Playing with Fire

by Debra Dixon

  Cecilia St. Martin grimaced and scratched her arms as she let herself into her narrow, three-storied Victorian home in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco. Hell! she thought. That must have been a cashmere tree she’d been stuck in while playing hide-and-seek with Morgan Abbott.

  “Hi, Idiot,” she said, looking down at the gray-striped cat that swirled its body lovingly around her calves. She picked the cat up and they purred at each other, their noses touching. Cecilia laughed.

  “I should be allergic to plain old wool, or strawberries, or even you. But no, I’m allergic to cashmere, and now somebody’s discovered a way to grow the damned stuff on trees.” She sighed wistfully and nuzzled the cat against her chest. “All the lovely sweaters I can’t wear. And the trees I can’t climb anymore.” She put the cat down on the brown carpet. “Time for a nice, long bath.”

  Cecilia walked past the stained-glass double doors of the foyer to the gleaming mahogany stairs; opposite the doors. She climbed the first three steps, then backed down them again and walked down the long hallway to the kitchen, at the back of the house.

  “I’m later than I think, kitty cat.”

  Standing in her cheery yellow-and-oakwood kitchen, she picked up the telephone receiver and punched out a number. A familiar, Boston-accented voice answered.

  “Harper?” she said. “It’s me.”

  “I expected your call hours ago, Cecilia. I was worried,” was the calm reply.

  Cecilia wondered in amusement how her attorney worried. Did an eyebrow lift, or did his brows furrow? In all the years she had known Harper Madison, first as her father’s friend and financial adviser and now as hers, he had never showed a single emotion. At most, he might give a slight smile if he was overjoyed, or a tiny frown if he was extremely upset.

  “Sorry about that,” she replied cheerfully. “I was stuck up a tree, and now I’m itching like crazy. I must be developing hay fever, or something. I’ve got to get into a tub quickly, so we’d better make this short. How are the stock purchases coming along?”

  “Excellently. I really appreciate your volunteering to help me out like this, but—”

  “Stop right there, Harper,” she ordered. “You lost a bundle when Morgan Abbott bought that computer manufacturer you’d invested in, and then let it go bust just for a tax write-off. Don’t tell me that he bought it with good intentions and discovered too many problems afterward, so that the company had to be declared bankrupt. That’s the usual pap for the Securities and Exchange Commission, so they won’t prosecute the buyer on fraud. Not only are you my friend and adviser, but you got me through my parents’ deaths when I was seventeen. And much more. Nobody else would have done what you did. And if this is a small way of repaying you, since you won’t let me give you the money—”

  “Cecilia,” Harper broke in, obviously trying to stem the rising emotion in her voice, “I still have a hefty paycheck coming from you every year, so stop the grateful-Annie nonsense. Besides, I was saddled with you, if you remember. And you were a brat. You still are. But your heart’s always been in the right place, although your methods are outrageous. You’re the only person I know who would dream up kissing a total stranger just to keep him off-guard and preoccupied while you buy up enough of his stock for a take-over threat. You’d bring Wall Street to its corporate knees if you ever decided to take up the reins of Parkhurst. But I’m glad to see you finally taking an interest in some aspect of corporate life. You’ve been drifting around the world for too many years, poking your nose into other people’s business.”

  Cecilia gave a wavering laugh. “Archaeology is poking your nose into dead people’s business, so I don’t think they mind. Besides. I sponsor other people to poke their noses in the dirt. And I’m not the least bit interested in corporate life. Morgan Abbott just needs a little scare put into him for what he did to you, and I’ve got the resources to do it.”

  Although few people knew of the connection, Cecilia was the major stockholder of the Parkhurst Group, an international holding conglomerate rated as one of Fortune magazine’s top one hundred. It had grown over the years, from the three whaling ships owned by an ancestor in the early 1800s.

  At seventeen, Cecilia hadn’t been ready for the overwhelming responsibility she’d inherited at her parents’ deaths. Then, just after graduation from Princeton, she had discovered the fun, and risks, of sponsoring a dig for a friend. So she had never bothered with the daily running of Parkhurst. Other, much more adept people were already doing it. She didn’t even vote at board meetings. Harper did it for her. In fact, making sure a few days ago that Cormier received the contract was the only time she had actually had anything to do with the corporation itself. Voting had been split down the middle between Abbott Industries and Cormier, so she had ordered Harper to vote for Cormier. Morgan didn’t know it, she thought, but he had a very formidable adversary.

  While Harper wouldn’t risk a cent of her money on an investment gamble, she knew he loved to do it with his own. Maybe the fiasco with the computer company had taught him a lesson. But it was Morgan Abbott’s little stunt that had made her furious. She didn’t like someone taking advantage of another human being like that.

  She absently scratched at her arm, and Idiot suddenly leaped into the air, trying to catch it. The cat missed, and Cecilia wagged a Scolding fìnger at her.

  “Harper, I’ve got to go,” she said. “Enjoy sunny Boston, and I’ll see you after we’ve got enough stock to scare Morgan with a take-over threat.”

  She said a quick good-bye, then peered at her arms for a moment and frowned. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like little red bumps were developing on her skin, and the itchiness was definitely worse. Maybe she had come across some poison ivy this morning. Morgan Abbott was poison, of course, but he didn’t count.

  The kiss in the elevator ran through her mind again, and Cecilia felt the heat rush to her cheeks. For a man who was supposed to be cold, ruthless, and inhuman, Morgan kissed like a sailor just home from a year at sea. And she had responded like a woman starved for him.

  She had never experienced that kind of physical chemistry with a man before. Why did it have to be with Morgan Abbott? She didn’t even like him.

  Remembering how he had looked the first time she’d seen him, she reluctantly decided that he was attractive enough to catch any woman’s eye. He was tall, over six feet. His eyes were very blue, although she thought they had an icy look. Then, of course, his rich coffee-brown hair, long enough just to touch his collar, had a few distinguished gray streaks at the temples. His features were too sharp and angular to be truly handsome, but he wasn’t ugly. In fact, the saturnine face was appealingly virile. His build wasn’t overly muscular, but had more of a tough leanness to it. He carried an easy mantle of command that Cecilia knew she would recognize, even without his expensive haircut and custom-made suit. She had grown up around men like him, and thought herself immune. Until now.

  It was disturbing to discover she could feel an attraction for a man she didn’t like. She had studied him extensively before implementing her plans, trying to find a way to distract him. She had discerned that he was used to being in control of his surroundings. Having a strange woman kiss him would force him out of that control. And would keep him thinking about the woman, and why she was doing it. He should be very distracted by now … she hoped. All her plans depended on it. He mustn’t notice that various stockbrokers throughout the country were buying his stock for her. If he discovered the purchases too soon, he could put a stop to it.

  “What I’m doing is just as bad as what Morgan did,” she said to her cat. Then she added with a grin, “But I won’t allow that little fact to stop me.”

  She owed Harper too much to allow his losses to go unrevenged, and the idea of using Morgan’s own methods amused her. Besides, she wasn’t seriously going to take over Abbott Industries. She would just show Morgan he wasn’t quite the omnipotent executive he thought himself. After she’d finished, he would have learn
ed to be more loyal to his own stockholders.

  Realizing that she was furiously scratching her legs, Cecilia grimaced. Her hot soak was long overdue.

  “Come on, Idiot. Let’s take a bath.” The little cat’s ears perked up, and she meowed. Cecilia chuckled.

  “I’ll be sure to put in plenty of bubbles for you,” she promised. “Rrroowww!”

  Read on for an excerpt from Debra Dixon’s Bad to the Bone

  PROLOGUE

  She forced herself to stay awake in the relentless dark, clinging to a slim hope, a simple plan. Her sense of time had vanished days before. But she could still tell night from day. Night felt different, colder.

  That’s when be came. Always the same routine. He’d open the door, angle the flashlight-beam at her, and throw down a sandwich in a Baggie and a carton of milk or juice. Then he’d close the door, leaving her alone in the total blackness of the small damp basement. All without a word.

  Except when be—

  Automatically shutting off the memory, she realized the whole nightmare would forever be divided not into days or nights, but into the time before he killed Jenny and the time after he killed Jenny. He’d kill her too. Maybe not tonight, but soon. No one was going to save her. No one was coming for her. She didn’t expect them to. Now that Jenny was gone, she was completely alone.

  Shivering against the cold and the fear and the aching loss, she lay on a bare mattress that smelled of mold and something worse she couldn’t name. Anxiously she raised herself to a sitting position and pulled back the corner of the mattress. A little sigh escaped her as she felt carefully with her hand, reassuring herself for the hundredth time that it was still there. She hadn’t dreamed it.

  The long shard of glass was dagger shaped with a wicked point. She had found it in the corner where it must have fallen when someone pulled out the window and bricked in the opening. Her fingertips brushed softly against the cool glass, remembering how it had been half buried in loose dirt, a treasure waiting to be discovered. That’s when the idea had come to her; that’s when she had decided to try.

  Outside she heard the faint rumble of an engine. Fighting sudden nausea, she clutched her uneasy stomach through her T-shirt. Her heart pumped the sick feeling through her body with every erratic beat. When dread threatened her resolve, she forced herself to grab the long, sharp wedge of glass. She had to be ready before he came. She might not get another chance.

  Terrified, she walked to the rickety wooden stairs which jutted out into the room and started up them. One, two, three, four.…

  She counted the steps as she climbed; she’d counted them a thousand times that day. Practiced crouching and balancing on top of the flat guardrail at the landing until her back ached and her legs screamed. But not with the piece of glass. That had been too precious to risk. Even now she was more terrified of breaking the only weapon she had than she was of what lay ahead.

  As silently as she could, she crawled onto the railing, choosing the side nearest the door hinges. Clumsily she wobbled on her hands and knees, unable to get to her feet, her nerves interfering with her balance. When she couldn’t stop shaking, she began to panic, which only made the shaking worse.

  She had to stand up. Her hands had to be free. The door had to swing all the way open without touching her. Otherwise he’d know she was waiting, and she’d lose her chance. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself. This railing was just like the balance beams she had made last summer, she told herself. Just an old two-by-four supported by volumes “A” and “M” of the encyclopedia. She wet her lips and tried again. This time she made it.

  With the glass held gingerly in one hand, she tried not to think about the floor below or her chances of surviving a fall like that. It didn’t matter. He was going to kill her anyway. He had killed Jenny just to make a point. She had no choice. Quickly she pulled a torn strip of T-shirt from her pocket and wrapped the wide end of the glass. She wrapped a second strip around her hand.

  Beyond the door she could hear muffled noise. Maybe the sound of a paper sack, a chair dragging across a floor. But no footsteps.

  Why didn’t be come?

  Sweat trickled down her temple and the back of her neck. Finally she could hear the thud of boots as he walked toward the door.

  One by one, four dead bolts clicked, and the knob turned. She held her breath, afraid the tiniest sound would give her away. The door swung gently open, the edge of it bouncing against the railing in front of her sneaker. Light flashed down the stairs, arrowing toward the mattress.

  Please, she begged silently, adjusting her grip on the glass-knife. One more step. So I can see you. Please!

  He took the step.

  In one action she made herself drive the glass into the side of his throat and tried to shove him down the stairs. She shuddered at the feel of the glass as it slid home, but she couldn’t allow herself to pity him. Not if she wanted to survive.

  Half-turning, he grabbed for her. She screamed and lunged for the door—clinging to it, fighting for balance as she kicked him hard enough to send him plunging down the stairs. Without wasting a second, she jumped to the landing and got around the door, frantically pulling it shut and locking the bolts.

  She ran out into the night, feeling almost safe for the first time; until she realized she was in the middle of nowhere. There were no neighbors, no traffic on the road, no one to save her. Then she saw a hint of light through the trees in the distance. She didn’t stop running or screaming for help until an old man came bolting out of a country home and into the yard in front of her. He was barefoot and wearing pajamas, but he had a shotgun. “Hey now! Who are you running from? What’s this about?”

  “Please,” was all she could get out as she reached him. The words stuck in her throat.

  He grabbed hold of her arm to steady her, then tilted her chin up to the moonlight so he could look down into her face. “Oh, my God. You’re one of those little girls they’re looking for. One of the twins.” He pushed her behind him, backing her toward the safety of his house.

  Little girls? Jessie Dannemora almost laughed.

  ONE

  Sometimes Jessica would go months without the nightmare, and then she’d have it every night for a week. Always the same. Always the feeling of helplessness and terror. Always the scream that sliced through her heart and woke her—the scream no one else could hear because it was in her mind. It was Jenny’s scream—sharp and clear after all these years.

  Midnight had come and gone, but Jessica still huddled in the corner of her sofa, wrapped in an old starburst quilt and staring at a dark television screen. She shouldn’t have needed the quilt; Utopia, Texas, was warm in June. Unfortunately, the chill came from inside herself—from the fear of going to sleep and confronting the past again.

  This had been a bad week.

  Who was she kidding? This had been a bad year.

  The phone rang twice before the sound of the bell penetrated her reverie. The telephone didn’t ring often. When it did, Jessica never answered until her machine screened the call. All the same, as if compelled, her hand snaked out from beneath the quilt and snagged the receiver.

  “What?” Her less than cordial greeting clearly flustered the caller.

  Silence reigned for a second, and she thought they’d hung up until she heard an unmistakably young female voice say, “M-miss Dannemora?”

  Jessica threw off the quilt and sat up as a shiver slid along her spine, distributing alarm until the hair on the back of her neck stood up. No one was supposed to know how to find Jessica Dannemora. No one.

  Except Phil.

  She’d become Jessica Daniels years ago. That was part of the deal. No one knew the nature of their association; no one else had ever contacted her.

  “Who the hell are you?” she asked quietly.

  “Iris Munro.”

  “Iris … Munro.”

  ’Yes, ma’am.” Her tone was respectful, almost fearful. “Phillip Munro is my father.”


  “I see.” But Jessica didn’t see, not at all. This little girl should have been in bed asleep instead of calling her. No one should be calling her. Not anymore. “What do you want?”

  “I need to hire you.”

  Stunned, Jessica tried to find her voice and couldn’t. This obscene parody of her conversations with Phil cut sharply into emotional wounds that had only just begun to heal. She didn’t need this. She didn’t need to be reminded of what she was. Especially not by an innocent child with a shaky voice.

  “How old are you?” Jessica finally managed.

  “Twelve.” There was the briefest pause, and then the girl forged on. “Look, Ms. Dannemora, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. I know you’re retired. I know your file—”

  Jessica’s mind reeled. File? Phil had a file on her? There wasn’t supposed to be a file. There wasn’t supposed to be a record of any kind except her name and number in a little black book.

  “—your file says no women and children but this is different,” Iris assured her. “You’re the only one who can do it.”

  “It’s never different,” she told the girl coldly. Then the black sense of humor, which had plagued her all her life, threatened to surface. Thank you for your confidence, Miss Munro, but I don’t kill people anymore. Not for the government. Not for your daddy. Not for you. It was also the truth, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe the child really wanted someone dead.

  Except—

  Iris had read about her in a file. The girl knew her real name, about the retirement, and how to find her. She was Phil Munro’s daughter. Conscience reminded Jessica that she’d hardly been any older than Iris when—

  Suddenly another explanation occurred to her. Making no effort to hide her disapproval or sarcasm, Jessica said, “I can’t believe Phil has stooped so low that he’d send a child to do his dirty work. You tell him that the answer is still no. It will always be no. I don’t work anymore.”