Read The Killing Edge for Free Online Page B

Luke.
    “Just what do you do, Miss Marin?” he asked. “Since you’re not a model.”
    She had never said she was, but even so, she resented his implication that she wasn’t—something—enough to be a model.
    “I’m a psychologist and an artist,” she said.
    “Oh. I see.” The words were polite—and cutting.
    “A sketch artist,” Stuckey put in for her. “Chloe has been of tremendous help to the department as a sketch artist. And as a psychologist, she’s helped lots of survivors—of crime, abuse, you name it—learn to cope again.”
    “So you were there to sketch…models?” he asked. His tone made her teeth grate.
    She decided to let Stuckey take that one.
    “There’s still a lot of concern regarding Colleen Rodriguez’s disappearance. Victoria is with the Bryson Agency, and Chloe and Victoria are friends, so it was easy enough to arrange to plant Chloe there. She’s trying to see if she can discover anything in a casual way, working out of the mansion. And except for tonight, you’re being careful—right?” he said sternly, staring at her.
    “I see,” Luke said, though his expression conveyed that he obviously didn’t. “Degrees in psychology—and…art?—make you qualified to investigate a woman’s disappearance and possible murder?”
    “Tony told you, I know Victoria, so it’s easy for me to fit in. If anyone can learn anything about what goes on inside the agency, it’s me.” She stopped speaking. She had met Colleen, casually, and had liked her very much. This was personal for her. And she was the best person for the job. She and Vickie had been best friends ever since the event that had shattered their lives, along with Brad’s and Jared’s. Even the fact that they all traveled for both work and pleasure, and might not see each other for months at a time, didn’t change anything. When they were home, they were thick as thieves.
    She thought about telling Luke that her uncle had handled more criminal investigations than he would see in ten lifetimes, and that Uncle Leo valued her opinion and had actually asked her to keep an eye out and tell him anything she learned.
    But she didn’t have a chance to respond further before Stuckey’s cell phone rang. He listened for a moment, grinned, then turned to Chloe. “Yes, she’s here. I’ll tellher.” He hung up and said, “That was Victoria. When she couldn’t get you and the guard said he’d seen you heading for the beach, she figured I might have seen you.”
    “Has she seen Rene?” Luke asked.
    “She won’t show up again tonight. Not after someone chased her,” Chloe said, looking at him accusingly.
    “Where will she go?” Luke asked her.
    Even if I knew, I wouldn’t be telling you , Chloe thought. She still didn’t feel comfortable with his explanation, even if Stuckey had bought it.
    “Luke, maybe you want to explain why the Gonzalezes are so concerned about their daughter,” Stuckey suggested.
    Did he want to explain? she wondered. Certainly not to her. She could see that. But she could also see that he respected both Stuckey’s position and Stuckey himself, and because of that he would fill her in.
    “Did you know that Colleen and Rene were longtime best friends?” he asked. “Since childhood. And their parents were friends, too.”
    Chloe was silent. She didn’t think Victoria or any of the other models knew that. The girls had probably downplayed the strength of their friendship, afraid that it might hurt their individual chances of getting work if the powers that be thought they were unwilling to work separately or that jealousy would lead to trouble in the house.
    “Octavio Gonzalez, Rene’s father, came to me after they couldn’t get hold of their daughter,” Luke explained. “She wouldn’t even answer her cell. They’re worried that whatever happened to Colleen Rodriguez was happening to her,too—that maybe someone was targeting her, forming a relationship with her so he could lure her