Free Double Cross by James David Jordan Page A

pulled the weights up with my legs and tried not to groan.
    “She’s married and she’s about fifteen years older than I am, so knock it off. She is very attractive, though, since you mention it. Why does she want to talk to you?”
    “I can’t tell you yet.” I clenched my jaw and did ten more reps with my legs.
    “Okay, wait a minute. You call me and ask for my advice, and then you won’t tell me why? You disappoint me. I didn’t think there were any secrets between us.”
    I pushed myself up and sat on the bench. “My life is an open book, but it’s not my secret to tell.” By that time I was panting.
    “What are you doing now, splitting logs?”
    “Actually, I’m making my legs firm and fine.”
    “Well, from what I can see, you’ve been doing a great job. Keep up the good work. By the way, Katie Parst’s got a lot of guts. She’s been doing some stories knocking around the periphery of what appears to be an organized crime ring in Dallas. A lot of reporters would have avoided that one and gone on to something a little less risky. I know the Dallas police have asked her to share some of her info with them.”
    I stood up and toweled sweat off the back of my neck. “Interesting. Hey, I’ve got to run if I’m going to make my meeting with her. Thanks for the info.”
    Before I could click the phone off, he said, “Wait a minute. When are you and Kacey going shooting again?”
    “We’ll be there Tuesday at seven o’clock. She’s getting good, isn’t she?”
    “She’s amazing. Last time I saw her over there she nearly beat me. You’d better watch it. She’ll be in your league before long.” I heard the computer keys clicking. “I’m calendaring it right now. Seven o’clock sharp. I’ll see you there, as long as I can get out of here early enough.”
    “Michael, you work too hard.”
    “I always make time for you and Kacey.”
    “And we appreciate it.”
    When I hung up, I reran the conversation in my head. I didn’t think we had any secrets between us . . . I always have time for you and Kacey. Every once in a while I caught myself wondering . . .
    Nah, couldn’t be.
    As I walked to the locker room, I tried to envision Michael and I sitting in a dark room in front of a fireplace. It just didn’t work. And it wasn’t the racial thing—at least, I didn’t think it was. How could a person really know? He was just such an Eagle Scout. Of course, my tendency to pick the bad boys hadn’t exactly worked well for me to this point in my life. Maybe a responsible type was what I needed.
    I shook my head. Even if it were, it would never be Michael Harrison. There was a difference between responsible and neurotically responsible. I would have enough trouble with the former. I could never deal with the latter.
    After I pulled off my workout clothes, I wrapped myself in a towel and sat on the bench in front of my locker. It was a weekday morning, so there were only a couple of other women in the locker room. I decided to call Kacey before I got in the shower.
    I caught her on her way to her economics class. “I just got a call from a reporter at the Morning News. She knew about the missing money. She wants to talk. What do you think? I told her I’d meet with her, but I can still cancel. I checked her out with Michael. He thinks highly of her.”
    “That depends,” Kacey said. “What did she tell you?”
    I stretched one leg out on the bench and massaged my calf. “Nothing much. Just that she heard some money was missing and that she’s been investigating an extortion ring in Dallas. I’m sure she’s wondering if the two are connected.”
    “How did she know about the missing money?”
    “I was thinking about that. Only a handful of people knew about it: your father, Elise, you, me, and your father’s accountant, Brandon. We know you didn’t tell, and we know I didn’t tell, and we know your father didn’t tell. It’s a safe bet that Elise didn’t, since she was the one taking