Deep Rising (An Outside the Lines Novel) (Entangled Select) by N.R. Rhodes Read Free Book Online Page A

evaluation revealed nothing more than inexpensive plastic and a simple metal spring. His fingers threaded through the silky mass of her hair. As he lifted the heavy strands, he encountered the scent of lilacs. No doubt it was just the remnants of some girlie shampoo, but the scent was evocative, making him think about her hair spread across a bedroom pillow. “More often than not,” he continued, “the devices are subcutaneous.” The soft strands slid between his fingers. His fingers smoothed along her scalp. Her breath hitched as his fingers teased through her hair.
    Get your head in the game, Caldwell.
    She shook her head to free the strands from his hand, and the spell was broken. “I can assure you, aside from a few fillings, there is nothing foreign in my body.”
    He forced himself to stop thinking about her body. “I was just getting to your dental history. Two fillings,” he told her. “One on the upper bicuspid, the second in the lower left molar. I need to scan them, Svetlana.”
    She snapped her teeth together.
    His hand caught her jaw. “Open your mouth.”
    “No.” Although he trumped her in weight and size, Lana stared up at him defiantly, daring him to do his worst.
    He didn’t know what he’d anticipated his mark to be like, but it wasn’t this combination of strength and vulnerability that made him want to throttle her and coddle her at the same time.
    “Open.” His tone softened, and he tried to keep his touch gentle. She’d been through enough already, he decided. Standing here, cupping his hand around her jaw, drawing in the scent of her, feeling the warm sensation of her breath against his face, something deep within him stirred. He couldn’t comprehend it. He was frisking the person who could be responsible for killing over a thousand people. How could he possibly contemplate kissing her? The very thought was anathema to him.
    Her eyes locked on his, flinching.
    Did she know what had flashed through his mind? Yes. She understood.
    He was an expert at reading people. And she’d probably been admired by many men.
    She lifted her chin, her vibrant eyes narrowing, daring him. And damn if that didn’t make her more alluring.
    “Open your mouth.”
    It was several seconds before she complied.
    Scanning the wand over her teeth, he completed his examination. No radio receptors or tracing tech. He didn’t want to think about what he would’ve done if he’d found a tracer. It wouldn’t have been pretty—for either of them.
    He tossed the detector on the table. With one hand, he stroked back her soft hair, using the motion to tip her face to his. He caught the flicker of vulnerability, the hint of fear that she worked so hard to hide. “You keep being cooperative and we’ll get along fine. Now, do you have any way of contacting Sergei?”
    “No.” She retreated across the kitchen the moment he released her. And knowing that he was the cause made him feel like ten kinds of scum.
    “Would your parents be able to?”
    “No.” Then, “I don’t know.”
    “Can you think of any reason why your brother would do this? Personal gain? Jealousy? Rage, revenge?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t think it’s money. My family has never been driven by the dollar.”
    “There’s always a motive, Svetlana. People don’t fly off the grid and commit heinous crimes without a reason.”
    “Serial killers do.”
    “Serial killers are sociopaths operating outside the confines of society,” he said. “Their urges are rooted in sexual desires and aggression. They have reasons, even if the average person can’t comprehend them. We aren’t talking about some Freudian felon. Your brother’s involved with the big players. He has the knowledge, the means, and apparently the balls to generate mass destruction.”
    “If what you say is true, then my brother is sick and needs help.”
    “The people who died on Capri needed help . Children in cancer wards need help. Your brother needs to be brought