Fatal Deception by Katie Reus Read Free Book Online

stepped back he got a glimpse of a petite blond woman and froze. Ice chilled his veins as he stared at the profile of the woman who looked eerily like Cait Chilcott, aka Mara Caldwell. Her arms were wrapped around her slight body as she talked to a woman in a police uniform. The hair was shorter, paler, and she was slightly curvier. No, not curvier, just…not as lean. When he’d known her before she’d been honed. Like a beautiful blade.
    But it was definitely her. And the softness surprisingly suited her.
    He tried to tear his gaze away, but it was impossible. She scrubbed a hand over her face then sharply turned to her left as if someone had called for her. A giant of a man was barreling toward her, his expression grim. He pulled Cait into a tight hug, lifting her off the ground. She wrapped her arms around the man, embracing him fully.
    The man was broad-shouldered, well-muscled, tan and his dark hair was military short. He wore an expensive looking suit and after speaking a few words to the police officer, the woman nodded and stepped back. That was interesting.
    With most of his funds still tied up until he could personally get to them, Neville hadn’t been able to buy all the information he’d needed. So far he had a name and a city. If this was Cait—now calling herself Mara Caldwell—he guessed this man was someone important to her considering the way he’d hugged her. Since she’d taken away Neville’s business, his money, his pride , he couldn’t fight the elation that surged through him at finding her like this.
    He would take away everything from her and more. She was nobody yet she’d managed to infiltrate his organization and bring him down.
    When she started to turn in his direction, he slid seamlessly back into the group of people. He didn’t have far to go and he didn’t want her to see him. Not with so many police around. Anything could go wrong and he planned to take her when she was weak and broken.
    Then he’d make her pay.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Harrison felt as if he’d lost a decade of his life. He’d received a call from a friend in the Miami PD that Mara had been involved in a car accident. All he’d heard were those two words. Car accident. Then everything else had funneled out.
    Eventually he’d realized his friend was still talking and Mara hadn’t been injured. Some jackass had hit her, but she’d walked away from the accident. That knowledge hadn’t eased the panic still humming through him. It was like someone had given him a shot of adrenaline and he couldn’t get his body under control no matter how hard he tried. All his military training and subsequent training with the CIA didn’t matter. Nothing could prepare him for the thought of his wife hurt.
    Holding onto her waist, all he could do was stare into his wife’s green eyes. Her small hands were on his forearms.
    “Why didn’t you call?” he demanded before she could speak, then wanted to kick himself for being so harsh. Before she could answer, he spoke again, asking the question he most cared about. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
    She nodded, her grip tightening. “One of the EMTs checked me out. They wanted me to go to the hospital but I’m fine. I don’t have a concussion and I’m just sore. There’s nothing a doctor can do for me except give me something to take the edge off and I’m not taking drugs.” There was a bite of annoyance in her words.
    His wife rarely had more than two glasses of wine on the occasion that she did drink so he wasn’t surprised. But he was worried. “You need to go to the hospital.”
    Her jaw clenched and he knew it wasn’t happening. “I’m not going. Besides…” She trailed off, her expression darkening. She swallowed hard, looking away. “I need to tell you something.”
    Whatever she was going to say, he knew from her tone that he was going to hate it. His stomach balled up with dread, the knot tightening and twisting into a painful mess. Maybe it would finally