Read Online Covert M.D. by Jessica Andersen - Free Book Online Page A

or would you rather we run parallel investigations and waste time repeating each other?”
    “Fine. Have it your way.” He glared at her and finally backed down an inch. “But if anything happens to you, it’s on your head, not mine.”
    “That’s what I’ve been telling you all along.” She crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “Now. What have you got?”
    He stepped closer before he answered. She knew it was important that they keep a low profile, and they needed to shield their information from anyone listening in the deserted space, but the touch of his breath on the side of her face sent a rush of heat through her body. She held her ground, though she was equally torn between leaning in and running away.
    “I had a look at the ID photo database in human resources,” he murmured quietly. Nia didn’t bother asking how. He’d either hacked his way in or charmed his way in. Either way, it was part of the job.
    She tilted her head so her lips were just beside his ear, and whispered, “Did you find Cadaver Man’s picture?”
    Though they weren’t touching, she could feel him tense. The thin layer of air between them vibrated with energy.
    He leaned closer, until his cheek nearly grazed hers. “No. He wasn’t on the maintenance roster. He’s either working with a fake ID, or his records were deleted by someone higher up in the Boston General food chain.”
    So she and Rathe were thinking along similar lines. Nia smiled and whispered. “Speaking of which, I had a chat with Logan.”
    The air between them chilled. Rathe drew back an inch, his face blank. “Logan?”
    “Assistant Director Hart.” She frowned, stung by Rathe’s sudden withdrawal, and by the unstated implication that she was being unprofessional by using the man’s first name. “You know—young thirty-something, handsome.” High up in the Boston General food chain.
    “I know who he is, and I’ll thank you to remember that I’m the senior investigator. When I want the administration to know something, I’ll put it in my report.” Rathe turned away, shoulders stiff. “Come on. As long as you’re here, you can help me search. I have a feeling Cadaver Man was down here today for a reason, and I’d sure as hell like to know what it was.”
    Perplexed and oddly disappointed that he hadn’t wanted to hear her theory, Nia stood in the damp, dimhallway and watched him walk away. What had just happened? For a moment there, he had seemed almost…
    Jealous?
    Ridiculous. She scoffed at herself. Hadn’t she gotten over romanticizing the man a long time ago?
    Apparently not.
    Then he turned the corner to an intersecting corridor, leaving her alone in the noisy quiet. Nerves prickled to life on the back of her neck, and she rubbed her left eye when the skin around it tingled.
    Resisting the urge to call him back, she strode toward the second hallway. She didn’t run, but she didn’t dawdle, either. Rathe seemed certain that Cadaver Man wasn’t down there in one of the mazelike hallways.
    But Nia wasn’t so sure.
     
    THEY SEARCHED the laundry subbasement for several hours and found exactly nothing. There was no sign of Cadaver Man or Short Whiny Guy, and no convenient stash of pilfered supplies awaiting transport out of the hospital to destinations unknown.
    Even Nia’s left eyelid had been quiet, which was both good and bad news. Good because that fleeting feeling of being watched had faded the moment she rejoined Rathe. Bad because it meant they were on the wrong track.
    In uneasy accord they turned down yet another dimly lit corridor flanked with yet another phalanx of nondescript metal doors.
    “You take that side.” He gestured her to the left.
    Nia nodded without a word. They hadn’t spoken much. It seemed they’d said everything that needed to be said to each other. And if the thought was accompanied by a thump of disappointment, it was only because of her foolish fantasies from years ago, when she’d imagined she and Rathe