A Rare Chance Read Online Free PDF Page A

doing something stupid, show her hand.”
    Joshua gave him a cold look. “Don’t underestimate her. I did, and now she has my brother’s confidence, at my expense.”
    The venom was unmistakable. Joshua Reading despised Gabriella Starr, and he feared her. His strategy toward her was convoluted and passive-aggressive. Darrow was to follow her, check her out, find something—anything—on her that Joshua could use to undermine her growing influence over his older brother. Set her up for a fall. Drive her over the edge. He didn’t care. It was, Darrow had come to realize, vintage Joshua Reading. Why not attack her head-on? Why not go to big brother with his complaints? Why not redouble his own efforts to prove his value to TJR Associates? Why not just relax and spend his money? Nope. Not Joshua. Gabriella Starr bugged him. So he had to do something about her.
    It wasn’t how Pete Darrow liked to operate. He had a rotten temper and he sometimes made bad choices, but he tended to be up front with people on where they stood with him.
    He was willing to bet Gabriella Starr didn’t have a clue that Joshua Reading hated her guts.
    Darrow, however, was more interested in Joshua’s gun habit. He’d follow Gabriella Starr, jerk her chain, see what happened. Keep the boss happy. Joshua thought he’d lured a shady cop away from a job he hated for twice the money. He thought he could control Darrow. Well, fine. The arrogant bastard could think what he wanted, and Darrow would pretend to do his dirty work.
    Meanwhile, he’d be hunting Joshua’s weapons stash. He’d heard the rumors about stolen military weapons, illegal automatic weapons, even grenade-launchers. He needed proof. He needed the weapons themselves. He wasn’t sure what he’d do when he found them. All his life he’d played by the rules. He worked hard, he was tough, he was smart. What had it gotten him?
    He shook off the thought. First he had to find the stash. Then he’d do what he had to do.
    He moved in close to Joshua, close enough to make the bastard uncomfortable. He’d been born well off. He’d sucked off his brother’s brains and gotten richer. But that wasn’t good enough. For a guy like Joshua Reading, nothing ever would be. He wanted more. He wanted everything.
    â€œI make it a point,” Darrow said in a low voice, “never to underestimate anyone.”
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    Cam cut up strawberries on his cornflakes while his coffee brewed. Sun angled in through the windows of his basement apartment. Because of the building’s high first floor, it wasn’t a dungeon. It had one big open room with a breakfast bar separating the small kitchen and living area, plus a bedroom with lots of built-in shelves, and a bathroom in need of paint.
    He owned the building. It was a Federal period townhouse on the flats of Beacon Hill. He rented out the upper floors to a psychologist, a Boston University administrator, and a couple who owned an antiques shop on Charles, Beacon Hill’s main commercial street. Sometimes he thought about taking over the whole house. Then he wondered what he’d do with all that space.
    He ate his cereal standing up, leaning against the counter. He had no idea what he would do today. Pick up Pete’s trail again? Check out the Reading brothers and TJR Associates? Do some digging into Joshua Reading’s possible gun habit? If he could root out the source of the rumors, maybe he could figure out if they had merit.
    Then again, he could start with Gabriella Starr.
    He’d awakened thinking of her dark eyes. Not a good sign. They’d sparkled with a mix of excitement and fear when she’d charged after Pete Darrow, a stranger. She could have gotten herself into a hell of a mess and she knew it. Even sitting down and talking to him, sharing her chocolate chip cookies, had been a risk. She had no more idea about either him or Darrow than she did