Athena Force 26: Flashpoint by Connie Hall

Author:Connie Hall [Hall, Connie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2011-09-19T00:52:33+00:00

Lucy felt the hot breath of the Dobermans burning through her jeans as she stood in the sitting room. Sleek modern furniture sat in strategically appointed places to dispel clutter. In fact, the furniture looked nailed to the floor. The gray and white walls made the room feel institutional. It seemed bloodless and colorless and void of warmth, similar to the woman standing before her.

Miranda N’Buta wore all white. Her large overshirt covered tight stretch pants. Her dark hair straggled around a face that lacked makeup, as if she’d been woken from sleep. A pair of black reading glasses rested on top of her head. Her only adornment was a heavy gold charm bracelet that clicked in the suffocating silence.

Without taking her eyes from the dogs, Betsy leaned over and whispered to Lucy, “Look at that glint in their eyes. They want to eat me up.”

The dogs growled at her movement.

“Shh, they can hear you.” Lucy grinned at Betsy, but she only glowered back at Lucy.

Miranda said, “They’ll only rip your throat out if I order them to.”

“Thanks for that tidbit.” Betsy eyed the dog near her side and made it growl.

“Forgive me for not offering you a seat. It’s been a long night.” She crossed arms over her chest and tried to look down her nose. But it wasn’t working with Lucy, since she was eight inches taller than the woman.

“What exactly happened to you tonight?” Lucy asked.

Miranda lifted her chin to an overconfident angle. “That’s none of your business.”

Lucy shrugged. “It’d be easy enough to find out.”

Miranda eyed Lucy for thirty seconds, her eyes calculating if she could trust Lucy or not. Finally she said, “Well, if you must know, an intruder broke into my house and I shot him.” Her eyes narrowed on Lucy and Betsy, a silent warning.

Lucy thought for a moment, then said, “That must have happened at the same time your office was bombed—”

“How do you know about my office? Did you destroy it?” Miranda’s eyes blazed at Lucy.

“No, I interrupted the person who rigged your office with a bomb. Is someone out to get rid of you?”

“Why would they?”

“You tell me.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“The documents we have are enough to convict you for a long time—if the police should find them.”

Miranda straightened her spine and threw back her shoulders. “You are blackmailing me.”

“We just want the truth. Are you Arachne?” She saw Miranda’s eyes widen the slightest bit at Arachne’s name as if she were trying to hide her surprise.

Miranda’s expression shifted back to calculating. “No one would willingly admit to that.”

Lucy nodded to Betsy, avoiding any sudden movements that might put the Fido killers into attack mode. “Let’s go. We’re wasting our time here.” She had a feeling that Arachne would never have let them this close. Also, she caught glimpses of masked desperation and fear in this woman’s face that seemed all too real and vulnerable.

They turned to leave.

“Wait!”

Lucy paused. “The truth or we walk.”

“First, I must have an assurance you won’t take those documents to the police.

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