Chasing Shadows Read Free Page B

them?"
    As if.  But she played her role and widened her grin as she pulled a handful of condoms from her inside pocket.  "Nah.  I think this will be enough."  His eyes widened and she couldn't resist—that's what acting like a teenager would do to you, it pulled you right back into a mindset where potty-humor was considered sophisticated.  "For tonight, at least."
    "Er.  Right.  Lucky Jay."
    Could a stand-up guy like Neil be falling for his best friend's gal?  He leaned against the grave marker guarding Jay's parents' final resting place and she wondered at that.  Jay would be gone tomorrow, maybe she should continue her charade a while longer than initially planned?  Neil could give her the inside scoop on his father’s organization.
    She stretched out lengthwise on the granite bench, her Doc Maartens planted firmly on the end of the slab, knees bent, arms wide, letting her jacket flap open.  There was no sunlight, there never was in Coalton, the entire town constantly submerged beneath a haze of grey as if the coal mines were still in full action.  The frozen stone beneath her bit into her flesh, but KC ignored it, her attention focused on Neil.
    She lay there as if basking in the light of an invisible sun.  He watched with obvious interest.  His gaze roamed from her face to the chameleon tattoo coloring the exposed flesh of her belly.  She stretched and the form-fitting leather vest she wore rode higher.  Neil's gaze followed, his head bobbing in time with her breathing.  Men.  Sometimes it was just so damn easy.
    "What'cha doing for Christmas?" she asked, letting one arm dangle to the side, grazing the snow piled around the bench.  She was freezing her ass off, but she had a feeling it might be worth it.
    He hunched his shoulders as if nervous but his face brightened into a smile.  "My dad and I.  We're going to go to a business meeting he has set up.  Together."
    Gianotti had a business meeting scheduled for Christmas day?  Now that was news.  She sat up abruptly, tugging her vest back into place, trying not to shiver in the cold.  She wasn't sure if she'd ever feel warm again, not after six weeks suffering through Coalton, Pennyslvania's terminal grey winter.  
    "That's nice," she said.  "What kind of meeting?"
    Neil opened his mouth then clamped it shut, shoulders hunching once more.  "Doesn't matter.  It will be cool just working with my dad."
    Silence.  The bells on St. Augustine's steeple rang the hour.  She was supposed to pick up Jay, drive him to Neil's where the boys were going to have Christmas Eve dinner while she went home to eat with her "father" like a dutiful daughter would.
    "What's up with Jay?" she asked, inserting a stammer into her voice.
    "What do you mean?"
    "I don't know.  He's been acting funny lately.  Like maybe," she trailed off, eyes cast down, but staring at Neil up through her lashes.  "Like maybe he's not too happy with me."
    Neil sank down beside her, his expression one of genuine concern.  KC felt a quiver of guilt over her manipulation, but quickly squelched it.  Cost of doing business.  And in this case, her business might just save Neil's life.
    He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugged her to him.  "Of course he's happy with you, KC.  You're the best thing that ever happened to him."
    A glimmer of a plan began to form.  KC forced a few tears, made sure Neil saw them before swiping them away.  "If you say so.  I'd better go get him or he'll be late for dinner at your place.  You know how your dad feels about anyone being late."
    At the mention of Bruno Gianotti Neil stood up, hands jammed deep into his pockets, poufing the down parka up around his ears like a turtle skedaddling into its shell.  "Yeah, you're right.  We'd better get going."
    She stood beside him, looking down at the town arrayed below them.  The setting sun and surrounding mountains cast the town of Coalton, population 281, into an impenetrable shadow.  She hooked her