Point Blank Seal. Carol Ericson
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Название: Point Blank Seal
Автор: Carol Ericson
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Зарубежные детективы
isbn: 9781474062220
isbn:
Having Mikey had probably saved her from traveling down the same road as Mom. She couldn’t be impaired and take care of her son. She’d never do that to him.
But, oh, those nights when Mikey stayed with Mom and Dad? The booze was the only thing that allowed Jennifer to forget.
A tear seeped from the corner of her eye. Who was she kidding? She’d never forget. Would never forget the day that crisp naval officer stood on her porch and delivered the news that would shatter her world.
She stabbed the power button on the remote and clicked through the channels, settling on a comedy she’d seen before. She couldn’t laugh, not even with a half a glass of wine swirling in her veins.
As she switched the channel, the dog next door started barking. Max never barked unless something—or someone—wandered into his yard.
Jennifer set down the wineglass. On her way to the sliding door to the patio, she picked up a bat that she’d propped up in the corner of the room after the break-in. Staring outside, she flicked on the light, which illuminated the table, chairs and small barbecue that clustered on one side of the cement slab that passed for a patio. The potted plants and flowers on the other side remained in darkness. She turned the light on and off again and then sucked in her lower lip.
The bulb on the left side of the door must’ve burned out. When had that happened? After the robbery, she’d checked all her locks and lights.
A dark shape moved in the shadows beyond the patio, and her knees almost buckled. Was that an animal? She cupped her hand at the glass and peered into the night.
She needed a dog. She needed a gun. She had a bat.
Hoisting the bat in one hand, she clicked the lock down and slid open the door. She advanced toward the dark side of the patio, raising the bat like Babe Ruth.
“Jennifer?”
She spun around and faced a man standing on her patio, bathed in an otherworldly light.
Her mouth dropped open and she grabbed on to a trellis rising from one of the pots.
“Jen, it’s me. Miguel.”
Miguel? It couldn’t be. How much wine had she drunk in there? She cleared her throat and said the only thing that made sense. “You’re dead.”
Miguel eyed the bat still clutched in Jennifer’s hand. He didn’t come this far to have it all end on her patio with a crushed skull, although he wouldn’t blame her for taking a swing at him.
He spread his arms, palms up, and stated the obvious, “I’m not dead.”
She dropped the bat. It bounced once before toppling over. Then she breathed his name. “Miguel.”
In those two syllables, she expressed all the hope, longing and love that had kept him alive for a year and half in captivity.
She reached out her arms and seemed to sway toward him, her feet apparently rooted to the cement beneath them.
He closed the space between them and swept her into his arms, holding her body so close he couldn’t tell where his ended and hers began. He pressed his lips against her soft hair, the blond strands almost glowing in the dark as if they had collected all of the moonlight.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, tilting her head back, her cheeks wet. “My every prayer has been answered, but how...? Why did they tell me you were dead?”
The navy and the CIA had their reasons, but he didn’t need to tell her those reasons—right now.
“The navy thought I was dead. Everyone on that mission died.”
She jerked in his arms. “Where have you been all this time?”
“I’ve been...I’ve been a prisoner of war.” Was that a nice enough way to put it?
Gasping, she took his face in her hands. “Are you all right?”
“I am now.” He kissed her lips and felt as if he were living a familiar dream, one that had kept him alive...and sane.
She returned his kiss like a woman starving. He broke away first as the passion rose, and she grabbed his hands.
“Come inside. You have to see Mikey. Miguel, we have a son.”
He cupped her face with one hand, and smoothed the pad of his thumb across her cheek. “I know and I can’t wait to see him, but I have to tread carefully.”
“What are you talking about?” She tilted her head farther into his hand.
He touched his lips to her soft earlobe. “You had a break-in recently, didn’t you?”
She drew back from him, her eyes wide. “How do you know that? How long have you been here, in Austin?”
“I’ll tell you everything later, Jen.” He jerked his thumb toward the small house where his son was sleeping. “There’s something I need to do in the house first.”
“What? Is Mikey in danger?”
“No.” The lie felt right on his lips—for now. “Before we talk inside, I need to sweep the place for bugs.”
If he discovered a hidden camera, that would be a different matter completely. He’d have to leave immediately.
“Why would someone want to bug my house?” She grabbed handfuls of his shirt and tugged.
“To get to me.”
“I don’t understand any of this, Miguel. I don’t even know if you’re really here.”
“Oh, I’m here all right.” He pressed another kiss against her lips to prove it.
“D-do I need to wait outside?”
“No, but when we’re inside don’t talk to me. Pretend you’re alone.”
“I can do that. I’m good at that.”
He pinched her chin. “I’m sorry.”
“Okay, let’s do this. I’m getting cold.” She rubbed her arms.
He stopped to pick up the bat and held it up. “Glad you still have my Louisville Slugger for protection.”
“You almost got a hit upside the head for sneaking around out here.” Pressing her fingers to her lips, she led him into the house and slid the door closed behind her.
Miguel’s eye twitched as he watched Jennifer pluck up the wineglass from the coffee table and carry it into the kitchen. She’d vowed СКАЧАТЬ