Touching Silver Read Online Free Page A

tulips to get your ass dragged into lock-up.”
    Olivia cut in quickly before the conversation derailed even more. “It’s early enough we can see her tonight. Unless you have something else on your plate?”
    Nathan shook his head. “No, tonight is good.” He looked at Isaac. “We’ll follow in the Mustang.”
    She expected Isaac to argue with him. After all, it wasn’t his suggestion and he seemed to harbor some serious control issues. He surprised her by nodding then scooping up the file and handing it back to her. “It’ll give us time to talk strategy. Without having to listen to the slurping noises from the back seat.”
    Nathan merely smirked before leading Remy out of the room. Olivia waited until they were gone before announcing casually, “I’ll drive.” She didn’t really care whose car they took, but Isaac probably did. He’d thrown enough of his weight around already tonight.
    After he’d retrieved his coat from his desk, he followed her out to the parking lot, matching her stride for stride until they reached her car. Then he stopped a few feet short, head tilting as he looked the vehicle over. A low whistle filled the crisp night air.
    “The Toyota Sequoia. I’ve been looking at these. It’s a nice SUV.” He shot her a ready grin. This one actually seemed like it might be genuine. “Siberia pays better than I thought it did.”
    The headlights flashed as she unlocked the doors. “Excuse the dog hair, Tiberius likes to ride in the passenger seat.” Once she settled behind the wheel, she turned to face him. “Can you not refer to Cold Cases as Siberia, please? It’s annoying.”
    His attention was focused on the door, long fingers skimming along the arm rest before he leaned down a little to check out the storage compartment that ran along the bottom. “I thought it was funny.” He straightened, twisting to look at the back seats, and ignored her muttered no, it really isn’t . “Besides, who actually asks to work in Cold Cases? Getting assigned there is career suicide. What kind of mileage do you get with this?”
    She arched a single eyebrow. “I don’t know, maybe eighteen or twenty miles.” He was still caressing her car. “And I actually asked to be assigned to Cold Cases.”
    Her announcement did the trick. He sat back and finally redirected his gaze back on her. “You did? Why?”
    “Because for the families and the victims, the cases never really grow cold.” She backed out of her parking spot and put the engine into drive. “Families don’t stop waiting for their phones to ring. You’ve seen what? Hundreds? Maybe thousands of cases, since you started? They probably all blur together for you. But the people who are waiting on us to bring kidnappers, rapists, and murderers to justice don’t care how many cases the detectives have to deal with. They care about the girl, or the boy, or the brother, or the mother who’s never coming home.” She shrugged, suddenly self-conscious about her speech. “I think it’s important they’re not forgotten.”
    He fell silent, but when she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, the darkness prevented her from seeing anything more than his gaze directed through the windshield in front of him. They traveled several blocks before he uttered a word.
    “I know what it looked like back there.” His tone was subdued and infinitely less confrontational. “With Nathan and Remy. But believe me, they will do everything they can to help you with this. He might not have a badge anymore, but Nathan’s one of the best investigators I’ve ever known. Smart. Tenacious. And Remy, well, let’s just say she’s got a soft spot for girls in trouble. If Gabriel is responsible for your girl’s kidnapping, we’ll help you get him. I promise.”
    “I’m sure he is responsible.” She didn’t know how to explain the subtle shift in his attitude, but she appreciated the alleviated tension. The pain that had been crawling from her tight