Now You See Him by Anne Stuart Read Free Book Online Page B

onto the veranda. "I was worried about you." She'd managed to change into some flimsy sundress, one that exposed long, tanned legs and arms and the slight swell of her breasts. He usually preferred busty women. Maybe it was time to change his tastes.
    She made good coffee; he had to grant her that. She made good bacon and eggs, too, even if he'd let them sit too long. She also made good conversation, and, even more, she knew when to be peacefully quiet. All in all, an estimable woman. If she wasn't an IRA murderer.
    She yawned, stretching her bare legs out in front of her, and he found himself watching her feet. He'd never seen a woman with beautiful feet before in his life. Of course, he hadn't spent that much time looking below their knees. Maybe she wasn't that extraordinary.
    He was on his second cup of coffee, feeling marginally better than he had in months, when her dreamy voice broke through his abstraction. "I wonder what that boat's doing?" she murmured, snatching the final croissant that he'd been resisting for the past few minutes.
    Michael narrowed his eyes to squint into the bright sunlight. The boat looked ordinary enough to him. Large, slightly rusty, equipped with fishing paraphernalia, it looked like a commercial fisherman's boat. "Fishing?" he suggested lazily.
    She shook her head. "Not there. Any of the locals know that the currents run too fast by the point. I can't imagine who could be out there."
    Michael set his cup down very carefully. It wasn't one of theirs. He knew exactly which boats Cecil and company employed, and none of them was a deceptively rusty trawler like the one lurking just beyond the point. Once he looked closer he could see the telltale signs of sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment, probably the kind that could pick up every word they were saying. Not to mention the name of the damned boat.
Irish Fancy
. He could imagine just what their fancy was.
    "I expect they're just testing new waters," he said with deliberate laziness. The deck they were sitting on wouldn't be an easy target for snipers. The ocean beyond the point was particularly choppy that morning, and their watchers would have to spray the balcony with a machine gun to ensure hitting their targets.
    He dropped his coffee mug on the terrace, watching as it rolled toward Francey. "I'm sorry," he said, making a suitably abortive effort to retrieve it. It ended exactly where he wanted it, under her chaise.
    "I'll get it," she said with a smile, getting down on the deck and reaching for it. No sudden hail of bullets, no telltale whine, Michael thought, ready to roll on top of her in an instant if need be. Whoever was out there, they were simply watching, waiting. For another accident, perhaps. Or maybe they really only wanted one of them. But which one?
    He stared down at the boat in the distance. He could see the sunlight reflect off glass. Someone's binoculars were trained on Belle Reste, but that came as no surprise. What
was
surprising was this wait-and-see attitude.
    "What are you looking at?" Francey was on her knees beside his chaise, her head just above the railing of the balcony. They could probably manage a perfect shot if the seas would just calm for a moment.
    Catching her arm in a loose grip, he came off the chaise with clumsy speed and hauled her after him, hoping his infirmity would disguise his sudden wariness. He pulled her into the kitchen, limping more heavily than he needed to. "Let's get out of here," he said breathlessly.
    "What?" She stared up at him, her high forehead wrinkled in confusion.
    "Show me the island. I'm feeling a little stir-crazy."
    "Michael, you just got here." Her voice was the soul of patience. "If you're housebound already, how do you think you'll feel in another couple of weeks?"
    I'm not going to be here in a couple of weeks
, he thought with a certain amount of savagery. "I've been in hospital since yesterday, Francey. Belle Reste is absolutely beautiful, but I have a sudden