Dirty Money (Bad Money #2) Read Online Free Page A

front of him. It was an older man with a cheeky grin and a rather cheerful disposition.
    "What'll it be for you, son?"
    "Jack and coke, double please." Jon glanced back down at the file, opening it as the bartender moved away, whistling a tune Jon knew, but couldn't place. He would need to get through the information on Kate before the liquor took its hold on him. Otherwise he wouldn't get through it. It had been a long time since he'd drank to simply escape.
    Sitting at the top of the large stack of papers that made up the file was a picture of Kate. It was the one he'd first seen when he and Seth had begun to look into her. That file was a condensed version of this one, a need to know only version. This one held everything from her days of criminal activity.
    "It's about to get thicker," Jon mumbled as the glass of liquor was set down in front of him.
    "Enjoy. Want me to start you a tab?"
    "Sure do." Jon glanced up and took the drink, lifting it to his lips and tensing at the thought of getting blitzed in a bar in the middle of the day. His need to drown himself in liquor was a place he never wanted to visit again and yet here he was.
    He took a long drink and set it down, enjoying far too much how badly the liquor burnt his throat and chest. He tugged at the clips at the top of the file and pulled the picture of Kate off the top, lifting it toward his face. Dark circles sat beneath her eyes, her expression rather deadpan. Even in the midst of tragedy, she looked gorgeous. The need to save her roared to life again and Jon put the picture down, not needing any more fueling the fire inside of him where the woman was concerned.
    He moved quickly through the various facts containing her height and weight, eye color and birth information. He didn't care about her family past or where she grew up. The goal was to understand better what type of criminal mind he was falling in love with. Was she simply a bystander that got wrapped up with the wrong crowd, or was she another Seth?
    Had she fooled him like his partner had? It was highly likely, and the thing that would hurt the most. He had no faith in himself after watching Seth turn the tables on him so easily. If he didn't believe in himself, why the hell would he believe in her?
    She had almost seemed willing and ready to join Victor the last time he saw her. True colors or simply resignation to what was coming her way? She couldn't stop the bastard so why not man up and join him?
    Jon pulled off a handful of papers, leaving them to lay on top of the picture as he leaned over and scanned the next part of the file, the information exactly what he was looking for. She had been brought in on two counts of possession and one attempted murder. The file labeled her as the right hand of Billy Turner, which wasn't too surprising. He was the drug lord that Seth had worked diligently to bring into the station. The man was a piece of shit and a scary one at that. Marcus and Victor had nothing on this guy, and somehow Jon's preppy-ass partner had busted him.
    The picture began to clear up more and more though. Seth wasn't anything he said he was. No wonder he had access to Billy. He was part of his entourage as well. Which meant that he knew Kate...
    Heat rolled over Jon as he tried to push through the buzz the liquor afforded. He needed to figure out what it all meant. Kate had never seen Seth, or at least not while Jon was around, so maybe he had her as fooled as he had Jon about everything? Or maybe Kate was well aware of who Seth was. Maybe she was helping him.
    The file included the details of the drug busts Kate got wrapped up in, but nothing on the attempted murder. Jon flipped through the file once more and then again. His mind moving frantically through the details of what he had, trying to piece together anything that might bring him to a clearer conclusion. Was she who she said she was?
    Did she need a savior? Someone to bring her out of the darkness and love her into being the