Silence that Sizzles Read Online Free Page A

a small office. It was neat and tidy, and there was a desk, a small couch, and a couple of chairs arranged in a more casual sitting area. She looked at Kyle with a raised eyebrow.
    “I figured this was a better place to talk than the bar.” He walked to a small cabinet on the other side of the room and popped it open. He looked back at her over his shoulder with a grin. “But that’s not to say we can’t still have a drink.”
    Kelly smiled back at him. He pulled a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc out of the cabinet and showed it to her. Kelly could afford nicer wine on her salary, but she usually chose to squirrel it away for other things. She recognized the label on the bottle and the vintage. The bottle had to have cost at least three hundred dollars.
    “Are you sure you want to drink that?”
    “Anything for an old friend.” Kyle didn’t say anything else as he popped open the wine and poured her a glass. He handed the glass to her, and she took it demurely from him. She felt silly now standing in front of him dressed the way that she was. When she was wearing her white lab coat, she always felt completely in control. But when she was in street clothes, having to deal with other people in regular social interactions, she always felt like she failed miserably. She blamed it on her parents. She shook herself of those thoughts. She didn’t want to think about her parents. Their loss was still too recent for her.
    “Sit down and take a load off,” Kyle said. “I’m not going to judge what you tell me. I won’t say anything. Why don’t you just tell me why you’re here?”
    Kelly finally felt like she was getting somewhere. She took a deep breath and dove in. She found that she couldn’t stop when she started. She told Kyle all about staying late at the lab that particular night. She told him about the file that she had found on her assistant’s computer. She told him just enough of what she’d seen inside of it that she heard his growl. She shivered, although she wasn’t afraid he would do anything to her. She understood though that he was upset by what she had said.
    “Did you make copies of anything?”
    Kelly nodded. “I printed out a few things and copied the rest on a flash drive. Then I ran. I thought I could quit. I thought it would all go away. But then I found out that my contract is legally binding for as long as the company chooses to employ me, not the other way around. It was fine print I completely missed. Through the formal channels, they’ve made it very clear that I have one of two options. I either come back to work and keep my mouth shut about what I’ve seen, or they will make sure I never work again. Through the informal channels, the threats are worse. I think they’ll kill me.”
    She couldn’t believe she’d said the words out loud, but she knew they were the truth. She was involved up to her eyeballs with a company that had ties to the government. After what she had seen, there was no way that they were going to let her talk to anyone about it.
    “Where are you staying?”
    The question surprised Kelly, but she guessed she should’ve known better. She didn’t live in Copper City. It was the last place on earth that she should’ve come to. Oak City’s headquarters were in the heart of downtown. If they wanted to find her, they could do so easily.
    “I’m staying at The Carlisle.” It was a swank hotel that was beyond her normal budget, but she was trying not stay in the usual places. “I’m staying under a different name and paid cash for both my airfare and the hotel. I haven’t used my credit cards since I left. I was hoping that they wouldn’t find me.”
    “If they want you found, they already know where you are. I don’t mean to scare you, but it sounds like you’ve stepped into something that you shouldn’t have.”
    “I went into this with my eyes wide open, Kyle. I knew what I was getting into by working with Oak Tree. I just didn’t know that it was