Deadly Embrace by Jackie Collins Read Free Book Online

squealed, kissing him soundly on the
lips.
    "Thanks," he said, looking embarrassed. "Now you really owe
me."
    "I don't mind that," Emily said with a half smile.
    "You're so nice," Dani added shyly. "God will reward you for being
so nice."
    "Don't go spouting all that God crap," Emily said crossly, glaring
at her younger sister. "We're not at the ranch now, so drop it."
    "Sorry," Dani muttered.
    "That's how he kept us in line," Emily continued. "Threatening us,
telling us that everything was God's will. It's not God's will
that he was poking us."
    "That's incest, y'know," Sam said knowledgeably.
    "What does 'incest' mean?" Dani asked.
    "Go to the library and find out," Sam said.
    "What's a library?"
    "Oh my!" Emily exclaimed, exasperated. "I thought I taught you
stuff like that."
    "Not well enough," Sam said, chuckling.
    Armed with her forged Social Security card, Dani passed as
seventeen and got a job working as a maid at one of the big hotels.
Emily scored a job as a waitress at the same hotel. With their
combined wages they were able to move out of Sam's room and rent a
tiny apartment, although Emily spent most of her spare time over at
Sam's.
    When Dani wasn't working she visited the public library, soaking
up information. Being ignorant was not a good thing. She was thirsty
for knowledge and determined to get it.
    Unaware of her tender age, but well aware of her beauty, men began
coming on to her.
    She shuddered at the thought of being with a man. Dashell, her
illustrious father, had put her off men forever.
    Many nights she lay in bed experiencing nightmares about the
things he'd made her do when she was younger. Touch this, stroke
that, lick this .
    His vile words and actions remained her secret.
    She willed herself to put the disturbing memories out of her mind,
but there were times the nightmares were too vivid to disappear.
    Now she was a little girl in a big city, and at last she was
learning how to survive.
Tuesday, July 10, 2001
Los Angeles
    Never let 'em see you sweat , Madison thought, recalling the
line from a stupid TV commercial. For a moment she almost smiled.
Then she realized what a potentially dangerous situation she was
caught in, and that a man had just been shot.
    The gunman had herded everyone to the side of the room near the
kitchen, and now they were taking stock of one another as the man
continued to wave his weapon in the air. There were about twenty-five
people in all. The oldest was the woman who'd been sitting next to
them, and the youngest seemed to be a skinny teenage girl with
freckles, who looked like she was about to burst into tears. And who
could blame her if she did?
    Madison glanced across the room at the burly man who'd been shot.
He was lying on the ground quite still. "Do you think he's dead?" she
whispered to Cole, dreading the answer.
    "Who knows?" he said, shrugging.
    "Can't we do something... maybe try to stop the bleeding?"
    "Are you gonna get up and go over there?"
    "No, but perhaps I can ask one of the gunmen to help him."
    "Yeah," he said sarcastically. "I'm sure they're ready to do
that."
    Realizing that Cole was probably right, she tried to imagine how
Jake would handle a situation like this. Hmm ... knowing Jake, he'd
probably whip out his camera and start photographing everyone.
    Damn! She wished he were there with her. And then she began
wondering if he was all right, and when she'd see him again. Jake was
a very special man; she couldn't bear the thought of losing him. He
was also a very smart man, and if he was in trouble in Colombia,
there was nobody better at talking himself out of a bad
situation.
    "You okay, kid?" Cole asked.
    "I'm okay," she murmured, thinking how when she and Natalie were
in college, Cole was just a punk teenager up to no good, and now he
was calling her "kid." Strange how things changed. "It's your sister
I'm worried about."
    They both glanced at Natalie, who still seemed to be in a
catatonic state, which was so unlike her. Natalie was the one