Cleopatra's Necklace (Devlin Security Force Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

of patrol, he and the Venetian had traded insults, and Castelli had taught him Italian, including assorted rude phrases he avoided firing at the fanged doctor. After the army, he’d improved his language fluency during various security jobs in Europe. Until Thomas had recruited him.
    Castelli schmoozed the receptionist, who simpered like a fourteen-year-old at his white smile and pretty face. In moments the neurosurgeon appeared, as damned fluttery as the young clerk. Lucas couldn’t hear her clearly, but she nodded her agreement, eyeing him—the gorilla in the room—with suspicion.
    Castelli beckoned and Lucas followed him through pastel-painted halls to the stairs.
    “Did you find the lover dead like the admiral said?” Lucas moved smoothly to the man’s left side.
    “René Moreau. In the flat the two shared. He took a bullet to the chest. Found a trail of blood on the stairs. Someone, likely the signorina , covered him with a sheet. Probably shot elsewhere, maybe by the same gun as her. We recovered the other bullet from the jewelry shop wall. Nine millimeter. I will know more when I receive the ballistics report.”
    “Any leads?”
    “Not yet. Once we discover what necklace she referred to, perhaps. Perhaps not.” Castelli angled his head and twisted his mouth in a typical Italian dismissal.
    Lucas made no reply. Thomas had advised him not to mention the Cleopatra necklace until they knew if that was the piece in question.
    “I understand Signorina Chandler awoke briefly,” Castelli said as they reached the correct floor, “but she was so distraught the surgeon feared she would further injure herself. There was also danger of a blood clot and brain swelling. They have her in a medical coma.”
    They stepped into the intensive care unit, hushed except for the hum of equipment and the squeak of soft soles. Lucas wrinkled his nose at the medicinal and antiseptic cleanser smells.
    “And the damage? The bullet?” he asked.
    “The bullet grazed the side of her head a few millimeters above her left ear.” He pulled a small notebook from inside his jacket and flipped pages. “She has a depressed skull fracture. Bone fragments were removed. She is receiving antibiotics and steroids. The surgeon says she will not know the extent of damage until the swelling goes down and Signorina Chandler awakens.”
    If she awakens. Lucas had a bad feeling about her chances. War had taught him only a small percentage of victims survived gunshots to the head.
    A middle-aged nurse beamed at the detective as she ushered them into Cleo Chandler’s room. Castelli thanked her and she left, reluctantly, with a swoosh of the door.
    Monitors surrounded the bed and tubes draped the slim, covered form. Thomas had said Cleo was twenty-eight. Lucas shook his head, struck by the tragic unfairness as he and the detective approached.
    He left Castelli at the foot of the bed. He moved around to the side not snaked with tubes or hidden by bandages so he could get a better look. Castelli’s details about the dead lover faded into the background. Everything faded away except the woman.
    Dark red hair the color of autumn leaves. Heart-shaped face. Long eyelashes curling against sculpted cheekbones. Light freckles across her pale skin.
    His pulse kicked into a hectic beat.
    Protect Cleo Chandler? No shit. Lucas wasn’t leaving her side.

Chapter 4
    Arlington, Virginia
    “I LEAVE LATER tonight, Andie.” Thomas dispensed ice from the fridge into his tea and leaned against the center island. “Don’t know exactly how long I’ll be gone.”
    His sister rinsed her coffee mug and placed it in the dishwasher. She made no reply. The only evidence of emotion was a twitch of her shoulders.
    These days, Andie hid her thoughts behind a wall or tossed them like grenades. He braced himself.
    She pursed her lips. A light purple, probably to match the new streak in her spiky hair. “Let me get this straight. You’re jetting off to Europe on some secret