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She could hear the satisfaction in his voice "Shit"
"Indeed"
"Can I drug her? Will anything work?"
"No The virus will clean anything froood You should--"
He stopped mid-sentence, and Cyn could hear a silky, deep voice in the background Her heart jumped and it was suddenly difficult to breathe
"My lord--" She heard Duncan begin She didn’t listen any further
"Good-bye, Duncan" She hung up Her cell phone rang almost immediately, but Cyn didn’t answer She was teht call, or even Liz herself So she switched it to vibrate and watched it dance around the table a few ti the display as it shunted every call to voice es unheard
Chapter Thirteen
It took several hours and too many phone calls, but Cyn finally found companies in the Houston area that had the equipment and services necessary for what she had planned After that, she took a long overdue shower, standing beneath the needles of hot water until her skin was bright pink, in a vain attempt to convince herup on that, she wrapped herself in one of the hotel’s big fluffy towels and blew her hair dry, then pulled out the bag of makeup she always threw into her suitcase but rarely used She didn’t overdo it, applying only enough to bring out the green in her eyes, the sharp edge of her cheekbones Her clothes were chosen with equal care, designed not for co to her thighs and showed off the curve of her firm ass She had worked hard to keep it that way and was not above using it to her own advantage She added a dark turquoise silk blouse, with a draped neckline that showed a fair ah to be casually provocative Her shoulder rig was an aard fit with the slick fabric, but she tugged it on anyway She wasn’t going anywhere near Jabril Karih, their high heels accenting the long length of her legs beneath the short skirt She pulled on the leather coat over everything, her fingers auto the cool reat, but va in a hurryWell, it was always good to have a backup Everything else went into her s her backpack over one shoulder and rolled her suitcase into the hallway and to the elevator
The rental vehicle she’d arranged aiting for her outside the hotel, reat pleasure in de every i array of cup holders The only features Cyn really cared about were the in-dash navigation system and the darkly tinted s all around She’d chosen this coh profile clients who desired anony man back at his office--he said it wasn’t necessary, but Cyn insisted--she turned on the GPS and headed for the Hawthorn Estate, now Jabril’s personal lair in all but narowled "Lord Jabril Kariratiating smile "And I am sorry, but I really need to speak with him and it can’t wait until toruff, "One moment"
While she waited, Cyn checked her watch and walked herself h the next hour or so It was a fewto the local paper, the next sunrise would occur around seven-thirty She was cutting it pretty close, but her greatest fear was giving Jabril enough ti out as close as possible to sunrise, she was counting on the va a would either have already gone to hell or, if luck ith her, she and Mirabelle would be enjoying the view frouard spoke to someone on the house phone, probably Asim He struck her as the kind of flunky ould control access to the big guy as a way of ensuring his oer base When the guard turned back, she was ready with a brilliant se to roll her eyes "That’s very kind, thank you soate opened, which was all she really cared about
Cyn parked the big SUV on the outward curve of the drivehich put it far away fro to the servants’ quarters in the back She hoped such things wouldn’t matter when it came time to depart, but one never knew The front door opened as she reached the porch and atoward a couple of cars parked to one side The very definition of clean-cut, the skin of his face gleah that his pink scalp was clearly visible This ator Jabril had hired, the real one She knew the type For wife at hoht from an island far away, somewhere where women were still subservient to uys had been unpleasantly surprised when the littlepast without even a glance
Cyn turned as he went by "You’re looking for Elizabeth Hawthorn, aren’t you?" she called