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They didn’t see more concerned about her welfare God, what a fraud she was She was three-quarters of the way through the bottle of water when she had to go to the bathroom She could make it to her hotel if she hurried

"Thanks sofrom the chair, she cradled her purse and the nearly finished bottle of water in her aric water and if she didn’t drink all of it, she’d pass out again

"Are you sure you’ll be all right?" the man asked, his hand outstretched in rescueso much better" She started to move toward the door

"Could one of us drive you home?" the man asked "One of us could follow behind"

"No, no, I’ll be fine"

"Do you need one of us to follow you horaph in her arht Well, I’ll ith you out to your car," Mary said

The man and other woman did also, and when Alicia had settled herself behind the steering wheel, Mary handed her the wrapped, fra her another look of syravely Alicia thanked the space, Alicia noted in her rearviewher Mary shook her head

Poor Jake when he returned to the gallery What if they raphs? They wouldn’t do that to him They couldn’t do that Alicia let out her breath She could write and tell theallery and that when she had more money, she’d buy another one of his photos That would work, wouldn’t it?

Either that, or they’d think she was in love with Jake and pining over hi to call it quits with her She felt bad all over again She hoped she hadn’t ruined his reputation with the art gallery

A car’s headlights followed her through town, and she had the creepy feeling the vehicle was following her Call it woman’s intuition, a sixth sense, ariness She’d considered leaving without her bags, but she couldn’t Besides, she was dying to go to the bathroo lot, hurried out of the car, used the bathroos to leave the hotel she’d already paid for With every intention of leaving Breckenridge for good, she returned to the car, duain, she felt as though she was being followed, but when she left town, the car turned off down a rural road Relieved, she figured she’d stay in the next town of Crestview But the concern lingered--what if Mario could still pull strings and send men after her even from prison? Or what if the men who’d killed Ferdinand Massaro in his townhouse had soh she couldn’t knoho they were, they wouldn’t know that And she would be a loose end easily tied up

Chapter 9

She was his obsession An aphrodisiac Jake Silver had little control over The dark-haired siren of his dreaht and every night for the past seven weeks since she’d first appeared to hi hiht her out In his nighttime fantasies Because, as real as she was, he knew the visions of her were only dreaain He’d hoped and prayed she’d go to the art gallery and get the envelope he’d left for her, then call But she hadn’t yet

As much as he hated to adht just to be with her But as soon as it was light out, he was returning to Breckenridge to search for her again She hadn’t even returned to the florist shop to leave wreaths in memory of her mother That would have worried hi of her She had to still be alive

Tired and out of sorts, Jake was ready to skip dinner The questioning sidelong glances his younger triplet brother, Toave him, plus the more openly concerned looks his older brother, Darien, cast at hih to curb his appetite As pack leader of Silver Town, Colorado, Darien was always concerned about the packAnd since he was Jake’s brother, Darien’s concern about hihtened Added to that, Darien’sJake’s behavior based on the psychology courses she was taking Jake felt as if he was a proverbial open book for everyone to read