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between the three paper-pushing suits.
A lull in the conversation gave him the opportunity to ask his own questions. He didn t,
figuring he d learn more by keeping quiet. He listened, and filed everything away for future
analysis.
Clearly, O Brien would prefer one of his vice squad s detectives on this assignment. But
he hadn t made an overt protest. Why not?
And what was Abrahams doing sticking his nose into a local investigation?
DANGEROUS SURRENDER Evanne Lorraine 52
What time are you supposed to clock in? Connelly shot Zach a cool glance that said
she already knew the answer.
Eight.
Better get a move on.
Yes, ma am.
Zach took the stairs. If the lights were with him he d make it on time.
He pulled out of the garage s exit. Then he had to wait for a leggy redhead to finish
sashaying past the exit ramp.
Ciara looked as cool as a bubbling fountain on a hot summer day. She d been anything
but cool last night. His body automatically tightened in response to seeing her again. He wished
.... But he was on duty and wishing didn t mean squat. He watched her from behind his shades
and held his breath.
She never glanced in his direction.
DANGEROUS SURRENDER Evanne Lorraine 53
Chapter Nine
It was raining when he left work. Fat drops smeared the car s finish. Each one leaving a
blob of pollution behind, spoiling the detail job he hadn t gotten the bill for yet.
Fucking traffic was a bad joke. It took him thirty minutes to move across town.
He let himself into his condo. For a few seconds he breathed the clean air provided by his
subatomic particle filters. The tendons in his neck, which had been stretched tight, relaxed. The
shell wall sconces softened the white walls. A spotlight glowed on his Durant etching. It was
going to auction, along with the rest of his artwork and furnishings. Sentiment was the one
luxury he could not afford.
Automatically, he tossed his keys onto the entry table and hung up his suit coat. Then he
checked the office. Nothing in the fax, which was fine. He wasn t expecting anything. There
were messages, mostly nothing.
One was from Tony, his numb nuts manager. His blood pressure built as he listened to
Tony whine about how he d done nothing. This might be a good thing. He d been excited when
he d told him to get rid of Longstreet. He d meant fire the cop s meddling ass. But he could see
how Tony might have misinterpreted his comments to mean something else. That would ve
been a royal cluster fuck.
This in no way excused Tony s failure to get Donovan s kid wired for sound. It had been
four days since the original breach, five before he expected to get anything useful, and he was
operating blind.
Typically, he wound up finding her address, and then spoon-feeding Tony the directions.
In his business, loyalty counted for a lot. He couldn t afford to fire Tony. Not now.
Tony running around loose, with a grudge and too much information, would be a major liability.
He told Tony to hold off doing anything about Longstreet while he did some damage control on
his end.
There was an old saying about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. He
didn t have friends, so he liked to keep his enemies real tight.
Longstreet infiltrating the club, Donovan s daughter dropping by, and the two of them
happening to get together for a private party, might be one big old fucking coincidence. But he
wasn t betting on it. This wasn t paranoia. This was a survival skill. Stuffing his anger into the
empty pit of pain inside, he considered his options. Donovan s kid had entered the club
searching for dirt and deliberately seeking for a way to hurt him. How much did she really
know? And how connected was she to Longstreet? That was typical of his shit life plenty of
questions, no answers, and no help.
He was prudent. He was in control. He was bone tired. Answers first, then action.
If she wasn t connected then she suffered a tragic accident. Drinking and driving it
happened all the time. If she was connected? Then everything got more complicated.
How much would it take to make the blackmail connection once the porn site was nailed?
Should he kill the whole website? Probably. However, that meant cutting off the Cabell funds.
DANGEROUS SURRENDER Evanne Lorraine 54
One more payment was all he needed, plus the sale, and the last week of receipts from the club.
More would be nice, but real genius knew when to walk away.
His mood lightened, thinking of how close he was to winning. Whistling O Sole Mio he
opened the refrigerator and removed the crisp rinsed and dried romaine leaves. He ripped them
tenderly into bite-sized pieces for his salad.
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