Magic Moment Read Online Free PDF Page B

work, and thoughtfully asked Ron to drive her home. She had been set up. After yesterday, and the questions the FBI had asked, she should have been suspicious. She was so naïve.
    They knew about her FBI visit. Whatever criminal actions the Donovans were into, whatever had piqued the Bureau’s interest, Laura had no knowledge. Whatever the Donovans thought she had told the agents, she was clueless. She would die anyway.
    Her arms convulsed against her restraints. Chase, who had been so chivalrous in the diner, was a part of this debauchery. He had fumed, angry because the men hadn’t completed the job.
    Fear shook her, her head pounded, and pain crawled where that vicious man had sliced her. Chase was coming back … to finish the job.
    • • •
    Chase stayed in the shadows while the two men stood on Madre’s deck in the dim light. He kept the gun in front of him, but out of sight.
    “What’s your name again, asshole?” Chase asked Pantless, as if the man was insignificant and the name had escaped him.
    “Lou Kent.” He shivered in the late evening chill, his crooked knees knocking together.
    Chase kept his eyes fixed on him. “Well, Lou Kent, don’t ever expect to do a job for us again. And pull up your pants,” he added with a snicker.
    Kent yanked up his pants and zipped.
    “Now get lost.” Chase waved the gun. “Both of you.”
    He watched as they climbed over the boat’s side and ran up the dock. Returning the gun to the back of his pants, Chase took a long, deep breath. His eyes remained on the limo until it disappeared. Okay, he had gotten them off the boat. Laura, thank God, was safe.
    Now what?
    Common sense dictated that Chase call the police, but what did he tell them? He had a hard time grasping that this was real. He had been expecting a burglar and definitely wasn’t prepared for what he had found. Or Laura as the victim. The situation with this woman got stranger by the minute. Even stranger was his father’s name connected with these current events.
    Sorting through the crap had to wait. He had a terrified woman to calm.
    He backed down the steps and strode to the galley. A shiver ran up his spine from either fear or cold. After tinkering with the thermostat, warm air began circulating. He turned to the counter drawers, grateful he was conscientious about keeping the boat stocked with provisions. Rummaging through drawers and the tall wooden cabinet, he found what he needed and headed back to Laura.
    She hadn’t moved, not even a little shift in position. Not that she had much wiggle room, the way she had been tied. She had stopped crying. Wide, fearful green eyes stared back at him. After an initial glimpse, he looked away. Right now, he was ashamed to be a man, to be part of anything that inflicted such brutality on a woman.
    He put the galley items on the small desk with the exception of a zip-closure plastic bag. Using his sweatshirt bottom, he stooped and picked up the knife, careful not to smudge prints or the blood he assumed was Laura’s. He dropped the weapon into the bag, zipped it shut, and put the package in the desk drawer.
    Taking a penknife from his pocket, he walked to the bed. Laura’s face, battered, bruised, and sprayed with dried blood stayed fixed on him. Her eyes burned into his every move.
    The two men had used string, the kind used on paper to wrap a couple pounds of beef. With a swift flick of the knife, Chase sliced through the cords that bound her wrists, freeing her. He examined the marks on her tender skin. The string had chafed, but not cut. Red and raw, the telltale signs would disappear. He massaged each wrist and flexed her fingers, rousing her circulation.
    The string, along with the washcloth, he threw to the floor. Laura didn’t utter a word; neither did Chase. What could he say? Apologize for having the boat used in her assault?
    He moved down to the bed’s bottom and had no choice but to glance up. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel her