LITMIR.BIZ

      And those who know your name put their trust

       in you; for you, O Lord, have not forsaken

       those who seek you.

      —Psalms 9:10

      To my children; you are my joy and my blessing.

      CONTENTS

      PROLOGUE

      CHAPTER ONE

      CHAPTER TWO

      CHAPTER THREE

      CHAPTER FOUR

      CHAPTER FIVE

      CHAPTER SIX

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      CHAPTER NINE

      CHAPTER TEN

      CHAPTER ELEVEN

      CHAPTER TWELVE

      CHAPTER THIRTEEN

      CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      EPILOGUE

      QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

      PROLOGUE

      March

      Gunfire!

      The plush private suite on the top floor of the Palisades Casino and Resort in downtown Atlantic City, New Jersey rocked with the deafening noise of gunfire, echoed by the screams of its once-privileged occupants.

      The woman’s heart slammed painfully against her ribs and a cry burst from her lungs. The tray of glasses she held fell to the carpeted floor with a thud, the liquor soaking the rug. The stench of alcohol mixed with the smell of gunpowder. A potent combination.

      She dove behind the free-standing bar. Crouched and shuddering with terror, she clapped her hands over her ears to muffle the retort of weapons firing and the sounds of men dying.

      “Oh, God in Heaven, please, help me,” she prayed, rocking on her heels. She didn’t know why she was praying. Did God even exist? But if there was a time to glom on to any hope that He was real, now was that time.

      A man’s body dropped to the floor beside her. She gasped. Jean Luc Versailles, the owner of the Palisades, groaned. Thankfully he wasn’t dead, but a deep crimson stain spread across the white dress shirt beneath his tuxedo jacket.

      Adrenaline pumping, she grabbed him by the arm and struggled to drag him closer to the relative safety behind the bar. Tears clogged her throat and ran down her cheeks. He had always been nice to her.

      “You have to get out of here,” Jean Luc said with a croak, his voice expressing the pain reflected in his dark eyes.

      “You’re hurt,” she said inanely, her mind trying to recall her first-aid training from high school P.E. Like that had prepared her to deal with a gunshot wound.

      Pressure. She had to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Gagging from the sight and smell of blood, she yanked two bar towels from the shelf beside her and pressed them to his shoulder. She cringed as more gunshots filled the air.

      His hand fastened around her wrist like a vise. “My jacket pocket. Get my wallet.”

      Keeping one hand firmly on the towels, she slid out his black leather billfold from the inside pocket of his tailor-made jacket with her free hand.

      “Now what?” she asked.

      He closed her hand tightly around the billfold and thrust it against her stomach. “Take the money. Use it. Disappear.” He let go of her and pushed himself up to a seated position, the bar at his back. “Escape through the wall panel. Run and don’t stop. Go.”

      Acutely aware of the massacre taking place on the other side of the bar, she whispered, “I can’t leave you. We need the police.”

      “No police.” He struggled to his knees, swayed slightly, and reached around her. From behind several liquor bottles he pulled out a large silver gun.

      She shrank back, wishing she’d called in sick today. Wishing Jean Luc hadn’t invited Raoul Domingo to his private suite. Wishing she were anywhere but here.

      But wishing never did any good.

      His dark gaze pierced her. “On three.”

      “What about you?”

      He got a foot beneath him. “Just go. One. Two.” He staggered to his feet, the gun raised in his shaky hand. “Three!”

      Self-preservation, survival instinct, whatever, took over. She scrambled to her feet and in a half-crouch ran toward the mirrored wall.

      The sight reflected there made her stumble. Her heart thumped in her chest. Anticipation wound a tight knot in her gut.

      Any moment the blast of a bullet would slam into her. But she didn’t want to die here today. Every muscle in her body, tightened in readiness, made movement

Скачать книгу