Dashing Through the Snow Read Online Free Page A

time,” Agent Jordan Wilkes insisted, waving his hand at her as he slowly paced the area in front of her chair.
    “But I’ve already told you everything I know,” Stephanie protested. Wilkes had been interviewing her for the last sixty minutes and there wasn’t anything she hadn’t told him a dozen times or more. Apparently, she’d failed to follow proper protocol and didn’t contact the authorities soon enough when she’d found Ashley Davison’s name on the no-fly list. This interrogation appeared to be the price she had to pay.
    Agent Wilkes chose to ignore her plea. “Humor me. Let’s start at the beginning one more time.”
    “Okay,” Stephanie said, drawing in a deep breath and doing her best to remain calm and outwardly patient. “A young woman in her midtwenties approached the counter and asked to purchase a ticket to Seattle.”
    “Did she state a particular flight or time?” he asked—actually, it was more of a demand than a question.
    Stephanie had already answered this same question repeatedly. “No, the woman said she was willing to take any seat day or night, it didn’t matter.”
    He nodded, as if Stephanie should continue.
    “When I entered her name, Ashley Davison, into the computer it immediately came up on the no-fly list and as an FBI person of interest, suspected of terrorist activity. I was instructed to immediately notify the FBI and airport security.”
    “Which you delayed doing, right?” The question was followed by an intense glare.
    “I tried,” Stephanie insisted, “but Ms. Davison kept arguing with me. I repeatedly asked her to step aside and wait. I hoped to get in touch with security, but she continued talking and insisting that I get her a flight. I couldn’t hold a conversation with her and call for security at the same time. I’d hoped to keep her at the desk long enough for airport security to arrive, but then I realized that I hadn’t put in the call and the man standing behind her got impatient and—”
    Agent Wilkes stopped her. “What man? This is the first time you mentioned anyone else.”
    “He was just another passenger behind her who got impatient that Ms. Davison was taking up so much time when there was a long line of customers waiting.”
    “He wasn’t with her?”
    “No.” She hesitated. She hadn’t considered this. “At least I don’t think so.”
    “You’re sure about that?”
    Stephanie closed her eyes and mentally reviewed the scene as it played out in her mind. After thinking it over she was fairly certain they weren’t connected. She gradually shook her head.
    “I doubt it, but…” She wasn’t sure this was significant, and so stopped talking.
    “But what?” Agent Wilkes insisted. “This could be important.”
    “The man was also hoping to get on a flight to Seattle.”
    Agent Wilkes stopped pacing and looked across the room at a second agent, who had remained quiet for a good part of the interview. “Did you hear that, Buckley?”
    Agent Buckley nodded and approached Stephanie. He reached for a pad and started to take notes.
    “Do you happen to recall this man’s name?” Agent Buckley asked.
    He’d been good-looking, but she hadn’t really paid attention to his name. Stephanie shook her head. “Sorry, no.”
    “Think again.” Agent Wilkes insisted, none too gently.
    Stephanie closed her eyes and did her best to bring up the memory of their short conversation. Unfortunately, she couldn’t recall seeing anything with his name listed.
    “I don’t believe he ever said his name.”
    “Did he take out his identification? People do that instinctively when looking to book a ticket,” he reminded her.
    As hard as she tried, Stephanie couldn’t remember seeing anything with his name. “I would have remembered if he had,” she insisted.
    “Oh, and why’s that?”
    She shifted in her seat and looked down in an effort to hide her embarrassment. “He was the kind of man women notice.”
    “How’s that?”
    “He was