THE VIRON CONSPIRACY (JAKE SCARNE THRILLERS #4) by Lawrence de Maria

kiss her. Take her into his arms and possess the voluptuous body that had once been his. He took a deep breath, let go of her wrists and sat back.
    “Agreed?”
    Kate picked up a napkin and dried her tears.
    “Yes. I’m sorry. Please forgive me, Jake.”
    “There’s nothing to forgive.”
    “What will you do now?”
    He explained his cover as a writer.
    “It would be only natural for me to interview you, as Bryan’s widow. So there should be no suspicion that you are behind it, no matter how it works out. If Lenzer or anyone else from the company contacts you, say that at first you were reluctant to participate but then thought it over. A book about Bryan would be a fine legacy. Tell them you hope they will cooperate. Don’t be enthusiastic, or too negative. Portray me as something of a necessary nuisance.” Scarne’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “That shouldn’t be too hard.”
    Scarne regretted the cheap shot. He saw the hurt in her eyes.
    “I spoke to Winston Todd,” he continued, “and he’s on board. If contacted, he’ll say that he thinks a book is a fine idea, but he will keep a close eye on what I produce to protect your interests. It’s what any good lawyer would say. Don’t contact me. If I call you, it will be to talk about the book and I probably will be playacting. I’ll nag you to cooperate, that sort of thing. Maybe ask inane questions about Bryan or yourself. Just go along. If I want to see you, I’ll make it sound innocuous. Don’t talk to anyone else. Don’t trust anyone else. Don’t change your routine. If I have to tell you anything important, I’ll do it in person. Understood?”
    “You sound as though you believe me.”
    “Don’t think that way, Kate. Don’t get your hopes up. I believe you need closure, and I will provide it, no matter what form it takes. I think the only danger to you is legal, if it gets out that you unfairly suspected Lenzer of murder. But if I’m wrong, well, let’s just say it never hurts to be careful.”
    “What will you do if I’m right?”
    Scarne smiled coldly.
    “Leave that up to me, Kate. There are many forms of closure.”
    Kate Vallance looked carefully at her former lover, and wasn’t sure she liked what she saw. She felt a sudden chill. Jake was no longer the rather reckless but charming young man she had once been in love with. Now, beneath his casual demeanor and icy assurance, she sensed a ruthlessness that had not been there before. Had it been, she wondered if she would ever have had the courage to treat him so shabbily in the past. But in addition to a slight tremor of fear, she found herself aroused for the first time since Bryan’s death. She cleared her throat and drank some wine.
    “What is your next step?”
    “I’ll go to Hawaii and see what I can find out from the police. If I can’t prove that your husband’s death wasn’t a different kind of murder, there’s no sense in mucking about at BVM.”
    “When will you leave?”
    “Tomorrow.”
    “Where are you staying?”
    “I’ll get a hotel room near the airport.”
    “There’s plenty of room here.”
    Their eyes met.
    “Thanks. The hotel will be fine.”
    He saw the hurt again, or was it sadness.

CHAPTER 13 - BYE-BYE BADGER
     
    Gloucestershire, Southwest England
     
    Ro nald Brandman believed he had the most thankless job in the United Kingdom. As Deputy Director of the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, the British Government Agency that tries to balance the country’s need for a safe food supply and a population’s increasing devotion to protecting its wildlife, he never made anyone happy. His own wife, Dora, was hardly speaking to him over the badger cull he’d ordered and was now overseeing.
    Brandman was on site in Gloucestershire, trying to make the slaughter run as smoothly and humanely as possible. Personally, he didn’t much care for the short, fat weasel-looking animals that were, he knew, probably a member of the skunk family,