Darker After Midnight Read Online Free Page B

darting around and seeing nothing but their own reflection in the large pane of one-way glass.
    “If you’re ready,” prompted the detective from beside her.
    She nodded, letting her eyes travel down the line to the remaining three men even though there was no need. The others looked nothing like him. They were a rangy mix of shapes and sizes and ages. One man was rail-thin, with stringy brown hair hanging limply around his shoulders. Another was the size of a bull, broad shoulders and a big belly. He had a mean face framed by thick, dark waves and small eyes that glared out over the swollen red beak of his nose. The third was a balding lump of a man, probably in the neighborhood of fifty, who was sweating profusely under the bright glare of the spotlight.
    And then there was
him
 … the intense, almost cruelly handsome menace who still hadn’t taken his eyes off her. Tavia wasn’t the sort to let things rattle her, but she could hardly stand the weight of that stare—even if she was safely concealed in the darkened viewing area behind quarter-inch safety glass and surrounded by half a dozen armed law enforcement officers.
    “That’s him,” she blurted, pointing toward position 4. Although it had to be impossible, she could have sworn she saw his mouth lift into a half smile as she raised her hand to single him out. “That’s him, Detective Avery. He’s the man I saw at the party that night.”
    Avery gave her shoulder a light pat as the cops in the other room began instructing the men to step forward one at a time. “I know I said this is just a formality, but we still need you to be sure, Tavia—”
    “I’m absolutely certain of it,” she replied, her tone crisp as the blood in her veins began to buzz with some kind of innate alarm. She glanced back into the other room just as Number 4 took his two steps forward. “There’s no need to continue here. That man is the shooter. I would know his face anywhere.”
    “Okay, then. That’s fine, Tavia.” He chuckled. “What’d I tell ya? Done in no time. You did great.”
    She dismissed the praise as unnecessary, giving the officer a mild shake of her head. “Will there be anything else?”
    “Ah, nope. It’ll just take a few minutes for us to wrap things uphere, and we can get you on your way. If you’d like me to see you home—”
    “No, thank you. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” As she spoke, her eyes clashed once more with the man who might have killed someone at Senator Clarence’s party. If he truly was the mastermind of the bombing downtown this morning too, then he had the lives of several innocent people on his hands. Tavia held that penetrating stare, hoping that he could see through the glass to the depth of contempt she held for him in her eyes. After a long moment, she pivoted away from the viewing window. “If that will be all, Detective, the senator has a big presentation tomorrow morning, and I have a lot of logistics and other work to catch up on yet tonight.”
    “Tavia Fairchild.”
    The deep growl—the unexpected sound of her name on a stranger’s lips—made her freeze for a moment where she stood. She didn’t have to wonder who spoke. The low rumble of his voice went through her with the same cold certainty of the bullets he’d rained down on the crowd of party attendees the other night.
    Still, shocked by what was happening, Tavia swiveled a questioning look on the detective and the other agents and officers. “This room … I thought you said—”
    Avery sputtered an apology and grabbed for a wall-mounted phone next to the viewing window. As he spoke into the receiver, the man standing in the number 4 spot kept talking to her. He kept looking at her, as though there were nothing standing between her and his deadly focus.
    He took a step forward. “Your boss is in a lot of trouble, Tavia. He’s in danger. You could be too.”
    “Damn it! Get that son of a bitch under control right now,” demanded one of the federal