Endless Chase Read Online Free PDF Page A

the edge of the woods and quickly put her crossbow into its leather case. She settled it on her back and yanked her knapsack over it. The sun was climbing higher in the sky, so she pulled her sunglasses out of her pocket and shoved them on her nose, pushing them high.
    People were just beginning to stir in the tiny town as she hurried to the small inn where she was staying. It was more of a B&B really, but the owners liked to refer to it as an inn. Still, it was the only accommodations around, so she didn’t care what it was called. It was clean and it was close to her target. That was all that mattered.
    She needed to check her file on the Dalakis family and their inner circle. She knew that Chase had been born in New Orleans and had been reared by his older sister, Delight. It was Delight who’d been the main focus of her investigation since she was married to a Dalakis. Chase had been more of an afterthought. She knew he was an artist of some kind.
    She could use that.
    God, what had she become? Her mother would be ashamed of her. Manipulation and deceit were second nature to her now. Lies rolled easily off her tongue, when a year ago she would never even have considered telling an untruth.
    But she wasn’t that naïve young girl anymore. That girl had died in the fire along with her parents. She’d learned that life wasn’t always fair, nor did the story always have a happy ending. The fire had scorched more than her hands. It had burned her to her core, altering her very being. What had emerged from the flames was a woman 19
    N.J. Walters
    born of vengeance. That was what she lived for now and nothing would stand in her way.
    She yanked open the front door of the inn with more force than necessary and barely kept it from slamming against the wooden exterior. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself, pulling her normal reserve around her like a tattered cloak. After feeling Chase’s warmth, she felt colder, more alone. Which was silly. She hadn’t changed. She was the same woman who’d left the inn last evening.
    Even as she had the thought, she knew she was wrong. Something inside her had changed. Whether for better or worse, she couldn’t say for certain, but she had an unsettling feeling that her life was about to get a whole lot more complicated. She stepped inside the building, carefully closing the door behind her.
    “Good morning,” a female voice greeted in heavily accented English. Olga Bratiano, who ran the inn with her husband Eugeniu, was already up and bustling around. She placed a vase of fresh flowers on the table just inside the front door and eyed Katya with suspicion. “You have been gone all night?”
    Katya shook her head. “I got up early and took a walk. I couldn’t sleep.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. She hadn’t slept much in months.
    The older woman clucked her tongue. “That is not good for one so young.” She shook her finger at Katya. “The mountains are not safe, not at night.” She gripped a thin silver cross that hung around her neck. “Not safe,” she repeated.
    “Olga.” Her husband stepped into the foyer, his face set in stern lines. “You must not frighten the poor girl.”
    “I’m not easily frightened,” Katya assured him. Fatigue was beginning to eat away at her already frayed nerves. Her eyes were burning behind her sunglasses and it was taking all her energy to remain on her feet. All she wanted was to curl up in the comfy feather bed in her room and sleep.
    “Bah,” Olga protested, putting her hand on Katya’s arm and stopping her as she headed toward the stairs. “It is not to frighten, but to protect. Don’t go out at night,” she hissed. “It is not safe.”
    “I’ll be fine,” she assured her host. “Right now, all I want is some sleep.”
    Patting her arm, Olga gave her a sad smile. “I will bring you food.”
    Katya shook her head. “No, thank you. I’ll eat something when I get up later.”
    She could feel both of them watching her