Exclusive

“That’s all.”

“Maybe.”

He glanced at her, his eyes suspicious. “Why would your source contact you about my visit with David?”

“Out of concern for my safety. My source is a little edgy about the company I’m keeping. For instance, it was suggested to me that the President could be using you to lay a trap for a meddlesome reporter he wants kept quiet.”

“I no longer work for the President.”

“So you claim. But I wonder just how many layers there are to your relationship with the Merritts. You were Merritt’s blood brother before you became his wife’s lover. That could create a lot of ambiguity.”

His hands curled tighter around the steering wheel. “Why don’t you say what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking that perhaps your loyalties are hopelessly divided.”

He shot her another fiery glare, but he neither confirmed nor denied the allegation.

“Was my name mentioned in the meeting?” she wanted to know.

He nodded.

“In what context?”

“I told him I was boinking you.”

Barrie felt her cheeks turn scarlet. “I prefer that over your other word, although it’s still crude.”

“That’s the way I remember it being. Crude.”

“Did he happen to shed any light on Vanessa?” she asked, bringing him back to the subject.

“Nothing new.”

“Would you tell me if he had?”

“Probably not.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re already in over your head.”

“For an exclusive story that’ll rock the world, I’m willing to take a few risks.”

“Well, I’m not,” he said shortly. “I’m not willing to risk my life, or Vanessa’s, or even yours, just so you can negotiate an extra few thou on your next contract. I’m trying to get us through this alive, and I don’t want my strategy compromised by an amateur with stars in her eyes.”

That stung. “I’m a professional.”

“Maybe in TV news,” he said. “But at Highpoint, we’re not going to be facing studio cameras. We’re going to be facing armed men. You’re not up to it.”

“I’m tougher than you think.”

“Oh, I know you’re gutsy. I seem to recall exactly how far you’ll go to get your story. Or have you forgotten?”

Since he seemed bound and determined to get a reaction from her, Barrie lowered her voice to a sultry pitch and said, “No, I haven’t forgotten. I haven’t forgotten a moment of it. More to the point, Bondurant, neither have you.”

Her table-turning worked. A muscle in his jaw twitched. Smiling smugly, she returned her gaze to the road ahead.

Her complacency was short-lived. “Look out!” she screamed.