Deep Undercover. Lenora Worth

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СКАЧАТЬ Instead, he switched gears. “So you like pancakes, but you don’t eat meat?”

      “I do but...bacon is addictive. I try to pace myself.”

      “And why are you in such a hurry to get away from me?”

      “I’m not,” she said, thinking she needed to do just that. “I came by to get some coffee and chat with my friend. But I remembered some things about last night so I jotted notes to add to my official report. I wasn’t planning on hanging around for a big breakfast. I want to do a search and see if I can get a match on that bomber.”

      He took a sip of his coffee and did the cop scan that came naturally. Trucks whizzed by, vehicles honked, people hurried down the sidewalks. A typical day in the city. “I figured you’d head right to headquarters this morning.”

      “I went over my report early this morning,” she said, nodding. “And I have lots of questions, but I needed some of Barbara’s strong coffee first.”

      “What kind of questions?” he asked. “I have a few of my own but we’ll need to see what the lab’s found, too.”

      “That guy in the plaid hat. Gavin, he walked right past us.”

      “Yeah, I know. Taunting the police? Daring us to see him?”

      She took a long drink of coffee. “I did some research online. No other recent reports of bomb threats or bomb scares, but there does seem to be a rash of small explosions all over the city lately.”

      Gavin tensed up and turned wary. “Such as?”

      “In buildings, parking garages, things like that. They’ve all been explained away as accidents. A boiler explosion here, a garage fire there, several construction fires. But no bomb threats or actual bombs—except possibly at one particular site.” She paused. “A site that you and Tommy worked, Gavin. Williamsburg. A boiler exploded in the basement. Why were you called in?”

      He didn’t flinch, and he didn’t look away. “I heard the call on the radio. I happened to be nearby so I went.”

      “What did you find?”

      He looked away this time. She’d read the report. Possible incendiary device. Unsubstantiated. Not enough evidence.

      “Gavin, what do you know about that explosion?”

      Giving her a confused stare, he asked, “What are you getting at?”

      “Nothing. Because I have nothing. But I’m concerned we might start seeing more bombings in the parks or in other big crowded events. Maybe even in buildings. I don’t want that to happen but if it does, we’ll need to be prepared for a serial bomber.”

      His expression changed, turning serious and standoffish.

      “You think I’m crazy?” she asked, her fingers drumming the table and causing both Stella and Tommy to glance up. That or she’d stepped on his sensitive toes by taking some initiative?

      “No. But, Bree, we have bomb threats all the time. It’s part of living in New York and most of them are never reported to the public. We handle things to keep everyone safe. This could have been a prank by someone bored and looking for blood or...we could have a terrorist toying with us. We need to be prepared, yes, but we also have to be careful.”

      “I’m going to be careful,” she said. “But I’m also going to find out what I can about this bomber.”

      When he looked away again, she beamed in on him like a laser pen. “You know something already, don’t you, Gavin?”

      He shook his head. “I’m not good with words or explaining things. You’ve seen me blurt out my feelings right in front of everyone.”

      “Yeah, I have. But now you’re clammed-up and this has to be about last night. You need to fill me in. So start talking.”

      Gavin took a sip of black coffee, completely unaware of her inner turmoil. But he did seem to have some of his own. “You were a pro yesterday.”

      Oh, so now he tried to put a spin on this and build up her confidence? “I let the suspect get away.”

      “No, you didn’t. He slipped away with a crowd of people, oldest trick in the book.”

      “I want to find him.”

      “I do, too,” Gavin said. “And believe it or not, I agree with you. We could wind up having a serial bomber on our hands. And yes, he could be the man who walked right past us yesterday.”

      “But you weren’t going to tell me that because...?”

      He looked directly at her now. “I have to sort things out in my mind and make sure I’m right before I jump to conclusions.”

      “You don’t trust me.”

      “It’s not like that.”

      She shouldn’t have been disappointed. This job could be competitive at times and she had to stay one step ahead. She’d given herself a good pep talk on the way over here, so she squelched any mixed messages she might have scrambled in her brain and gave him her I’m-all-in smile. “Then what is it like, Gavin?”

      She drank her coffee while she waited, too many questions popping in her head while sweat popped out along her spine.

      “I don’t know yet. But if you listen to me and let me explain, we might be able to crack this case together,” he said, his tone pure business, his gaze steady on her face.

      So he did have a plan and he did know more than he’d let on. “How can I help?”

      “By pretending to be my wife,” he said.

      And he was dead serious.

       THREE

      Brianne swallowed so fast the coffee went down the wrong way and she started coughing.

      Gavin watched her, his expression puzzled and confused and kind of comical. She took a sip of water and tried to clear her throat before Lou came rushing out to give her the Heimlich maneuver.

      “Would you mind repeating that?” she asked, wiping her eyes.

      “Are you okay?”

      Nodding, she lifted her right hand to wave him on because she really wanted to hear this. A couple of uniforms came through, nodded and headed inside.

      The sky had darkened, and she thought she’d seen a streak of lightning to the west. Traffic noises merged with thunder.

      “It’s for a case,” he said, handing her another paper napkin to wipe her eyes. “I mean, it might be this case.”

      “Involving the bomber from last night?”

      “I don’t know yet. We’ll have to figure that out together.”

      “Why СКАЧАТЬ