Killer Deal Read Online Free

doubt.”
    She was claiming to know me so well that she could count on my hunger for a great story to override any other concerns. Maybe she was right, but I didn’t want to give her
the satisfaction of admitting that this early in the process. “I need to know you’ll support my efforts to do this the right way,” I pressed.
    “Fine.”
    “And keep your predictions about my failure to yourself.”
    “Your implication wounds me.”
    “Yours doesn’t exactly warm my heart.”
    “I’m trying to be frank. You want to turn that into something malevolent, that’s your business.”
    No, that’s your strength, I thought, but for a change, I had the sense not to say it out loud. “Wonderful. I’ll get to work.” I pushed myself off the slab and headed for the door.
    Eileen sat back from the monitor and folded her thin arms across her chest. “Just keep in mind you still have to do your column and that piece on dating divorced men, too.”
    “I will.”
    “All in two weeks.”
    “Right.”
    “And be careful.”
    Interesting. I never would have suspected Eileen of giving a second thought about my personal safety. “Thank you, Eileen,” I said, trying to sound more grateful than surprised.
    “God knows I don’t want you infuriating some homicidal idiot who’s going to come after you here in the office and hurt someone else, namely me. Investigations aren’t good for your coworkers or the carpet.”
    Okay, so she wasn’t thinking about me at all, except in relation to her own comfort. The upside was, my suspicion that Hell remained a frost-free environment was confirmed. “I’ll do my best.”
    “You’re smiling too much and I can’t bear it. Go now,” Eileen said with a dismissive wave.
    Back at my desk, I couldn’t even sit still. This was the opportunity I’d been looking for and I was going to make the most of it. Third time’s a charm and I was going to make sure this article got me where I wanted to go.
    I began by making lists and notes. I’d been following the news about the Henderson investigation out of personal interest,
but I wanted to assemble everything I could and make sure I was fully up to date. I needed background research on Gwen Lincoln, too, to make sure I got the most out of my interview. Gwen would be expecting puff-piece softballs, but I didn’t want to miss a chance to dig deep.
    I was also going to have to find out how much information the police would be willing to give me. Since it was an ongoing investigation, it probably wouldn’t be much. I tried to remember who Kyle had said had caught the case.
    Kyle. I needed to tell Kyle. Telling Tricia and Cassady, especially in view of our lunch-hour conversation, would be great fun, but I couldn’t be sure Kyle would be as enthusiastic. He worried about me, which I appreciated hugely, so he’d probably be pretty low-key about it. But he’d be happy, too.
    I called Cassady and Tricia, who were both thrilled to hear the good news. Tricia made me swear we would reconvene for celebratory cocktails at some point later in the evening; I mentioned that to Cassady, who said she was sure she’d be ready to ditch her fund-raiser quite early, so count her in.
    Then I took a stroll and called Kyle from the steps of his precinct. I’m very respectful of professional space and the last way in the world I want to be perceived is as the flighty girlfriend who’s forever dropping by to intrude at the worst possible time. Especially now that I might be interacting with some of his colleagues on a completely new level.
    “Hey, where are you?” he asked, sounding calm and pleased to hear from me.
    “Out front. I didn’t want to interrupt, but I happened to be in the neighborhood.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I have great news.”
    “I’ll come down and you can tell me in person.”
    There’s something so delicious about watching the man you’re crazy about come walking toward you. You get that great anticipation of how he’s going to