Commando by Lindsay McKenna Read Free Book Online

stop the destruction of the rain forest. Not that I’m the only one. There are other groups. But this area is especially important. Hernandez is particularly adept at slash-and-burn techniques.”

    Jake gave her a long look. “That’s a hell of an indictment against anyone, especially your father.”

    Just the roughened tone of his voice soothed Shah’s frayed nerves. He had a way of defusing her, and it made her relax.

    She straightened, making sure the pistol fit snugly in the palm of her hand. She couldn’t trust this giant of a man. He could jump her if he got her off guard. His size alone would overwhelm her ability to defend herself and escape.

    “Unfortunately, I am his daughter, but that’s where any connection between him and me ends,” Shah told him tightly. “My mother divorced him when I was twelve years old, and I couldn’t have been happier.”

    “Why?”

    Shah gave him a wide-eyed look. “Why would you want to know?”

    “Because I care.”

    He did. It was on the tip of Shah’s tongue to deny Randolph’s words, but she saw genuine caring in his eyes, and felt that same powerful sense of protection emanating from him that she had on the dock when Hernandez’s bodyguard grabbed her. Fighting the feeling, because it was foreign to her, Shah resurrected what little anger was left and snapped, “You care because he’s paid you some fantastic sum of money! I know your kind, and I’m not about to trust you, so forget it! Now stand up!”

    “I’m telling you the truth, Shah.” Jake purposely used her first name to defuse her intent. It worked. He saw a startled expression momentarily flit across her features.

    “Truth!” Shah spit out. “The only truth I see is you’re a hired gun of my father’s!”

    “What was it someone said? Truth hurts, but it’s the lie that leaves scars? Why can’t you believe me? I’m not here to kidnap you. Your father asked me to try to persuade you to come home, but if I couldn’t, then I was to become your bodyguard instead.”

    Rolling her eyes, Shah moved behind the table. She placed the heavy gun on the wooden surface. Her hand had grown tired from holding it. Wiping the sweat from her upper lip, she glared at him. “Don’t quote philosophy to me. The most dangerous kind of lie is the type that resembles the truth!”

    “Who said that?” Jake asked, truly impressed by her philosophical bent. He was delighted with the discovery; it was just one more amazing facet to Shah Travers.

    “Oh, please! I had six years of college. Don’t you think I took a course or two in philosophy? Kant? Descartes?”

    “Great, we have a lot more in common than even I thought. We’ll get along fine.”

    “You aren’t staying!”

    “Now, Shah, I told you the truth. It’s obvious to me you need me to stay. Fine. I’ll just hang around like a big guard dog and protect you from the likes of Hernandez and his goons.” Jake grinned, but inwardly he felt sorry for Shah. She appeared unsettled and exhausted. And why shouldn’t she feel that way? Hernandez had been ready to have her beaten up if Jake hadn’t arrived in the nick of time. She knew it, too, he suspected. Shah was nobody’s fool.

    “You can’t stay because I don’t want you to stay.”

    “I can be of help to you.”

    “I suppose you have a degree in biology?”

    “No, but I have a degree in philosophy.”

    “That doesn’t get these plants identified and cataloged.”

    “I’m a fast learner.”

    “You’re impossible!”

    “Thank you.”

    “It wasn’t a compliment, Randolph, so don’t sit there preening about it.”

    He tilted his head. “Are you mad at all men, or just your father?”

    The question, spoken so softly, caught Shah off guard. The adrenaline from the confrontation with Hernandez was wearing off, and she felt shaky, mushy-kneed. She pulled over a four-legged wooden stool and sat down. What was it about Jake Randolph that threw her off-balance? Maybe it