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Triplecrossbylinda stevensDear Reader:We are delighted to bring you this daring series from Silhouette.Intrigue TM where resourceful, beautiful women flirt with danger andrisk everything for irresistible, often treacherous men.Intrigue--where the stories are full bf heart-stopping suspense andmystery lurks around every corner.You won't be able to resist Intrigue's exciting mix of danger,deception. and desire.Please write and let us know what you think of our selection ofIntrigue novels. We'd like to hear from you.Jane Nicholls Silhouette Books PO Box 236 Thornton Road CroydonSurreyCR9 3RUSilhoutteDID YOU PURCHASE THIS BOOK WITHOUT A COVER?If you did, you should be aware it is stolen property as it wasreported unsold and destroyed by a retailer. Neither the author northe publisher has received any payment for this book.All the characters in this book have no existence outside theimagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyonebearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspiredby any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidentsare pure invention.All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or inpart in any form. This edition is published by arrangement withHarlequin Enterprises H B. V. The text of this publication or any partthereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by anymeans. electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without thewritten permission of the publisher.This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way oftrade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulatedwithout the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding orcover other than that in which it is published and without a similarcondition including this condition being imposed on the subsequentpurchaser.Silhouette and Colophon are registered? rademarks of Harlequin BooksS. A. " used under licence.First published in Great Britain 1996Silhouette Books, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, SurreyTW9 1SRISBN 0 373 22225 446-9610Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham PLC, ChathamPrologueBlustery winds blew trash and a few scruffy tumbleweeds across thedeserted Texas street as black clouds gathered overhead, signaling anapproaching storm. Not a soul stirred on the cracked, litter-strewnsidewalks. Along the boarded-up storefronts, every surface had beenmarred by red and black spray-painted obscenities.For years this section on the edge of south Dallas had been sinkinginto decay without a hitch, the area at times a home to junkies, thehomeless and the lost. But at this hour all was quiet, save thewhistling wind and the distant grumble of the city proper, severalblocks away from this squalor.At the end of one of those long, disreputable blocks a man sat in hiscar, hunched down in the front seat. In his strong, sun-darkened handshe held a pair of binoculars, and he had them focused on the-middle ofthe next block where an older two-door sedan was parked. He watched asa young woman slowly climbed out.She paused, resting her arms on the roof of the car as she lookedaround, 'scrutinizing each. doorway, thoroughly checking the area.When she looked his way the man slipped down even farther in the frontseat, scarcely able to see over the dashboard. The woman took hertime, seemed almost leisurely in her inspection.. A few minutes later she closed her car door and walked Slowly up tothe nearest storefront, studying the building as she went, as ifreading the graffiti plastered across its boarded-up windows. When shereached it, she used her right hand to push on one of theweather-scarred front doors. It swung open. Down the block the manwatched, frowning, as she stepped back toward her car. But afterlooking around one more time she strode forward again and entered thebuilding.He set the glasses down and started his car, shifting it into drive,his skin-tight black leather gloves gripping the steering wheel as hedrove up behind her sedan and parked. The street was still desertedbut he paused, just as the woman had, and looked up one side and downthe other. Then he got out of his car and quietly closed the door.Silently he followed her inside.Chapter OneFlashlight in hand, Lizzy Green slowly dim bed up the dark, narrowstairwell of the dilapidated building, questioning her sanity all theway. She was an insurance investigator, more at home behind hercomputer than prowling around spooky old buildings in badneighborhoods.Around here, even the most harmless-looking vagabond could turn mean ifcornered in his lair. As far as she'd been able to tell, only oneperson was using this place as a temporary domicile at the moment, andshe had waited until she'd seen him leave before entering. But a partof her still knew this was probably an unwise move.She was, after all, in an area with a well-deserved reputation forviolence. While most of it occurred at night and it was broad daylightoutside, nothing prevented some miscreant from waking up in bed temperand slitting her throat. According to her sources nothing muchhappened in this area on Sunday mornings. But that advice and aquarter still wouldn't get her a phone call to 9-1-1, because thereweren't even any pay phones left around here.Of course, no matter how foolish she was being, she knew there was nobacking out now. The appeal by her client had touched her heart,making Lizzy want to help find a small jade figurine the elderly womanhad lost and held so dear.According to an anonymous call she'd gotten earlier, that figurine wasin this building. Whether it was or not, the call itself spurred heron, as well. There might be some evidence on her anonymous tipsterhere.Besides, for better or worse, L'mzy Green never backed away fromanything that scared her; it was one of the bylaws of her unwrittencode.At the second-floor landing she paused and looked down the darkhallway. Dim gray light spilled out of the last doorway, castingominous shadows on the walls through the white cobwebs stretched acrossthe opening. The beam of her flashlight revealed three more opendoorways between her and that last room, each with its own complementof dusty cobwebs.Lizzy directed the light toward the hall floor. Ages of foot traffichad worn a pathway down the middle of its filthy, speckled greenlinoleum and crumpled wads of trash littered its entire length. Sheinched forward, flashlight beam moving from side to side, spotlightingthe trash as she approached the first opening on her right,Suddenly one of the large crumpled wads before her came to life, andbegan scurrying toward her, its nails clicking and clattering on theslick floor. Stifling a scream, she jumped backward, and watched indisgust as it boldly wad died into the room right in front of her.Lovely. Fat brown rats! And just what did they find to eat? shewondered. With a shiver, she wrestled with her horror and won,reminding herself that she'd be lucky if these were the only kind ofrats she encountered up here. Common sense told her to run out of thisplace, but she felt too close to finding the figurine. If herinformation was correct, it was up here in one of these four rooms.Even more careful of where she stepped now, Lizzy moved forward to thefirst room on her right. It was pitch black inside, and void offurniture. After a thorough inspection she found nothing except forthat rat sitting in one corner, staring at her balefully with its beadyblack eyes.It was a bad sign, Lizzy thought, when the rats were braver than shewas. She pressed on. The room across from the first was the same,minus the rat.She was standing just outside the third room when an eerie creakingnoise behind her made her bolt through the open doorway like afrightened rabbit. Adrenaline coursed through her as she hovered atthe room's edge, quivering.Could rats make those creaking sounds? Or was there someone else inthe building? As if to answer her question, another huge specimen waddied past the doorway, making strange muttering noises as it moved ondown the hall.She turned and ran the beam of her flashlight along all four walls,finding the same hem as the last two. Nothing. After a few minutes ofcontinued quiet she decided to forge ahead. One more room. Out in thecorridor, through the narrow opening of that last doorway, she couldsee a partially boarded-up window on the far corner wall. Here, dirtygray light revealed that at least half this room was empty, as well.The other half, however, was hidden to her view by the door and jaggedfingers of shadow.That unknown other half bothered her, making her pause. Maybe thefigurine actually was in them, waiting for her. Or maybe there wassomeone or something else hiding behind that door. And it would bewaiting for her, too.Lizzy sighed softly. It was too late to turn back now; besideseverything else, her curiosity wouldn't let her. She had to know whatwas inside that room, and there was only one way to find out.With her back against the wall, she extended her left hand between thecobwebs to swing the door open.But as she touched the door, a loud noise exploded into the silence ofthe building and Lizzy jerked her hand back, pressing it against herthumping heart. A gunshot!The hallway behind her was empty. Second... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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