Read Material Witness for Free Online Page B

page like writing on a
chalkboard. Wishing she could be invisible again. But suddenly she felt so
exposed.
    “Ah, her boyfriend, Adam Coel, was
there when I called. I'm sure she probably mentioned it to him. But—”
    “Do you know him well?”
    “A little. We've spent a few weekends
in the Catskills together over the eight or nine months since she's been seeing
him. But he'd have no reason to call the papers about this? And it was so
late.”
    “Why did you go to Rory's? I mean,
what made you decide on Rory's as opposed to some other bar in the area to do
your research. That part of town is filled with places like Rory's but not
nearly so notorious for criminal activity.”
    “Maureen suggested a few places.”
    “Your editor suggested you become a
hooker for the evening?”
    Cassie tossed him a wry expression.
“I was not a hooker. I was pretending. Big difference. Besides, Maureen had no
idea I'd gone to Rory's specifically. We did a Google search while we were on
the phone. I made a list, closed my eyes and picked one.”
    Cassie forced air into her lungs,
much like a gulp. Her head was swimming. As a novelist, she’d learned enough
about crime to know that this morning's headline was akin to having a target on
her back. Last night, she was just another nobody who happened to be in the
wrong place at the wrong time. Sure, she was a well-known author, but still
invisible to anyone who didn’t read her books. It was doubtful anyone at Rory’s
was part of her readership.
    But today, she was a material witness
who could finger a killer who now had the means to identify her. And he was
still out there …
    She peered up at Jake, hoping to find
some assurance. In the end, the lines etched on his tired face and the
tightness around the edges of his mouth didn’t give her any.
    “Then how did Maureen know you were
there last night?”
    “She's the person I called from the
station.”
    He nodded. “You have to admit the
publicity—”
    “No!” The sharp tone of Cassie's
voice startled even her.
    Jake stiffened as if bracing himself
for yet another unpleasant battle. “How can you be so sure it wasn't Maureen?”
    “I just am. I may have wanted to kill
her last night, figuratively of course, but we're friends. She'd never put me
in harm's way.”
    Jake lips spread to a cynical grin.
    “Look, I know going to Rory's wasn't
the smartest thing I've ever done, but I've known Maureen for six years. If she
really thought I'd be in danger, she never would have made the suggestion. In
fact, if I hadn't been so late getting there in the first place I'd have gotten
all the information I needed and been long gone before the shooting. We both
thought it would simply be an hour or so of people watching. Maybe talking a
little to some of the other girls who might show up. Seeing how they interact
with people who came into the bar. That's something I do all the time for my
books.”
    His dark eyebrows stretched high on
his forehead. “You said that last night. You just watch people when they're not
looking?”
    “Yes, that's how you really get to
know them. It's not like voyeurism or anything sick like that. I don't peek at
people through their windows or do anything illegal. I just watch people acting
naturally, take in their mannerisms and try to make characters out of them.
Once you meet people, they put on a fake face to impress you.”
    “So you were interviewing me as a
prospective—”
    “I was doing research. I had no
intention of going to bed with you.”
    As soon as the words were out of her
mouth, she was sure her sensual thoughts of Jake had betrayed her. He gave her
a slow, sexy grin, rewarding her with his dimple. She'd been caught.
    “Maybe not last night,” he answered
in a low voice.
    She closed her eyes and tried to
squash the longing that suddenly engulfed her. Fear replaced it.
    “What happens now?”
    Jake nodded once, straightening his
posture. Whatever had just passed between them was gone, and