Anne Stuart's Out-of-Print Gems Read Online Free PDF Page A

good thing. There was very little light in Ethan Winslowe’s house, even on the brightest day.
    â€œWhat do you think of her?” he asked, leaning against the door.
    The man in the chair didn’t move, didn’t blink his eyes. One might think he was made of stone, so still did he sit. Salvatore knew better.
    â€œWhat color is her hair?” Ethan’s voice was slow, deep, issuing from the depths of the chair.
    Salvatore glanced at the black-and-white monitor. Meg Carey was lying on the mattress, a paperback novel had fallen from her hand, and the white bathrobe was wrapped around her. “Blond,” he said. “Dark blond, with streaks in it, like sunlight.”
    â€œSunlight,” Ethan echoed.
    â€œNice blue eyes. Friendly, big. Nice body, too, not too thin. But you can see that, can’t you?”
    The girl had shifted in her sleep, rolling over onto her back, and the bathrobe shifted with her, exposing the warm curve of her breast. In another second, the screen went blank, turned off by an imperceptible move on Ethan’s part. The other screens remained lit, illuminating empty rooms, empty hallways. “Remind me, Salvatore. What do we know about Megan Carey?”
    Salvatore breathed a tiny sigh of relief. “Twenty-seven years old. An only child, devoted to her father. Graduate of the University of Chicago, master’s degree from Northwestern. Up until yesterday, she worked for Carey Enterprises. She’d quit to go traveling, or so word has it. I don’t know whether she caught wind of what her father had been doing and wanted to get out before she got brought down, too—”
    â€œUnlikely. If she was trying to escape, she wouldn’t have come here. What about her personal history?”
    â€œTwo love affairs, one with a college student that lasted most of her junior year. Apparently they broke up over his drug use. The other was with an executive in the company. That ended a while ago when he got involved with someone else. She sees men on a casual basis but doesn’t seem too serious. She reads science fiction and murder mysteries, likes Italian food and works out at a health club three times a week.”
    â€œEfficient as always,” Ethan said. “You never cease to amaze me.”
    â€œI like a challenge,” Salvatore said modestly. “She’s had chicken pox, measles, a broken arm in a cycling accident and a benign heart murmur. No abortions, no pregnancies. Her doctor’s computer is a piece of cake to break into.”
    â€œDo you think she knows about her father?”
    â€œFrom what I can gather, no. She’s known for her sense of honor. If she’d even suspected what he was doing, she would have stopped him. Maybe not blown the whistle on him, but she would have stopped him.”
    â€œMaybe,” said Ethan. “Then again, maybe not. We’ll have to see. She likes to read, does she?”
    â€œAnything but horror novels. I guess she’s gullible.”
    Ethan’s laugh was enough to send cold chills down anyone’s spine but Salvatore’s. “Make arrangements to move her to the tower room, Sally. Leave her a few more amenities, including a decent bed. Maybe you’d better see about finding her some more clothes. You must know what size she wears.”
    â€œSize eight. Bra size, thirty-four C, shoe size, seven. I’ll see what I can do. Anything special for the tower room?”
    â€œYes,” Ethan said. “No books but Stephen King novels.”
    Salvatore chuckled. “Anyone tell you you were evil, Ethan?”
    â€œYou have, many times. See to it, old friend.”
    â€œIt is done, O master,” Salvatore said with a mocking flourish, closing the door behind him and plunging the room into darkness once more.
    The man in the chair didn’t move, his eyes surveying the empty screens. And then, with a minuscule movement, he turned the middle one on.
    Meg