Alien Vengeance Read Online Free PDF Page B

show you.’
    He shook his head. ‘Do not put yourself to such trouble, kyria Barton. I wrote those notes.’
    There was something terribly wrong. Her whole body felt as taut as a bowstring. She said thinly, ‘You did? But why?’
    He shrugged. ‘To make sure that you would come here, thespinis , why else?’
    ‘You knew I was coming?’ Gemma felt her way carefully. ‘Then Mike must have told you ...’
    ‘He has told me nothing. How could he when I have never met him? But he left the letter you wrote him from England in the room he was using.’
    ‘And you read it? A personal letter addressed to someone else?’ Her breathing was fierce. ‘This may be your home, kyrie , but that’s utterly despicable.’
    He was unmoved. ‘You have a saying I believe—that the end justifies the means.’
    ‘Well, I don’t happen to believe that,’ Gemma said tautly. ‘I don’t know what the mistake is, but there’s obviously been one. I’ll get my things and leave at once.’
    She turned and went swiftly back up the stairs to the room she’d thought was hers. Her case had gone from the floor. For a moment she stared at the space it should have occupied, then she ran across to the bathroom and looked inside. The clothes she had discarded before her shower were missing too, although her toilet bag was still there.
    She flew back into the bedroom. He had followed her upstairs, and was standing in the doorway, leaning almost negligently against the jamb.
    She said, ‘My case—all my things—they’ve gone. Someone’s stolen them.’
    ‘They have not been stolen,’ he said. ‘They are quite safe and will eventually be returned to you.’
    ‘Eventually,’ she repeated almost hysterically. ‘But that’s nonsense. I want to leave right now.’
    He shrugged again. ‘I regret that will not be possible.’
    There was another silence. Her mind worked feverishly, discovering and rejecting possibilities. She said, ‘If you intend to hold me to ransom, then you’re wasting your time. I work for my living, but I have no spare cash, and neither does my family.’
    For the first time, he looked faintly amused. ‘I do not need your money.’
    It was hardly likely that he would, she thought bleakly, remembering that car, the designer clothes, the thin gold wristwatch he’d been wearing the previous day. Now, he might look like a peasant, but his voice was educated, and his English superb.
    She said slowly, ‘Then what do you want?’
    ‘The payment of a debt.’ His voice was laconic.
    She was utterly bewildered. He’d just said it wasn’t money ...
    ‘Did Mike go off owing you rent? Is that what you mean by debt? Well, I can understand your annoyance, but I’m sure it’s just an oversight. You said yourself that Mike had left some things behind, so it’s obvious he intends to come back, and settle things for himself.’
    ‘I hope that he does,’ he said softly. ‘In fact, thespinis , I am counting on it.’
    She felt cold. She resisted the impulse to hug her arms round her body in case she betrayed to this man how frightened she was.
    She said, ‘You may be prepared to wait around for him, kyrie , but I’m not. You had no right to ask me here under false pretences. I only have a limited time on Crete and I’m anxious to make the most of it. I’d like my things back now, and directions to the nearest telephone please.’
    ‘And who would you telephone?’ The amusement was deepening, she could feel it.
    ‘The friends who brought me here,’ she said clearly. ‘They offered to come and fetch me if anything went wrong.’
    ‘Then it is unfortunate that you will not be able to make contact with them.’
    ‘But I know where they’re going to stay,’ she protested. ‘All I need is a telephone, and there must be one in the village, if there isn’t one here.’
    ‘Yes, there’s a telephone in the village,’ he admitted almost casually. ‘But it is of no consequence, kyria Barton, as you would not be