest.”
    “They came after you after they cleaned you out?”
    “Yes. I was followed. Two men tried to take me in the parking garage of my condo building. I managed to get loose and run. They shot at me.”
    “Why not call the police?”
    “No, I wasn’t hit. Thanks for asking.” His lack of concern shouldn’t have rankled, but it did. She crossed her arms. “They were less than helpful with my condo problem. I guess I didn’t want to give them another chance to ridicule me about paranoia plots and mental instability.”
    “They