Both Ends Burning (Whistleblower Trilogy Book 3) Read Free

noticed he didn’t mention my dad. Maybe they still thought he was dead. Maybe I could keep that piece of knowledge for myself, and somehow use it later.
    “And what is it you’re interested in?” I said.
    “The toy truck.”
    I blinked a few times. “The what?”
    He grinned. “You can pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, but we know you have it. Or you had it, at least. We know you met with your dad’s attorney in Dallas, and he gave you a box with a toy truck inside it. And hidden away inside that toy truck was a memory stick.”
    “What, like a flash drive? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    Then he leaned in close. “If it’s true you don’t know about the memory stick, then that’s unfortunate for you. Because if we don’t get it back, we’re going to rain hellfire down on everyone you know until it materializes. I’ll give you a few days to think about it and get it back from wherever you stashed it, but then you’re going to have to turn it over.”
    Just a few hours ago, my dad had smashed that thing in front of me with a glass ashtray.
    “Does Susan have it now?” he said.
    Now I had to make a choice. Maybe IntelliCraft would let me be, if they thought it was destroyed. Or maybe Thomason wouldn’t believe me, no matter what I said. If I led him to believe I still had it, maybe that would buy me some time.
    I chose to say nothing. Reclined my seat, closed my eyes, and tuned out Frank Thomason.
     
    ***
     
    When the plane landed, I waited for Thomason to deboard first before I bothered unbuckling my seatbelt. He didn’t say another word to me, but he didn’t have to. He cast one last winning smile at me before he stepped into the jetway, and I averted my eyes.
    One option occurred to me: race after him, take him to the ground, and choke the life out of him. He couldn’t do anything to me and Grace if he were dead. But, spending the rest of my life in jail for murdering this asshole wasn’t a great outcome either.
    And it’s not as if Thomason was the head of the snake. Someone else would take his place.
    I had to warn Grace. I had to get us both out of town and find somewhere safe to hide. But where the hell could we go to remain sheltered from a company that had seemingly endless resources? Where was somewhere they wouldn’t know about?
    I was the last person off the plane. I finished reading the article about Jacksonville’s sushi restaurants, trying to calm myself and give Thomason time to leave.
    I didn’t have a carry-on since all my belongings were in that house in Three Rivers, so I unbuckled and shuffled off the plane with nothing in my hands.
    I half-expected him to be waiting for me at the gate, but he’d cleared out. Or, seemed to have cleared out. Just the thought that he’d be running around Denver, waiting for me to come up with the memory card was enough to unsettle my stomach.
    I dialed Grace on the prepaid cell once I was off the jetway.
    “Hey baby,” she said in a dreamy voice.
    “Did I wake you?”
    “Yeah, but that’s okay. Are you back already?” she said, yawning.
    The sun was beginning to rise, sending eye-piercing light bombs off every metal surface in range. I hurried through the airport to the moving walkway as fast food joints and souvenir shops rolled up the metal grates in front of their stores and flicked on interior lights. “Yes. Sorry to call so early, but it’s important. Things have changed, again, and we need to act fast.”
    “What’s going on? You don’t sound right.”
    “It’s not over. I’m so sorry baby, but we have to leave. Pack your things, and we’ll talk about it when I get home.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    I was surprised to see that Grace’s parents and sister weren’t there when I got home. Dog was so excited to see me that he nearly mauled me when I came through the door. “Down, boy,” I said as I closed the door behind me.
    The house felt warm and lived-in