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Wise Moves
Mary Burton
Blood bonds Kristen Rodale is haunted by the spine-chilling screams of the people her brother murdered in cold blood.The fear she can’t forget forced her to run and hide far from where he would ever find her. Can’t protect you She’s built her own safe world in a small Virginia town, out of terror’s reach. Until Former FBI agent Dane Cambia, desperately seeking revenge for his own sister’s gory death at the monster’s hands, pleads for her help.From Evil’s Grasp Using Kristen as bait to catch her murderous brother is Cambia’s last hope. Only her blood can quench his thirst for vengeance. But playing into the killer’s hands is just the beginning of Kristen and Cambia’s new nightmare.
The idea of Dane touching her made her more nervous than she thought possible.
He lifted a brow. “It’s either I check you out or we take you to the doctor.”
“Okay, check.”
He pressed his large hands to her rib cage under her loose top. Her breathing had gone shallow. It had been almost a year since she’d been with a man. But she’d only known this man less than a day. He was a stranger. A very dangerous stranger.
Yet, emotion and desire overruled reason. She’d been alone for so long and she wanted to feel connected to someone, if only for a short while.
Sensing the first move would have to be hers, she rose up on tiptoes and gently kissed his lips.
Dear Reader,
Yoga is one of my passions and for the past four years I’ve been a dedicated student. During yoga classes my mind often wanders off to that quiet place where my stories are born. It was during a yoga class that I caught my first glimpses of Kristen and Dane, the heroine and hero of Wise Moves, which of course is set in a yoga studio. Kristen and Dane begin their journey as lost souls, but despite it all they bravely face the threats in the physical world. Their reward is inner peace that allows each to love the other.
I hope Wise Moves keeps you on the edge of your seat, touches your heart and for just a little while takes you away from the hectic pace of the outer world.
Have a safe and happy summer!
Mary Burton
Wise Moves
Mary Burton
www.mirabooks.co.uk (http://www.mirabooks.co.uk)
MARY BURTON
sold her first novel in 1999 and since then has written eight Harlequin Historical novels. Wise Moves is her third contemporary novel for Silhouette Intimate Moments. Burton not only enjoys a variety of hobbies, including yoga, hiking and scuba diving, but also recently tackled her first triathlon. A graduate of Hollins University, she is based in Richmond, Virginia, where she lives with her husband and two children.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Prologue
Danger surrounded Elena Benito.
The dark sensation had grown steadily since she’d returned to Miami yesterday, winding her nerves tighter than a drum. At 9:00 a.m., just six hours from now, she was scheduled to testify against her brother, drug kingpin Antonio Benito.
Unable to sleep, Elena paced the small furnished room of the FBI’s Dade County safe house. Feeling trapped, she sat on the twin bed, picked up the TV remote, clicked on the small television and started surfing. But none of the B-movies, late-night talk shows or infomercials distracted her from her fears. Her brother was out there, looking for her, and he wanted to punish her.
She clicked off the television. The house’s old air-conditioning system couldn’t overcome the hot, humid July air, making it difficult to breathe.
Rising, Elena flexed and released her fingers. She had to get out of this room.
She opened her bedroom door, which fed into the living room furnished with bamboo furniture and a green shag carpet. Flowery drapes covered a large picture window by the wooden front door.
This room felt as foreign as the safe house in New Mexico where the FBI had hidden her. Out west, she’d dreamed of getting out of the mountains and returning to the Miami she loved. She longed for her beloved beaches and the sight of the ocean. But now as she stared around this seedy house, she realized the Miami she’d loved was lost to her forever.
Police officers Jack Mendez and Nancy Rogers were the Miami officers assigned to guard Elena until the FBI detail picked her up at seven. The police officers’ voices and the click of cards shuffling drifted out from the kitchen.
Both Rogers and Mendez had called this operation a routine gig, but there was nothing routine about any of this. The officers, like everyone else involved in her brother’s murder trial, knew how much rode on her testimony. The Feds had been after Antonio for years. But they’d never been able to pin anything on him until Elena had told police she’d witnessed her brother kill six members of a local Miami church.
The “Churchmen,” as they were known by the press, had effectively stopped the drug trade in their neighborhood with peaceful sit-ins and a neighborhood watch program. Angered by sagging profits, Antonio had decided to send all he knew a message by murdering the men. He’d forced Elena to witness the killings because she, too, was being taught a lesson: Never run from me again.
Elena had begged for the lives of the men, but Antonio had showed no mercy and shot each in cold blood. It had taken her another nineteen days before she’d found another opportunity to escape Antonio. This time, when she ran, she had gone to the police. She had identified her brother as the shooter and he had been arrested.
She moved silently through the house to the open kitchen door. Mendez stood at the kitchen sink as a coffeepot brewed. His white Guayabera shirt accentuated rich brown skin. “My old lady was talking about buying a bigger house.”
Nancy sat at a yellow Formica kitchen table and shuffled a worn deck of cards. The room’s pineapple wallpaper and appliances dated back to the fifties. “Her high-dollar tastes are gonna break you, Mendez.”
Mendez’s full mustache twitched when he smiled. “Nah, I can handle her.”
Nancy dealt two hands. “That’s what they all say.”
Floorboards under Elena’s feet squeaked as she crossed the threshold. Immediately the officers’ gazes whipped around. Nancy was already reaching for her gun.
Elena rubbed smooth hands over designer jeans. “I’m sorry. I just wanted a glass of water.”
Nancy clipped her gun back in the holster and smiled. “Sure.”
“I’ll get it,” Mendez said.
As Mendez filled a glass with tap water, Nancy stood. “Is everything in your room okay?”
Elena hugged her arms around her chest. “It’s fine.”
There was softness in Nancy Rogers’s eyes when she nodded. “It will all be over soon.”
Elena tried to take comfort from the officer’s words, but found the ominous dread in her would not stop growing. “Yes.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” Nancy said. “Your brother is a monster and he needs to be put away.”
Elena had never expected that doing the right thing would be so hard. “It’s what must be done.”
A sound from the street caught Nancy’s attention. “Did you hear something?”
Mendez shut the tap off and set the glass on the counter. He peaked through the kitchen’s miniblinds. “Looks like the transfer team arrived early.”
Elena’s fingers trembled as she pushed back the cuff of her silk blouse and checked the Rolex on her slim wrist. “They’re four hours early.” She suddenly felt cold, as if Death had brushed past her.
Nancy’s hand slid to the holster clipped to her jeans. “I don’t like it.”
“He’s here,” Elena whispered as she stepped back. She hated being afraid, being a coward. “He’s come to kill me.”
Nancy shook her head, puzzled by Elena’s words. “Who? Antonio? He’s not here.”
Elena shook her head, unable to deny the feelings in her. “He’s sent people to kill me.”
“Don’t borrow trouble, Ms. Benito. It could be nothing,” Nancy said.
Instinct whispered differently.
Nancy switched off the living room light and moved past Elena into the dark room. She peeked out thick curtains covering the picture window. “It makes sense they’d change the schedule. I just wish they’d told us.”
There was no tension in Mendez’s face when he came into the living room and looked out the same window. A gold signet ring on his pinky caught the moonlight. “Varying the pickup time just means tighter security, Ms. Benito. The car looks like Miami D.A. issue. No need to worry.”
Nancy flipped open her cell phone. The light of its screen cast a faint blue light on her angled faced. “I’m calling the lieutenant to see if this is legit.”
Mendez rubbed the back of his neck. “Man, I hope this gig is ending four hours early. I haven’t slept in my own bed in two nights and I’m missing my old lady’s loving.”
Elena stepped back toward her room. She glanced at the side window in her bedroom that led to a back alley.
“Remember the plan,” Nancy said to Elena as if reading her thoughts. “If there is any trouble, climb out the window. There is a car parked in the alley. Keys are under the mat and the gas tank is full. Go straight to the central office.”
Mendez looked surprised. “Who put the car out back?”
“I did. Just in case,” Nancy said.
He cracked his knuckles. “You’re so anal, Rogers.”
“Better anal than dead, as my brother says,” Nancy shot back.
Elena didn’t want to be a coward, but raw fear churned in her gut. “Do you think it’s Antonio?”
Nancy looked calm, too calm, as if she didn’t want to spook her witness. She held her phone close to her ear. “Chances are it’s like Mendez said. They’ve changed the pickup time.”
Mendez moved toward the door. “You two are worrying over nothing. It’s FBI. This time tomorrow Benito will be in—”
Nancy snapped her fingers, signaling Mendez to stop talking as someone came on the line. “Hello, Lt. Grasser, this is Officer Rogers at the Benito safe house. I need a confirmation on an early pickup. We’ve got men who look like FBI in our driveway now. Right. Okay.” She muttered an oath. “The guy put me on hold.”
There was a loud knock at the front door. “Mendez and Rogers open up. FBI.”
Mendez looked through the peephole. “He’s holding up a FBI badge.” He reached for the handle.
“Don’t open that door!” Nancy shouted. “Wait until I get a confirmation.”
Mendez smiled at his partner.
Elena froze. His was the same oily smile she’d seen on Antonio’s face before he’d killed the Churchmen.
Elena felt sick. “He’s going to betray us.”
Shock registered on Nancy’s face but before she could react, Mendez turned the deadbolt.
“Mendez, don’t,” Nancy shouted.
“I’ve got to,” he said. “There’s five million on her head and I want it.”
