Cherry Adair - T-flac 03 by Hide, Seek Read Free Book Online Page A

burned, and she dug an antacid out of her shirt pocket, chewing it quickly. The breeze, while warm, felt chilly through her damp shirt. She shivered, turning blindly toward the house, her hand pressed to her midriff.
    She should have known better than to try walking away. Gripping her elbow, Kyle firmly and inexorably herded her away from the house and across the pitch-blackness of the patio.
    She pulled against his implacable hold. When his fingers tightened, she demanded, "Do you mind telling me where you think you're dragging me off to?"
    He must have eyes like a cat. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. She glared up at the cloud-covered sky—The moon had shone very nicely for her earlier. She put up a token resistance, but allowed him to steer her to a lounge chair.
    "Right here. For now."
    She dropped onto the chaise, smelling the chlorine of the nearby pool and a subtle masculine aroma that was tantalizingly familiar as Kyle sat beside her.
    Close, too damn close. Delanie could just see the gleam of his eyes in the darkness and feel the press of his knee against her thigh.

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    "Why do you think Montero offered to let us renew our acquaintance?"
    "I don't have the foggiest idea." Delanie sounded as surly as she felt, and that was pretty darn surly.
    "Since it isn't going to happen, I don't really care one way or the other. But if I had thought about it, I'd guess it'd be a test to see how loyal to him we both are."
    "Good guess, but not in this case."
    "And I suppose you're just dying to enlighten me." A warm breeze caressed her cheeks; it smelled of green things and danger. Exhaustion dragged at her. Abject terror and sleeping with one eye open for nights on end did that to a girl. She leaned back against the soft cushions, yearning to close her eyes.
    Obviously she dared not. Her biggest danger at the moment was sitting right here with her.
    He shifted, his voice coming to her out of the dark, curling around her like smoke. "He wants to make damn sure I'm happy."
    "There, see. Someone cares."
    "Because," Kyle's voice was hard, and she could feel him watching her in the dark, "if I'm not happy, I walk. If I walk, I take my contribution with me."
    Unless it had something to do with Lauren, she didn't care who did what to whom.
    There was a lengthy pause. "You heard what we were discussing at dinner. You know what he's—"
    Her eyes shot open. "Don't you get it? I don't give a rat's patoot what's going on between you and Ramon." After the first few minutes she hadn't bothered to listen to a word the men had said at dinner.
    She'd been too busy trying to decide, on her mental grid, which area she was going to search later. "I have my own damn problems, Kyle. Just tell me what you have to tell me so I can drag myself off to bed."
    "One way off this mountain is with Montero's say-so. The alternative is a damn sight less pleasant than a short, voluntary helicopter ride."
    Considering she hated to fly that wasn't saying much. Besides she'd already figured that out for herself.
    There was a long, pregnant pause. An animal growled in the distance, the sound carrying clearly on the still night air. Nothing she'd heard tonight at dinner had really surprised her. She'd been aware Montero was a drug lord, or whatever they were called these days, and that he laundered money through the casino. She hadn't cared. He'd pay for that, just as he'd pay for whatever he had done with Lauren.
    She shrugged. "What's your contribution to all this mayhem and murder?"
    "Among other things," Kyle said with quiet menace, "I'm the one Ramon trusts enough to off the president."
    "Of America?" Delanie asked, horrified.
    "The president of San Cristobal. For God's sake. Weren't you listening at dinner?" Silence throbbed, then his voice came out of the darkness and he said flatly, "I'm the designated assassin."
    She'd been thinking about the ramifications of