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The clerk pulled at his tie as if it was suddenly strangling him "We would Shouldn’t you wait here until the police arrive?"

"Not if I’ to try to locate her before she comes to harm Here’s my cell phone number The name is Jake Silver," he reminded the clerk "I can’t wait until it’s too late"

His heart beating ain theinto the parking lot Within seconds, Jake was driving his truck back into town As much as he hated that Alicia had left without word to hi she could keep hi about hi with these ave hie Not finding any sign of Alicia’s vehicle, he went back to the street where he was supposed to eat lunch with her Three restaurants offered steak platters on Main Street, but none of the places was specifically called a steak restaurant, and he cursed hi the actual na all three restaurants while looking for her, Jake finally stood in the eut she wouldn’t

After another hour of waiting and fu kept her with hi that she had followed the et herself killed if she hadn’t already

He drove all over Breckenridge, looking for her car into the night, searching through lodges, rental-condo parking lots, and B and Bs Anywhere that she ht have stayed so she could continue to trail Mario

He re to the inn and then the restaurant where he’dto look for her until late that afternoon Not finding any sign of her, he left word at the art gallery to call hi to leave Breckenridge, dejected andwhat else to do, he headed for hootten into with thesurveillance

And how he could have protected her--and hadn’t

Earlier that evening, Alicia had checked into a hotel in Denver and then searched for Mario’s trail, finally finding it but not where her informant had said he was The bloodred er of death as Alicia stalked her prey--Mario Constantino headed for the front steps of a redbrick townhouse Just as she’d suspected, he hadn’t bothered to show up for his court date

She’d lost track of Danny Massaro, so Mario was the first one she planned to arrest And she was ready with the arrest warrant and firepower--pepper spray, a stun gun, and her pistol She hadn’t told Jake that she had earned a black belt in jujitsu, but he probably would have dis the scene pro with an armed assailant But she was confident she could do this

Every e, she’d thought about Jake Silver and felt bad about giving hi about her She should have left word that she had to leave, to let hi no boyfriendno dead boyfriend And no matter how much she wanted to see more of him, no matter how much she had wanted what she was sure he would have continued to offer her, she couldn’t with a clear conscious allow hiet involved Not after what had happened to her mother Theseabout sending Jake word she was all right, but she knew that would involve lying to hiht he ht want to protect her and stop her froht thing to do--not only for her ht hurt in the future

She took a deep breath of the cool night air, trying to fortify her ragged nerves as she walked silently toward the townhouse

On the other hand, she consoled herself with the notion that Jake was probably glad to be rid of her Or even ht was a sour reminder that they had no future

For now, this was her life And as a loner, she was fine with it She had no intention of risking anyone else’s life, but she owed it to her mom to keep her proood

Leaves crunched softly underfoot as she kept her distance, certain Mario didn’t hear her following hiuided by thethe way But she should have known it was too easy tracking down the bastard, who had a rap sheet as long as she was tall Why the judge had set bail for hie

Maybe this was a wake-up call She was used to getting her e--ent and often ay too predictable The job often depended on wit over brawn to subdue a perp A little psychology could go a long way

But this ti This was just too easy--as if she had been led into a trap

The hair at the nape of her neck and on her arms stood on end as she watched Mario knock on the door of a brick townhouse It silently opened to him She couldn’t see anyone inside, as if it was one of those nighthostly doors that drew the unwilling victim inside He entered, then the door shut with a clunk