Do You Trust Me? Read Online Free Page A

who.” The
bone-jarring cough rattled across the wires again. “If luck’s with me...later
on your cell. If you don’t...dead.”
    Rina turned cold. A
sick feeling grew in the pit of her stomach. “No! Don’t say that. Please.”
    “...chip. Got it?...chip...out
of time. Go to my place...right now.”
    A burst of static
crackled in her ear like the amplified crinkling of tissue paper. “John? Talk
to me. John!”
    “You gotta do this,
Dusty. Please.”
    Did anyone on his
team know where he was? Had he been able to call his boss? She forced herself
to concentrate. “Okay. What should I do when I get there?”
    “Get Mom’s locket...souvenir.”
    Rina frowned and bit
her lip. He always carried that locket as a good luck talisman. Why didn’t he
have it now?
    “I couldn’t...let...find
it. Get it...get out of there...don’t let...out of...sight. Careful...watching.”
    Rina closed her eyes
and willed herself to be calm. Three years since she’d laid eyes on him, and
now she was terrified she’d never see him again.
    “All right. Yes. I’ll
get it.” Her hand gripped the phone so tightly the muscles cramped.
    “...safe...do it.”
    “Safe? From what?
From who? What should I do with it?” She swallowed hard. “John, let me call
someone, get you some help.”
    “No.” The vehemence
in his tone made her eyes widen, and her breath hitch. “Can’t call...betrayed...betrayed.”
    He stopped again,
this time for so long she was sure he was gone for good.
    Then his voice came
through once more. “You’ll know...right person...give it to...promise. Dusty?
Trust...no one.” He coughed again, a harsh, rasping sound. “Got that? Trust no
one...love you, kiddo.”
    “John? John, don’t
hang up.”
    Silence greeted her.
She looked at the dead phone in her hand. John was gone.
    His counter-terrorism
work was so secret, the men he hunted so dangerous, he could only protect her
by keeping her out of his life. Only a major crisis could make him break the
rules and contact her like this. Rina had to force back the panic that swept in
full blown with his call.
    Okay. She’d get the
locket and keep it safe. She wiped her sweaty palms on her slacks and looked at
her watch. She’d better get moving if she meant to catch that plane. God, why
was this happening?
    John’s last words
were so garbled she wasn’t too sure what she was supposed to do with the locket
when she had it or who she was supposed to give it to. But three words burned
into her brain loud and clear.
    Trust no one.
    That was something she
would remember.
    ****
    Rina rubbed the
locket as if to draw strength from it. She squeezed it between thumb and
forefinger and suddenly it popped open, startling her.
    Nervously she
unclasped it from around her neck and held it in her palm. Her hand shook as
she stared at the piece of jewelry. She’d done enough research for her romantic
suspense novels to know what was nestled inside. A microchip. Oh god. Whatever
was on the chip contained the very information John had given his life to
protect. It was up to her now not to give it to the wrong person.
    Under any other
circumstances she would hand it over to Sully, but she was caught in a
situation where there was no one she could trust. Not Sully, not even McCall.
    And she couldn’t
stall any longer. Another minute and McCall would barge through the door and
haul her out of the bathroom. She snapped the locket shut very carefully and
rubbed it against a towel, as if her fingerprints on it would be a flashing
sign to someone. Then she clasped it around her neck again, making sure it
settled in place.
    Tightening the belt
on the robe once more, she opened the door and marched into the room where
Sully waited. She felt as if she were about to face the Spanish Inquisition.
    “Better?” Sully gestured
for her to take a seat opposite him.
    “Yes, thank you.”
    One of the men in the
room handed her a plastic baggie with ice in it and someone else placed a mug
of