Guardian Angel
Page 28
I stood alone in the bar, and no was one around me. It was just me and my swirling thoughts.
“It couldn’t be,” I thought. Life just didn’t play out that way.
A knock came at the door, and I looked up with surprise. I wasn’t expecting company, but I couldn’t fight the smile which graced my face, nor did I want to, when I saw the handsome face of Captain Francis X. Frisano peering in. With sudden gusto, I hopped over the bar, the rush of energy matching the swell building inside my heart. I unlocked the door and allowed Frisano to slip inside, his tongue to do the same as he kissed me.
“Hi,” I said.
“I’ve got news,” he said.
“Was it Serena?”
“You know?”
“It’s on the news. Confirming nothing.”
“Came in over the radio. Certain names catch my attention. Hers was one.”
I grew silent or morose perhaps as I gave thought to the wild, uncompromising woman who had led such a full life and such a tragic one. Her sense of style and couture flashed in my mind, her larger than life personality, and of course her take-no-prisoners approach when it came to men. What had led to her downfall? How had she, a crafty, resilient woman, allowed herself to be taken in by a slimy shyster like Henderson Carlyle? Had Serena begun to lose her touch or, worse, begun to believe that she had to resort to desperate measures as she grew older? She wouldn’t anymore. He recalled what she’d whispered in the car to Mallory before she escaped town that perhaps she should have died years ago in that crash that had stolen her parents.
I knew about having a parent stolen. Maybe that’s why I didn’t hate Serena Carson.
“Guess that’s it,” I said, “Case closed, even if it’s not the way I like to do it.”
Frisano took me in his strong arms. “Even you can’t control your outcome.”
Yeah, fate was a cold bitch all right, and it had taken with it a lady who might just give it a run for its money. She’d lived with plenty of that, but I realized at that hour when night began to give up its dark quest that as much as money could buy, there was one thing it couldn’t ever provide: Time. Sometimes it just ran out.
CASE #642: GUARDIAN ANGEL
STATUS: SOLVED
About the Author
ADAM CARPENTER is the #1 best-selling author of many titles, including the acclaimed Jimmy McSwain Files, a detective series that includes HIDDEN IDENTITY, CRIME WAVE, STAGE FRIGHT, GUARDIAN ANGEL, and the forthcoming FOREVER HAUNT.
Adam’s sexy, soapy trilogy begins with EDEN’S PAST, followed by EDEN’S PRESENT and EDEN’S FUTURE.
His “White Pine” firefighter novels include SECRET FLAMES, HEAT OF THE MOMENT, A RAGING FIRE, and BURNING TRUTH.
His “European Flings” series begins with the short story PASSPORT TO A FLING, followed by the newly titled, full-length novels FRENCH MEN, ITALIAN GUYS, ENGLISH LADS, and AMERICAN HUNKS.
His “Wonderland” trilogy, co-written with Curtis C. Comer and Jeff Wilcox, are, in order: DESPERATE HUSBANDS, DESPERATE LOVERS, and DESPERATE ENEMIES.
Among his other novels are DUDE RANCH, the White Pine-spin-off THAT PASSIONATE SEASON, SUMMER’S CHOICE and its spin-off, ISLAND DESIRES. His short fiction has been collected in NOCTURNAL DELIGHTS. Several of his books are also available in audiobook format.
Visit him at www.adamcarpenterbooks.com for more information.
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