Until It's You by C.B. Salem Page B

the only partner who found that whole thing strange.
    “Do you think the police will find him soon?” Stephanie asked.
    "I don't know," Kristina said, mostly truthfully. "He has to pop up eventually, right?"
    “I hope so. It just seems weird for a man like that to disappear.”
    “A man like that?”
    Her perfectly arched brows shot up and she licked her pale pink lips. “You know. Rich. Intelligent. Gorgeous. What would he have to run from? It doesn’t make sense. If it's some kind of secret, it would have to be dark .”
    “I guess sometimes people have more demons than you can imagine.”
    “I guess,” Stephanie said, though she looked unconvinced.
    "In any case, I need to get going," Kristina said. "I'll leave a message with you if I find anything out."
    Stephanie nodded, then went back to her work. Kristina turned and made straight for Anna's office. She wanted to update her friend on what she was doing before she headed out.
    As she walked, she thought over what she'd learned. If Brantley really was having secret meetings with someone, that was a point of interest. She needed to figure out who that was.
    Meetings with Fordelli wouldn't be a smoking gun, but it would look pretty bad. There was enough motive to be hiding it without anything else nefarious going on. Even so, it would be a crazy coincidence . . .
    She arrived at Anna's office. The door was shut, so Kristina knocked. Footsteps shuffled on the other side, then the knob turned and door swung open.
    The person who had opened the door was Agent Rachel Carter. She wore a black business suit that might as well have been government issued. Her face with its high cheekbones were managing to look both amused and annoyed at the same time.
    “I’m loving the hair change Kristina,” she said. “Very trendy.”
    “Agent Carter,” Kristina said grudgingly. “This is a surprise.”
    “Did you forget about me?” She stepped aside and motioned for Kristina to come into the office. Kristina stayed put. “I feel like you forgot about me.”
    Kristina shrugged. “I just have nothing to report to you.”
    “You dyed your hair. And did your face up.”
    “Thanks for noticing.”
    “And you have nothing to report? Just happened to need a change?”
    Kristina straightened up as tall as she could, still a few inches shorter than the agent.
    “I don’t work for you," she said. "In case that wasn't clear. When I’m able to do the favor for you that you asked me to do, I will. Right now I'm working.”
    Carter stared at her for a few seconds then smiled. “So we should continue this in my office?” she said. "Since apparently we can't be civil."
    “Excuse me?”
    “Or I can cuff you. Your call. But my guess is you want to avoid a charade as much as I do.”
    Anna shot up from her seat and appeared to Carter's right. “You can’t just waltz in here and arrest this firm’s lead investigator over some trumped up bullshit!”
    Carter’s head snapped to her right to address Anna. “You and I know I could have her on obstruction of justice for at least a few hours. If you really want to go through that bullshit, as you said, then I will. But it would be a lot easier if Kristina just played nice.” She turned back to face Kristina, her green eyes flashing. “Wouldn’t it, Kristina?”
    Kristina hesitated, then looked around. A dozen secretaries and paralegals were staring at them. They were making a scene.
    She closed her eyes. Agent Carter had appeared in her life just twice, but that was enough for her to know that she meant business. At the very least, giving the appearance of cooperation was going to do better for her than trying to take a stand behind the law.
    “It’s okay Anna,” she said, making eye contact meaningfully with her friend. “I’ll go.” She turned to Carter. “If you try and lock me up, you had better know this firm will be on your ass like you didn’t know was possible.”
    Carter gestured toward the elevator. “I’m