Person of Interest Read Free

hearts and left shattered lives.
    She didn’t want that kind of man.
    Never again.
    Elizabeth focused on the passing landscape, refused to dwell on the subject. The skyscrapers and bumper-to-bumper traffic of the D.C. area eventually gave way to trees and only the occasional passing motorist. It seemed odd to Elizabeth that the CIA’s headquarters would be nestled away in the woods, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, like a harmless, sprawling farm. But there was nothing harmless about the vast property. Security fencestopped with concertina wire and cameras. Warnings about entering the premises with electronic devices. Armed guards. Definitely not harmless in any sense of the word.
    Dawson braked to a stop and flashed his ID for the guard waiting at the entrance gate while another guard circled the sedan with a dog trained to sniff out explosives and the like. Even now she imagined that high-tech gadgets were monitoring any conversation that might take place inside the vehicle. Every word, every nuance in tone scrutinized for possible threat.
    The recruits here were trained to infiltrate, interrogate, analyze data and to kill if necessary. Their existence and proper training were essential to national security, she understood that. Respected those who sacrificed so very much. But she couldn’t bring her self to feel comfortable here. It took a special kind of human being to fit into this world. Her gaze flitted to the man in the front passenger seat. A man like him. Dark, quiet, enigmatic. A man fully prepared to die…to kill…for what he believed in.
    A dangerous man.
    But not dangerous to her…never again. No more dangerous men in her life, she promised herself as she did her level best to ignore the premonition of dreadwelling in her chest. Safe. Occasionally spontaneous maybe, but safe. She had her new life all mapped out and the dead last thing it included was danger.

Chapter Two
    The main lobby of the CIA headquarters always took Elizabeth’s breath away. The granite wall with its stars honoring fallen agents. The flags and statues…the grandeur that represented the solemn undertaking of all those who risked their lives to make the world a safer place. The shadow warriors.
    Elizabeth looked away from that honorary wall, knowing that one of those stars represented David. Though she would never know which one since his name would not be listed. Anonymous even in death.
    For the first time since his death she wondered if she’d known him at all. Was his name even David Maddox?
    Her heart squeezed instantly at the thought. This was precisely why she had promised herself she would not think about the past. Not today, not any day.
    She had to get on with the present, move into the future.
    Like David, the past was over. She was thirty-seven for Christ’s sake. Her fantasy of some day having a family was swiftly slipping away. Never before had she been so keenly aware of just how much time she had wasted. Though she loved her work, she didn’t regret for a moment the sacrifices she had made to become the respected surgeon she was; it was time to have a personal life as well.
    The rubber soles of her running shoes whispered against the gleaming granite floor where the CIA’s emblem sprawled proudly, welcoming all who entered. The guards and the metal detectors beyond that proved a little less welcoming, reminding Elizabeth of the threat that loomed wherever government offices could be found. Even in her lifetime the world had changed so much. Maybe part of her sudden impatience to move forward was somehow related to current events as well as the recent past. Whatever the case, it was the right thing to do.
    Dawson led her to the bank of elevators and depressed the down button. Uneasiness stirred inside her again. Somehow she doubted that the director’s office had been moved to the basement. Before she could question his selection the doors slid open and the three of them boarded the waiting car.
    When he