The Phoenix by Rhonda Nelson Read Free Book Online

after her snack—and I had forgotten my knitting. I went back into the house, was only away for a couple of minutes, and when I returned to the backyard, she was gone. Vanished. I marshaled all of the staff and we searched for an hour before I finally admitted to myself that someone had t-taken her.” Ms. Aggie’s voice quavered.
    “There’s no way she could have wriggled under the fence?”
    Ms. Aggie collected herself and shook her head. “The entire back of the property is surrounded by a brick wall. It’s eight feet high and there are no gates. The only way in is through the front entrance and there are security cameras scanning that area all the time. In addition to having Burt man the front gate, an alarm sounds here in the house each time someone enters the driveway.”
    And there was a lovely wrought-iron fence all around the front of the house, Charlie remembered. She’d noticed it when she’d approached the estate because it was very elaborate, with curved branches and leaves and strange podlike features she’d never seen before. It had belatedly occurred to her that it was meant to look like cocoa trees. It was quite lovely and quite secure.
    “So no one goes in or out except by the front gate?” Jay asked.
    “That’s right. Goldie liked her privacy.”
    And by controlling the access and limiting the points of entry, she could better monitor who was allowed in and who wasn’t. She’d built her very own fortress here, Charlie thought. Modern-day, of course, and there was no moat, but it was a fortress, nonetheless.
    So how in the hell had someone managed to snatch the dog in less than two minutes from a place that was seemingly impenetrable? Charlie imagined that scaling the wall could be done from the other side to avoid detection, but then how to get back over carrying the dog? Especially in such a short amount of time? She needed to get a look at that fen—
    “I’d like to inspect the property, if you don’t mind, Ms. Aggie,” Jay told her, beating Charlie to the punch.
    The older woman nodded her approval.
    “Afterward I have a few more questions I’d like to ask you, provided you can spare the time.”
    “Of course, dear. Meanwhile why don’t I have Smokey take your things up to your room?”
    Charlie watched his affable smile atrophy and knew a moment of fiendish glee. There you go, Boy Genius, she thought. Wiggle off that hook. He cast a fleeting glance in her direction and, though she realized it was impossible, she had the distinct impression that he knew precisely what she was thinking, knew that she was relishing his discomfiture.
    “That’s most kind of you,” he said, to Charlie’s near slack-jawed amazement. She’d been certain that he’d refuse, that he’d insist on getting his own accommodation. “It will certainly make investigating a much simpler affair if I’m here instead of somewhere in town.”
    “That’s exactly what I told Ms. Martin,” Ms. Aggie said, evidently glad to have her logic validated once more.
    Wonderful, Charlie thought, stifling the urge to groan. Now she looked ungracious. She aimed a slightly sick smile at him and noted the smug twinkle in those especially blue eyes. They were unpolluted by any other shade and reminded her of the morning glories that grew on the trellis next to her front porch in the summer.
    Too late Charlie realized she’d made another tactical mistake—she shouldn’t have looked at him. Because she couldn’t seem to make herself look away. She was too busy puzzling out the various incongruities she saw there. Curly eyelashes in such a dramatic face, the almost lush mouth above his sharp chin. It shouldn’t fit…and yet it did.
    He was truly extraordinary.
    Not the best-looking man she’d ever seen, but definitely the most appealing. At least, to her. Unbidden, an insidious vine of desire snaked through her, curled around her nipples and tightened deep in her womb. The sensation was so intense it stopped just short