Read Online COLLATERAL CASUALTIES (The Kate Huntington mystery series) by Kassandra Lamb - Free Book Online

currently investigating that possibility. Until I know for sure that my employee acted alone, there is indeed some reason for concern and caution.”
                “So you have come here, drawing attention to me,” Kate said, fury in her voice.
                “I assure you that I know how to enter a building without being seen, and I did not tell anyone, not even my driver who is my most trusted employee, where I was going. He thinks I am getting a massage at a spa five blocks from here.”
                The man stood up. “I have taken enough of your time, Mrs. Huntington. I will communicate with you when I am convinced the situation is completely resolved. In the meantime, I trust your discretion.”
                She followed him out of her office. Without looking back, he crossed the waiting room. He turned the lock on the knob as he exited so the door locked behind him.
                Kate started shaking. Heart pounding, she ran back into her office and reached for the phone, then thought better of it. What if this man had planted a bug in her office?
                She quickly gathered her things. After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled the pistol from her desk drawer and dropped it into her purse. Racing out of the building and down the sidewalk, she waited until she was a block away before pulling out her cell phone. She hit the speed dial number for Mac Reilly, her friend since childhood and Rose Hernandez’s fiancé.
                “Reilly,” Mac barked in her ear.
                Kate’s voice came out as a squeak when she tried to talk. She cleared her throat. “Hi, Mac. Is Rose home yet?”
                “Sure, sweet pea,” Mac said, using his childhood nickname for her.
                “Uh, Mac, before you go, do you have anything that can tell if a place is bugged?” She thought that he might, since he had been a Green Beret in his younger years.
                “You mean with listening devices?”
                “Yeah, my office and my car probably ought to be checked and maybe for anything else that might be attached that shouldn’t be there.”
                “What the hell’s this about?” Mac growled.
                “I can’t tell you. It’s related to a client. There’s probably no threat, but just to be on the safe side.”
                “Where are you?”
                “A block from my office, headed to my car.”
                “I’m on my way. Here’s Rose.”
                After reassuring Kate that her mission to Jill Dawson’s house had been completed without incident, Rose echoed her fiancé’s words. “What the hell’s going on?”
                “I wish I could tell you, but I can’t. I just need you guys to...” Kate stopped, unsure how to end the sentence.
                After the briefest of pauses, Rose said, “We’ve got your back.”
                “Thank you.” Kate was tempted to tell Rose she loved her, but she knew that would far exceed her brusque friend’s mush tolerance threshold.
                As she disconnected, Kate remembered Miller’s comment about loneliness.
     

CHAPTER FIVE
                After a restless night, Kate called Rob on Wednesday morning. When his admin assistant put her through, she told him that she would come to his office at lunchtime, rather than meet him at their usual restaurant.
                “I need to talk to you again, confidentially.”
                “Same topic?”
                “Yeah, but it’s gotten a lot more complicated.”
                “Okay, I’ll ask Fran to get us sandwiches from the deli. You okay with ham and cheese?”
                “Whatever. I haven’t had much appetite lately.”