Read Online Dangerous Kiss by Avery Flynn - Free Book Online Page B

agonizing.
    Burlington answered on the first ring. “Good to hear from you, Mr. Warrick. I hope you have good news I can share with my wife.”
    “No, sir. But the sheriff’s investigation is progressing.”
    “And the phone? Have you recovered it?”
    Jake’s trouble detector flared to life, raising goose bumps on his forearms. “No. Not yet.”
    “I understand that the woman who found poor Kendall is looking for the phone, too.”
    His body stilled but his heart jacked up to a hundred miles an hour. “How do you know that?”
    “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I get that phone. Also, Kendall had a flash drive. I want them both.”
    Burlington’s superior tone and demands grated on Jake’s self-control. This wasn’t parental grief talking. “If I did find the phone and flash drive, I’d have to turn them over to the sheriff’s office.”
    “Mr. Warrick,” Burlington’s voice turned icy. “You will do no such thing. The woman has what I want. She must. I do not care if you have to fuck her or frisk her to get them, but you will get them.”
    Jake snorted with disgust. “I’m not one of your so-called bodyguards, Burlington, who take care of the less savory aspects of your personal life. I won’t break the law for you.”
    “How about for your father?”
    His gut collapsed in on itself. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
    “Who am I? I am the man who can guarantee your dying father lives long enough to see the company he built from scratch fall apart. Loans will be called in. Francis Warrick will be watching his business go belly up while hooked to a chemotherapy drip. Do you understand, Mr. Warrick?”
    “You bastard.” Jake ground the words out.
    “Get me the phone and flash drive, or your father will face the consequences.”
    If Jake could reach through the phone, he would clamp his hands around Burlington’s privileged throat. “I’ll see you pay for this.”
    “I doubt it. I expect to hear from you soon, Mr. Warrick.” Burlington disconnected.
    Jake glared at his phone. Impotent fury blazed through him, locking his muscles and sending his blood pressure sky high.
    The phone and flash drive had to be at Harvest, because they hadn’t appeared in Kendall’s dorm room, car or the Dumpster where Claire had found her. He’d talk Claire into searching again. Once they found them, he’d make the phone and flash drive disappear. She’d never have any idea it was him. He’d take the devices and hit the road.
    Kendall’s killer would still think Claire had the phone and flash drive. He’d come after her again.
    The thought twisted Jake’s insides, but he couldn’t put the old man through Burlington’s version of hell. Anyway, Hank would take care of Claire and catch the killer. He was just a private investigator. Her brother had the entire county sheriff’s office behind him. She’d be fine.
    Jake had to pick, and family came first. He was making the right decision.
    So why did he feel like shit?
    He hurled his phone out the SUV’s open window. It shattered as soon as it hit the concrete parking lot.
    “Hey man, you okay?” A pimply teenage boy wearing a red and blue King Pizza uniform stood outside the passenger-side door.
    “Yeah, fine.”
    The boy gulped, his wide eyes aimed at the smashed phone. “Well, Benny said your pizza is ready. You can go in and get it if, uh, you’re, uh, ready.”
    “Thanks.” Jake rolled up the windows and stepped down from the SUV.
    He didn’t head to King Pizza. Instead, he dug his SIM card out of the pulverized mess in the parking lot and walked next door into the electronics store. A buy-one-get-one-free sign dominated the front window.
    A few minutes later, two new cellphones in hand, he picked up the pizza, ready to drive back to Claire’s. He slid the pizza box onto the passenger seat and tossed one of the phones into the glove compartment. The other phone sat charging beside him.
    The twenty-minute drive went fast. Too