Taken by the Con by C.J. Miller Read Free Book Online Page B

female member of the violent-crime division that they were looking for a reason to kick her off the team.
    In the end, it hadn’t been something she’d done or hadn’t done. It had been her success that gave her boss a reason to request a promotion for her. A promotion to a better-paying, higher-ranking open position in another unit.
    She and Cash returned to her vehicle. They got in and she turned the key. The eerie sensation of being watched wouldn’t subside.
    The car didn’t start. She paused a moment and heard the sound of the battery whining. “Get out of the car! Run!” she yelled.
    Lucia opened the driver’s-side door and rolled, covering her face and head. Car horns blared at her and she narrowly avoided being struck by oncoming traffic. Cash had heeded her warning and was standing on the street looking at her strangely. Maybe the car was old and needed a new ignition. Maybe the engine needed a tune-up. Maybe that first faulty turn was driver error.
    Then Cash was next to her, lifting her to her feet. “Lucia, what is—”
    The car exploded, the boom echoing against the tall buildings around her, a blast of heat hitting them and knocking them to the ground. Heat burned up Lucia’s side. Cash covered her, shielding her. Something hit her leg hard enough to send pain radiating up her body.
    Lucia had been in the line of fire before, but she hadn’t experienced the impersonal coldness of an assassination attempt. Her follow-up thought was just as terrifying. It hadn’t blown the first or second time she had started the car that day. Either someone had put the bomb in the car while she had been on the sidewalk talking to Cash or someone had been watching her and waiting to detonate the bomb. Either way, a killer was close.

Chapter 3
    A moment of stillness, and Lucia only saw darkness and heard silence. In a flash, the world around her came into focus. People crying and screaming, and car horns honking assaulted her ears. She forced open her eyes. Around her, complete panic ensued. People were running and cars were smashed into each other and run up on the sidewalk.
    She had to help. Lucia pushed Cash away.
    Cash grabbed her arm, dragging her to her feet. “Lucia, we need to take cover.”
    Cash hauled her to the sidewalk, shoving her behind a row of metal newspaper dispensers.
    She peered around the corner. The car was consumed by flames. Traffic around her had stopped and several vehicles had veered into each other and into the curb trying to avoid the flaming ball.
    If an assassin had a bull’s-eye pinned on her, she was dead.
    “Give me your badge,” Cash said.
    “What? No!”
    He ripped it from her pants. “Stay here. Do not get up.”
    Cash charged into the street, holding up her badge. People were running and screaming, but some passersby were staring open-mouthed. “I’m with the FBI. Stay away from the car. Help is coming. Clear this area.”
    “Ma’am? Ma’am?” A delivery woman on a bicycle was staring at Lucia. “Are you okay?”
    Lightheaded, Lucia struggled to focus. The pain in her leg was intense. “Can I use your phone?” She needed to call for help.
    “You’re bleeding. I’m calling 911,” the woman said.
    Lucia nodded her agreement and another wave of dizziness hit her. She couldn’t lose consciousness. Cash was in the open. If the bomber was watching, he knew they’d escaped the blast. He could have a backup plan.
    “Cash!” She called his name, needing to warn him. He couldn’t hear her over the chaos. She tried to get up, but her leg wasn’t working. She slammed against the ground.
    “Cash!” He was moving people away from the scene and helping people out of their cars. He was in the line of fire.
    Was this the man she had judged as selfish, manipulative and a bold-faced liar? Shame hit her. Actions were far more telling than words. Seeing his response to a crisis, she was in awe.
    She waved at him and, finally, he turned in her direction. He jogged to her and