Read Online Danger in Paradise by Katie Reus - Free Book Online Page A

He had a gun pointed directly at her face. “Back inside now.”
    She did as he said, but refused to turn her back to him. When they were back in the foyer and the front door was closed, he spoke again. “Where’s your friend?”
    “Long gone.”
    The noises and grunts from upstairs proved her a liar. Damn!
    He lifted a sandy eyebrow mockingly. Without turning his head he shouted, “Luke, you might want to get down here.”
    Her heart sped up. Did Luke know this man? Her confusion must have shown because he continued. “I know who you are too, Hope.”
    Alternating rushes of hot and cold snaked down her spine. She wiped clammy palms on her dress. Seconds later Luke came down the stairs with a groaning man in front of him. With a steady hand, Luke held a gun to his head. When Luke saw the other man and Hope, his eyes narrowed at her. Did he actually think she knew who this guy was? The man was pointing a gun at her for God’s sake.
    She glanced back at the guy and realized he hadn’t taken his eyes off her. Smart man.
    “Let him go.” The stranger with the gun had a surprisingly even voice. As if this was something he did every day.
    For all she knew, he did.
    The bearded man in front of Luke stumbled down the stairs, muttering under his breath, but he didn’t look pissed. Just annoyed. She glanced back and forth between Luke and the blond man holding the gun. Inside, her adrenaline pumped at lightning speed.
    When Luke and his prisoner got to the bottom of the stairs, Luke jerked the man by the collar up against his body, using him as a shield. Looked like he wasn’t going to follow the other guy’s directives and let his captive go. Good.
    That’s when she realized the other man’s hands were secured behind his back with some kind of plastic flex-cuffs. Keeping his weapon trained on the man with the gun, Luke cautiously walked backward toward Hope.
    “Who are you and what the hell do you want?” Luke demanded as he came to stand near Hope. Actually, he stood more in front of her than beside her, shielding her. His neck muscles corded tightly, his shoulders were tense, and she could practically feel the adrenaline rolling off him. Despite the crazy situation, some small part of her melted because he was using his body to block hers.
    “I want you two to disappear for three days.” The blond man spoke calmly.
    “What?” they asked in unison.
    Before he could answer, the man Luke held in a death grip grunted in pain. From her position she could see trickles of blood streaming down his face. “Damn it, you should have warned me she knew kung fu or whatever the hell that was.”
    She almost felt bad for him. But not quite.
    The blond man ignored his partner as he sheathed his gun. “For three days you need to be invisible. Understand?”
    Hope allowed a small measure of relief to course through her as the man’s weapon disappeared.
    “Who are you?” she asked, and couldn’t stop the rising pitch of her voice. Normally she handled stressful situations well, but today she felt her sanity pull thin. Probably had something to do with the gun that had just been pointed at her face .
    “That’s not important. What is important, is that a very powerful man wants you dead.” He spoke directly to her, with a pointed stare, as if she should have a clue as to what he was talking about.
    “Her?” Luke demanded.
    “Me? Who wants me dead?” After her late night phone calls, she had a small guess, but she didn’t have a name to go with the face. Her throat tightened at the thought that he had somehow found her. The man from her nightmares. And what, he’d sent people to kill her? Now this guy was letting her go instead? Nothing made sense. Her temple throbbed as a hundred questions assaulted her.
    The man paused and she guessed he was deciding how much he could tell them. Eventually he spoke. “A man named Richard Taylor.”
    The name wasn’t familiar. She gnawed on her bottom lip. Maybe this was the break