The Baby Track Read Online Free PDF Page A

Insight could do its usual two-page article, Copy its ten-minute quickie, and NPB could put together a serious documentary. Would you consider it, Courtney?” It was a reasonable compromise. Wasn’t it? “Well, maybe,” she hedged, stalling.
    “It would mean some role-playing, some undercover investigating. Are you game, Courtney?”
    Game-playing and undercover work. Had her overactive imagination gone wild or did that sound like a seductive, suggestive proposition? She swallowed, hard.
    “Wilson Nollier is selling little babies to the highest bidder, Courtney,” Connor continued, his green eyes intense. The story inflamed him. Even as he mocked himself for his single-mindedness on the subject, he still couldn’t shrug it off.
    “He’s taking advantage of desperate couples who want children and can’t have them naturally, people who have lost hope because of the adoption agencies’ years-long waiting lists. And he’s also victimizing desperate young women who find themselves pregnant and alone, maybe too poor or too young or emotionally unable to raise their babies. Those are the people that creeps like Nollier are preying upon.” Courtney stared at him in surprise. “You really care, don’t you?” she said incredulously.
    Connor’s mouth curved faintly. “And that surprises you?” It certainly surprised the hell out of himself.
    “Frankly, yes. You seem like the type of man who believes in feeling no pain, showing no fear or displaying no weakness. That type doesn’t care about anyone or anything.”
    “You’ve pegged my character—or the lack of it—correctly, Gypsy,” he admitted cheerfully. “Cool, cynical and shallow, avoiding emotional intimacy and involvement at all costs. That’s me and I offer no apologies.”
    “But this baby-selling business has really gotten to you,” she said, staring thoughtfully at him. Which called into question exactly how cool, cynical and shallow he exactly was.
    Connor shrugged uncomfortably. “I just think it’s unconscionable to sell human beings. And I hate seeing scum like Nollier parading around as a respectable member of the establishment while he’s getting rich off defenseless people in desperate straits.”
    “So do I,” she said softly.
    “We can stop Nollier, Courtney.” Connor’s detached, sardonic expression disappeared and was replaced by one of genuine enthusiasm. “Working together we can infiltrate his adoption ring, gather the necessary evidence against him and then testify after charges are brought. We can bring him down, Gypsy, and get one helluva story in the process. Will you do it?”
    Would she work with Connor McKay? Courtney found it unnerving that she found the prospect intriguing, especially when Connor was looking at her in that particular way,-his eyes a breathtaking dark green, his handsome face alive with interest.
    She immediately applied the mental brakes. “There are a few things I want to know before I commit myself to anything,” she said, dampening her enthusiasm. It was essential to keep control of the situation, of herself!
    “First of all, how will this story be presented by Insight and Inside Copy? If I use NPB time in and away from the office plus expense money for a documentary, I don’t want Inside Copy or Insight coming up with some superficial, trashy angle on the whole story.”
    “I could always say that Inside Copy and Insight are never trashy or superficial,” Connor began, his eyes gleaming.
    Courtney folded her arms and regarded him archly. “Mmm-hmm.”
    “Or I could introduce you to the guy who’ll write the story for Insight and you could talk to him about how it should be handled. He’s their only correspondent based here in D.C. and he’s one of the best writers in the news business.”
    “Which explains why he’s working at Insight, that bastion of journalism, instead of at a lightweight organization  like The New York Times or The Washington Post. ” “Touche.” Connor