Withholding Evidence Read Online Free

himself stupid jealous of the tall man who was now giving her tips on how to line up her next shot.
    “That’s enough coaching, Lee,” said a man who stood on the opposite side of the table with a cue in hand. “Trina’s kicking my ass enough as it is.” Keith recognized him as Curt Dominick. The man caught sight of Rav and said, “Alec, you done sucking up yet? I could use your help here.”
    Rav made a face. “I wish.”
    Trina and the tall man turned to face the door. Trina’s eyes widened, and she let slip a faint gasp.
    Keith liked being the cause of that slight intake of breath. For the second time today, he watched her cheeks redden, but this time, she couldn’t bolt down the stairs and get away. No, she had to face him, and he liked her flustered reaction. He liked even more that she didn’t lean toward the man by her side. If the guy were her boyfriend, she sure as hell would make it clear in front of Keith. But the man and Dominick were both focused on Rav. No one but Keith seemed to notice Trina’s distress.
    She stepped back and murmured something to another woman—Mara Garrett?—then handed over her stick and left the room without a word. Keith’s gaze followed her until she slipped out of sight in the garden.
    “Trina’s your historian?” Rav asked.
    He nodded.
    Rav snickered. “Clearly not yours, though, given her quick exit.”
    “Give me time, man. The party is young.”
    Mara Garrett studied him from across the room, her gaze speculative.
    Keith faced the men he was ostensibly here to talk to and was introduced to Lee Scott and Curt Dominick. “So, what’s going on with the Alaska compound?” Keith asked, referring to a state-of-the-art military training ground that Rav had acquired when he purchased Raptor, a private security and tactical training organization.
    “It’s going to reopen the first week of September,” Rav said. “Lee is flying out next week to go over the computer security. Someone hacked the system, but I don’t think it’s the woman who’s been lobbying to get the training ground shut down permanently.”
    “Why not?”
    “As far as I can tell,” Lee said, “she doesn’t have the necessary skills. It’s a sophisticated hack, and while the woman is clearly smart, she’s no techie.”
    Keith nodded. “And what do you want from me?”
    Rav smiled. “I want you to consider giving up your premature and lazy-assed retirement. I need you at Raptor.” He nodded toward Dominick. “And for the position I’m thinking of, Curt here needs to vet you.”
    The attorney general was doing background checks? This was no petty security guard position Rav was offering. Keith knew Dominick had vetted Rav personally—that was how the two men had met—before the government approved Rav’s purchase of the company after it had been seized from the previous owners. The attorney general, his wife, and Raptor had bad history.
    “I don’t know, Rav. I’m liking my lazy-assed premature retirement.”
    “Bullshit. You’re antsy as hell and just hoping to drive up the offer—before I’ve even made it.”
    “Will it work?”
    “It might.” Rav sighed. “I’ve got to go outside and resume the glad-handing. Can we talk tomorrow? Noon. My office?”
    “Sure.”
    Rav nodded and left.
    Keith hung back and chatted with the others, wondering how long he had to stay before he could pursue Trina without looking pathetic.
    Mara fixed him with an assessing look. “How do you know Trina?”
    The woman’s boss didn’t know Trina had asked him about Somalia? That was…interesting. “Through the navy,” he said, which was both cryptic and true. Since his interest in Trina must have been obvious, he decided looking pathetic was better than feeling antsy, and he set off to find her.

    T RINA’S HEART POUNDED, and not because she was approaching Perry. Keith Hatcher was here . Her body had gone into a full-blown awkward-schoolgirl reaction. She’d flushed and felt short of