The Chilling Deception by Jayne Castle Read Free Book Online

condition."
    Zac held it up to the light. "It was done on one of those cheap little machines you sometimes see installed in out-of-the-way places. You know, the kind of store that sells gas, cigarettes, condoms, and booze."
    "A real service-oriented sort of place." Guinevere tried to get a look at the page. It appeared to be a form that had had various blanks filled in by hand. There was a column of scrawled names with spaces opposite for times and dates. At the bottom there was a signature. "What is it, Zac?"
    He studied it thoughtfully for a long moment. "A page out of a pilot’s logbook," he told her absently.
    "No kidding? Let me see." She reached for the paper and he handed it to her. "These are the destinations? The places he flew? And these are the times and dates?"
    "Yeah."
    "I don’t recognize too many of these towns."
    "That’s because most of them are names of places in the Caribbean and the West Indies." Zac peered over her shoulder. "The dates are all from nineteen seventy-two. The last one is May ninth. It says the pilot made a round-trip from Saint Thomas to some little island off the coast of South America. The trip back to Saint Thomas apparently took place several weeks after the trip out. Let’s see… the first hop was in April. The return trip was on May ninth."
    "Vandyke said he used to have a charter service down there some years ago. But that’s not Vandyke’s signature at the bottom of the page." Guinevere was positive of that – she’d seen her client’s signature on enough papers during the past week to be certain. "It’s hard to read. Shannon? Bannon?"
    "Gannon," Zac said suddenly with finality. "L. Gannon." He took the paper back from Guinevere with a snap and replaced it in the envelope. "That was the name of the man Vandyke said was his partner, remember? The guy who got killed in an accident."
    Guinevere shuddered. "It seems morbid to carry that kind of keepsake around, doesn’t it? After all these years, I wonder why he does?"
    "You’ll notice he’s not carrying around the original." Zac shoved the envelope back into the briefcase and replaced the rest of the documents. He relocked the case.
    "So?"
    "Don’t look at me like that. I don’t know the answer. All I know is that I’m being asked to stick very close to a man who’s on the verge of having an all-out nervous breakdown."
    Guinevere sat down on the edge of the bed, staring out the window. She could hear the rising wind heralding an incoming storm. "I’d hoped having you along would calm him down a bit, but it doesn’t seem to be working. He’s under so much pressure, Zac. I feel sorry for him."
    There was silence behind her and then the lights went out as Zac flipped the switch. Guinevere didn’t move, although she felt a sudden surge of tension. With the room lights off the gardens outside the window were faintly revealed by the discreetly placed outdoor lighting.
    A moment later the bed gave beneath his weight as Zac sat down beside her. She hadn’t heard him cross the room, but that didn’t surprise her. When he wanted to, Zac could move very quietly. He reached out to fold her hand into one of his.
    "How about feeling a little sorry for me, Gwen."
    "Is it sympathy you want from me?"
    He exhaled heavily. "No, not really. But I am suffering."
    "Are you?"
    "This trip isn’t going quite the way I had imagined it would. Christ, I feel like Cinderella. I’ve got to be back in my own room by midnight or Vandyke will be pissed."
    Guinevere turned her face against his shoulder. "I’m sorry, Zac. I sort of hoped it would be different too," she confessed tremulously. His arm tightened around her and she could feel the welcoming strength in him.
    "Did you?"
    Mutely she nodded, her face still tucked against his shirt. She loved the warm male scent of him, she realized. There was something comforting and deeply intriguing about it. She felt him reach up to loosen his tie, and then he cradled her face in his palm.
    "I’m