The Silver Snare by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page B

at the small table.
    Around her the beautifully dressed diners assumed seats, and a pleasant hum of conversation filled the room.
    Jessica turned to the couple beside her and began an introductory conversation. One thing about being in the hotel
    business, she thought, one learned how to talk to strangers!
    „This is our first cruise,“ Mrs. Howard confided after introductions had been made. „Bill and I have been promising
    it to ourselves for years. Finally, this year I told him we were going to stop putting it off!“
    „Good idea.“ Jessica agreed and reached for the menu in front of her plate.
    „Are you traveling alone?“ the balding Mr. Howard inquired politely as he, too, reached for a menu.
    „Yes. I’m taking a vacation. Will you just look at all this food! Knowing it’s already been paid for in the cruise fare
    makes for a terrible temptation to have something from every category, doesn’t it? Normally I would never think of
    ordering an appetizer and a salad and a soup and an entree and dessert and cheese!“
    Ann Howard chuckled delightedly. „We’d heard about the quantity of food we’d be receiving on board, so Bill and
    I took off five pounds during the past month getting ready.“
    Jessica laughed. „Smart thinking. I’ll just have to make up my mind to take off the five pounds after we return to
    L.A.!“
    „I wonder where our fourth is at this table?“ Ann remarked, glancing around.
    „Perhaps there isn’t one.“ Jessica shrugged, trying to choose between the raw marinated squid and the escargot
    from the list of appetizers. Squid sounded good.
    „Perhaps not,“ Ann agreed slowly and then brightened as she glanced toward the dining room entrance. „Oh, that
    must be him now. He’s heading this way. How lucky! Another man for this table!“
    Jessica glanced up automatically and abruptly the choice between squid and escargot was rendered insignificant
    Lucas Kincaid was gliding purposefully across the room, his gray eyes watching her with unwavering intent.
    Jessica’s fingers clenched the little menu in her hand with a fierceness that wrinkled it as she watched the approach
    of the man with the jungle-cat hair. Her mind was a sudden whirl of chaotic reaction. Anger, fear, and dread were all
    mixed into the witch’s brew of her emotions. Her first instinct was to run and then her blazing fury took over, keeping
    her firmly in her seat.
    She was back in civilization now. This man no longer had any power over her. She repeated the litany again and
    again as Lucas came toward the table.
    Unlike the other men in the room, who were wearing expensive evening jackets or dashing blazers, Lucas had on a
    fawn-colored corduroy jacket, which looked as if it had seen better days. The button-down shirt was of cotton instead
    of a more elegant fabric and the plain, dark tie appeared to be about two years out of style. The slacks, which fit his
    lean body well enough, were of an inexpensive polyester blend and Jessica could have sworn the low, worn boots he
    had on were the same ones he’d been wearing the day of the crash. Quite suddenly, as she sat there in her
    sophisticated red silk dress, Jessica began to regain a measure of her self-control. Lucas Kincaid had fit the rough
    desert scene quite well. In fact, he had dominated it But here among the expensively attired cruise passengers, he
    looked out of place and out of his element.
    It was that knowledge that enabled Jessica to meet his eyes as he came to a halt, one strong, short-nailed hand on
    the back of the vacant chair across from her.
    „Hello, Jessie,“ he said with a smoothness which didn’t quite mask the gravel in his voice. „It’s lucky for me you
    picked a ship, isn’t it? Chasing you from one Scanlon hotel to another for the past three days has been something of a
    chore. At least here you can’t ran any farther than the end of the boat!“
    The color washed out of her face and then surged back, a mingling of fury and