Free Dead By Nightfall by Beverly Barton Page B

even when you know something is your fault.” The more she said, the louder her voice became so that by the time she said, “If Griff hadn’t lied to Nic over and over again about his relationship with Dr. Fragile Flower Meng, she wouldn’t have felt that she had no choice but to leave here.”
    Suddenly, you could have heard a pin drop in the office suite, and Maleah realized that everyone had heard her infuriated outburst. When she glanced around the room and made eye contact with the other agents, they looked away. Sanders turned his back to her as he concentrated completely on the computer screen in front of him. Only Griffin Powell didn’t flinch or back down as he met her gaze in a straightforward manner.
    â€œGriffin lied by omission,” Yvette Meng said from where she stood in the open doorway, Meredith Sinclair directly behind her. “He deeply regrets that he was not completely honest with Nicole before they married. He should have explained more fully the complexity of our past relationship.” She emphasized the word past .
    â€œYeah, I’d say he should have explained the complexity,” Maleah said, so upset that her voice trembled. She realized she was on the verge of tears. “Especially one major complexity, namely a child that he may have fathered.”
    â€œBlondie, don’t do this.” Derek looked at her pleadingly.
    â€œNo, don’t stop her,” Griff said. “Everything she’s said is true.”
    Derek went around the room quietly, almost unnoticed, until Maleah realized that he had ushered everyone toward the door and that Yvette had entered alone and gone to Griff’s side. Damn it, she had allowed her emotions to control her actions. Her outburst had served no purpose other than blowing off some built-up steam.
    â€œI suppose I should apologize for making a scene,” Maleah said.
    â€œIt’s all right. You’re Nic’s best friend,” Griff told her. “I know where all that anger is coming from and you’re justified in—”
    â€œJustified or not, I swear it won’t happen again.”
    Just as she swore to keep a lid on her temper and deal with her animosity toward Griff, she caught a glimpse of Derek in her peripheral vision as he walked over and stood behind Sanders, who had apparently summoned Derek. Maleah turned her head just enough to see that Derek was looking directly at Sanders’s computer screen. A startled expression crossed his face. He shut his eyes for a moment and laid his hand on Sanders’s shoulder.
    â€œWhat’s going on over there?” Maleah asked.
    Sanders swiveled his chair around and stood up beside Derek. The two men faced her just as Griffin and Yvette responded by turning around to see what was going on.
    Sanders looked squarely at Yvette. “Stay with him” was all he said to her.
    Derek and Sanders stepped aside before Derek said, “The Powell Agency just received confirmation that Nicole is alive. We’ve been sent a photo of her.”
    Griffin stormed across the room, Yvette barely managing to keep up with him. He stopped in front of the computer where Sanders had been working and stared at the photograph there on the twenty-one-inch monitor. Maleah peeked around Griff’s shoulder and gasped when she saw a picture of her friend lying on silk sheets in the middle of a king-size bed. Nic was sound asleep. And she was also as naked as the day she was born.
    Before anyone had a chance to completely digest the implication of the nude photograph, Griff rammed his big fist into the computer screen.

Chapter 6
    Griff plowed through his concerned friends and employees, bolted out of the office suite, and charged down the hall, the picture of Nic, naked and vulnerable, forever burned into his brain. He had shaken off Yvette’s comforting hand as she tried to connect with him. He didn’t want her to ease his pain. The others had