Jayne Castle - Guinevere Jones 01 - The Desperate Game.pdf
(
680 KB
)
Pobierz
Guinevere Jones 1/4
Jayne Castle
The Desperate
Game
s&c by Ginevra
Unlikely Partners – In Love and in Danger
Guinevere Jones
- Smart, savvy, and something else to see. She was an
independent operator until Zac enlisted her secret services and ignited a
desire for adventure and romance.
Zachariah Justis
- The dark, rugged private eye thought he could use Gwen,
then let her go. But forcing her to become his personal spy meant stepping
into his own trap to discover the perfect partner in danger and in love.
The dynamic duo follows a baffling trail of high-voltage video game clues to
solve a computer crime and catch a cunning high-tech killer.
This ebook is not for sale!!!!
Published by Dell Publishing Co., Inc. 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza New
York, New York 10017
An abridged version of Chapter One first appeared in a promotional
excerpt booklet published by Dell.
Copyright © 1986 by Jayne Krentz, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by
law.
Dell TM 681510, Dell Publishing Co., Inc.
ISBN: 0-440-11947-2
Printed in the United States of America
June 1986
Chapter One
He was the ugliest man in the bar, and he had his eye on her.
It figured, Guinevere Jones decided as she swept up an empty
bottle of imported British ale. Give her one entire evening in the
trendiest yuppie bar in Seattle, and she would end up attracting
the attention of the only non-trendy, non-yuppie in the room.
Deliberately she avoided looking at the corner table where he sat
brooding under a huge fern.
Deftly she replaced the empty bottle with a full one, made
change with a charming smile, and thanked the attractive young
urban professional male who had just ordered the ale. It took an
effort to project her voice over the monotonous din of music
currently considered hot. By the time the bar closed for the night
she would be hoarse.
She was also going to have very sore feet. The black pumps
that were a part of the cocktail waitress uniform had become
uncomfortable five minutes after she'd stepped into them. The
pencil-slim black skirt and the mauve blouse weren't as
unpleasant as the shoes, but Guinevere felt conspicuous. Skirts
cut as narrowly as the one she wore were designed for what the
fashion industry termed the junior figure. She knew her derriere
had not fallen within the junior parameters since she was twelve
years old. Unfortunately the blouse seemed to have been styled
for a Hollywood starlet, and her bustline had maintained its
petite dimensions even though she was now thirty.
Ah, well. Such was the price one paid for the joys of being
one's own boss. She'd spent worse evenings. The client was
happy, and the image of being totally dependable had been
maintained. One always had to consider the image.
Guinevere made her way to the next tableful of fashionably
casual up-and-comers and dutifully took their orders for
California wines and an imported light beer. Sooner or later she
-3-
was going to have to go back to the table in the corner. The non-
yuppie had almost finished his small glass of tequila. It was after
she'd taken his order the first time that she'd become aware of
his intent scrutiny. Might as well get it over and done.
Resolutely Guinevere headed for the fern-shrouded table.
"Another tequila?" She kept her voice bright and her smile
brilliantly professional.
He nodded once and swallowed the last sip in the small glass.
Guinevere stifled a shudder.
"When do you get off work?"
The low, dark shade of his voice surprised her for some
reason, perhaps because it didn't sound in the least affected by
the tequila.
"I don't. I work twenty-four hours a day. No time off for good
behavior. Or bad either." She made her response polite but
firmly discouraging.
"Just one long hustle, hmmm?"
"A woman's work is never done." She scooped up the little
glass, her tone dropping several degrees in temperature. "I'll be
right back."
"I put in a lot of twenty-four hour days myself. Or at least it
seems that way sometimes."
"Fascinating. Excuse me." Without another word she took the
glass and hurried back to the long, ornate bar at the far end of
the room. In all fairness the man wasn't really ugly. It was just
that in this terribly chic environment he tended to stand out.
Like a sore thumb.
For one thing, he was definitely older than almost everyone
else in the room, probably near forty. The typical young,
upwardly mobile urban professional tended to be around thirty -
a good age for making it big or at least living well so that
everyone was convinced you were making it big. Same
-4-
difference.
The man crouching like a malevolent frog under the fern was
dressed much more conservatively than those around him. His
white shirt and bland tie were definitely non-designer, and his
short, no-nonsense haircut was not the product of a blow dryer.
She hadn't peeked under the table, but Guinevere was willing to
bet the shoes would be wing tips.
In the dimly lit room it was difficult to get a good look at his
face, but she'd seen enough to know the frog drinking tequila
among princes had not been cloned from the same designer
genes as the rest of the crowd in the bar.
And the heavy-handed pass he was attempting to make could
have used some social polish, to say the least.
"Order in," Guinevere called to the busy bartender. Jerry
nodded once to show he'd heard and went on blending the frothy
pink strawberry daiquiri someone had ordered. His expression
was polite, but she had a hunch what he was thinking.
Bartenders, Guinevere had learned, were very disdainful of
people who ordered fluffy drinks. She waited patiently until he
was done.
"Two more chardonnays, three draft bitters, and another
tequila straight."
"Who's the guy drinking the tequila?" Jerry smoothly poured
the white wines.
"A frog that never metamorphosed into a prince."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Don't they ever turn that music down, Jerry?"
"Nope. It's after midnight. The meat-market action is going to
be getting very intense soon. The music helps."
"Helps what?"
Jerry shrugged with the wisdom of bartenders the world over.
"Helps make it all right, I guess. How are you holding up?"
-5-
Plik z chomika:
daphne.mezereum
Inne pliki z tego folderu:
09. The Lost Night.pdf
(1419 KB)
12 arcane. Canyons of Night.pdf
(1632 KB)
Fatal Fortune, The - Jayne Castle & Jayne Ann Krentz.pdf
(897 KB)
Jayne Castle - Guinevere Jones 01 - The Desperate Game.pdf
(680 KB)
Jayne Castle - Guinevere Jones 02 - The Chilling Deception.pdf
(440 KB)
Inne foldery tego chomika:
Kendrick Sharon
King Lucy
Kramer Amanda
Krentz Jayne Ann
Zgłoś jeśli
naruszono regulamin