Read Carter: The Sinner Saints #1 for Free Online Page A

fear?” he asked.
    “Both.”
    “Did you find out what was on the drive?”
    Ally snapped her head away from the window. She narrowed her eyes. “Why do you care about what’s on Harvey’s drive?”
    He relaxed into his chair and draped one bent arm over the rest. “I told you, Ally, I’m not your enemy.”
    “That doesn’t answer my question,” she said, holding firm.
    Carter met her stare for a long second before answering. “Because you were right. Fuller lied. His security detail said we shot first, and he backed them up. They said we were the ones that wouldn’t stand down, and, because the good congressman has a hell of a lot of pull in this town, the cops believed him.”
    “I’m sorry,” Ally said, and she meant it. She’d tried to warn him how ruthless Buck Fuller could be. “So why aren’t you in jail right now?”
    “I’m guessing Fuller’s team didn’t have enough time to manufacture proof before the police showed up last night, but it’s just a matter of time until they do. Fuller’s coming after my company. He’s trying to pin this on me personally,” Carter said, his voice falling as he leaned forward. He jabbed his finger into the tabletop as he spoke. “I’m not going to let that happen. And the only way I can do that is to discredit him, to expose him for what he really is.”
    Ally leaned back in her chair. She believed him when he said he wasn’t going to let Fuller take him down. Suddenly, she was grateful for all of his assurances that he wasn’t her enemy. She’d seen what he could do, but she had a feeling it was just a fraction of what he was capable of.
    “I understand,” Ally said, relaxing a bit. “But unfortunately, I’m not going to be much help to you yet. Whatever information is on that flash drive, it’s encrypted.”
    “I can help you break it.”
    “That’s okay,” she said, waving off the offer. “I know a guy. He’s good.”
    “Not as good as my staff, I promise you,” he said with a twinkle of pride in his eye. “And definitely not half as fast.”
    “I don’t know…” Ally said. She’d fought too hard for that flash drive to just hand it over to anyone. She’d jumped out a broken window and shimmied down a lamppost. She’d spent the night in her childhood bedroom, for God’s sake.
    “What don’t you know?”
    Ally drew in a deep breath. Honesty was the best policy. At least that was what her grandmother had always told her.
    “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
    “I don’t know if you can afford not to,” he shot back.
    “Excuse me?”
    Carter leaned across the table. His honey-colored eyes locked with hers. And suddenly, it was as though everyone else in the crowded cafe disappeared. It was just him and her.
    Ally felt her heart start to pound again. This time it had nothing to do with fear. It looked like, even though her brain wasn’t quite ready to trust Carter Macmillan, the rest of her body was far from complacent about him.
    “I found you, Ally. With very little information, I knew exactly where you’d be and when,” he said. There was no malice in his voice, but his words still chilled her down to the bone. “If I can do it, so can Fuller. I understand your hesitation, but you have to realize that you are a thousand times safer with me than on your own, and stop running away.”
    Ally swallowed hard. Dammit if that didn’t sound like the truth.
    She was saved from having to respond when her name was called out at the bar. Carter jumped up and grabbed her cup. He cocked a brow as he returned to the table.
    “You ready to go?” he asked.
    Together.
    Ally drew in a deep breath. It didn’t look like she had much of a choice.
    Besides, the man was currently holding her coffee hostage.
    Ally nodded, and stood up. She grabbed her cup from Carter’s hand as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. She took a long sip of the coffee and let the fresh air clear her head.
    Carter waited patiently by her side. He didn’t try