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Rocky Mountain Rescue (Harlequin Intrigue, Band 1482) - Softcover

Myers, Cindi

 
9780373697496: Rocky Mountain Rescue (Harlequin Intrigue, Band 1482)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 037369749X ISBN 13: 9780373697496
Verlag: Harlequin Intrigue, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

The lines are blurred between duty and desire in ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESCUE by Cindi Myers 

Federal marshal Patrick Thompson almost lost one woman in his care. He won't lose another. As an officer for the Witness Security Program, it's his job to protect Stacy Giardino, the former daughter-in-law of an infamous crime boss. At first, Stacy is reluctant to trust the brawny cop—or to act on their intense mutual attraction. But when her toddler son is kidnapped, Patrick is the only person who can help her find him. As they work their way through the Rocky Mountains, trailed by killers, Patrick and Stacy grow closer, and the heat simmering between them ignites. But in an explosive showdown, Patrick will have only one chance to save the woman he can no longer live without.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Cindi Myers became one of the most popular people in eighth grade when she and her best friend wrote a torrid historical romance and passed the manuscript around among friends. Fame was short-lived, alas; the English teacher confiscated the manuscript. Since then, Cindi has written more than 50 published novels. Her historical and contemporary romances and women’s fiction have garnered praise from reviewers and readers alike. 

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

When the first gunshots sounded, Stacy Giardino ran toward them. Not because she was eager to face gunfire, but because her three-year-old son, Carlo, had been playing in the front of the house, where the shots seemed to be coming from. "Carlo!" she screamed, and tore down the hallway toward the massive great room, where the boy liked to run his toy cars over the hills and valleys of the leather furniture and pretend he was racing in the mountains.

Men's voices shouted over one another between bursts of gunfire. One of the family's bodyguards ran past her, automatic weapon at the ready. Stacy barely registered his presence; she had to reach Carlo.

The living room of the luxurious Colorado vacation home was a wreck of overturned furniture. Stuffing poured from the cushions of one of the massive leather armchairs and a heavy crystal old-fashioned glass lay on its side in the middle of the rug, ice cubes scattered around it like glittering dice. But whatever had happened here, the combatants had moved on; the room was deserted, and the tattoo of automatic weapons fire sounded from deeper within the interior of the mansion.

"Carlo?" Stacy called, fighting panic. If any of those stupid men had hurt her son, she would tear them apart with her bare hands. "Mama?"

The frightened little voice almost buckled her knees. "Carlo? Where are you, honey?"

"Mama, I'm scared."

Stacy followed his voice to a dim corner under a built-in desk. She knelt and peered into the kneehole space-into the frightened brown eyes of her little boy.

She held out her arms and he came to her, his arms encircling her neck and his face buried against her shoulder. She patted his back and breathed in the little-boy smells of baby shampoo and peanut butter. "Who were those men, Mama?" he whispered. "They came running in, and they had guns."

"I don't know who they were, darling. And it doesn't matter." The attackers could have been law enforcement agents, members of a rival crime family or different factions of the Giardino family turned against one another. Stacy didn't care. They were all part of the cruel, violent world of men that she had to navigate through every day. That was what life was like when you married into the mob-always running and hiding, never knowing who you could trust.

The family had come to Colorado on vacation, but there was no getting away from the reality of their life, from the danger. Her father-in-law, Sam Giardino, had been at the top of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list ever since his escape from prison the year before. Which was why they were staying here, on this remote mountain estate outside of Telluride, instead of in a condo near the resort like normal tourists.

And even while relaxing, Sam was directing the family "business," cutting deals, making threats and building up his evil empire. Putting everyone around him in more danger.

They could all do away with each other, for all she cared. The only other person who meant anything to her was Carlo.

She stood, straining to lift the boy, who was getting almost too big for her to carry. "I'm going to take you some place safe," she told him. "Just hang on to Mommy, okay?"

He nodded his agreement and she headed back down the hall, toward the stairs to the basement, where the safe room was located. The man who'd built this house-some billionaire who was a friend of Sam's, or who owed him a favor, since men like her father-in-law never had real friends-had built the concrete bunker and stocked it like those preppers she'd read about, people who were waiting for the end of the world.

Maybe this was the end of her world, she thought. Her husband, Sam's son, Sammy Giardino, had been battling his father for months now. Maybe those arguments had erupted into all-out war and Sammy was trying to wrest control of the family "business." She wouldn't bet against her father-in-law in that conflict; Sammy only thought he was tough. His father was the hardest, coldest man she'd ever known. He'd even pledged to kill his own daughter after she'd testified against him in federal court.

When she reached the top of the stairs, Carlo shifted against her. "They're not shooting anymore," he said.

Carlo was right; the gunfire had ceased. Muffled voices came from the back of the house, but they sounded more like normal conversation than angry outbursts. Should she move toward them and try to find out what was going on?

She stroked her son's soft blond hair. "What did the men look like, Carlo? The ones with the guns?"

"They were really big, and they had helmets covering their faces."

Not any of the thugs Sam Giardino employed, then. She'd never known them to wear helmets. These men sounded like law enforcement, maybe a SWAT team. They'd found Sam's hiding place at last. Would they take Sammy away this time, too? She had no idea if federal agents could tie her husband to any of the Giardino family crimes. Women weren't supposed to concern themselves with the "business" side of things. In any case, Stacy never wanted to know.

She started down the stairs. She'd expected to meet others moving toward the safe room. Where was Sam's mistress, Veronica, and the cook, Angela, and the guards whose job it was to protect the women? Surely the cops wouldn't have gotten to them all.

But here she was, all alone with Carlo. Nothing new about that. Even in a room full of Giardinos she was the outsider, the one who wasn't one of them. They tolerated her and she tolerated them, but none of them would have been sorry to see the last of her.

How ironic to think she might be the one to survive this day. To escape. The thought made her heart beat faster. For four years, all she'd wanted was to get away from the hold the Giardinos had on her. She wanted to start over, somewhere safe with her son, where no one knew her and she knew no one. She didn't need other people in her life; she only needed Carlo.

As soon as the coast was clear-as soon as whoever had attacked the house had left-she'd find a car and drive as far away as she could. Maybe she'd even go overseas somewhere. She'd get a new identity, and a job. She'd rent an apartment, or maybe a little house. Carlo could go to school and they'd have a normal life. Just the two of them. Dreams like that had kept her sane all these years she'd been trapped. The idea that she might finally make them come true renewed her strength, and she all but ran toward the basement.

The basement was dark, but she didn't dare risk turning on the light. She groped along the wall, toward the hidden door at the back that led into the safe room. Inside, she'd be able to watch the other rooms in the house on closed-circuit television and see what was going on. The room had its own generator, its own ventilation, air-conditioning and heating system and enough food and water to sustain a whole family for a month. She and Carlo wouldn't need to leave until she was sure they would be safe.

She was halfway across the room, feeling her way around a stack of packing boxes, when she froze, heart climbing her throat at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. The tread was heavy-a big man-and he was moving slowly. Stealthily.

She cradled Carlo's face against her chest. "Shh," she whispered in his ear.

Light flooded the room. She pressed herself against the wall, hidden by the boxes, and blinked at the brightness. The scrape of a shoe against the concrete floor was as loud as a cannon shot to her attuned ears. She held her breath, and prayed Carlo would keep still. Her arms...

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Verlag
Harlequin Intrigue
Erscheinungsdatum
2014
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
037369749X
ISBN 13 
9780373697496
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
224
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