Bullseye Read Free Page A

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    Her phone rang, and she altered her path to retrieve it from the sofa where she’d dropped it. A glance at the screen stopped her in her tracks. Mason’s number.
    “Mason?” She hated the way her voice quivered when she spoke his name.
    “I’ve changed my mind.” His words were clipped, abrupt. “I’ll be there tomorrow morning. Pick me up at the airport at nine-fifteen.”
    The line went dead.
    Hope inflated like a balloon in her chest and crowded the breath from her lungs. Mason was coming. But why? She stared at the receiver in her hand. What changed his mind? It couldn’t have anything to do with her. She was bitterly certain of that. He must have reconsidered because of Alex.
    “Gracias a Dios,” she whispered. Help for any reason was better than no help at all.
    Her step lighter, she turned once again toward the bedroom. A sight outside her living room window stopped her. A dark car was parked there, longways in the parking lot, blocking her little red Toyota sedan. The driver’s door stood open, and a man stood on the pavement, his muscular arms folded across the hood. He didn’t move, but stood still, facing her way. Though his eyes were concealed by dark sunglasses, Karina felt intensity in the gaze turned toward her front window. Toward her.
    A glance at the doorknob showed the lock engaged, the deadbolt in place. Drawn by a sort of horrified fascination, she inched closer to the window. Could he see her through the blinds?
    With one finger she pushed down on one of the metal slats and bent it to get a better look at him. When she did, she felt those invisible eyes fixed on her. An icy chill slid up her spine.
    The man’s head dipped once, as though acknowledging her. Then he slid into the car, slammed the door and sped away.
    It was a long time before Karina managed to lift a fear-numbed hand and screw the blinds tightly shut.

THREE
    T he nonstop flight from Atlanta to
Albuquerque lasted over three and a half hours, plenty of time for Mason to
regret his change of heart. Actually he’d regretted it thirty seconds after he’d
hung up from Karina yesterday, but Caleb had refused to let him call back and
rescind the offer of help. To make matters worse, Caleb had called Brent, the
third member of F.A.S.T., to come over last night to help badger him. No amount
of protesting on Mason’s part had made a difference. Lauren, Brent’s wealthy
wife, even rebuffed his claims that he couldn’t afford the trip and insisted on
picking up the tab for the pro bono work. Some friends they were.
    On top of everything else the only seat available on the flight
at the last minute was in the middle, between a talkative woman on her way to
visit her grandson—with the pictures to prove it—and a sleeping businessman who
snored the whole time. The plane bounced its way through choppy air during the
last hour of the flight and Mason spilled coffee on his white shirt.
    So when he exited the aircraft at Albuquerque International, he
was already in a foul mood. He scanned the crowd waiting outside of the security
gate. If Karina wasn’t here, he’d march straight over to the ticket counter and
use his credit card to book a same-day ticket back home. He halfway hoped she
wouldn’t show.
    A waving hand snagged his gaze. Beneath the slender arm he
caught sight of a familiar face framed by a shining mass of thick, black
hair.
    He nearly dropped his carry-on bag. The woman looked like Karina, but when had she become so
gorgeous?
    His feet must have kept moving, because in the next moment he
was standing in front of her, searching the beautiful face turned up to his.
Though she’d matured into a stunning woman, she was the same old Karina. Same
dark eyes. Same adorable nose. Same full lips. He swallowed against a throat
gone dry with the sudden assault of the memory of those lips on his.
    Tears glistened in her eyes. “Thank you for coming, Mason.”
    He meant to say “You’re welcome.”When he