Read For All to See (Bureau Series Book 1) for Free Online Page B

regret. If Nichole had been sitting there the night before, she wouldn’t be missing. She slid into the seat.
    Helplessness closed itself in the cab with her, despite Deacon’s normally bracing presence. She snapped her seatbelt into place, determined to eradicate that feeling.

6
    “ W rap up for me .” Nathan pushed away from the wall.
    “But I have a date,” Dick held up a hand.
    “We just got here. How in the hell do you have a date?” Nathan snarled.
    “I’m a friendly guy,” Dick shrugged.
    “You’re on the clock,” Nathan countered. He grabbed the knob, but the guy’s hand on his arm pulled him up short.
    “Where are you going? Oh, to get a date of your own. She’s a man-eater. Watch your nuts. I think she’d crack ’em in a second.” The bastard chuckled quietly.
    “I’m following a lead.” He stared at Dick’s hand for a second before it slipped from his jacket.
    “I want to talk to the man in charge of your circus, not the clown,” Adrian Tau interjected from behind his desk.
    Dick’s face didn’t look so pretty with an indignant bloom of red and a rumpled grimace. Nathan stopped the man’s retaliation with the kick of a brow. Then he turned his full force on the cop. “I understand not wanting outsiders in your business, but you’re too stubborn for your citizens’ own good. If you don’t accept our help, I guarantee this won’t be your case in twenty-four hours. It’ll probably be mine even if you do. So, enjoy shoving us around while you still can.” Nathan turned away.
    “What lead?” his non-partner asked.
    He let the closed door do the talking as he hurried past Adrian Tau’s grumbling witch of a secretary and down the hallway. By the time he made it outside a silver Jeep eased away from the curb with a mammoth-sized dog hanging its head out the window.
    Nathan sprinted for the rental and yanked at his tie. Good Lord, he had a recliner bigger than the tin can. On the bright side, if he wrecked, they could use it as his coffin. And he damn well might wreck, driving on the left side of the road. He shrugged off his suit coat and tossed it the foot and a half to the other seat, crammed his body behind the wheel, and took off, playing a hunch.
    The engine whined like a crazed child as he gunned it to the beachfront road. When Madelyn went right instead of left he pumped the brakes and earned a blaring horn at his back. He hadn’t expected that. He’d predicted she’d head straight to Nichole’s house to nose around.
    His rental idled in the middle of the street while he thought it out. Then he smiled and veered left.
    Women and their outfits. No way could she snoop in heels.
    He followed the road past the docks and hooked another left at a fork, which led him away from the coast to where the other half lived. Only one wrong turn later he pulled past the driveway he sought. On the far side of the curve Nathan parked at the edge of the road, grabbed gloves from his bag in the sorry excuse for a trunk, and then strolled several yards back.
    Natural vegetation overflowed the gravel in places, acting like a tunnel. The short drive allowed enough space for two cars to park one in front of the other with the bumper of the first nearly kissing the house. A realtor would label the place quaint, which translated into really small and old, but with potential.
    Though no cars occupied the landing strips Nathan measured his footsteps. His gaze swept back and forth over the pale yellow house, paying close attention to the wavy glass windows and the woods surrounding the house. Two short planters brimmed with a flowering shrub bracketed the teal door. Above the threshold a painted placard read Gallow . It seemed Nichole worked to unlock the home’s promise.
    Nathan eased around the porch post, eyeing the scaly lizard that scampered across the banister. “Hello,” he knocked. The entire house vibrated from the mild force of his knuckles. When no one responded he peered in through the