She’s determined to be
successful--no matter
who tries to stop her
Someone is willing to kill for control of Drake Trucking, a
well-respected firm now run by a woman named Carly Drake. Big money is involved. And very big danger.
Multi-millionaire Lincoln Cain is determined to keep the promise
he made her grandfather, the man who helped him change his life after he got
out of prison. Cain has vowed to protect
Carly, no matter what it takes.
Unfortunately, the only way to keep her safe is to keep her
close--and fight like crazy.
EXCERPT
From the sheriff’s department, Carly went home. She’d been at work earlier, planned to go
back a little later, but she could use some lunch before she returned. And there was plenty to do at the house.
Little by little, she was cleaning out Joe’s stuff, a
difficult job even without all the memories and sorrow that went along with a
lot of hard work.
She drove Joe’s F-150 into the garage and went into the
kitchen of the little beige two-bedroom, two-bath ranch-style house. She’d already cleaned everything out in here,
arranged the dishes and pans the way she liked.
After so many years, the walls had turned a dull robin’s egg blue, but
she’d painted them a nice pale yellow.
The whole house needed painting, but once she’d started
working at the yard, she hadn’t had time.
She planned to fix the place up: new carpet and drapes, new
furniture. She’d get around to it, but
the company had to come first. Once
Drake was making money again, she’d be able to afford it.
Carly sighed. If she
didn’t get things back on tract at Drake, she wouldn’t have enough to pay the
property taxes. Hell, the way she was
going through her savings, she wouldn’t have enough to buy groceries.
She fixed herself a bologna sandwich with real mayonnaise, a
treat, and carried it and a glass of milk toward the living room.
The moment she stepped through the opening from the kitchen,
a prickle of unease slipped down her spine.
Something was out of place; she could feel it. She glanced at the worn beige sofa and
chairs, at the brass lamps on the maple end tables that had been in the house
since Grandpa Joe had brought her to live with him when she was ten years old.
Nothing seemed out of order, no sign that anything had been
moved. Still, the feeling
persisted.
Setting the sandwich and milk down on an end table, she
walked quietly down the hallway and turned into the bedroom. When a noise sounded, her pulse leaped and
she whirled toward the sound, sure someone was going to jump out at her. She relaxed when she realized the air
conditioner had just kicked on.
Nothing to worry about.
She just hadn’t been living in the house long enough to get used to the
everyday creaks and moans.
There was no one in the bedroom, nothing out of place. She returned to the living room, glanced down
at the maple coffee table in front of the sofa.
The latest copy of Overdrive,
a trucker’s magazine Joe subscribed to, sat next to the Iron Springs Gazette.
Her unease returned, stronger now, making her palms go
damp. She could have sworn she’d left
the magazine on the other end of the table.
Her breath caught when she spotted the note, hand-written on
half a sheet of yellow lined paper torn out of a legal pad. Her pulse accelerated. Her hand shook as she reached for it, started
to read the message.
Sell Drake Trucking to
Cain and you’ll be as dead as Hernandez.
Carly started trembling.
She needed to call the sheriff, but her cell was in her purse, which was
in the kitchen, and after her encounter with Howler that morning, she didn’t
want another confrontation.
Telling herself not to panic, that she was fairly certain
whoever had been in the house was gone, she hurried back to the bedroom, went
over to the nightstand and punched in the digital code that unlocked the metal
gun safe sitting on top.
Lifting the lid, she took out Joe’s semiautomatic pistol, a
Glock nine millimeter he’d carried on long haul runs. She’d fired the gun when she’d been in high
school, gotten to be a pretty good shot.
Joe had insisted she learn how to handle a pistol so that she could
defend herself, but that had been years ago.
She studied the weapon, found the release button and dropped
the clip, saw the magazine was full and shoved it back in. The heavy metal click felt comforting as it
vibrated up her arm.
She racked the slide, sending a cartridge into the chamber
and cocking the weapon, then, just to be safe, carried it in to check the
bathroom off the master bedroom. Finding
it empty, she checked the closets and under the bed.
In the spare bedroom, she found the point of entry. One of the windows overlooking the backyard
had been broken. She checked the room,
then the bathroom at the end of the hall, reminding herself to call the glass
company and have the broken window replaced.
In a small community like Iron Springs, there wasn’t much
crime. Joe had never considered
installing a security system, hadn’t really needed one, and though that had
clearly changed, at the moment she couldn’t afford to have it done.
She thought again of the note, ridiculously thought of
calling Lincoln Cain.
If you sell to Cain
you’ll be as dead as Hernandez.
Since she wasn’t selling to Cain or anyone else, she shouldn’t need to
worry.
But what did the note mean?
Why had someone gone to so much trouble to deliver it? What did Miguel Hernandez’s murder have to
do with Cain? What did it have to do
with Drake Trucking?
PURCHASE LINKS
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Meet Kat Martin
Bestselling author Kat Martin is a
graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in
Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing with her
Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, in Missoula, Montana, Kat has written sixty
eight Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books
are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Her last
novel, INTO THE FIRESTORM, took the #7 spot on the New York Times Bestseller list.
This will be the 15th novel in a row to be included on that prestigious
list. Kat is currently at work on her
next Romantic Suspense.
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1 comment:
Sounds like another wonderful adventure! All the best!
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