READER'S ROCK LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE VOL 2 ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2014 Vol. 1 Issue 8 Feb. 2014 | Page 33

Looking for a thrill?
While he closed her door and then
walked around to the opposite side, she
sent the photo to her boss with a text
explaining that this was the bodyguard,
John Noble.
“Why did you take a picture of me?”
Amelia fastened her seatbelt and
checked the street before shifting into
Drive. “The truth?” Might as well see if
he could take her straightforward
approach.
“Preferably.”
“If I disappear and they find my
body,” she eased out of the parking slot,

Her enemy's eyes widened and a creepy
half-smile slid across his face. "Would you like
some proof that I will follow through on my
threats?"
"No," Selena said, dread seizing her throat
with a cold fist.
"Good,” Galloway said. “That saves me
time. I will take delivery of the watch this
evening. No sense in further delays."
She shook her head. "Impossible." She
wasn't ready to cave in to his demands. "I'm not
giving you so much as a piece of lint from her
apartment until my cousin signs off on this."
He nodded. "You've been remarkably
determined on that point." With a cold efficiency

“the authorities will have a description of
you to go on.”
His attention remained fixed on the
street ahead of them for endless
seconds before he responded. “If I
made you disappear,” he said finally, his
tone dark and ominous, “your body
would never be found.”
Now who was being
straightforward? A shiver of unease
slithered down her spine like an errant
raindrop under her collar. He wasn't
kidding and the worst of it was she
believed him. Completely.

he slid his cell phone across the table.
She stared, slack-jawed at the picture of
her cousin. Blindfolded, bound wrist and ankle
to a metal chair, with a dark cloth blocking any
clues to the location, she faced the camera.
The words "Please cooperate" were printed on
a sign propped in her lap.
"Oh, my God."
Selena's options had just wound down to
zero.
He stared at her for another few seconds.
"No police, no outsiders, or Renata pays the
price. Just you, me and the watch."

Suddenly the prisoner laughed. “That's it.
Renata Vaccaro is working for you too, isn't
she?”
What the hell? A low buzz started in
Sandman's ears. Galloway did not just use that
name.
Messenger's stoic expression didn't
waver.
“Ah, come on then. Tell me I'm right. I've
earned that much.” Galloway laughed again
when Messenger refused to comment.
“Nevermind. You would never have interrupted
my deal if you didn't already have your hooks in
her.”
Sandman smothered his reaction to the
sound of her name. There was no room for
weakness in UI, not even in this small

observation room with a tech expert. Everything
was noted and analyzed for the ultimate
preservation of Messenger and UI.
This was a coincidence, nothing more.
Galloway wasn't referring to the Renata that
Sandman knew. No. He would not believe it.
The Renata he knew was too wild, too
pampered, and far too precious to have gotten
tangled up with Messenger.
He turned to the tech expert. “Pictures.”
He forced the word past the dry lump in his
throat.
“Coming up now.”
Sandman couldn't breathe as candid
shots of Renata – his Renata – popped up and
filled the monitor.