Dragon's Lair Read Free Page B

they knew where she lived?
    Sweat dampened her back from the sinking feeling thatsomeone might be waiting for her at her town house. But she had to take the chance.
    When she pulled into her neighborhood, she flipped off the headlights before turning onto her street, then pulled into the first empty space along the curb. Heart pounding, she rolled down the window and peered toward the middle of the block at her town house.
    Over the rush of her pulse she heard nothing unusual—a door slamming, a horn honking from the next street over, two cats fighting in Mrs. George’s yard. Everything she’d expect to hear around midnight.
    She scanned the line of parked cars. While she didn’t see the gray four-door, a dark limo and a flashy red Rolls Phantom were parked outside of her place.
    Neither of the two cars belonged to her neighbors. Both were too impractical, too elegant for this end of town. A pickup truck, Jeep or any SUV could’ve been ignored.
    Then she saw a light come on in her bedroom. Scenes from every late-night horror movie she’d seen raced through her head. She’d have to make do without the credit cards, because there was no way she was going in her town house.
    She rolled the window up, then eased her car out onto the street. As she put the car in reverse, she noticed two men running out of her town house. One leaped into the back seat of the limo, the other jumped behind the wheel of the Phantom. Both tore off in the opposite direction down the street.
    She hesitated. Would it be safe to—
    The town house exploded. A shower of glass and bricks rained on the street. She stared, frozen in shock. Torn between rushing to check on her neighbors and driving as far away as possible, Alexia remained immobile.
    The Wilson family, who lived on one side of her place,were on vacation, so that left the Hazels. The three occupants stumbled out of their home and crossed the street to another neighbor’s.
    A swirl of ice-cold fear snaked down her spine. She had no idea where the men had gone. No clue who they were or what they’d been looking for. If they’d been searching for the manuscript pages, why blow up her home? Surely they’d want the pages intact.
    She had to get away before they found her. Mrs. George, the neighborhood busybody, would be able to tell the police everything they needed to know.
    Unwilling to risk being seen, Alexia hit the gas pedal and backed down the street to the first crossroad, then took the long way around the block.
    She groaned in dismay. A tank of gas and forty bucks wouldn’t get her very far. There was one place she could go, and even knowing that was her only option, she had to brush away a tear. With a frustrated cry, she headed toward the expressway.
    The thugs who’d attacked her probably expected her to run to Braeden. But where else could she go?
    Nowhere.
    Alexia turned onto the southbound ramp. If she drove through the night, she could be in the mountains of East Tennessee just after breakfast—assuming the men didn’t catch up with her.
    Â 
    Even before they crawled into his office with the news, Nathan knew the three imbeciles thought they had failed. But his only intent had been to send Alexia running to Dragon’s Lair and back into her husband’s arms. With a little prompting on his part, it’d succeeded. Where else could she go once her home had blown up?
    Still, there was no point in letting anyone else in on his scheme. So he waited, knowing they’d eventually summon up the courage to tell him that three strong men had been unable to kidnap one small female.
    Nor was there any point in slipping into her mind again. When she did finally make her way to Dragon’s Lair, he didn’t want to risk the Drakes knowing who was behind their troubles. No matter how carefully he covered his tracks, it would be far too easy for one of them to go traipsing through Ms. Reve’s mind and catch a trace of