скачать книгу бесплатно
Rocky Mountain Mystery
Cassie Miles
Deep in the Colorado Rockies, a group of special crime solvers battle deadly enemies…and bring romance to new heights.Five years after his sister was murdered, investigative reporter David Cross was still racing from one brutal crime scene to the next, searching for the serial killer who'd stolen her young life. Now, "The Fisherman" had resurfaced and set his sights on David's former colleague, Dr. Blair Weston….David was determined to keep Blair safe from harm, but his attraction to the brainy beauty proved to be a distraction he couldn't afford. And the only way to stay one step ahead of the killer on their trail was to unravel the terrible secrets of the past…. But would they ultimately destroy David and Blair's chances for a future together?
Darkness fell over Blair like a smothering blanket
This blackout hadn’t been caused by a power failure. The impending danger had caught up with her. Outlined against the walls, she saw a shadow. He was here with her….
Watching. Waiting.
“Who’s there?” she whispered. “Who are you?” Her trembling voice echoed off the tiles, bouncing back at her in desperate mockery of her fear.
She heard the sound of shuffling feet. Where was he? How close? Blair looked up and saw a crouching form, hunched over.
He didn’t even look human.
“What do you want?” Blair asked.
One word. A guttural growl.
“You.”
Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,
As we ring in a new year, we have another great month of mystery and suspense coupled with steamy passion.
Here are some juicy highlights from our six-book lineup:
Julie Miller launches a new series, THE PRECINCT, beginning with Partner-Protector. These books revolve around the rugged Fourth Precinct lawmen of Kansas City whom you first fell in love with in the TAYLOR CLAN series!
Rocky Mountain Mystery marks the beginning of Cassie Miles’s riveting new trilogy, COLORADO CRIME CONSULTANTS, about a network of private citizens who volunteer their expertise in solving criminal investigations.
Those popular TOP SECRET BABIES return to our lineup for the next four months!
Gothic-inspired tales continue in our spine-tingling ECLIPSE promotion.
And don’t forget to look for Debra Webb’s special Signature Spotlight title this month: Dying To Play.
Hopefully we’ve whetted your appetite for January’s thrilling lineup. And be sure to check back every month to satisfy your craving for outstanding suspense reading.
Enjoy!
Denise O’Sullivan
Senior Editor
Harlequin Intrigue
Rocky Mountain Mystery
Cassie Miles
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Thank you, Patience and Denise
for believing in this series. And, as always, to Rick.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cassie Miles lives in Denver in a high-rise, not unlike the apartment described in this book. She also shares the heroine’s fondness for luxurious, high-end chocolate. This is a story close to her heart, and she wouldn’t mind at all if a dashing hero joined her on the balcony to count the stars.
When she’s not writing, Cassie is a movie buff who regularly attends the annual Denver Film Festival where she can overdose on three or four movies a day and ponder the true meaning of Scandinavian subtitled films.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
David Crawford—Haunted by the murder of his sister, he became an investigative journalist, focusing on serial killers.
Dr. Blair Weston—Injuries from a devastating car accident caused her to retire from her position as a medical examiner in the coroner’s office.
Eddy Adderly—Convicted of the Fisherman serial murders and on death row, he is dying from liver cancer.
Jake Zitti—A newspaper photographer and ladies’ man, he was driving the car when Blair was injured.
Ted Hurtado—A newspaper columnist who received the threat notes from the Fisherman.
Adam Briggs—Head of Colorado Crime Consultants.
Molly Griffith—Secretary at Colorado Crime Consultants.
Colorado Crime Consultants (CCC)—A nonprofit organization of private citizens with special skills who are called upon to help solve crimes in the past, present and future.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter One
David Crawford had been on airplanes since noon—seven hours ago—with nothing to eat but a bag of peanuts. He was tired and hungry. Worse than that, the person who picked him up at the airport was a guy instead of a warm, welcoming, beautiful woman. Even worse, the May weather was rainy, and David couldn’t see the rugged outline of the Rocky Mountains west of town.
But he wasn’t complaining. He settled back in the passenger seat of his friend’s sporty Miata and allowed a wave of nostalgia to wash over him. Home again. Here in Denver, he went to high school, kissed his first girlfriend, bought his first car, got his first job. It was here, in a well-groomed cemetery, that his sister was buried.
The Miata swerved in the rain on the airport road, dodging around an SUV, and David braced his arm against the dashboard. “Slow down, Jake.”
“Don’t want to be late for my date tonight.”
“You’ve already got a new woman lined up?”
“Already?” Jake scoffed. “It’s been ten days since what’s-her-face kicked me out.”
Jake Zitti, a news photographer for The Denver Post, never wasted time regretting relationships gone bad. Each time he was thrown, he dusted himself off and got right back on the horse, so to speak. “I don’t know how you do it,” David said.
“Nothing hard about dating, pal. You ought to give it a try.”
“I date,” David said. “I’m more selective than you are.” A fruit fly was more selective than Jake.
“You’d do well playing the field. The ladies like your type. You’re practically one of the Baldwin brothers with your blue eyes and black hair, which looks to me like it’s getting a little gray around the edges.”
“At least I’ve got hair.” David stared pointedly at his friend’s clean-shaved skull. “This new woman of yours. Is it serious?”
“Why do you care?” Jake asked.
“I want to know when you’re moving your sorry butt out of my guest bedroom.”
“You love it when I’m staying at your town house,” Jake said. “I’m a fun guy.”
David cringed as the Miata plunged forward, throwing up a backwash that splashed as high as the windows. “Yeah, real fun.”
“So, David, how long are you in town this time?”
“It depends.”
David’s job took him all over the country. As an investigative crime reporter, he flew to wherever the breaking news was. It wasn’t a career path he’d consciously planned.
Five years ago, when he was a sports reporter at The Denver Post, the closest he got to criminal activity was reporting on scandals with the local high school football team. Those were the good old days. Lots of skiing. Beer drinking. Hanging out with friends like Jake. Then David’s world turned upside down.
His kid sister, Danielle, became the fourth victim of a serial killer who drowned his victims and left their bodies near water with their feet tied together like a mermaid’s tail. He was nicknamed the Fisherman, and he killed twice more after Danielle.
David hadn’t coped well with the tragedy. Even after the Fisherman was apprehended and convicted, David couldn’t assuage the pain of losing his sister. Instead of following the sports news, he wrote impassioned editorials and columns on victims’ rights and the court system. He was obsessed.
When another serial killer struck in Nevada, he took a leave of absence from his job at The Post and went there. His interviews with witnesses, suspects and cops resulted in a series of articles which he sold to a national magazine. They liked his work and paid his way to the next crime scene in Florida. His reporting on serial killers, mass murderers and unsolved crimes turned into a regular feature, and he developed a reputation, even appearing on television news shows as an expert.
His reporting was respected. He was well paid and highly visible. But not satisfied. Racing from one brutal crime scene to the next, he never found the answers that would ease his own uncompromising grief and rage. How could such violence happen? Why? And why to Danielle?
To Jake he said, “Actually, I’m planning to stay in Denver for a while.”
“Yeah? Is this a story I ought to know about?”
“Old news. The Fisherman.”
Jake frowned. “Why rake up the past?”
“Because he’s dying.” The convicted murderer of David’s sister had liver cancer. He was dying in prison where he waited for the process of appeals on his death sentence. “And I need to know the truth. What if it wasn’t him?”
“He confessed,” Jake said. “His DNA was found on the last victim.”
“But not on my sister.”
“You’re wasting your time. The cops are never going to reopen that investigation.”
“I’m not going through the police.” A week ago David had contacted Colorado Crime Consultants, a nonprofit network of private citizens who used their skills to investigate crime. CCC’s experts included entomologists, doctors, lawyers, chemists and psychologists who volunteered their time to find the truth. They’d agreed to look into the Fisherman serial murders.
Jake’s cell phone played the opening notes to “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling,” and he answered. As he engaged in a loud, one-sided conversation, the Miata careered wildly along I-70, and David couldn’t help remembering that Jake already had one near-death driving accident.
David snapped, “Watch the road.”
“The road’s not going anywhere.” The Miata swooped toward the exit ramp. “That call was from the city desk. I need to make a stop to take some photos. Do you mind?”
“Hell, yes. I’m starving.”
“Too bad. There is a crime scene at City Park and we happen to be five minutes away.” If anyone else had been driving, they’d have been fifteen minutes away. “It’s a woman. Her body’s near the lake.”
Found near water. Like the victims of the Fisherman. David’s hunger pangs tightened into a hard knot in his gut.
Inside City Park, the Miata squealed to a stop. Jake leaped from the car and grabbed his camera equipment from the trunk.
Stepping out into the fading drizzle, David turned up his collar. A sense of foreboding weighted his stride through the wet grass. Though he’d been to dozens of crime scenes, he’d never gotten accustomed to the horror. In every victim, he saw his sister.
