Who was she? Where had they met?
He hadn’t represented her—he was sure of that. But he’dmether. Somewhere. She was unforgettable. Beautiful. Deadly. A siren.
His should call the police. Or the FBI. Or someone—anyone—who might help. But what if that was exactly what they were waiting for? One wrong move, and—
Because Audrey knows you.
The name rattled in his head like a marble in a glass.Audrey. Audrey.No. That wasn’t it. That wasn’t her name.
Her real name surfaced like a corpse breaking water.
Amber.
Los Angeles. Seven years ago.
He’d just proposed to Lily. She’d said yes. He was flying high, invincible. He hadn’t wanted to leave for the legal conference, but because he was changing from criminal to civil law, he felt it would be helpful. After having dinner with an old friend, he didn’twant to stay in his room. He sat in the bar and did a little work on his phone whenAmberappeared. Young, stunning, relentless.
She’d propositioned him. Offered him a drink; he didn’t drink. Only soda water with lime. He told her he was engaged. She told him no one had to know.
He told herno. Maybe he’d said something else... something rude. He couldn’t quite remember. She’d leaned over to kiss him and he recoiled in surprise and anger.
Then he caught her dumping something into his drink. She realized he’d seen her; she rose and started to walk away.
Ten feet from him, she turned with a smile that never touched her eyes. “We’ll meet again, Franklin. Someday when you least expect it.”
The next morning he found a cryptic note under his door.
Now, Franklin stood, dizzy, grabbing at the table to stop himself from falling, then settling back into the chair. His hand shook.
Why now? Why her?
He picked up the phone, put it to his ear, stared at the numbers on the push-pad. Stared, trying to think. He wanted to go to the police. But if he did...
He saw Lily. Nathan. Two people he loved more than life itself. He couldn’t risk their lives.
He put the receiver down.
What do these people want?
And why had they chosen him?
First, they had sex. Then Garrett listened as Audrey told him how she’d tranquilized the two agents and transported them. He was impressed, and said so.
She beamed. “I was afraid I dosed them too heavily, but even though they were restrained, I didn’t want them waking up in the van. It would have complicated things.”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter how they died.”
She didn’t say anything, and he felt her body tense in that way that told him she had done something stupid.
“You did kill them, correct?” he asked calmly.
“Noooo,” she said. “We already set up the factory for them. I wasn’t going to let the new game go to waste!”
“They’recops. This isn’t like the others. Shit, Audrey!”
“Don’t swear at me,” she pouted.
“I’m sorry,” he said, though he was so frustrated he wanted to take out his anger on someone. But with Audrey, he had to be careful. He kissed her, nuzzled her neck, and said, “I don’t want either of us to land in prison.”
