Dangerous Melody Read Online Free PDF Page A

ridiculous prowling the property, but if Stephanie was right, Bittman had nearly killed Victor and taken her father. He wanted something from Stephanie, and he would no doubt do anything to get it. Tate told her flat-out when she started working for him that somethingwasn’t right, but she’d laughed it off, accused him of being the jealous type.
    Not jealous, just perceptive. Bittman was crazy, and she should have trusted Tate. He felt a flash of anger followed by another surge of guilt. Who was he to blame her for not trusting him? He’d proven later that he was not a man she could count on.
    Tate put a hand on the knob and turned it, inch by inch,until the door released. Pushing it open, he scanned the inside. A small bed, neatly made. Another door leading to what must be a bathroom, and one more, a paneled closet. He started with the closet, rolling it open slowly. Empty, not so much as a forgotten coat. The stack of three boxes nearby indicated she’d not yet gotten around to the spare room. This was odd for Stephanie, who was manically organized,a woman who arranged her books on the shelves according to size and color. It was not like her to leave anything half done, even after only a few days in her new space.
    A soft thump came from the bathroom. He froze, listening. Another thump and a soft scuffling noise. The cat? Maybe. Maybe not. He crept closer to the door, which was pulled mostly closed. Since he hadn’t turned on the light,the room was dim. Easing along one footstep at a time, he hoped the squeak of the worn floorboards under his feet would not give him away.
    Drawing close enough to see through, he caught the flutter of movement. He did a slow count to three and threw open the door. It crashed into the wall behind as he leaped through. A pigeon with iridescent feathers around its neck fluffed in alarm fromits perch on the rim of the old-fashioned bath tub. With an irritated flap of feathers, it flew back to the window and scuttled through the gap.
    He watched the pigeon disappear through the open window.
    It took only a moment for him to notice the scuff mark on the sill, a black heel mark that could only have come from a man’s shoe.
    * * *
    Stephanie shoved the papers into thefolder in disgust. What did she hope to find? How could she win against Joshua Bittman when he held the ultimate card? Her father’s life. She tried to take a calming breath and offer up a prayer, but her mind was too scattered. She had to figure out a way, without Tate’s help. His lazy smile replayed itself in her memory. His sister was so like him, though neither one would admit to it, except forone important difference. Maria led with her emotions, her passions and disappointments written on her face for all the world to see.
    Bittman saw that need in Maria and exploited it, no doubt, after Stephanie quit his employ and tried to remove him from her life. Futile effort. Everywhere she went, he kept tabs on her, reminding her in the subtlest ways that he remained in her life in spiteof her feelings. Phone calls, texts, jewelry delivered to her various apartments, even the smell of his peculiar cologne wafting through her car told her he was close, so close, with unrestricted access to her.
    And now, it seemed, to her family and Tate’s. Stephanie closed her eyes, thinking once again that the blame for Maria’s relationship with Bittman lay squarely at Stephanie’s feet.She did not believe, however, that Bittman had disposed of Maria in some violent manner. He didn’t need to. With his wealth and enormous power, he could cut her out like a diseased patch of flesh. She would never get close to him unless he desired it. So Tate was wrong about the fact that Bittman made her disappear. If he would listen to reason, she could explain it to him.
    Getting to herfeet, she heard a soft meow from the room earmarked for a guest room if she ever managed to put down roots.
    She pushed open the door, calling up the stairs as she did so.