Hey. He looked annoyed. You speak Portuguese? English? What?
Both, she said, taking another step back.
Dont run from me. I just want to talk to you.
Uh-huh. Right.
Another step, though now she became uncertain about turning her back on him, because he looked athletic and fast as lightning, and she doubted her ability to outdistance him.
But if she screamed, would the security guards hear her from here?
Stop, he demanded, yet he didnt reach for her, which she took as a good sign. Just hold on a second, would ya?
Nope. If he was going to rape, maim or murder her, hed have to catch her first, and she didnt plan on being caught.
I just want to know who you are, he said.
She hadnt lived in Rio all her life, but had been sent to private boarding schools in the United States, England and Switzerland. This man was indeed American, and southern American at that, given his slight drawl.
Dont run. His voice was cool and quiet, but there was definite danger there. And dont scream, he added. I hate it when people scream. I just want to ask you some questions.
One more step, she thought, slowly lifting her foot, just...one...more.
This picture. He thrust it beneath her nose. What do you know about this picture?
Foot in the air, poised for flight, Nina went utterly still. Her breath clogged in her throat. Her heart stopped.
It was her sister.
Meu Deus, he held a picture of Terry in the embrace of some man, and she looked so beautiful, so stunningly alive and happy, Ninas eyes filled. Terry, she whispered.
The man stared at her. My God, its not you. His gaze was measuring. Its close.... Once again he studied the picture, then carefully searched her face. Really close. Before she could guess his intention, he reached up and unclipped her hair, tugging it free, ignoring her startled gasp. But no cigar. His eyes, those all-seeing eyes, chilled. What do you know about this woman? What did you call her...Terry? Where can I find her?
Nina nearly let out a laugh, but it would have been half hysterical, so she put her hand to her mouth and shook her head.
I need to talk to her.
For once, the streets were relatively free of the wandering tourists and loud boisterous locals. There was no one to rescue her from this bad dream. You...cannot, she said.
Why?
She died a year ago last September.
His frown deepened, his jaw tight as a drum. Try again, lady.
Nina shook off the fear and found her temper. I do not know who you are, but I want you to leave these premises immediately. There is a guard right inside, and
Dont call him. I just want some answers. I need to talk to her.
No. Terry was dead.
And she needed to remain so.
Everything depended on her remaining so.
How long since youve seen her? he pressed.
More than a year now. A lifetime. Nina closed her eyes and remembered the terror in her sisters face when she realized that she was being watched. Stalked. Then the police had come, arresting her for embezzlement and smuggling gems in cahoots with a known smuggling operation.
It had been a lie, a terrible, vicious lie. Terry had been set up and framed, but the evidence against her had been insurmountable. Planted, of course, though neither Terry nor Nina knew who would have done such a thing.
Nina still didnt know.
In light of that, while out on bail on charges that would put her in prison for life, Terry had vanished. Then shed faked her own death, and Nina had grieved as if it had been the real thing, because she knew shed never get to see Terry again.
The waitress told me you were Senhorita Nina Monteverde, the American said. If thats true, whos Terry?
If this man was looking for her sister, something had gone terribly, terribly wrong, and Nina backed up another step.
Maybe Terry is...your sister?
Ninas eyes widened, she couldnt help it. He was good.
Yeah, he said, nodding, still staring at her. Your sister. I need to talk to her, Nina.
Another step.
Then another.
And yet another, all the while her brain frantically racing. Terry, God, Terry please be all right.
Then finally she had enough space between her and the American. Security! she shouted. Help! Security!
Behind her the doors opened, and she whirled toward them, never so grateful for the wealth and status her family name afforded as two uniformed men rushed toward her. Escort this man off the premises! she cried, turning back to point out the American, as if he needed pointing out.
But the security men skidded to a halt, bafflement crossing their faces. Nina didnt understand, until she realized she pointed at nothing and no one.
Her stranger had vanished.
CHAPTER TWO
RICK WASNT a patient man. One would think that worked against him in his line of work, but hed found frustration and intimidation good motivators.
Only hed blown it just now, letting Nina Monteverde stun him stupid with just one blink of those huge, wide, drown-in-me chocolate brown eyes.
What was that about?
Hed interviewed plenty of women in his day, and while it was true few could resist his own dubious charms, it had happened on occasion. But hed still always gotten what he wanted.
Not tonight.
Tonight hed been the one blindsided, and for his trouble all hed gotten was a lie.
No way could the woman in the picture have been dead a year and a half. Shed given birth only seven months ago, then dumped the baby girl on what she thought was Mitch Barness doorstep.
Rick sat on his motorcycle contemplating his next move. He pulled out his cell phone, and without calculating the difference in the time zone, dialed Mitchs home.
Barnes here.
Does the name Monteverde mean anything to you? Rick asked.
No, why?
The woman in the picture, the one youre looking for, her name is Terry Monteverde.
Terry. Mitchs voice, so professional and alert in his greeting, went rough with memories. Terry Monteverde.
Nina, her sister, claims she died last fall.
Thats a lie. I had a paternity test. Hope is mine. The only woman I was with at the right time was the woman in the picture.
Yeah, Nina was lying. But I think she was protecting Terry, for whatever reason. Rick couldnt be sure why he thought so, he didnt know Nina Monteverde from Eve, but his instincts had never failed him. At least not in four years. Im going to follow her home and see what else I can get.
Across the miles and phone lines, Mitch swore softly. In the background, a baby was crying. I know shes in some sort of trouble, I can feel it. Its the only reason shed abandon her baby. He drew a deep breath. She has to be found, she needs help.
Ill find her. Rick could still see the parking lot of All That Glitters. Two armed guards escorted Nina to her car, where she looked around, craning her neck left and right.
Looking for him, Rick knew as she got in and started the car. Ill get back to you, he said to Mitch, and clicked off, shoving the phone in his pocket. When shed pulled away and could no longer hear him, he roared his bike to life.
Nina would lead him to Terry, he was certain of it, so certain he hurried to catch up, following Ms. Monteverde home.
Anything to keep his mind off the sound of Mitchs voice. That gruff, terrorized worry brought Rick far too close to the time when he could feel such things, too. To a time when he could still be disappointed by the people and circumstances in his life.
When he could still get hurt.
Hed done some hurting of his own, which would haunt him to his dying day.
He hadnt always been a bounty hunter. Once upon a time hed grown up under the eye of his sweet, lovely mother, a woman whod been deserted by his father while in labor with Rick. Poorer than dirt and alone in the world together, theyd done fine. Better than fine, actually. His mother had seen to it.
Shed gotten him through childhood before dying of breast cancer, but by then he had the basics down, her morals and love of life.
Everything was an adventure back then, wildly dangerous, and right up Ricks alley. Hed been untouchable in those days, and had thrived on it.
Until hed met Mary Jo Anderson, the second sweet, lovely woman in his life, a witness he was charged to protect until she could testify in a murder case. With her help, they could bring down a very wanted man. If all went well, it was a case that would make everyones career.
Rick was in his element. Until he looked into Mary Jos wide, innocent eyes, that is.
Up to that point, hed managed to go his entire life without sharing his heart. Hed shared his body plenty, but never anything else, so no one could have been more surprised when he fell for Mary Jo. It had softened him, and made him stupid. Careless.
But nothing could happen to her, not with Rick looking out for her, right? Oh yeah, hed been a cocky son of a bitch.
And Mary Jo had been killed.
His fault. He hadnt been able to stop her murder, or protect her, though hed sworn to both his country and Mary Jo to do exactly that.
Things had gone straight to hell in a handbasket after that. Destroyed, Rick had walked away from all hed ever known, and spent months aimlessly wandering the globe, looking for trouble and often finding it. Hed finally ended up in Rio. Something about the sinful, wild, pagan city appealed to his troubled soul, and hed been here ever since.
It had been four years, and thankfully hed managed to bury those memories for good. Only in the occasional dream was he forced to relive them, and hed awaken drenched in sweat and tears and remind himself that having no emotions and no heart was the only way to live.
It worked for him, allowed him to be the best bounty hunter there was, because without feelings, no one could touch him. He liked that.
Nina led him out of the ritzy business district and into the ritzy residential district, but as Rick stayed back far enough to remain anonymous, he realized something.
They werent alone.
A low-profile sedan followed him following Nina, keeping well back, but definitely on their tail.
Normally, his adrenaline would have kicked in, and so would the thrill of the chase and the highly anticipated victory.
His adrenaline did kick in, but oddly enough not the thrill. He didnt like the thought of someone else after Nina. It was the damn memories haunting him now, he knew. But hed gone soft once, and as a result, had lost the dearest thing to him.
That could never happen again since he no longer had a heart, but as he drove through the starlit Rio night, Rick hit the gas pedal with an uneasy urgency.
* * *
THE FIRST THING Nina did inside her condo was lock and double lock her door. She had goose bumps up and down her limbs, and though she could have called any one of her fathers men over to check on her, she felt silly.
The tough, brooding American was long gone, and she was safe.
As always, she raced to check her mail, hoping, praying... Flipping hurriedly through the bills and advertisements, she held her breath.
But no little letter from Baba, her old nanny, as arranged and promised through Terry. No news of her sister at all.
Nina sank to the couch, for once blind to the incredible view of the deep-blue bay spread out before her from floor-to-ceiling windows. She felt sick, and so tense she could have shattered.
Terry, whereever she was, had been sending twice monthly letters through Baba. Those letters said precious little, but theyd been all Nina had, and shed treasured each one, hoarding it close to her heart for several hours before forcing herself to burn it.
She hadnt received one in over a month, and every day Nina grew more frantic.
Now there was an American asking around and he had a picture of Terry with a man shed never seen.
It all combined to tell Nina the truth. Her sister was in trouble, even deeper trouble than being framed for embezzlement and smuggling gems.
Grabbing the phone, praying Rios notoriously bad phone service was in order, Nina dialed Baba. She woke the poor woman up, and quickly asked the same question shed been asking her almost nightly now for weeks.
Any word?
Nada, minha amada.
Nothing, my sweetheart.
Baba didnt say more, but she didnt have toit was all there in her voice, the fear, the worry. Nina hung up and tried to calm herself, but the feeling of dread continued to intensify. Something had happened, something had gone wrong.
What was she going to do?
The American kept popping into her head. How had he gotten that picture? And what did he want with Terry?
Would he just go away?
She wanted to think so, but despite appearances, she wasnt that naive. The man had been too focused, too intense for him to simply vanish without getting what he wanted.
And too extraordinary.
That shed even noticed during those few moments of terror really disturbed her, but there was no denying thered been something in his gaze, something deep and nearly hidden that had startled her.
Pain.
The realization rocked her, then made her laugh. The man had terrified her. Yet shed bothered to notice his hidden pain.
She needed help, serious help.
A sound from the kitchen distracted her, and she went still for one second, before grabbing a fire poker from the fireplace she never used.
The only sound now was her own ragged breathing as she tiptoed to the double swinging doors and peeked in.
Nothing.
Shed spooked herself, and just as she let the air out of her lungs, the phone rang, causing her to nearly leap out of her skin. With a hand to her chest, she shook her head at herself and picked up the receiver.
Nina, the financials are due in the morning.
The gruff, no-nonsense, no greeting was typical of John Henry. He was second in command of All That Glitters, next to her.
It hadnt always been that way. Once upon a time, before she and Terry had been old enough to take the reins, John Henry had run the place for their invalid father.
And when their father had deemed the surprisingly business-savvy Terry old enough to take over, hed removed the job from John Henry without qualm, leaving the fiercely ambitious man reporting to a woman he not so secretly felt was beneath him.