not necessarily illegal for him to have this company that doesn’t do anything but own other companies. But I’d say he prefers people not to know about it since the only name associated with it is his private lawyer.”
Nodding, Kyle was intrigued but still didn’t feel like he had any tie into what he wanted. He sat for a moment pondering the information but, no matter how he looked at it, it seemed useless. He turned to thank Harlan but noticed the young detective was staring at their evidence board.
Harlan inclined his head toward the board and said, “You looking into Kilton Pharmaceuticals?”
Nodding, he didn’t say anything else before Harlan immediately began tapping again. He looked over at Alex but received a shrug as a reply. They sat quietly for a while, letting Harlan continue to tap on the keyboard while occasionally grunting. Finally, Harlan looked up and grinned.
“Well, it seems that Hope City Linen and Uniform also has a contract with Kilton. Probably does uniforms and lab coats and things like that. And what’s more… one of Congressman Dell’s biggest donors is Kilton Pharmaceuticals. Last I saw on the news, he’s pushing for easier FDA requirements on testing drugs.”
20
Just as Kyle walked into Kimberly’s house, his phone rang. Seeing it was her, he greeted, “Hey, babe. Will you be home soon?”
“Yes, I promise it’s just one drink with a few people from work and then I’m coming straight home. Did you get in okay?”
“Yes, did you think the key wouldn’t work?”
“I just wanted to be sure you weren’t sitting outside.”
She had given him a spare key the day before, wanting him to come to her house for dinner since she had work to finish. He had not reciprocated yet… but had no qualms about giving her a key to his place.
“You want me to come to get you when you’re ready?”
“Nope, it’s good. We’re actually at a little place down the street and Bob is here. Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”
“Nah… it was a long day. You enjoy. I’ll chill and be here when you arrive.”
“Okay, see you in about an hour. Dinner is in the slow-cooker so we’ll eat as soon as I get there.”
“Got any more whipped cream?”
“Uh… actually, yeah. Want to use it tonight?”
He had been joking, but at her response, the blood rushed south and the image of her spread eagle on her bed, strategically placed whipped cream ready to be licked off, filled his mind. “Make it a short drink, babe.”
Laughing, she disconnected, and he walked through the living room and into the kitchen. The scent of dinner cooking filled the air. Opening the refrigerator, he snagged a beer. Heading back into the living room, he noticed her laptop, notebook, and papers scattered all over the coffee table. Curious, he sat down and looked through a few.
He smiled when he saw Tammy’s picture, standing in front of a big map of Hope City, and remembered his own interview with her. Employee of the month. He could easily see her being featured in Kimberly’s Faces of Hope City articles.
As he scanned through some of the others, he noticed the picture with Thomas Kilton and his gaze zeroed in on a picture behind him. Congressman Montgomery Dell was standing with the Kilton family, his arm around Sidney. There were interviews with warehouse workers, some who knew Terry when he was sleeping with Beth. She had notes on the various uses of fentanyl and how the bio-chemist worked on the compounds. A niggle of guilt moved through him, but he grabbed his phone and began snapping pictures of her notes as well as the printed pages, including photographs from her laptop.
Placing everything back the way he found it, he settled back onto the sofa and began surfing the Internet on his phone to see what he could find between the congressman and the Kilton family. Time passed quickly, and he jumped when he heard Kimberly’s voice outside the front door saying goodbye to Bob. Shutting his phone down, he quickly glanced at the coffee table, satisfied that it was just as she left it. Throwing open the door, he waved to Bob as he dragged her inside, kissing her in the middle of a giggle.
She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down and holding him close. A growl erupted from deep inside his chest. Lifting her in his arms, she wound her legs about his waist, and he swore he