Free Shiver of Fear by Roxanne St. Claire Page A

Baird. You don’t want to offend me. If I take my toys and go home, you
     are in a lot of trouble.”
    He shifted his long, lean frame and bent forward to talk to the driver. “Did you get a good look?” he asked Danny, who glanced
     into the rearview mirror to make eye contact.
    He nodded. “I got a good look. I can find her.” Danny’s hands curled around the steering wheel. Deadly, strong hands. Hands
     of a man who would kill without compunction.
    Even a woman.
    No weakness, Sharon.
No weakness. They’d use weakness against her. They’d kill anyone in this operation who showed weakness.
    “Then find her,” she said coolly, throwing the order at Danny as if he worked for her and not Baird. “And get her the hell
     out of Belfast. She’s a young woman, for crying out loud. How hard can she be to handle?”
    “She’s got a man with her,” Baird said. “Did you see that? Do you know him?”
    “No, I do not. But you said she’s been alone up until this point. She probably picked him up in a bar last night.”
    “She’s been alone, my contacts tell me,” he said. “Alone, all over the city, knocking on every door in Belfast, seeking a
     Dr. Greenberg.”
    “Maybe she’s looking for someone else.”
    “She’s described you.”
    Sharon’s stomach tightened. How? How did she know who Sharon was, what she looked like?
    Of course, she’d followed the death of the girl’s husband a few months ago, a murder committed by some dirty cop and Joshua
     Sterling’s mistress. Could there be a connection somehow? The only person they had in common was…
    He
wouldn’t
have sent her, would he?
    “As I told you, Mr. Baird, I’m sure there’s a perfectly legitimate explanation. Without causing a stir of any kind, I suggest
     you use your considerable resources and network of contacts to get that girl to give up and go home.”
    He sniffed, but Sharon just stared out the window.
Go home, Rose. Get out of here.
    “Unless we can use her somehow,” Baird said. “She might be useful to us.”
    She didn’t react, letting her head rest against the glass as the questions slammed her brain.
Why is she here? How did she find out? Is this a trick, a way to trip me up, or test my loyalty?
    Because if Devyn Sterling was sent here by who Sharon thought had sent her here, then…
    She swallowed, an ancient phrase replacing all the questions.
    Sometimes a few people die for the good of many
. But which people? And who made those decisions?
    “Can we get back to the business at hand, Mr. Baird?” she asked briskly. “This has been quite a delay tactic, and as far as
     I’m concerned, completely unnecessary.”
    “Not unnecessary, Doctor.” Liam stretched his legs. “This young woman has raised a red flag in my organization. I wanted you
     to identify her so we can stop her. No matter who sent her here.”
    “No one sent her here,” she shot back with a glare. “And I know you’re testing me. Don’t lie about what you’re doing, Mr.
     Baird. You think she’s some kind of plant or decoy or
spy
.”
    “You’re right,” he acknowledged. “I was testing you. I didn’t get where I am by trusting anyone.”
    She barely shrugged, indifference rolling off her. “Let’s just get back to the job I came here to do,” she said coolly. “These
     delay tactics aren’t helping your cause.”
    “
Our
cause,” he corrected.
    She reached over and put a hand on his arm, noticing her veins popping up to reveal her true age of fifty-five, reminding
     her it had taken Finn MacCauley thirty damn long years to give her this opportunity to ruin him. She wasn’t about to let age
     stop her now, and she wasn’t about to let his daughter stop her, either.
    “Let’s just get one thing straight, Mr. Baird.”
    He met her gaze. “I know, it’s not your cause.”
    “It’s not
your
cause, either,” she said. “You’re in it for the same reason I am. Cash. And as long as we’re straight on that, we can do
     business.