by Tia Louise
Confidence.
“Toss it to me.”
He poises himself on the landing, working to maintain his balance, and throws the small hand towel to me. I wrap it around my hand and grip the end of the mattress, sliding it away from where it covers the baron’s body.
“Oh!” I step back, recoiling from what I see. Aleister makes a frightened squeak behind me.
“Fuck,” I growl, clearing my throat.
On the floor lies the baron, very clearly dead. He’s been strangled to death.
His face is purplish-black, and his eyes bug out of their sockets. The whites are completely red from the exploded blood vessels. He emptied both his bladder and bowels in the struggle, and there’s foam at the corners of his mouth.
A swell of vomit rises at the base of my throat as I creep closer to try and see if I can detect any clues.
Ice fills my stomach when I see it.
Blood red bruises in the shape of chain links cover the skin around his neck and jowls. I recognize the marks at once as being made by the long gold Romanov chain looped what appears to have been at least three times around his neck. The gold links cut deeply into his skin, and in some places, it’s broken and blood has seeped out.
“Christ,” I hiss.
My mind fills with the memory of the girl with the blonde curls and huge blue eyes. I can still hear her breathy voice calling him Daddy. I can still see her clutching his arm and gazing with rapture into his watery blue eyes.
She killed him.
She strangled him with that gold chain, and from the state of the room a violent struggle ensued.
I imagine her small hands grasping it tighter around his neck, riding his back like some sadistic child as he tried to fight her off.
From the looks of it he didn’t go down easy.
I see everything differently now.
A man struggling for life ripped the books off the shelves.
A man fighting off an attacker pushed the mattress to the side.
A young woman driven by rage took his life, then took everything from his safe.
Anger coils in my chest as I imagine Molly planning this entire scenario start to finish. She zeroed in on him at dinner, fingering the chain, letting him touch her body. She lured him to his death.
As soon as I have the thought, I ask the obvious question. Is a girl that small strong enough to accomplish this?
What other suspects could there be?
Turning from the room, I sprint to the door, pushing my way into the hall. “Do not enter that room!” I shout back. “I’ll send the porter to secure the crime scene.”
One thing is on my mind. The only person who might be willing to help Molly do this horrific thing.
Lara.
I fly through the sliding doors into the next car, skidding to a stop at her door. Pausing again, I look inside at the completely barren stateroom. Clothes, shoes, toiletries… Everything is gone.
It’s completely empty.
Pain and confusion war in my chest. She was with me the entire night… as far as I know.
How long would it take for her to slip out and help commit this crime?
Did she know about it?
Was she awakened at some point in the two hours while I slept to help Molly escape?
I don’t know the right answer. I don’t know what makes the most sense. I’m blindsided and confused and fucking pissed as hell.
I’m a police detective.
I have to get my shit together and investigate this.
Stepping across the hall to Molly’s stateroom, I find the identical situation. The space is swept bare. No toiletries, clothes, books, devices. Everything is gone.
Turning, I head back to the front of the train. Passing quickly through the dining car, I stop where the conductor is on the radio with the closest authorities.
My backup.
Allowing him to continue his business, I enter my stateroom. I didn’t know what was happening when I was roused from my bed earlier. I didn’t know to look for clues here, the last place I saw her.
The last time I held her in my arms.
The last time I loved her.
My insides recoil. It can’t be the last time…
Stepping through the door, my eyes sweep the perimeter. I stand in the doorway where she dropped to her knees and looked up at me, eyes round and filled with what I now suppose was a preemptive apology.
My stomach tightens, and I step further in, to the place where I swept her off her knees and carried her to the mattress. It’s a small room. I don’t require luxuries, and I only travel this line once a year for a two-night maximum trip.
Standing in front of the bed, I look down on the mattress where I lay with her spread across me like the promise of a better life. I remember her rising onto her knees to look out the window.
She had commented how the blizzard never stopped. I had let my eyes run down the length of her body, admiring the curve of her breast, the sweep of her hair down her lower back, the glow of her skin in the moonlight.
I pulled her down to me and made love to her. She held me and called me by my name as I dreamed of another life.
A life where I was more than her hero.
A life where I saved her from the demons.
We will have that life.
I’m going to find her, and this time, we’ll finish it for good.
“The Bright Lights Duet” is Mark & Lara’s complete story.
Get Under the Lights (Book #1) Now!
Get Under the Stars (Book #2) Now!
Hit Girl is Molly’s story, coming March 2018!
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More Tia Louise
BOOKS IN KINDLE UNLIMITED
THE BRIGHT LIGHTS DUET
Under the Lights (#1), Jan. 8, 2018
Under the Stars (#2), Jan. 22, 2018
“Sundown” (a Bright Lights novella)
Hit Girl, coming March 2018!
STAND-ALONE ROMANCES
When We Touch, 2017
The Last Guy, 2017*
(*co-written with Ilsa Madden-Mills)
PARANORMAL ROMANCES
One Immortal (Derek & Melissa, vampires)
One Insatiable (Stitch & Mercy, shifters)
THE DIRTY PLAYERS SERIES
The Prince & The Player (#1), 2016
A Player for a Princess (#2), 2016
Dirty Dealers (#3), 2017
Dirty Thief (#4), 2017
THE ONE TO HOLD SERIES
One to Hold (#1 - Derek & Melissa)
One to Keep (#2 - Patrick & Elaine)
One to Protect (#3 - Derek & Melissa)
One to Love (#4 - Kenny & Slayde)
One to Leave (#5 - Stuart & Mariska)
One to Save (#6 - Derek & Melissa)
One to Chase (#7 - Marcus & Amy)
One to Take (#8 - Stuart & Mariska)
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About the Author
Tia Louise is the USA Today best-selling, award-winning author of When We Touch, the “One to Hold” and “Dirty Players” series, and co-author of the #4 Amazon bestseller The Last Guy.
She loves all the books (as long as they have romance), all the chocolate (as long as it’s dark), strong coffee and sparkling wine.
After being a teacher, a book editor, a journalist, and finally a magazine editor, she started writing love stories and never stopped.
Louise lives in the Midwest with her trophy husband, two teenage geniuses, and one grumpy cat.
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