Silken Threats Read Online Free PDF

to have him there.
    A light moan pulled her from her thoughts, and she squeezed Mrs. B.’s hand as another moan—louder this time—fell from the woman’s lips. “Shh. Shh now.”
    Thin, blue-veined lids fluttered open, Mrs. B.’s normally vibrant green eyes filled with pain and confusion. “What happened?” She blinked once. Twice. “Cassidy?”
    “It’s me, Mrs. B. Shh, now. You’re all right.”
    Mrs. B.’s eyes darted left and right and her breathing hitched as she grew more agitated. “But what happened?”
    “It’s okay now. We don’t know what happened, but the ambulance is almost here. We’re going to get you checked out and you’ll be fine.”
    She crooned a few nonsense words, pleased when she heard Tucker’s directions echoing from the front of the house.
    The paramedics moved in, and she stood up to give them access. A large man, his dark blue T-shirt stretched tight against his chest, took charge immediately as he knelt next to Mrs. Beauregard. Cassidy gave the team room to work and took a spot beside Tucker.
    It was several long minutes later that she looked down to realize her hand was firmly clenched in his.
    * * *
    Tucker and Cassidy followed the paramedics from the house. The ambulance had just pulled away, the team having confirmed the emergency room where they were taking Mrs. Beauregard, when Max pulled up in his sports car. The two-seater was anything but practical, but Lilah and Violet didn’t seem to notice as they tumbled out of the passenger seat.
    Questions carried across the yard as the women raced toward Cassidy before they surrounded her in a tight embrace.
    “What the hell’s going on?” Max’s gaze stayed steady on the trio of women before giving Tucker his full attention.
    “I’ll be damned if I know.”
    “Did you get anything from their landlady?”
    “She was pretty out of it.” Those first few moments in Mrs. B.’s kitchen rolled through his thoughts, the shock and horror of finding the woman. “I’m just glad she’s alive.”
    Max’s face set in stoic lines, concern etching his tanned skin. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking this was a coincidence.”
    “I’ve never put much stock in coincidence.”
    “I fiddled a bit more with that panel in the floor.”
    “And?”
    “Nothing. It’s cemented tight and won’t budge.” Max paused a moment before pressing on. “I stopped short of jackhammering it but it smacks of something curious.”
    “So why now? Unless they’re damn good actresses, Cassidy and her partners obviously weren’t aware of the hole. Besides, they’ve been there for a few years already. If they were responsible, they could have dug it up at any point and without destroying things. So who suddenly decided to go digging for whatever’s been hidden?”
    Snippets of the conversation between the women floated toward them on the rising heat of the day. Their concern for Mrs. Beauregard had faded to speculation on what might have happened. Tucker missed the specifics of their discussion, but he didn’t miss Cassidy’s hard head shake or the shrug of her shoulders in response to her friend’s questions.
    He suspected she didn’t believe in coincidences, either.
    “They make quite a sight.” Max’s voice was low, hovering in the register he’d perfected when they were on active duty. Only this time there was a layer of intrigue that spoke of anything but the enemy.
    “A beautiful trio.”
    Tucker wasn’t sure if he realized it, but Max mentioned Violet every time he came back from one of the Design District’s business meetings. He’d never mentioned the other women, but now that he’d met them all, Tucker saw what a team they made.
    A competent and beautiful one.
    Their conversation faded as the women moved toward them as a unit.
    “We’re going to head to the hospital. Would one of you mind taking us?” Cassidy’s brow furrowed. “Mrs. B. doesn’t have any children and we don’t know who else to call. We don’t