Vigilante Mine Read Online Free

with the equipment you have now."
    His words sounded genuine. What legitimate, law-abiding company wouldn't want its interests protected? But nothing was ever clean and simple in Relek. A hideous whine spun through the vent over their heads and Amanda sidestepped a murky cloud descending from the register. Burned dust scented the air. McLelas looked up, his eyebrow raised as the heating unit rattled, coughed, then died, leaving a noticeable silence in place of its usual white noise hum.
    "Funds can fix that, too." He smiled. "Before you all freeze."
    "I'm not contesting your point, McLelas. But I've been living here too long to believe in generosity. So let me ask you something." Dale leaned over his overlarge desk calendar and bridged his fingers. "What do you want in exchange?"
    McLelas's gaze locked with Amanda's for an overlong moment. Warmth hopped along her nerves, down to her fingertips, her toes, and despite the way her internal alarm system responded with a clamor of warning, she wanted to trust he didn't intend to pay off the 16th's departments for some nefarious scheme.
    She tore her attention from him and reached for her bag. Syndicate murder cover-ups were more straight-forward than this bargaining, the extortion-laden head games. So many games. Was it too much to ask for one man to defy convention? The strap of her bag dug into her clenched fists. Don't do it. Don't ask for anything.
    "I need a case file."
    Disappointment rolled in like an afternoon thunderstorm. Civilians didn't get public access to case files. McLelas's "benefit dinner" would pay their precinct for a visit to the secure storage room. Worse, when she looked at his profile, Amanda still found his tan complexion, strong jaw, and confident smile attractive. What did it say about her that she could be drawn to a man who thought it acceptable to bribe law enforcement?
    Bushy, gray brows arched in his direction. "Which one?"
    Amanda straightened with a choked "Sir?" Charlie's accusation that Dale had prevented her reinstatement echoed in her head, gaining merit with each breath. She pursed her lips. Circumventing official channels to keep her behind a desk was not the same thing as playing the money game. Surely the lieutenant was drawing out a second rejection.
    McLelas's jaw tightened. "The Old Town fire."
    Dale sighed. He eyed the clock on the wall, glanced at Amanda, then settled a long look on his guest. He nodded abruptly and turned to Amanda. "See this gentleman to Storage."
    Her feet were like blocks of concrete. "Sir, that's a sealed case."
    "That wasn't a request, Detective." Dale turned to McLelas. "Might take some time to find."
    Inconveniently long. Amanda got the hint, but how could he even consider this in the first place? She glanced between them and swallowed hard. Shadowy half-circles under Lieutenant Dale's eyes seemed deeper than they'd ever been, the wrinkles and worry lines and exhaustion more pronounced. When she wasn't watching, the city had aged him decades. And though he'd cut a deal which would suit them both, Ryan McLelas seemed grim. No triumphant smirk or pleasure-doing-business handshake. The 16th got money, and McLelas got security, along with his file. Win-win, even if it was a shady arrangement.
    So why didn't either man look pleased by the victory?
     
    She'd short-circuited his brain.
    Damn it, this was his zone. How had he managed to screw up a simple financial deal?
    His subconscious had leaped at the chance to dig into to his mother's death. Now that sense had returned, Ryan remembered there were other, less foolish, ways to find answers. He wanted nothing more than to take back the request — that or arrange another officer as escort so he could no longer feel the icy blue glare that had speared him to the bone the second he'd asked for the file. He couldn't do either. What was done was done.
    Oh, he'd had to push. The suspicious nature of a city so cowed by thugs and illegal business meant no decent official