Free The Choice by Jean Brashear Page B

the next morning, Cullinane rapped impatiently at Hafner’s door.
    “Who is it, at this godforsaken hour?”
    “It’s ten o’clock, Klaus. Open up. We’ve got problems.”
    Too many moments passed. Cullinane was reaching for the knob when the door swung open onto Hafner’s private lair. Cullinane barely registered the dark room, the sinister black and gold scheme. He thrust a sheaf of papers into Hafner’s face.
    Hafner blinked sleepily and frowned, running fingers through his short gray hair. “What’s got you so riled up at this hour?”
    “She’s a liar. Jillian MacGregor doesn’t exist.” Pacing, he tried to still the thoughts swirling around in his head. He’d known something wasn’t right. Now he’d proven it.
    “So?”
    Cullinane whirled in amazement. “So? You can ask me that, with this evidence? Have you lost your goddamn mind, Klaus? She’s not who she says she is—she could be anyone, ATF, FBI, an assassin sent by some of your less well-meaning admirers...she’s got to go.”
    “No.”
    Cullinane swore. It wasn’t likely she was any sort of government agent, but she could be working for someone who hated Hafner—God knows plenty of people did. If it weren’t so serious, he’d laugh. If he didn’t believe in the soundness of his cover, he’d almost think Hafner wanted to keep her just to confound him.
    Frank’s question returned to his mind, but did he dare question in that direction? Had Hafner brought her in to watch him?
    Nonsense. She wasn’t that good an actress. And he could almost swear he’d seen her respond to Hafner with revulsion. Wouldn’t it make more sense for her to seduce him if the goal was for her to watch Hafner closely, to exert some control over him? 
    Cullinane felt every minute of his sleepless night. Running one hand over his face, he grappled for patience. “You’ve never been like this since I’ve known you, Klaus. Tell me why you’d jeopardize everything for this woman.”
    “She intrigues me.”
    “She has the skills to kill you.”
    “Ah, but I have something she doesn’t. You.”
    “I can’t be with you every second. And that’s where you’re headed, anyway, to being alone with her. I can’t protect you then.”
    Hafner’s smug expression vanished. “All right, Cullinane. I’ll grant you that we don’t know much about her...”
    Cullinane snorted. “We know nothing about her, Klaus.”
    Hafner held his hands up, palms out. “That’s not quite right. We know she’s gutsy and has nerves of ice, she’s strong and beautiful and smart. She’s an uncommon woman, unlike anyone I’ve ever met, and I want to keep her around for a while.” His tone was final. “I’ll agree to avoid being alone with her until we can find out more about her, but I’m not sending her away. I trust your system, and face it, Cullinane—we can watch her better here than outside. If she’s really out to get me, she could do it anywhere. Let’s keep her where we know what she’s doing. There could be other reasons for her to be using an alias besides wanting to do me in. If she’d wanted that, why didn’t she let me take a bullet yesterday? She didn’t know it was a setup.”
    “I don’t know—and I still don’t like it.”
    “Objection noted.” Hafner’s expression was almost fond. “I know you’re only trying to do the job I hired you to do. You’ve done it damn well. Just give it some time, all right? So far, she’s doing a great job.”
    Cullinane stabbed a finger at him. “Don’t go back on your promise not to be alone with her, Klaus. Don’t kid yourself—she’s dangerous.”
    Hafner nodded soberly. “I know. It’s part of the fascination.”
    Cullinane retrieved the sheaf of papers. “I’m going to figure out who she really is.” He made for the door.
    Hafner spoke. “I’ll agree the timing isn’t great. I’ve got a big shipment coming in on the twenty-first, and there will be special arrangements.”
    Cullinane’s hand