The Silver Snare by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page A

unscheduled landing in a desert canyon.“
    Kirk snapped his fingers as if something had clicked mentally. „I thought you looked vaguely familiar! That little
    commuter plane that went down in the desert a few days ago? You and some others were stranded for four or five
    days, weren’t you? Saw you on T.V. just before you climbed into a car and were whisked away.“
    „Scanlon takes good care of its own,“ she murmured, sipping at the iced tea. „I was protected from publicity and
    reporters until I could be ushered quietly on board this ship. By the time we get back to L.A. everyone will have
    forgotten about the whole thing.“
    „I won’t mention it to anyone else. What a hell of an experience it must have been, though,“ Kirk said, shaking his
    head in awe.
    „You know what they say about landings,“ Jessica quipped. „Any one you can walk away from is a good one!“
    The words reminded her of Lucas’s reassurance to the copilot and that, in turn, reminded her that the real reason she
    had let Scanlon protect her from publicity was that she wanted to stay hidden from Lucas Kincaid.
    Lee Simon had arranged to keep her incognito at his resort for the first twenty-four hours after the return to
    civilization and then he had turned her over to others from Scanlon, who had sheltered her in privacy at one of the
    coastal hotels. Jessica would never really know if Lucas had made any attempt to find her, but she had considered it
    prudent to take precautions. The feeling of running scared was a new and unwelcome one to her, but she was
    intelligent enough to obey her instincts. And they all screamed „run.“
    „Have you arranged your dinner seating?“ Kirk inquired politely.
    „I’ll be eating at die second seating. I figure I’ll need the extra time to work off all the rest of the food they serve
    during the day,“ she said smiling.
    „I mean, have you arranged to share your table with anyone in particular?“ he asked carefully.
    „No, I said I’d be glad to mix and mingle,“ Jessica said with a determined airiness. Kirk Randall seemed nice
    enough, but the last thing she wanted to do on this voyage was tie herself to any one person for the duration of the
    trip.
    „Well, it’s probably too late to do anything about this evening, but perhaps tomorrow night we can arrange to be
    seated at the same table,“ Kirk went on hopefully.
    „We’ll see.“
    The dress Jessica chose for dinner that night was a flamboyant statement of her intention to have fun on the
    cruise. In red silk, it was bare at the top, ruffled at the knee-length, diagonal hem and wrapped at the hip for a dramatic
    effect of which she was totally aware. She paired it with strappy red heels and dangling red-and-white earrings. Then
    she pulled her hair into a severe knot at the nape of her neck which set off the strong, feminine lines of her face to
    perfection. There was nothing soft or submissive in the overall look she had achieved, Jessica told herself as she took
    one last look in the mirror. Instead there was sophistication, poise, and cool control sparked with a flare of
    independence. She nodded decisively, satisfied. Definitely not a herd doe waiting to be singled out and overcome by
    the head buck!
    That analogy made her cringe and she turned away from her image, firmly repressing her self-disgust. She would
    never see Lucas Kincaid again. Now all she had to do was make herself forget what he had done to her. And the best
    way to forget that was to throw herself into the shipboard fun and games.
    The elegant dining room was a sea of gleaming crystal, snowy tablecloths, and silver with the cruise line’s crest
    engraved on it. White-jacketed stewards stood at the ready as the passengers who had elected the second seating
    filed into the paneled room. Jessica found her table readily and greeted the middle-aged couple who had already been
    seated there. With a friendly smile she took her seat and wondered who would be the fourth