Free A Conflict of Interest by Barbara Dunlop Page A

any peace.” Max frowned. “But the rest of you can do whatever you want.” He looked a cross between brave and pathetic.
    Cara shook her head. “Are you trying to be a martyr?”
    “How’m I doing?”
    “Poorly,” said Cara.
    “We’re not going to abandon you,” Gillian put in staunchly.
    Cara wished her sister hadn’t said that. Hanging out with Max seemed to send her on an emotional roller-coaster.
    “Let’s go to Max’s villa,” Jake suggested. “It’s bigger than mine, and it’s the highest one on the hillside. The place has a killer view, and if you want to wear off the milk shake, there’s a path that leads to the hot springs.”
    “More like a goat track,” Max put in. “Going down’s not bad, but on the way up I kept wishing we had ropes and crampons.”
    “Works for me,” Gillian said brightly.
    Cara shot a sidelong glance at her sister. She sure hoped Gillian wasn’t trying to throw Cara and Max together in the hopes that something sparked between them. If she was, the plan would definitely fail.
    The men’s SUV was closest, parked over in the hospital parking lot. Since it was starting to snow, and the road to the villas was slippery and steep, they all piled into the four-wheel-drive with Max at the wheel. The snow grew heavier as they approached the first of the villas. The local radio station was predicting six inches of new powder up in the peaks.
    “I’m definitely taking a few runs tomorrow,” said Jake from the backseat.
    “As long as we can do it alone,” Max put in. Then he glanced at Cara, who was sitting in the front passenger seat watching the big snowflakes splatter against the windshield. “I don’t think I’m giving away any deep secrets if I tell you we’re getting squat from our interviews.”
    “The most interesting footage I’ve taken this week was Max’s snowboard lessons,” said Jake. “Everything else was a waste of time and effort.”
    “What’s not working for you?” Cara asked Max. From her perspective, things were terrific. She hadn’t unearthed any time bombs that would hurt the president.
    “Nice people saying nice things about what a nice boy the president was as a teenager doesn’t exactly make for riveting television.”
    “Just as I suspected.” Cara couldn’t keep the smug satisfaction from her voice. “You’re going after the salacious story. You’d love it if you unearthed a scandal. No matter how detrimental to the country’s governance or who you hurt.”
    The tires slid out beneath them, and Max wrestled the steering wheel to bring the vehicle back under control. “That’s hardly fair.”
    “You want ratings, Max.” It was no secret how the news media worked.
    “My producer wants ratings,” Max responded. “I want to know about Eleanor Albert.”
    “For the pure pursuit of knowledge, I’m sure.”
    “Well, I’m sure not going to cover anything up.”
    Oh, those were fighting words to Cara. “Are you implying that I will?”
    The SUV automatically shifted to a lower gear, jerking everyone back in their seats.
    “I’m implying that your loyalty is to the president.” His gaze locked with hers.
    “You’re right about that.” Her jaw tensed. Spending time with Max was an even worse idea than she’d imagined. “You should take us back to the hotel.”
    “No.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “The burgers are already cold, and the milk shakes are already warm. And we’re here.” He skidded into a driveway and ratcheted the SUV into park.
    “Maybe we could call a truce?” Gillian suggested from the backseat.
    “The man’s impossible,” Cara ground out.
    “He’s just doing his job,” Gillian responded.
    Cara flashed her sister an annoyed glare. How dare she be on Max’s side? She opened her mouth to argue, but she stopped herself.
    She didn’t need to get petty to make her point. Max was doing his job. And Cara was doing hers. The conflict between them wasn’t going to be resolved, and Gillian was going to