Beyond Fearless Read Online Free PDF Page B

the other direction.
    Instead, he heard himself say, “Sure,” as he dug into his pocket for his wallet. Twenty dollars. Cheap by standards in the States.
    When he’d paid for the show, the man swept aside a curtain made of two-inch bamboo pieces strung between round fishing corks.
    Still struggling to regain his sense of balance, Zach stepped into a small reception area lined with bamboo posts. He was fighting to stay detached. Yet he felt a breathless anticipation coursing through his veins as he walked into a show room that held perhaps thirty small varnished tables facing a brightly lit stage where a four-piece island-style band commanded one corner.
    About three-fourths of the spaces were occupied, and Zach slipped into a bentwood chair at the back of the room, where he ordered a bottle of local beer from a waitress wearing a sarong that looked more appropriate for the South Pacific.
    A large man in a flowered shirt and white linen slacks was on the stage, talking.
    â€œI’m Etienne Bertrand and I welcome you to my Sugar Cane Club. We got a treat for you tonight. Magic Anna, all de way from Denver,” he said in a softly accented voice. “A real talented lady. I could talk her up big time. But you see for yourselves soon.”
    Several long seconds passed. Zach felt his pulse pound in anticipation.
    It speeded up when Anna stepped lightly from the wings. His fantasy had primed him to see her in the green dress. Instead, she wore a simple black sheath like the one on the poster. It set off her slender body and long legs.
    He wasn’t the only one who was reacting. And not just the men. He felt electricity crackle in the room—a mixture of tension and expectation. The poster outside had promised something special, and the audience was waiting to see if she could deliver.
    â€œThank you,” she said in a low, musical voice, yet there was a look of uncertainty on her face that she quickly wiped away.
    She must have walked onstage hundreds of times. Maybe thousands. She shouldn’t be nervous about facing the audience. So what was wrong with her? Had she really been in that fantasy with him? Had some force pulled them into that other world together? Or had she been the one who had done it?
    Both alternatives seemed impossible.
    The woman had been intriguing-looking on the poster. More intriguing in his fantasy. In person she took his breath away—literally. As he struggled to fill his lungs, he felt as though his chest were tightened by iron bands, preventing him from drawing a full breath.
    She stood calmly onstage, smiling into the lights. He suspected she couldn’t really see anything beyond shadowy shapes. Yet she turned toward her right, focusing on him. And for a moment it felt like they were the only two people in the room. Just as they’d been the only two people on that windswept plain. Until the other guy had broken the spell.
    Zach hadn’t seen him. But he had heard the anger in his voice.
    He tried to put the daydream out of his mind. But the feeling of connection with Anna tugged at him. In a moment of madness, he almost climbed out of his chair and started for the stage. Then he forced himself to simply sit there and watch her.
    â€œThank you for coming,” she said, making it feel like she was speaking only to him. “I hope you had a wonderful time on Grand Fernandino today.”
    He closed his eyes, struggling for distance, thinking that his life had started going off the rails yesterday, when José had thought he’d come face-to-face with Pagor down in the Blue Heron .

CHAPTER
FIVE
    WITH THE SPOTLIGHTS in her eyes, Anna could see only vague outlines of the people sitting in the audience. But she felt a presence at the back of the room. A man so focused on her that his gaze was almost like a physical touch.
    She took a calming breath and stretched her arm toward the wings, making a theatrical gesture. “Lights, please.”
    At her