Read Online 66 Metres by J.F. Kirwan - Free Book Online Page A

that way. He knew it well enough. Attractive, but something hard just underneath. Driven. Knew what she wanted, always got it in the end. Burned people up and moved on.
    â€˜The Rose has been stolen,’ she said.
    Not good. But the mere mentioning of it made everything flood back to him. How great it had been at the start, good for ten years, and then so bad at the end. He stared at the loose pebbles on the dusty concrete leading up to the sun-bleached oak planks where she stood.
    â€˜I’m not coming back, Lorne.’
    â€˜You can use my first name, you know.’
    Sara . ‘Find someone else.’
    She walked a few steps in front of him. ‘I need all my assets in place. This is too big. You of all people –’
    He stood up, taller than her. The thought of shoving her into the fjord flashed through his mind. But despite everything, the chemistry was still there. He was glad of Vibeke last night.
    â€˜I’m not coming back, Lorne. Tell them I’m damaged goods, no use any more.’
    She stared at him, then turned to the fjord, and spoke on the breeze, so that he had to focus to catch her words. ‘You were the best, Jake. You see patterns in the data.’ She laughed. ‘You remember Loki? How you found him?’
    Of course he remembered. That particular coup had gotten her a promotion inside MI6. That night he’d seduced her in her office. Who was he kidding? Other way round. She always knew what she wanted. But it had set him on the path to his personal Armageddon. Sean’s demise. It was why he’d quit MI6. She knew it. So why had she just played that particular card? Losing hertouch? He didn’t know, didn’t care. He turned to leave. She had no hold over him any more. Others could – would – find the Rose. He walked away.
    â€˜Anne’s not doing so well, you know.’
    He slowed. Throwing her into the fjord now seemed lightweight. ‘Not my problem. Divorced, remember? You of all people…’
    His ex had cited Lorne in the divorce, though Anne didn’t know her surname, so the document referred to her simply as ‘a woman named Sara.’ Not that that was the real reason for the break-up of his marriage, especially as Anne had been seeing someone else beforehand, for some time. Besides, Anne hadn’t talked to him in three years, not since… And would never talk to him again. Quite right. He took a few more steps, heard Lorne turn around.
    â€˜She’s on a bad track, Jake. Drink, debt.’
    He carried on walking, though it wasn’t easy.
    She raised her voice. ‘And a boyfriend who hits her.’
    He stopped. Replayed it again in his head, to hear the way she’d said it. She’d let some actual emotion slip into her voice. He knew Lorne’s history. Abusive father. This was one area she couldn’t – wouldn’t – fake. So, it was true. Jake felt his blood rise. If someone laid a finger on Anne… His fingers flexed, curled into fists. Anne was on a downward spiral. He wasn’t surprised. And it was his fault. In spades.
    â€˜We can help her, Jake. Get her back on track. Persuade the new boyfriend –’
    He stopped listening. He and Anne were over, done. But he still cared what happened to her. And she deserved so much better. If he was there, he knew what he’d do.
    â€˜Break the boyfriend,’ he said, knowing full well what he was asking, given Lorne’s resources at MI6, both the official and the dark ones. But men who hit women… it was the one thing for which he had zero tolerance.
    She didn’t miss a beat. ‘If that’s what it takes.’
    He turned around. ‘The Rose, Lorne, and then I’m through. And I work wherever I want. Not the office.’
    â€˜Deal.’
    He walked right up to her, his face close to hers, into what she’d once called the kissing zone. ‘And then I never see you or hear from you