Risk Read Free

serious green eyes.
    â€œI love the search. Finding new plants and possibly chemicals. Uncovering the mysteries of the world. It’s not likely that I’ll find the unexplained in a large city like Miami.”
    â€œI disagree. What about the guy they found eating another man’s face off on the causeway? No one’s been able to figure out why he did it. They’re talking zombie apocalypse. That’s a mystery right here in Miami.”
    During the last hip hop weekend a young man had been found naked and chewing another’s face on the causeway that connected Miami Beach to Miami proper. He’d been shot dead by a police officer and the victim rushed to the hospital. The young man’s friends all described the man as a sweet, religious person who rarely dabbled in drugs. After a toxicology report failed to find any drugs in the young man’s system, the speculation veered toward his Haitian background and voodoo. Miami’s Haitian population was in a state of terror. They all believed that a hougan priest had unleashed an evil demon on Miami, and people were congregating at night to perform the safety and cleansing sacrificial rituals that they believed would hold off the threat.
    â€œI’d love to delve into that one,” Caldridge said, “but it’s not what I do. I find plants and chemicals.”
    â€œYou like the adventure, that much is obvious,” he said. “But you take terrible risks. Don’t you value your life?”
    She frowned. “Of course, but I don’t want to sit in a lab all day analyzing specimens.”
    â€œDoes your family approve of this?” He knew from her application that she was unmarried, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have parents, siblings.
    She gave him a frank look. “I haven’t run my personal decisions past my family since I left home at eighteen. They know that I love to travel. I don’t tell them the details.”
    â€œWhat about a relationship? Doesn’t that come into play when determining whether you’ll risk your life or not?” He was trespassing into private territory with the question, but he was intrigued. What type of man would she love?
    She looked down at her wine again, and for a moment he thought that she wouldn’t answer. He was ashamed to have asked her and was about to apologize when she took a breath, looked up, and flashed him a knowing, seductive smile. It rocked him, and he hadn’t been rocked in months. He felt himself react and wondered at it. The room grew warmer. His hands stopped shaking.
    â€œIt hasn’t been an issue,” she said, and the smile played around her lips.
    The answer spoke volumes, and he revised his opinion of what life would be like with her. His mouth was suddenly dry and he searched for a safer topic.
    â€œEven though we’re not writing a policy for you, you should let your family know that your job involves danger.”
    â€œWhy?” She gave him a curious look. He took a swallow of his drink. The ice had melted and it was warming, but it managed to wet his parched throat.
    â€œWhen we write kidnap insurance we do our best to keep it completely confidential. Our acceptance is only through a protected e-mail site, and once the policy is written we store it in the cloud with a company that specializes in cyber security.”
    â€œWhy all the precautions?”
    â€œThere are professional theft rings that will hack into an insurance company’s files and sell the information on the policy riders—usually the jewelry rider—to other thieves. Armed with the address and an exact inventory of goods in the house, the ring then burglarizes the residence.”
    A look of understanding came into her eyes. “And with kidnap policies you’re afraid they’ll target the insured?”
    He nodded. “And on a practical level, it’s often the family member who gets the first call, and so they