Pulse Points. Mary Baxter Lynn

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СКАЧАТЬ right, how’s this? The agency’s in such a hole I’m not sure it can make payroll at the end of the week.”

      Tanner’s eyes widened.

      “When I came six months ago, everything appeared rosy. Only after I got here did I learn that Shirley hadn’t been up-front with me. Financially, the agency’s on the skids. I don’t know how to be any more blunt.”

      “Did you demand to know why?”

      “Of course, more than once. But she always hedged with the same excuse, telling me the agency had hit a run of bad luck, that it had lost several lucrative clients in a row. I shouldn’t have let her get by with that, but I thought since I was so new I would tread lightly and give her the benefit of the doubt. Now I know that was a mistake. She’s dead, and the truth died with her.”

      “The records won’t show where the money’s gone. You can bet on that.”

      “Not the ones I’ve seen, that’s for sure.” Kasey drummed her nails on the desk. “When you phoned, I was about to go through her desk to see what I could find, if anything.”

      

      “Good idea.”

      “Detective Gallain’s due to question the staff and me later this week.”

      “When you find where the money went, you may very well find her killer.”

      “Maybe, maybe not,” Kasey pointed out. “The two might be in no way related.”

      “I’m betting they are.”

      “My point in telling you all this is so you’ll get a clear picture of why you should take your business elsewhere.”

      “On the contrary, my business is exactly where it needs to be. I can keep your business afloat.”

      “Why are you doing this, Tanner?”

      “Will something as simple as I trust you suffice?”

      “No.”

      He chuckled. “It’s the truth. I just got burned by a big outfit in Dallas, the Randolph Agency, to be exact.”

      “How do you know that’s not where I worked?”

      “Because I checked you out.”

      That fueled her anger. “You have a lot of nerve.”

      “There’s a lot at stake—my political future.”

      “Still, I’m not the right person to step in at this late date.”

      “I disagree.”

      “I’m flattered, all right. But I’ve been out of the hands-on part of the business too long. In Dallas I did mundane, grunt work, if you will. That’s a far cry from what you need.”

      “But you’re capable.”

      “Yes,” she admitted tersely, “but—”

      “If I’m willing to take the chance, then what have you got to lose?”

      

      Kasey opened her mouth to launch another strenuous objection only to then shut it. Tanner’s business would indeed keep the agency’s door open. Wasn’t that what she wanted? Yes. She desperately wanted to remain here, to make a go of this endeavor for her own sake as well as her son’s.

      If only her savior was anyone but Tanner. She should turn the offer down for that reason.

      “Kasey, all you have to do is say yes. It’s just that simple.”

      A bubble of hysteria almost erupted. Simple. God, any association with him was anything but that. However, he didn’t know that, she assured herself. Her secret was safe forever.

      “Kasey,” he pressed.

      She took a deep breath. “All right. I’ll do my best.”

      Seven

       “S o do you have anything in mind right off?” Tanner asked.

      “No,” she answered with raised eyebrows. “Surely you didn’t expect me to.”

      He shrugged, then grinned, a grin that took her breath. She covered her confusion by saying on a burst of breath, “I don’t even know what you’re running on, what issues you feel strongly about.”

      “You mean you haven’t been following my campaign?”

      A glint in his eye had joined that grin, and she knew he was teasing her. Possibly even flirting. For a moment, she dropped her guard and took the bait, grinning back. She heard him release a gust of air when their gazes held for several beats.

      “So are you interested in hearing what I’m about as a politician?”

      Kasey spoke around her desert-dry mouth. “Now?”

      “Why not?”

      “Fine.”

      “Are you going to ask me if I’m a Democrat or a Republican? Or is that something you happen to know?”

      “Actually, I don’t.”

      

      “I sure haven’t made an impression on you, have I?”

      “Politics and politicians haven’t been high on my priority list.”

      Tanner’s lethal grin appeared again, crinkling the skin at the corners of his intense brown eyes. “Please assure me that’s about to change.”

      “Absolutely.”

      He wiped his brow in a mocking gesture. “Whew, my faith is restored.”

      Allowing this light banter to continue between them wasn’t wise. As it was, Kasey had already let it go too far. She was no match for him. In her vulnerable state she had to be careful, or she’d be snared again into that web of charm and self-assurance that was so him.

      “So what made you decide to run for office?”

      “In other words, why would I want to jump in a fishbowl?”

      “Exactly. I can’t imagine living that kind of life.”

      Tanner was quiet for a moment. “After the fact, I really think I can make a difference. But I never even thought about running for office until a friend, Jack Milstead, pitched the idea to me.” He paused with a shrug. “He was persuasive, and I needed a new challenge. The rest is history, as they say.”

      “Rich and bored, huh?”

      It was obvious she struck a nerve, for he stiffened visibly. СКАЧАТЬ