Night of the Condor Read Online Free PDF

dinner? There's a good place on the Carretera Central I thought I'd show you.'
    Leigh put down her own empty glass. 'It sounds fascinating, but I've already arranged dinner, here in my suite.' She watched him digest this, then added sweetly, 'After all, I invited you—remember?'
    His eyes swept over her in a lingering, frankly disturbing appraisal. 'I'm not likely to forget,' he said. 'And I'm still wondering why.'
    'To make amends—build bridges,' Leigh said calmly. She gave him a brilliant smile. 'After all, there's no need for us to be bad friends, Doctor Martinez. We're on the same side.'
    'Are we, Miss Frazier?' he asked softly. 'I think I might need some convincing of that.'
    'Well, the night is young.' Leigh rose to her feet. 'So—shall we go up and eat?'
    Her face was serene as she led the way to the lift, but at the same time she was aware of a distinct
frisson
of uneasiness. Rourke Martinez, she thought, was still proving a formidable opponent, although she thought she might be ahead on points—just.
    She shook herself. She couldn't start losing her nerve now. He was a man, and capable of being manipulated like any other. And she had been adept at that kind of manipulation since her cradle.
    There was no reason, no reason at all to think that this time she might have met her match.

CHAPTER THREE

     
    The dinner, at least, was everything Leigh could have asked for. She had ordered one of the house specialities, chicken cooked with peppers and hot spices. Rourke Martinez ate with unconcealed appreciation, but Leigh was too much on edge to do more than toy gracefully with whatever was set in front of her. She let her companion make the conversational running too, while she tried to marshal her thoughts, and decide on the best line of attack.
    She had to concede that he was interesting to listen to. He touched lightly on such diverse topics as the ancient Inca civilisation, down to the current political situation. And he seemed, she realised, to be on nodding terms, or better, with any number of highly placed people in the government and the arts, although there was no element of name-dropping in what he told her. She was getting a glimpse of a very different world from her own, and under any other circumstances she would have revelled in it. As it was…
    She studied him covertly under her lashes, wondering about him. The ambiguity of his name puzzled her, for one thing, but she was also intrigued in other ways, in spite of herself. She found herself wondering if he was married, and if so where his wife was. If he was single, he didn't look like a man who would readily accept a celibate existence. There was a definite element of sensuality in the curved lower lip of his forceful mouth.
    He was peeling some fruit, and as Leigh watched the deft movements of his lean, long-fingered hands, an inexplicable shiver ran through her. She was almost glad when the waiter who had been serving them returned to clear the table and bring coffee.
    She wondered if Rourke Martinez had been watching her watching him, and hurried into speech. 'Were you born in Peru, Doctor Martinez?'
    He shook his head. 'I was born in your own country, while my father was in political exile there. And I was named for my mother's family. She happens to be Irish,' he added. 'Both my parents now live in the States.' A note of amusement entered his voice. 'What else would you like to know?'
    Any number of heated replies suggested themselves, but she quelled them, dismissing the hovering waiter before she poured the coffee. He, she recalled, took his black.
    The smile she sent him when they were alone was charming, but slightly self-deprecating. 'I apologise for my curiosity, but I suppose it's only natural under the circumstances.'
    'What circumstances are those?' he enquired, accepting his cup from her.
    'Well—' She permitted herself a little wistful sigh. 'We have been rather thrown together, after all. And I am a long way from home—and in a very