Read Online The Darkness Beyond by Alexis Morgan - Free Book Online Page B

reaction if she told him the truth, that she had both good and bad news. The good news was that the target had shared Chinese with herself and Cody last night, and his name was D. J. Clayborne. The bad news? She had no idea where he lived, where he was, or what she was going to do about the fact that she didn’t want to turn him in. She hadn’t wanted to from the beginning, but now . . .
    Darn it anyway, she really liked her job. It would be a shame to lose it over a man she’d never see again. Rather than focus on that dismal possibility, she pulled up the next e-mail. She read it once and then read it again.
    It was short and to the point: If you want to know the truth about the Paladins, meet me for coffee. You pick the time and the place, and I’ll be there.
    No signature. The e-mail originated from a free account, which meant the sender could be anyone, anywhere. Granted, if the sender really wanted to meet with her, the person would have to be close by. She shivered. Did the sender really know where she was? If so, how? Not that it mattered. After all, D.J. had managed to find her even though she’d covered her tracks. Or maybe this e-mailer was waiting for her to pick a rendezvous spot that would at least reveal the city she lived in.
    She let the cursor hover over the Reply button, but then chickened out. This was too big a decision to make without some serious thought and maybe a bowl of cereal under her belt. When she sat down at the kitchen counter, she spied the piece of paper D.J. had left with his number on it.
    He’d told her to call him if anything of concern happened. Was this what he was talking about? Obviously her mystery sender knew something about the Paladins or at least was pretending to. Her logical mind told her that the whole idea was pure bunk. Secret warrior societies didn’t exist.
    Right?
    But if that was true, why had D.J. gone out of his way to warn her not to pursue the subject any further? Maybe Brenna Nichols’s paper was written in code, the real facts hidden behind the fictional world she’d described. That still didn’t feel right, but Reggie had read the paper only once.
    She shuffled through the pile of reports on her makeshift desk until she unearthed the printout. The stack of pages had her grinning, a reminder that she and D.J. definitely had a lot in common. No wonder he’d known that she’d not only made a hard copy of the report but had also saved it to her flash drive.
    That wasn’t the only thing they’d shared but she shoved that thought aside. It wasn’t ever going to happen again because she was never going to see D.J. again. He’d disappeared from her life as quickly as he’d appeared. Her good mood faded away. Come Monday morning, she’d turn over what she’d found out about him to Mr. DeLuca and be done with it.
    She just wished she felt better about a job well done.
    Todd poked his head into Ray’s office. “Has the hacker responded yet?”
    Ray shot him a frustrated look. “No, but then it’s the weekend. Some people actually take time off to be with their families or maybe play golf. Seriously, it’s true. Just ask anybody.”
    God, Todd hated whiners. Yeah, it was Saturday morning, but hackers lived online, not out in the real world. Rather than antagonize Ray completely, he offered a compromise.
    â€œFine, I hear you. If you don’t get a response in the next few minutes, go ahead and take off. You’ve earned it after all the work you put in tracking this guy down.”
    His coworker was clearly happier now. “I can always check later, after I get home. If I do hear something, do you want me to call you or wait until I’m back in the office on Monday?”
    â€œSure, you can call, but only if you think the situation warrants it. I’ll only be here at the office for a little while, so make sure you call on that special number I gave