Free The Silence That Speaks by Andrea Kane

closest—either in a professional or a personal capacity—to Ronald Lexington. She’d find a way to talk to all of them after the formalities were complete. She wanted to get a feel for who might have it in for Madeline.
    Marc, for his part, was keeping a close watch on Madeline.
    Periodically Casey would make sure to look around and check on the progress her team members were making. Everyone seemed to be gleaning something from their efforts. When her gaze found Emma, it took enormous restraint not to smile. Emma was busy chatting up the most stereotypical IT guy she could find in the group. He was tall, skinny and definitely dorky looking, with eyeglasses he kept shoving up on his nose and a tendency to blink furiously. Clearly he was awkward around people and, Casey suspected, far more at home hiding behind a computer monitor and a keyboard. On the other hand, he was over the moon about Emma’s interest in him, visibly entranced by her vivacious personality and her California-girl looks. As for Emma, she was standing close to him, head cocked as she hung on to his every word, asking question after question about his fascinating job. The more questions she asked, the more enthusiastic he got—and the more distracted.
    Good girl,
Casey thought. She’d been dead-on right to bring Emma here. If Emma ultimately accomplished her two goals, Forensic Instincts would have a clear shot at getting what they needed here.
    The next step would be for Madeline to introduce Casey to Jacob Casper so that Casey could get an actual read on him. He represented the new regime, and talking to him was crucial, especially in light of how edgy the staff was around him, and how overall their dislike for him was. That could simply be the fear of losing their jobs, given that Casper was so pro-merger and would work hard to see the due diligence process succeed, or it could be more. As a necessary bonus, Casey would have Madeline introduce Emma to him—and put in a good word for her as a potential candy striper. That was going to have to happen fast to make Casey’s plan work.
    Jacob Casper was a cut-to-the-chase kind of guy, solidly built and all about the bottom line. He was pleasant enough, but Casey could tell that affability didn’t come easily to him. He was trying to make people like him to ease his way, but doing that took a great effort on his part. His mind was on money, not relationship-building.
    Casey let him chat with Madeline for a few minutes while she observed. Bottom line or not, he seemed genuinely saddened by Ronald Lexington’s passing and equally saddened by the effect it had had on Conrad.
    “My greatest pleasure will be to see Conrad walk back through those doors and resume doing what he does best,” Casper told Madeline. “That man is a surgical genius.”
    “I agree on both counts,” Madeline said.
    So Casper was aware that Madeline and her ex-husband had an amicable relationship. Nice point of interest.
    “Would chief of surgery still be in the cards for Conrad if he returned after the hospital merger goes through?” Casey asked.
    Casper looked a little surprised that Casey was so plugged into the goings-on at the hospital. His eyes flickered from Casey to Madeline and back.
    “I see that Madeline had filled you in on the offer that was on the table during the original negotiations,” he replied. “I don’t know how things will play out this time. But if I have any say, Conrad will be my first choice for the position.”
    “
If
he’s up for it,” Madeline said softly.
    “Yes, of course. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise,” Casper amended. His jaw tightened just a fraction. “I’d never put pressure on him. But I remain optimistic.”
    “We all do.”
    Casey noted the subtle change in Casper’s body language, and his quick response to Madeline’s qualification. It might mean nothing more than that the interim hospital administrator was stressed out by the time pressure involved in getting