Cyber Genius by Patricia Rice

Author:Patricia Rice [Rice, Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Amateur sleuth, female protagonist, murder, urban, conspiracy, comedy, satire, family, hacker, Dupont Circle, politics
ISBN: 9781611385397
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 2015-09-29T07:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Tudor’s Take:

Crikey! The whole bloody ceiling caved in a spark blast. Chandeliers fragged into flying glass knives. Plaster dust spewed. Electric wires arced like a game gone 3D. And of course, the blooming lights went out.

Coughing on smoke and dust, Tudor had no clue what was happening, but he opened the hall door and began steering out the coughing, screaming prats who’d just been bickering like first-termers. If he caught their hands or coats, he yanked them toward the exit.

With a sickening twist in his gut, he heard what sounded like real gunfire—and not his barmy fire crackers.

Ana!

Hadn’t she just taken down the bad guy with one of her wicked kung-fu moves?

A big man almost knocked Tudor over, shouldering him aside in his haste to escape. To avoid being trampled, Tudor had to retreat to the hall with his back against the wall. The crowd spilled past him in panic, nearly bowling over police and hotel security rushing this way. Heart pounding in terror, he waited to see if Ana emerged. She had been on the far side of the room, next to the ballroom. Maybe she’d escaped that way.

Mrs. Stiles finally stumbled out, coughing, her jacket coated in dust and smoking with little holes from the sparks. Swallowing his fear for Ana, Tudor peeled off the wall and offered a respectful arm in the smoky darkness. If he couldn’t reach his sister, he could aid his hero’s widow. “There’s a ladies room just ahead. I’ll tell the police you’re there after they’ve cleared the area.”

She nodded shakily and actually clung to his arm to let him escort her. Tudor felt six-feet tall and... terrified.

What the bloody hell had they done?

***

Ana’s perspective:

Before the ceiling collapsed, I had seen Tudor at the far door. Once the lights blacked out, I couldn’t shove through pandemonium to reach him. He was smart enough to get out on his own. I kicked around where I’d last seen Wilhelm, but he’d apparently crawled out of reach of my feet. I grabbed my attaché instead.

Without light, we were all stumbling around in the dust. I heard what sounded like Mrs. Stiles properly castigating some poor peon. Others of her wealthy cast and crew were cursing at each other and making a push for both exits. I heard Hilda’s accent grow angrier and the toad who’d been sitting beside me raised his voice. I ignored them in favor of escape before the ceiling collapsed.

Whatever had scorched through the plaster had burned out quickly. Maybe it had only been an electrical fire, but it had damned well kept me from learning anything useful. I was furious enough to want to punch someone, but I couldn’t tell who I’d be punching.

The lights in the ballroom had been doused as well, I discovered when I finally located the door grip. Pure blackness greeted me, but no smoke.

I froze at the gunshot in the salon behind me.

A woman screamed, and a dozen people attempted to trample me in their rush to escape into the ballroom.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.