Read Online Deadline by Fern Michaels - Free Book Online

no response, she pulled on Chester’s leash. “Come on, boy,” she whispered. “I don’t feel good about this.”
    Carefully, she made her way through the living room without knocking anything over, though she had to admit Chris’s furnishings were sparse; there wasn’t much she could knock over except for a couple lamps. The moonlight illuminated the terrace. Two deck chairs cast dark shadows on the terrace. Abby dropped Chester’s leash to the ground, gave a hand signal indicating he should stay, then stepped outside.
    And nothing. Two chairs, a glass-topped table between them. “What the hell?” she whispered. Two half-empty wineglasses were situated on the table. She picked one up, brought it to her nose. Red wine of some kind. She strained to hear something, anything, that would give her some clue if Chris was inside his condo. If he was in bed with one of those starlets he claimed to dislike so much, she didn’t want to be the one to catch him.
    Heart pumping, Abby went back inside, down the hall, and peered inside the guest bathroom. She didn’t want to turn on the lights yet, so she ran her hands along the inside of the shower door, checking to see if anyone had showered recently. Dry as a bone. She ran her hands along the vanity. What did she hope to find? A tube of lipstick? A hairbrush? A box of tampons? Anything to indicate Chris was inside with a lover?
    Her search of the guest bath produced nothing. If she were brave enough to turn on the light—she wasn’t—she would most likely find the same ugly beige guest towels, a soap dish that had three soaps in the shape of a seashell, and a box of Kleenex. She remembered this from the last time she was here; she recalled thinking he could use a decorator’s services.
    In the darkness, she couldn’t see anything out of place, so she continued her search. She knew Chris used the second bedroom as an office. Cautiously, she turned the knob, pushing the door open, and was greeted by total darkness. No wandering fish on a screen saver, no night-light, nothing, nada, zilch. Not even the moonlight filtered through the closed blinds. She stepped completely inside and walked over to his desk, which faced the wall opposite the window. His MacBook Pro and MacBook Air were on the desk. Abby knew Chris well enough to know that, as a rule, he didn’t take off without one of his precious Mac notebooks.
    Weird.
    She left the office, careful to close the door behind her. Next on her list, the master bedroom. She heard Chester’s collar rattling in the living room. Damn! She’d told him to sit, and Chester always followed her commands unless ...
    She hurried back to the living room to find Chester waiting by the front door. “You’re kidding, right?” Chester never stood by any door unless he had to pee.
    The German shepherd growled. “Okay. Just give me a minute. You stay,” she said before racing back down the hall.
    She was taking a big risk by sneaking into Chris’s bedroom, but she’d worry about the consequences later. If she saw he was in bed alone, well, she might join him. Then kick his ass for causing her to worry. If he was in bed and had company, Abby knew her heart would shatter into a million little pieces.
    She drew a deep breath once she was outside Chris’s bedroom. Maybe she should knock first, just in case he wasn’t alone. Maybe she should turn around and go home. Forget about Chris. Forget about Laura Leigh.
    Abby’s reporter’s instincts were on high alert. She couldn’t walk out of there without some kind of answer. So, before she had a chance to change her mind, she took the brass knob in her hand, and slowly began to turn it to the right.
    Before she could turn the knob all the way and thrust the door aside with the expertise of a professional prowler, a buzzing in her hip pocket almost caused her to have a heart attack. Quickly she