Silent Partner Read Online Free PDF Page B

wasn’t an option. It wouldn’t have been able to negotiate this stretch of the trip.
    As they moved ahead she watched her breath rise in front of her. She was glad Tucker had ordered her back up to her room to change into the clothes a maid had scrounged up for her at the last minute—jeans, a wool sweater, a ski jacket, warm socks, and insulated boots. The sky had turned overcast again, and it was windy and much colder up here.
    “So what do you wear to bed?” Tucker called over his shoulder when the path widened and became less treacherous.
    She’d been lost in thought, enjoying the view despite the danger. It was as if they were on top of the world. “Depends,” she answered, playfully tilting his ten-gallon forward.
    “On what?” he asked, pushing the brim back up.
    “I’ll let you figure that out.”
    Tucker sighed, then laughed. “You’re killing me, Angela.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Where did you fly in from?” he asked.
    “Richmond, Virginia.”
    “Is that where you’re from?”
    “No. I grew up in North Carolina, near Asheville. That’s in the western part of the state.”
    “How’d you end up in Richmond?”
    The series of events that had led her to Virginia flashed through her mind. “A man,” she answered curtly.
    “I’m not one to muck around where I’m not wanted, but it doesn’t sound like this guy ended up being your knight in shining armor.”
    “No, he didn’t, and I like your rule about not mucking around where you aren’t wanted.” She hesitated. One reason she’d hoped to see Tucker again was to have the opportunity to ask him this question. “Why were you so skeptical last night about my meeting with Mr. Lawrence being legit?”
    “What are you talking about?” he asked innocently.
    “Come on, John. I heard that sarcastic comment you muttered under your breath when we were driving from the airport to the ranch. You thought I didn’t, but I did.”
    He didn’t answer for a moment. “Look, Mr. Lawrence is one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, and he likes the company of attractive young women. I’m not violating any deep dark secrets here. I’ve made this trip to the cabin before with a woman behind me.”
    Angela’s pulse quickened and her cheeks began to burn. Though he had provided few details, her boss in Richmond had promised that this meeting was on the up-and-up, and that it could prove to be a tremendous opportunity for the bank and for her personally. “I assure you that’s not what’s going on here,” she said stiffly. Ahead Angela saw that the mountain was flattening out into a high meadow ringed by rock ledges. At the far end of the meadow was a small cabin, and beside it a helicopter, blades still slowly rotating. “I’m not that kind of woman, and I resent your assuming that I am.”
    “Then I sincerely apologize.”
    Angela noticed several men milling around the front of the cabin. Most of them carried rifles slung over their shoulders, barrels pointing to the sky. “Apology tentatively accepted.”
    Tucker pulled back on the reins. They were still fifty yards from the cabin, but one of the men was trudging through the snow toward them. “Be careful, Angela,” Tucker warned, his tone turning serious. “Jake Lawrence is a powerful man. He’s used to getting his way.”
    “I can handle myself.”
    “You’re late, John,” the man called out in a heavy British accent.
    “It’s wonderful to see you, too, Billy boy,” Tucker replied. “This guy’s a real prick,” he muttered over his shoulder.
    “Ms. Day, I’m William Colby,” the man announced as he neared them, looking past Tucker. “Please get down from the horse. We’re behind schedule.”
    Colby had closely set eyes, and a wide, hooked nose that seemed out of place on his thin face. He was completely bald. Unlike the other men milling about the cabin, he wasn’t wearing a blue knit ski cap—or shouldering a gun.
    “He’s Secret Service via Scotland Yard,” Tucker