Texas Ransom. Amanda Stevens

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СКАЧАТЬ Kendall’s gaze uneasily searched the room. Her eyes found Graham, moved away, then came back, a silent plea emanating from the brown depths.

      Something was wrong. Graham could see the distress on her face. He started toward her, but at the same moment, a waiter collided with someone in front of him. The heavy tray of crystal flutes toppled, showering champagne over those in the immediate vicinity.

      A collective gasp rose from the crowd as everyone scurried out of the way, and Graham’s view of Kendall was momentarily blocked.

      Somewhere nearby a woman screamed. Not the shocked squeal of someone who had been doused by champagne, but a horrified, ear-splitting shriek that stunned the room into silence.

      Everyone seemed to drop back a step, creating a void at the front of the room where a man had collapsed. Graham recognized him instantly. It was Manuel Garza.

      Graham’s first thought was that the man had had a heart attack as he left the podium, but then he saw a crimson puddle beneath Garza’s left shoulder.

      The ambassador’s wife was on her knees beside him, her hands covered in blood. She looked up, her eyes frantic and brimming. “Por favor! Someone help him!”

      Graham reacted instinctively. He moved forward, not really knowing what he could do, but in the space of a heartbeat, security came out of the woodwork. Graham was pushed back into the crowd by a man wearing an earpiece. As the officer spoke rapidly into a transmitter concealed by his sleeve, he turned away, and Graham saw someone else rush toward the wounded man.

      A hand reached out and grabbed her, but she jerked free and shouted, “For God’s sake, I’m a doctor! Let me help him!”

      The ambassador’s personal bodyguards quickly formed a protective circle around him as the undercover HPD officers assigned to the event moved to restore order. But in the initial pandemonium, Graham had lost sight of Kendall.

      He turned now, desperate to find her. He couldn’t see her at first, but then he spotted a splash of red near the entrance.

      “Kendall!”

      Whether she somehow heard him over the roar of the panicked crowd, or whether the force of his gaze drew her attention, Graham didn’t know. But at that exact moment, she glanced back, her gaze clinging to his a split second before he found himself pushed back against the wall.

      He called out to Kendall, but his voice was lost in the din. Frantic to reach her, Graham tore himself free and fought his way through the terrified mob.

      But by the time he reached the door, his wife had vanished.

      Chapter Two

      Kendall had no idea what had just happened in the room behind her. She’d heard the crash of glass, a scream and then all hell broke loose. She glanced over her shoulder, trying desperately to find Graham again, but someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hallway.

      “Hurry!” the man ordered in a raspy voice. “This way!”

      “Wait!” Kendall tried to resist, but he was too strong.

      “I told you. Do as I say and nobody gets hurt.” He shoved her toward the elevators, and when she stumbled, he grabbed her arm again and jerked her upright.

      Dread tightened in her chest. She hadn’t seen or heard from Hector Reyes in years, not since the night she’d tried to flee Mexico for good. Not since the horrible car accident that had left her battered and scarred and wanting to die.

      And then she’d opened her eyes one morning and found Graham at her bedside. She’d later learned from the doctors that she’d been unconscious for nearly a week before his arrival and had been given very little hope of survival. But somehow she must have sensed Graham’s presence. Somehow his voice had lured her from the darkness.

      For days, he remained at her bedside, talking to her softly when he thought she’d drifted off. He’d been candid about the ambiguity of his feelings, perhaps because he wasn’t sure if she could actually comprehend what he was saying.

      But she’d heard every word. Lying flat on her back with her face and head swathed in bandages, both arms broken and one leg in traction, drugs dulling but not obliterating the constant pain, she’d listened. And she’d wondered how any woman in her right mind could have ever allowed a man like Graham Hollister to slip away from her.

      She’d vowed to herself over and over that if she was lucky enough to survive her wounds, if she was fortunate enough to have a chance to start over, she would do everything in her power to change, to become the kind of person a man like Graham deserved.

      But she should have known that the past—those terrible secrets—would eventually catch up with her. That her life before the reconciliation would come back to haunt her. And just when they were thinking of starting a family.

      Kendall blinked back hot tears as she stepped into the elevator. She didn’t look at the man beside her. She couldn’t.

      “I told you where the money is. Take it and let me go,” she pleaded.

      He was a tall, swarthy man with gleaming black eyes and flawless English. “What assurance do I have that the police won’t be waiting for me at the drop point?”

      “I wouldn’t do that. You know I wouldn’t. There’s too much at stake. If anyone were ever to find out—”

      He laughed. “Yes, you’ve covered your tracks well, haven’t you? You’ve always been very clever. I’ll give you that.” His voice hardened. “But the answer is no. You’re coming with me. Once I have the money, I’ll let you go.”

      “Can I at least call my husband and tell him I’m okay? He’ll know something is wrong. I would never leave without telling him.”

      “You’ll call him as soon as we’re safely out of the building. Trust me, you don’t want him to follow us. The situation could get very nasty.”

      Kendall closed her eyes. “Please don’t hurt him—”

      “As I said, no one will get hurt as long as you cooperate. So just relax and enjoy the ride. It’ll soon be over.”

      “How soon?”

      “As soon as I know you haven’t betrayed me. Because we both know what you are capable of, do we not?”

      She suppressed another shiver as she felt his gaze sweep over her. Hector Reyes had once been employed by the same man she’d worked for in Mexico. Leo Kittering was an American ex-pat who had remarried well and used his wife’s resources to forge a powerful empire.

      At one time, he’d been a major power broker, but then his only son had died, and all Kittering had been able to focus on was revenge.

      Whether Hector Reyes still worked for him or not, she didn’t know, but she had a feeling that if Kittering had sent him, she would already be dead. Collecting a hundred thousand dollars in extortion money would not even be on Leo Kittering’s radar.

      The elevator slid to a stop on the third floor. They got off and used the stairwell to reach the lobby level.

      Hector seemed to know his way around very well. He led her quickly down СКАЧАТЬ