Predator Read Free Page B

valuable computer engineers and designers who’d helped grow the Vyne from a college-only social community into a site used by every first-world country on the planet—created their magic here. These weren’t people who liked structure, and they weren’t impressed by corporate underpinnings. They liked open offices where they could get a question answered quickly by stepping a few feet across the room or yelling over their desks. Much of the work done here was collaborative, so the open floor fed their creative juices.
    Ryan reached his office area and glanced in the waiting room to see if the Geico man was there. He saw GrapeVyne’s advertising director, but Geico hadn’t made it yet. Good. He might have the chance to return a call or two before the meeting.
    As he rounded the glass wall, he saw a young woman standing at his secretary’s desk. He couldn’t see her face, but her hair was long and blonde. Her long, flowing skirt and blouse were a little too big, as if she’d recently lost some weight, and she wore flat shoes. “I won’t take but ten minutes. Five, if it’s all I can have. It’s very important.”
    The urgency in her voice made him pause before going into his office.
    “I’m sorry, ma’am,” his secretary said, “but he’s booked solid all day today. I’ll be glad to give him a message.”
    “Tell him it’s life or death.” He heard her voice wobble. “People are dying, and there’s something he can do. Please…”
    He met his advertising director’s eyes across the waiting area, saw him roll his eyes. Ryan dropped his briefcase inside his office door and, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets, strode toward the girl.
    “Betty, it’s okay. I have a minute.”
    The girl turned to him and slammed him with her eyes. They were blue—not the fake, contact lens kind of blue—but a grayish blue that made her skin look porcelain. She was cheerleader pretty, but he saw intelligence in her eyes.
    “I’m Ryan Adkins.”
    She gave him an up-and-down look, as if she didn’t expect the CEO of a major corporation to be wearing jeans and sneakers. At least he had worn a button-down shirt today…though the tail hung out.
    She shook his hand. “Krista Carmichael.”
    The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it. He motioned toward his office. “Betty, call me when Mr. Xavier gets here. Larry, entertain him for a minute, will you? Give him a tour or something.”
    “Will do,” Larry said.
    Ryan led the girl into his glass-enclosed office, closed the door, and sat on the edge of his desk. “So,” he said, “is someone holding my mother hostage? Did my urine sample come back cancerous?”
    She seemed disgusted. “What?”
    “You said life or death. Sounded pretty important. Have a seat.”
    She ignored him and kept standing. “Actually, I should have left out ‘life,’ since it’s only about death. My sister’s death.”
    His eyebrows slowly drew together, and he stood up. “Ella Carmichael? You’re her sister?” He couldn’t believe he was so stupid. Had he really made a joke about her life or death comment? “I’m sorry; I didn’t make the connection.”
    “Then you know that she was kidnapped, beaten, raped, and buried alive.” Her voice broke. “We searched for her for two weeks. She’d used your site to post details of her lifeand her whereabouts, and a brutal killer took advantage of it. Have you looked at her GrapeVyne site?”
    He didn’t want to lie. “Actually, I haven’t. Not yet.”
    “Of course not. Busy man like you.” She crossed her arms and took a step toward him. He saw a strength in her eyes, strength that impressed him. She wasn’t a weeping willow.
    “My sister dumped her life out there for everyone to see. Every move she was going to make, she posted on GrapeVyne. Any online predator could have found her with the click of a mouse. And one did.”
    He thought of telling her that her sister wasn’t the only one. That his security team