The Midas Trap by Sharron McClellan

Author:Sharron McClellan [McClellan, Sharron]
Format: mobi
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-06-22T05:00:00+00:00

If she was right, it was twelve hours until they reached Istanbul. Veronica was frozen in the Nataraja yoga pose, her leg curved behind her and her left foot almost touching the back of her head, while Simon lay on the bed reading an old Sports Illustrated magazine that he found stuffed under the mattress.

The door creaked open, and they both reacted. In a split second, Simon sat up and was grabbing for the shotgun under the pillow while Veronica dropped her leg and braced herself for attack.

In the doorway stood their host, Captain Armand Garcia. They had met him when they came on board, but it had been dark. He didn’t say much then, but when he spoke, his accent was Castilian. Now, in the daylight, she couldn’t help but notice he also had the dark eyes and curly hair that went with his Spanish heritage.

She took a deep breath. He seemed harmless enough. No weapon at his side. She glanced at Simon. Lily was already hidden back under the thin pillow.

Thomas had paid enough money to ensure the captain’s trust—but Veronica had her doubts. Something told her that this man was more on par with Michael. If he thought he could make a profit by dumping them on some deserted island, he’d leave them to rot.

Sticking out her hand, she smiled broadly and with, what she hoped, was sincerity. “Captain Garcia, how pleased we are to see you again.”

The captain returned the expression, showing yellowed teeth, and stepped forward, shaking Veronica’s hand.

Simon’s hands rested on his thighs, fingers splayed, but Veronica didn’t miss the tension in his arms. “What can we help you with, captain?” he asked.

Garcia addressed Simon. “We are making good time and will be getting into Istanbul a few hours early. I thought you might want to know, as I am sure the trip has been neither exciting nor comfortable.”

“We’re making do,” Veronica replied, keeping her tone light. “But thank you for being so considerate.”

“My pleasure.” He gave a twitch. “I do have a few questions before I let you leave this ship. I have known Thomas for a long time, but in this profession, one learns that trust is best left to others. So I need to know, what is your business in Istanbul?”

Veronica glanced at Simon. Where was this line of questioning coming from?

“Does it matter?” Simon’s eyes narrowed.

“In today’s political environment, yes.” He rubbed his jaw. “If you are terrorists, I do not want any part of your conspiracy.”

“You can’t believe we’re terrorists, can you?” Veronica asked. Terrorists? She’d seen what fanatics could do. She’d been in New York when the twin towers fell. “Look at us.” She ran a hand over her dirty hair and her wrinkled clothes. “Would any terrorists put up with this? They’d take over the ship. We’re scientists, for pity’s sake.”

“Scientists?”

Veronica bit her tongue, realizing what she’d revealed. Why couldn’t she have said missionaries? Their captain probably didn’t care about missionaries. It was obvious that scientists proved otherwise.

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.