Reilly 04 - Breach of Promise Read Online Free

That’s so classic,” said Alice, nodding.
    “Man overboard!” an alarmed man in a silk jacket called. “You okay down there?” he shouted.
    “Fine, fine,” Mike’s strangled voice replied.
    “Hang in there, pal!”
    A large, handsome man sporting a black tie and long hair jostled for a place along the railing. “Rachel? It’s me, Harry. Is that you?”
    “Help!” Rachel replied, her voice very faint above the sound of the ship’s motor. “Get me out of here before my legs freeze off!”
    Leaving Lindy anchored by a couple of concerned guests, Nina ran for help.
    But the captain had heard the cries. The paddle wheel slowed to a stop, the engine drone quieted, and the boat halted. A spotlight—hauled out of a musty cupboard and hoisted by Nina and a young man with tattoos—located the wet pair in the black lake not more than a hundred yards away, midway between the boat and Fannette Island.
    Before Harry could remove his shoes and jump in after them, the crew lowered a dinghy into the water and rowed swiftly out, first to Mike, who was closer, and finally to Rachel, whose hair stuck to her body and covered her face like tattered black rags.
    By the time the dinghy returned to the
Dixie Queen
and the pair was climbing a ladder to safety, Nina had relinquished her beacon to a nearby crewman. She was standing at the front of the crowd with Paul.
    Someone wrapped a wool blanket around the shivering girl’s shoulders. The music had stopped. The guests bunched together to make room for Rachel and Mike, with the exception of the man named Harry, who glared at Mike as he passed. Lindy stood off to one side like a casual spectator, drawn to the event but uninvolved. Red-eyed, with black mascara streaming down her bloodless cheeks, Rachel walked slowly over to her and stopped.
    Nina edged toward Lindy, wondering if Rachel was as angry as she would be under the same circumstances. Taking deep, gulping breaths, the girl just looked the older woman over. “I feel sorry for you,” she said finally. Mike came to her side, took her arm, and they walked away together.
    Lindy watched them go.
     
    Afterward, very late, Nina treated Paul to a drink at the bar at Caesar’s and then they went up to bed. Paul was playful and warm, and while her body responded with mindless happiness, she couldn’t yank her thoughts entirely away from the evening’s events. When she finally tried to untangle herself, explaining that she had to get home to Bob, Paul pulled her back.
    “Don’t leave yet. There’s something I have to tell you,” he said.
    So here it was at last, whatever had been bothering him all evening. “What?” she asked, positioning herself on the side of the bed while a dozen unpleasant possibilities flashed through her mind. Another woman. A fatal illness. He was broke. He had committed murder. . . .
    “They’ve offered me a job. A permanent job.”
    “They?” she repeated, as her speculations ground to a screeching standstill.
    “A private company. Worldwide Security Agency.”
    “But . . . you didn’t go to D.C. to apply for a job, did you?”
    “No. I was hired to consult on the design of some new security systems for a block-long office and shopping complex they’re building right outside the city in Maryland. I ran into a friend I worked with years ago back in San Francisco. . . .”
    “When you were with the police.”
    He nodded.
    “And . . .”
    “We were talking, and this thing came up. At first, I thought, no way. Then I discovered I’m interested.”
    “I knew there was something.”
    Paul, who was facing her, pushed a pillow that had gotten between them out of the way and sat up straighter. “They want me to run all the checks, hire all the personnel, and work with the systems designer to eliminate bugs when the complex opens sometime early next summer.”
    When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “It’s a long project, big on money, high on hurdles. My kind of thing.”
    “What