Unmasking Kelsey Read Online Free

face, the faint shadows beneath her eyes and the look of utter control holding her features. He saw a mouth innately curved with humor but held in a tight line, saw from the fit of her jeans that she had lost weight recently.
    He wanted to help her. Suddenly, more than he had ever wanted anything in his life, he wanted to help her.
    “Hi,” he said lightly.
    Before Elizabeth could utter a word, Ami said firmly, “This is Kelsey, Beth. You remember him from this morning. I’ve invited him to supper.”
    After a moment, Elizabeth said, “Ami, Meg went up to her room. Could you go and tell her supper’s ready, please?”
    Her younger sister hesitated, then nodded. And the glance she left Kelsey with was full of entreaty. Unconsciously, he braced himself and returned his gaze to Elizabeth.
    “What do you want?” she asked tautly the moment Ami vanished.
    All Kelsey’s instincts told him that this woman would not be put off with vague reasons. So he folded his arms across his chest, leaned back against the doorjamb, and met her eyes squarely. “I want to know,” he said quietly, “why you distrust the local police. I want to know what it is you’re worried stiff about.” He reflected for a moment, seeing her tension increase. “I want to know who Blaine is, and why Ami was happy that Lobo bit him.”
    “Get out of here.”
    As if he hadn’t heard, Kelsey went on. “I’ve come to a few conclusions on my own. I drove through Pinnacle today. I have a room there, by the way. And I was absolutely fascinated to see what should be a dying town flourishing. Obviously, it’s a company town, and obviously the company pays well. But it’s odd, Elizabeth Conner, because that company isn’t very well known.”
    “I said—”
    “Doesn’t look all that big either.” Seeming toignore her interruption, he was watching her intently. “Meditron, a company listed as manufacturing medical equipment. Their books show a modest profit, nothing spectacular. I drove by there today. They have a surprising amount of security; it isn’t exactly usual for armed guards to man an entrance gate for such a small company—unless they’re doing something inside that they don’t want people to know about.”
    “That has nothing to do with me,” she said tightly. “I don’t work at Meditron.”
    “I know.” He ventured a small smile. “You raise peaches and sisters. I haven’t met the other two, but it’s obvious Ami is worried to death because
you
are worried. Now, since this is a tight-knit company town with the local law enforcement quite probably company-owned, I have to wonder.”
    “Who are you?” she whispered.
    After a moment, he shrugged. “If I told you who I worked for, it wouldn’t mean anything to you. We aren’t listed in the phone book and don’t offer guided tours of the home office. We’re—uh,troubleshooters, for want of a better word. We got a tip that something was rotten in Pinnacle. A call from a distraught young lady was recorded by the FBI—the Washington office, by the way. It seems she wasn’t even sure of the state boys, so she called the national office. She was too frightened to leave her name, and she was virtually incoherent. But it was clear she was worried about something going on at Meditron. They were doing bad things out there, she said. And she said other things. That they were hurting people. Particular people.”
    Elizabeth was frowning a little, wariness in her eyes.
    “The matter was passed on to us,” Kelsey went on. “I got the job. Turning up on your doorstep was a piece of luck I hadn’t counted on.”
    Her frown deepened. “I told you, I don’t—”
    “Ami made the call, Elizabeth.”
    She went white. “That’s crazy! Ami is fourteen, and she never goes around Meditron. She wouldn’t know—”
    “No,” Kelsey agreed softly. “She wouldn’tknow, would she? Unless she had … overheard something? Unless she was convinced that your anxiety was tied up with