Read Online Cutting Edge by Allison Brennan - Free Book Online

fits the bill. He didn’t asked questions. By the time he gets your files from MIT, you’ll be out of here.”
    Sean shook his head with a half grin. “And you think I break the rules.”
    “I’m bending them.” He added, “The only thing, you might want to tone down your background.”
    “In what?”
    “Having two bachelor of science degrees and graduating from MIT might be a tip-off that you aren’t a liberal-arts major.”
    “Got it.” He glanced toward the building, but Duke saw his mind working.
    “What do you have up your sleeve?”
    “Nothing. Trust me, I can blend in, no problem.”
    “One of them could be a killer. Don’t get cocky.”
    He grinned and winked. “No cockier than the average Rogan.”
     
     
     

CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    While Quin continued to work her magic at the crime scene, and the M.E. moved the body to the morgue, Nora drove with her partner Pete Antonovich to the town house of Melanie Duncan, Jonah Payne’s head research assistant.
    “You were right,” Pete said as he parallel-parked down the street from Duncan’s residence. “The water pump was sabotaged, and whoever did it knew
exactly
what they were doing. Either an inside job or a smart guy with an engineering background. Popped the locks like a burglar, and inside the substation the water was shut off at the source. No computer knowledge necessary, just knowing which screws to turn, so to speak.”
    “And I’m guessing no fingerprints or tools left around to identify the culprit,” she said.
    “The sheriff’s forensic unit is printing and documenting the scene, but I don’t think they’ll find anything. The arsonists also blocked the camera.”
    “How?”
    “Simple. Put on a mask and tape a piece of cardboard to the camera lens.”
    “You’d think,” Nora said, “that in the twenty-first century we’d find a better way of surveilling remote locations.”
    “There is,” Pete said as he knocked on Duncan’s door. “But city government is behind the curve.”
    Melanie Duncan came to the door in a robe, her wet, dark red hair dripping down her back. Other than the simple black-framed glasses over bright blue eyes, Duncan was completely antithetical to Nora’s image of what a female researcher should look like. She was tall, voluptuous, and attractive.
    “It says no solicitors,” Duncan snapped when she opened the door.
    Nora showed her badge. “Special Agent Nora English. My partner, Pete Antonovich, FBI. Melanie Duncan, correct?”
    She frowned, a typical expression when confronted by government agents.
    “What do you want?”
    “May we come in?”
    “What do you want?” she repeated, not opening the door any wider.
    “There was a fire at Butcher-Payne,” Nora said. She watched Duncan carefully. First reactions were the most difficult to fake, except for the most accomplished pathological liars.
    “A fire?” She sounded skeptical, her brows drawing together. “Why are you here? The—” She glanced at Pete, then back at Nora. “The FBI?”
    “Ms. Duncan—”
    “Dr. Duncan,” she replied automatically. She stepped away from the door, and Nora and Pete entered. “I need to call Dr. Payne,” Duncan said. “I don’t see why you didn’t call him, or why the FBI is involved with a fire. Our lab isn’t a government facility. We have a grant, but—”
    “Dr. Duncan, why don’t you have a seat?”
    She remained standing, door open. Nora pushed it closed. “Jonah Payne died in the fire.”
    She blinked. “Died.” Her voice was flat. “A fire at Butcher-Payne? No, that’s not possible — he’s in Tahoe.”
    Nora raised her brow and glanced at Pete. Pete said, “I spoke with Jim Butcher this morning. He didn’t tell us Dr. Payne was supposed to be in Lake Tahoe.”
    “Jim? Jim’s in L.A.” She rubbed her forehead and walked over to the adjoining kitchen, where she poured herself a cup of coffee. Her hands shook, Nora noted, and she was clearly dazed. Possibly a very good actress,