Is she a suspect or a target?
A year after the chilling death of her mentor, criminologist Harley Frasier is still rattled. Secretly shes suspected murder all along. Now the unveiling of the Amenmose exhibit is triggering a series of unexplained attacks, and she has only one man to trust.
FBI special gent Micah Fox is used to charging into dangerous territory to solve a case. Working with a civilian is new ground, especially when shes as irresistible as Harley. He cant say no to her sharp instincts and sexy smile. And with a threat closing in, theres no way in hell hell leave her unprotected.
The Finnegan Connection
Harley wondered how she could feel someone so completely when she wasnt even touching that person.
I have to go, Micah said. He walked to the door. Harley followed, ready to lock up when he left. She stayed a short distance behind him. She felt as if her flesh and blood, muscle and bone, had come alive, as if neurons or atoms or other chemical entities were flashing through her system with tiny sparks of red-hot fire. He had to leave, otherwise shed embarrass herself.
But she didnt really care.
Still, he was right. They needed time. Just because they could hook up didnt mean they should forget that there were consequences to any deed, even if neither had any expectations.
At the door, he turned to her.
She walked forward, her eyes on his, until she was touching him, and when she did, he backed into the door. At the same time, his arms came around her.
She let herself touch his face. Stroke his cheek, feel the power in his arms as he drew her close. She shuddered with delicious abandon as she felt the heat of his body, the texture and strength in his muscles. And then she felt his mouth, crushing hers, and she returned the kiss with equal passion.
Shadows in the Night
Heather Graham
www.millsandboon.co.uk
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author HEATHER GRAHAM has written more than a hundred novels. Shes a winner of the RWAs Lifetime Achievement Award and the Thriller Writers Silver Bullet. She is an active member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.
For more information, check out her website, www.theoriginalheathergraham.com, or find Heather on Facebook.
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Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
Introduction
Title Page
About the Author
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Extract
Copyright
Prologue
The Mummy
A Year Ago
Sir!
The word was spoken softly and with respect.
Dr. Henry Tomlinson, renowned Egyptologist, turned. One of the grad students had just slipped through the inner flap of the air-controlled prep tent and was smiling benignly, awaiting his attention.
He hadnt actually taught in about five years, but he still loved itand working with students. Hed retired to spend all his time in the field, and hed recently been hired by Alchemy, an Anglo-American sponsoring company, to head this dig. Alchemy was into all kinds of tech and had become a Fortune 500 company. Every year, they sponsored an exceptional archeological event, followed by a public exhibit. Recent ones had been centered around the Amazon River, central Chinaand now ancient Egypt. Their resources were phenomenal and Henry still couldnt believe his good fortune. But no matter what monetary resources had been offered, he was thrilled about having grad students involved.
This one was Harley Frasier. Just twenty-six, she was tall, shapely, honey blonde, with a face crafted in perfect classic symmetry and enormous green eyes that seemed to take in everything. She was serious and brilliant and could nail the crux of information with laser-like acuity. She also had a sense of humor and the most delightful laugh he had ever heard.
Of the five specialty graduate candidates, she was, beyond a doubt, his favorite. He often felt like a grandfatherly mentor to herand the idea made him happy. Hed had no children of his own. Hed never even had a wife. No time for a family. He hadnt intended it be that way forever, but there was always so much to do. If hed had the chance to be a father, he wouldve been pleased and proud to have had Harley as a granddaughter. She seemed to feel the same closeness to him.
Perhaps their bond was odd since, of the five grad students, she was the one who was different, the only one not majoring in Egyptologythough she was minoring in it. She had no plan to go into Egyptology or even archeology or history for her lifes vocation.
Harley was with him, first of all, because of her knowledge regarding the field and her love for it. But she was also there because her work was going to be in criminal psychology and forensic science. Henry had been baffled when he was approached by her university. Professors at the Maryland college Harley was attendingwhich was arguably the top school for criminology and it also offered majors and minors in Egyptology and archeologyhad explained to him the importance of having a student like Harley on this expedition. He had been on the hunt for the tomb of Amenmose for nearly a decade; for that entire decade, hed been finding more and more clues about the locationand, of course, with the permission and blessing of the Egyptian governmentfinding other ancient tombs and treasures in the process. This allowed for his continued excavations. But the discovery of the tomb of Amenmose was the main focus of his work.
Many others had searched.
Some of them had died or disappeared in that effort.
History suggested that Amenmose had been murdered. As a criminology student, Harley was to be in on the discovery and would seek and find whatever evidence those who had managed his secret burial might have left behind.
Not that, to Henrys mind, Amenmose hadnt deserved murder. He had usurped power every step of the way. Hed abused officials below him. It had even been intimated that he had attempted to kill those in power above him.
I think weve gotten all the manual labor done for the evening and were going to pack it in, maybe drive to that little town for some dinner. Want to come with us? You should. Youd enjoy it. Or shall we bring you back something? Harley asked him.
Next time, Harley, Ill come with you all, he promised. Theres so much in here! Im not going to go touching anything until weve had a chance to work with the preservation measures, but I do intend to look at everything.
Earlier that week, they had finally discovered the secret site of the tomb of Amenmose. And, of course, since then, Henry Tomlinson had been on cloud nine. This was a dream come true, a fantasy realized, the culmination of a lifetime of love and dedication.
Harley laughed softly. Yes! You did it, Dr. Tomlinson.
I did, didnt I?
The Amenmose find was among the most important ancient Egyptian discoveries of the past few years; he couldnt have been more excited about being a major player in that discovery. And even now, at the end of an exhausting dayand even though he truly enjoyed the young people working with himhe was far too fascinated to leave. There were a dozen or so coffins to be studied, one of them presumably that of Amenmose; the group wouldnt consider opening them until everyone was back at the museum in Cairo. But he could study the canopic jars theyd found thus far. There were also other artifacts that had been carefully moved into the prep tent. So much to observe and to describe! And there were the broken coffins, which had probably been as meticulously set as any of the others, but had been in the section where a partial cave-in had taken place. Several of those outer and inner coffins had split and exposed their mummies. Henry Tomlinson was fascinated to see what study was possible before the mummies were packed and crated and prepared for the trip to Cairo, where options for preservation were far more sophisticated, and where the mummies could be X-rayed and DNA could be tested.
Oh! It was all so monumental.
Amenmose had been a priest in the days when another priest, Ay, had ruled Egypt as regent. Ay had done so for a well-known pharaoh, the boy king, Tutankhamen. As regent, Ay had wielded immense power. Hed gone on to become pharaoh in his own rightafter the death of Tut at the age of nineteen.
Amenmose, according to ancient texts, had tried to usurp some of that power. And hed had his own followers in the court, making him a dangerous man. Because of this he had feared for his immortal lifeand his wife had kept his burial plans a complete secret, shared only with members of his family. Naturally, legend had it that many of his most loyal followersrather than give away any secretshad been willing to die with him, sealed alive in a grave for eternity.
Dr. Tomlinson, you worked so hard. And wow! You triumphed. You should celebrate. Come out with us. Is there nothing I can do to convince you? Harley asked. She still had that wonderful smile, as if she were the one who was far older and wiser. Nothings going to disappear. Well go have some dinner and drinks and come on back. There are plenty of men on guard here. And, she added, you really deserve a little celebration with us. Think of ityou researched and imagined and looked into the ancient Egyptian mind and you made the discovery. Its your shining moment. Youre another Carter with his Tutankhamen, Dr. Tomlinson. Do you realize that?
Oh, no, no, Henry demurred. He shook his head firmly. A celebration is tempting, but I couldnt leave. I couldnt. I do promise that Ill come with all of you on another day. Harley! Look at this! I feel like, as the song says, I have treasures untold.
Harley laughed. You saw The Little Mermaid? she asked.
He stared at her, feeling a bit chagrined. Oh! Yes, I get it, you wouldnt think that Id see a childrens movie... He laughed, too. Remember, I do have great nieces and nephews! Anyway...
He started walking as he spoke. Harley, these are such treasures! This broken coffin. He gestured at it. Damaged by time and by that cave-in, however many centuries ago. And this fellow, Harley. It almost looks as if he was buried alive. Wrapped up alive and screaming.
I dont think you can embalm anyone and have that person come out of the process alive, Harley reminded him, amused. Thats only in fiction. We both know what was involved in Egyptian embalming, and just how many factors couldve had an effect on the mummys appearance. Screaming mummies belong to B movies, right? And when you think about it, weird mummies are all the more reason you should come with us.
Why is that?
Harley didnt answer. The flap opened again and Jensen Morrow, another of the students, poked his head in to answer.
Hed obviously heard the question.
Ooh! Cause you shouldnt be alone with scary old stuff when you have cool kids like us to hang out with! Jensen said.
They all laughed. Jensen was a good-looking, dark-haired young man who loved the study he was involved in, and Dr. Henry Tomlinson liked him very much, as well. Jensen played hard, but he worked harder. He came from money; his father was an inventor whod come up with a special cleaning product. And yet Jensen never acted like money, never acted pretentious or entitled the way some rich kids did.
Tempting, tempting, tempting, Henry said again. But Im going to stay.
Jensen raised his eyebrows at Harley. Hey, girl, then its you and me heading out. The old man here isnt coming. Thats okay. Were bringing back the goods. Just the two of us, since Belinda Gray is waiting for a video chat with her fiancémilitary, as we know!in Iraq. Roger Eastman agreed to help one of the tech guys investigate some computer info theyre picking up. I hate to say it, but were getting chatter about an insurgent group starting up. And Joe Rosello said he wants to learn more about the excavation equipment. Hes working with that pretty Egyptian girl, our translator, and learning about hoists.