Read The Winter Man for Free Online Page B

the line of fire?” he asked. “Because that’s your choice right now.”
    She looked worried. “I don’t know any of my coworkers that well, and I wouldn’t ask them to risk being killed on my account even if I did.”
    His eyes were curious. “You’ve worked there for years, and you don’t know any of your colleagues well?”
    She bit her lower lip. “I don’t mix well. I live in another world from most modern people.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    She laughed. It had a hollow sound. “I go to church, pay my bills on time, obey the law and go to bed with the chickens, alone. I don’t fit into a society that rewards permissiveness and degrades virtue. I don’t go around with people who think cheating is the best way to get ahead, and money doesn’t mean much to me, beyond having enough to get by. Making money seems to be the driving force in the world these days, regardless of what you have to do to get it.”
    She made him feel uncomfortable. She was describing his own world, into which he fit quite well.
    She saw that and sighed. “Sorry. I told you I wasn’t normal.”
    â€œI haven’t said a word,” he said defensively.
    She searched his dark eyes. “Frank mentioned that you think women are a permissible pleasure, and that the brassier they are, the better you like them.”
    His jaw tautened. “What’s wrong with that?” he asked. “I’m a bachelor and I don’t want to settle down.”
    She lifted her hands. “I didn’t mean it as an insult. I’m just pointing out that our views of life are very different. I’m not going to be happy staying in the room, overnight, with a man I barely know.”
    He could have debated her take on their relationship. They’d known each other for years, even if distantly. But he didn’t pursue it. He cocked an eyebrow. “I haven’t offered you half my bed,” he said curtly. “And I never would. You aren’t my type.”
    â€œI thought I just said that,” she replied.
    He made a sound deep in his throat. She made him feel small. He looked around the apartment. “I’ve got a suite,” he said after a minute. “You’ll have your own bedroom. The door has a lock.” He looked straight into her eyes. “Not that you’ll need it.”
    That was meant as an insult. She understood it. But she’d had years of practice at hiding her feelings from him. She didn’t react. She didn’t have much of a choice, either. Thinking of her close call at the library was still unsettling. John’s criminal friends would see her dead, if they could. Tony was the only thing standing between herself and a funeral parlor, and she was arguing. Shepushed back a wisp of brown hair and turned away from him. She was running out of choices.
    â€œWell, I can’t stay here,” she said to herself.
    â€œNo, you can’t. And local law enforcement doesn’t have the sort of budget they’d need to house and feed you indefinitely. This could go on for weeks, Millie.”
    â€œWeeks?” She was staring at him with pure horror. “Surely not! The bomb…”
    â€œMay have been a test,” he interrupted, “to give your assassin a dry run, show him how quickly local law enforcement reacts to an emergency call.”
    â€œI hadn’t considered that,” she confessed.
    â€œYou should. This isn’t some petty criminal,” he added. “He’s a professional. He may not be the best—that plastic explosive he used for the bomb wasn’t well concealed or particularly well made. But he knows how to get to you, and that makes him—or her—dangerous. We have to put you someplace where he doesn’t have easy access, lure him in and help him make a mistake, so we can nab him.”
    â€œHow do we do that?” she asked.
    â€œYou