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eBook Category: Erotica/Suspense/Thriller
eBook Description: Runaway heiress Melissa Vanderbilt-Smythe has been causing a passel of trouble the last couple of years and it's bounty hunter Cody Richards' mission to bring her home to the safe bosom of her loving family. But things aren't as Cody's been told. Taking her home may not be safe for either of them--in fact it may be deadly. The man who hired him was not only an abusive fiancé but possibly a killer. Lies and intrigue abound, made all the more confusing by the surprising romance that blazes out of control between Cody and Melissa. Rating: Contains sexual content, adult language, and violence. This book was previously published with another publisher and has undergone extensive revisions for release with NCP.

eBook Publisher: New Concepts Publishing, Published: 2005
Fictionwise Release Date: April 2006

18 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [993 KB], eReader (PDB) [198 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [192 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [170 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [165 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [230 KB], hiebook (KML) [459 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [223 KB], iSilo (PDB) [158 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [197 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [226 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [250 KB]
Words: 56603
Reading time: 161-226 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
ISBN: 1-58608-649-9

Dreading the inevitable, barely breathing, Melissa tiptoed through her fiancé's mansion. She did her best not to make so much as a whispering footfall. Never knowing in what mood she would find her volatile betrothed, she girded herself and peeked around the corner.

Her heart stopped cold. Screams rose in her throat but she managed to choke them down.

His hand shaking, Nathan held a pistol to his father's temple. His assistant stood at parade rest by his side as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "You of all people should support me. You betrayed me. You betrayed the cause." Nathan's voice warbled on the brink of tears.

"Son." George Alexander licked his lips and laughed nervously. His terrified glance slid from Nathan to the blasé henchman. "You're my only son. I'm behind you and the Lions 110%."

"Liar!" Nathan's face purpled and insane rage thundered from his slate-gray eyes. "You betrayed us! You leaked information to the Feds. Fortunately for me, I own the Feds."

The senior Alexander blanched and dropped his gaze. His ashen complexion blended into his silvery hairline. "Of course I didn't. I would never...."

"Stop lying, old man! I have proof. I'm tired of your lies. I won't stand for them anymore. You are not going to ruin my chances of becoming president." Nathan pulled the trigger without a flicker of remorse, and blood and brains exploded across the room.

Nauseated, Melissa clutched her throat and tried to hold back the rising bile. Ill, she stumbled back while trying to steady herself against the wall.

She was engaged to a monster! How could he kill? Particularly his own father?

No!

Haunted by the terrible image she'd never be able to erase, she spun on her heel and ran blindly. She bumped into a table and a lamp crashed to the floor.

Oh no!

Melissa's heart revved and her knees almost collapsed beneath her.

"Who's there?" Nathan's suspicious voice called out. His heavy footsteps stomped after her.

Scared witless, she pulled herself together and fled. She'd left her car keys inside and didn't go back to retrieve them or her purse. She ran until she was out of breath, ending up several long blocks from Nathan's lair. If he caught her, if he suspected she was a witness to the heinous murder, her life was over. With the evidence of her presence left foolishly in his house, of course he would have to suspect her.

"I have to report him. He can't be allowed to get away with this. Just who are these Lions?" she muttered under her breath. God, she wished she'd never heard of presidential hopeful Senator Nathan Alexander!

Frantically, she searched her pockets, hoping to find forgotten money, but they were barren. So she continued on foot and finally reached her father's house two hours later.

Breathing a sigh of relief to be back at her home base, a surge of adrenaline pushed her the final few feet forward. Just as she was about to separate herself from the shadows of the building across the street, a limousine pulled up in front of her house and Nathan climbed out followed by two burly men holding firearms.

She gasped and flattened herself against the building. Her heart fluttered and she perked her ears.

Oh God! Her family! Her father and sister Christina could be home. She couldn't abandon them.

Carefully she entered her neighbor's house, that of a feisty little old lady named Beatriz who didn't appreciate unexpected company. But Melissa saw no other choice. "Please. It's an emergency. I need to use your phone."

"Didn't you pay Ma Bell?" The old crone's lips twisted in derision as she peeked sarcastically at Melissa's multi-million dollar mansion.

"It's an emergency. I can't explain now. Just stay low and don't let anyone know I'm here." True to her own words, Melissa knelt on the floor and peeked cursorily through the tinted windows blessing the woman's need for privacy.

Her heart skipped a beat when she spied Nathan's contingent making an armed perimeter around her yard. They suspected her all right. But how would they explain their strange behavior to her family? To the cops?

She dialed the police emergency line and chafed as the phone rang off the hook. "Answer already."

Beatriz tugged at Melissa's arm with her claw-like fingers and pointed at the gunmen. Her brow furrowed into one giant wormy-looking thing, and she asked, "You into drug running? I knew something was funny about you people."

"Of course not! I'm engaged to a senator.... "Melissa pulled herself up short. Some law-abiding senator he'd turned out to be. And she'd marry Satan himself now before she'd marry him!

Her father ambled out to the end of the drive, smiled warmly, and shook Nathan's hand. Then his gaze alighted on one of Nathan's assistants and his smile dissipated. He pointed at the gun and tried to run, but another man stole up behind him and injected him with a syringe that made him go limp.

A horrified scream rose in Melissa's throat and it was all she could do not to jump through the window to her father's aid. But that would be suicide for all of them. Their only chance was for her to reveal Nathan to the authorities.

Finally an operator answered and took her information. To Melissa's relief, she promised prompt assistance.

Melissa breathed a little easier but kept her vigil at the window, praying her father wasn't dead.

"There are drugs!" Beatriz accused on a trembling, seething hiss. "Am I a prisoner?"

Melissa spread her arms wide and opened her fingers. "I'm not armed. But those men over there have guns. They're very dangerous. Don't draw attention to us. The police will be here any moment."

Two police cars arrived just minutes later, faster than Melissa had ever hoped. Her heart leaping for joy, she came out of hiding and ran to meet them.

To her horror, one of the boys in blue pointed at her and yelled, "There she is. Get her!"

Oh my God! The cops were in on it. How big was this thing?

Panicking, her heart ready to explode out of her chest, Melissa turned on her heel and ran blindly. Looking over her shoulder to see how close her pursuers were, she crossed the street without thinking. Too late, she heard the squeal of brakes locking up and smelled rubber burning.

A young man slammed out of his car, swearing. "What do you think you're doing, running in front of a car, lady? I almost killed you! What's going on?"

The cops and Nathan were closing in on her. She'd never escape on foot and if Rapture didn't happen in the next thirty seconds, she was doomed. Unless....

She changed direction and ran up to the man who'd almost run her over. Grabbing his wrist tightly, she implored, "Please help me. I witnessed a murder and those men are trying to kill me. If I don't get out of here now, I'm dead."

The bohemian-looking young man looked from her to her pursuers and back to her. He practically shoved her in the front seat of his car. "Get down. This should be one hell of a story."

"Stop talking and drive!" She crouched under the dash as far as she could squeeze and blessed her erstwhile savior. "I'm not exaggerating. The monster killed his own father and those cops are on his payroll."

The man whistled long and low under his breath. He stomped on the accelerator and plowed through the closing police cruisers, banging into one, sending it skidding dangerously out of control. "Hang on. This could get messy."

Messier than it already was? Just her luck, her rescuing angel was as insane as the murderous fiend.

An excited gleam twinkled in his whiskey-colored eyes and he stretched his hand out to her and shook hers. "Hello. I'm Jesse Dalton. And who might you be, pretty damsel in distress?"