Read Online Never Say Die by Tess Gerritsen - Free Book Online

picture."
    "Do you?"
    "What are you suggesting I do?"
    Smiling, he sat back. "Hang around with me. I have a contact here and there. Not in the Foreign Ministry, I admit, but they might be able to help you."
    He wants something,
she thought.
What is it?
Though his gaze was unflinching, she sensed a new tension in his posture, saw in his eyes the anticipation rippling beneath the surface.
    "You're being awfully helpful. Why?"
    He shrugged. "Why not?"
    "That's hardly an answer."
    "Maybe at heart I'm still the Boy Scout helping old ladies cross the street. Maybe I'm a nice guy."
    "Maybe you could tell me the truth."
    "Have you always had this problem trusting men?"
    "Yes, and don't change the subject."
    For a moment, he didn't speak. He sat drumming his fingers against the beer bottle. "Okay," he admitted. "So I fibbed a little. I was never a Boy Scout. But I meant it about helping you out. The offer stands."
    She didn't say a thing. For Guy, that silence, that look of skepticism, said it all. The woman didn't trust him. But why not, when he'd sounded his most sincere? He wondered what had made her so mistrustful. Too many hard knocks in life? Too many men who'd lied to her?
    Well, watch out, baby, 'cause this one's no different,
he thought with a twinge of self-disgust.
    He just as quickly shook off the feeling. The stakes were too high to be developing a conscience. Especially at his age.
    Now he'd have to tell another he. He'd been lying a lot lately. It didn't get any easier.
    "You're right," he said. "I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart."
    She didn't look surprised. That annoyed him. "What do you expect in return?" she asked, her eyes hard on his. "Money?" She paused. "Sex?"
    That last word, flung out so matter-of-factly, made his belly do a tiny loop-the-loop. Not that he hadn't already thought about that particular subject. He'd thought about it a lot ever since he'd met her. And now that she was sitting only a few feet away, watching him with those unyielding eyes, he was having trouble keeping certain images out of his head. Briefly he considered the possibility of throwing a little sex into the deal, but he just as quickly discarded the idea. He felt low enough as it was.
    He calmly reached for the Heineken. The frostiness had gone out of the bottle. "No," he said. "Sex isn't part of the bargain."
    "I see." She bit her lip. "Then it's money."
    He gave a nod.
    "I think you should know that I don't have any. Not for you, anyway."
    "It's not
your
money I'm after."
    "Then whose?"
    He paused, willing his expression to remain bland. His voice dropped to a murmur. "Have you ever heard of the Ariel Group?"
    "Never."
    "Neither had I. Until two weeks ago, when I was contacted by two of their representatives. They're a veterans' organization, dedicated to bringing our MIAs home—alive. Even if it means launching a Rambo operation."
    "I see," she said, her lips tightening. "We're talking about paramilitary kooks."
    "That's what I thought—at first. I was about to kick 'em out of my office when they pulled out a check—a very generous one, I might add. Twenty thousand. For expenses, they said."
    "Expenses? What are they asking you to do?"
    "A little moonlighting. They knew I was scheduled to fly in-country. They wanted me to conduct a small, private search for MIAs. But they aren't interested in skeletons and dog tags. They're after flesh and blood."
    "Live ones? You don't really think there are any, do you?"
    "They do. And they only have to produce one. A single living MIA to back up their claims. With the publicity that'd generate, Washington would be forced to take action."
    He fell silent as the waiter came by to collect the empty beer bottles. Only when the man had left did Willy ask softly, "And where do I come in?"
    "It's not you. It's your father. From what you've told me, there's a chance—a small one, to be sure—that he's still alive. If he is, I can help you find him. I can help you bring him