The Target Read Online Free Page A

an out-of-town assignment and I’ll be gone for a month or so and too busy to communicate. We might as well see other people.
    She hoped he would take it well. Sam was smart enough not to be clingy with her, unlike her last boyfriend, who’d gotten too serious too quickly and ruined a good thing. But once the sex lost its sizzle, she had to move on. When men got too attached and emotional with her, banging them became boring, more of a chore than a sport. She knew it was fucked up, but so far, Dr. Harper had failed to fix her.
    Dallas showered, put on the one cocktail dress she hadn’t packed, and went out to meet Stacie.

Chapter 4
    Tuesday, July 8, 3:05 p.m.
    Kiya spotted the stripper getting out of a car, stuck in a piece of Juicy Fruit, and braced for action. After the pretty woman in the phony cop uniform crossed the parking lot, Kiya climbed off her motorcycle, grabbed the prop from her saddle bag, and hurried toward the building. She carried a bouquet of black roses that had cost a small fortune and wore a shirt with a Flower Power logo above the pocket. She’d bought the uniform from a young deliveryman two days ago. Some of her assignments required months of preparation. Others, like this one, came together easily. But it was too soon to count this one as a done deal. The main challenge was still ahead.
    Inside the glass doors, the stripper walked through a security checkpoint and showed her ID. “I’m with PartyParty. I have a birthday present for Sanjay Mallick. Your company ordered it.”
    Kiya waited just inside the door, hoping someone else would come through first. But DigiPro was a medtech company and didn’t get much foot traffic.
    The security guard crossed his arms. “What kind of present? Show me.”
    The stripper pulled open her easy-snap shirt and leaned forward. Kiya couldn’t see the display, but she imagined the woman was wearing a sexy black bra that revealed plenty of cleavage. The guard grinned and waved her in. “Sanjay’s in the lab on the left upstairs.”
    One hurdle down. Kiya had ordered the strip-o-gram as a distraction. She hoped the woman was good at her job. Touching the gold chain on her neck for luck, Kiya stepped forward.
    “I’m Amy Johnson with Flower Power. I have a delivery for Sanjay Mallick too. He’s having quite a birthday.” She handed the security guy a phony driver’s license and gave him a quick smile. She hated smiling. Her teeth were small, and it wasn’t in her nature to be charming. But being a freelance contractor required it sometimes. She hoped the guy didn’t call the floral company.
    He looked at her uniform shirt and compared her face to the tiny photo on the license. What was he thinking? That she was sort of pretty, but her green eyes lacked warmth?
    “Black roses? Is that a joke?” The guard, thirty-something with a bitter expression, pretended to do his job by asking questions.
    “I believe so. The birthday boy is thirty today, so someone probably wants to remind him it’s all downhill after this.” She was about to hit that milestone herself.
    “He’s gonna like his other present better.” The guard waved her in.
    Hurdle number two. Kiya hustled toward the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator to return. The stripper was already on her way up to the research lab. The company was still small, with only nineteen employees, and most were scientists, computer geeks, or some freaky combination. They were working on a password pill her client wanted. The larger company had the resources to speed up the development—‌or kill the project to keep it off the market. She didn’t care which, as long as she got paid.
    At the top of the stairs, the stripper waited in front of a solid door with a large window next to it. Kiya crossed the open space as a young man walked to the glass and sized up both visitors.
    The door opened, and he grinned at the busty woman in the tight blue uniform. “Who are you here to arrest?”
    “Sanjay