The Killing Edge Read Online Free Page B

laughed. “No, not really. But I’m Vick’s cousin, kind of like her big brother, so I watch out for her.”
    “And Chloe,” Victoria said.
    Brad blinked. “And Chloe. Of course.”
    “We’ve all known each other a long time,” Jared said.
    “So you’re all from the area?” Luke asked.
    “Born and bred,” Jared assured him, and grinned. “I have no association with the agency at all, though. I just tag along because we’re all friends, and the girls set me up now and then. I wouldn’t mind doing some modeling, though.” He lowered his voice. “This is actually a big night for me. First time I’ve actually met Myra Allen.”
    “Myra likes working from the mansion or, if she even goes along to a shoot, her hotel room. She’s not into the great outdoors,” Brad said.
    “She’s a legend, though, and it’s really cool to finally meet her,” Jared said.
    “Sounds like somebody’s got a crush,” Victoria teased.
    “My only crush is on you. Myra Allen is on a pedestal, to be—worshipped from afar,” Jared assured her.
    He was speaking casually, but Luke had seen the way he looked at Victoria, how his eyes softened when he spoke to her, even jokingly. He was in love. Maybe he’d been pining away for years. Victoria might set him up on dates with some of the other models, and he might go, but it meant nothing. He was in love with her.
    “Besides,” Jared said, his eyes steely as he spoke, “I don’t buy it that Colleen Rodriguez just up and left. I think something happened to her, so if you girls are going out there, then I’m going, too.”
    From the corner of his eye, Luke saw through to the living room and got a fleeting glimpse of someone slipping through on their way to the stairs.
    “What do you think—Jack?” Victoria asked.
    “Pardon?” he said, distracted. He needed to get away, get upstairs and see what was going on.
    He turned to make his excuses and noticed that Chloe wasn’t standing there any longer.
    Luke excused himself quickly, saying he was on a search for the loo—a term that made them all smile—and quickly headed inside. He moved carefully through the crowd and up the stairs.
    The place was huge—he wasn’t sure how many rooms were up here, but he had a sudden and inexplicable feeling that Rene Gonzalez was in one of them.
    He opened the door to a large master suite. No one, though it looked as if someone was living there. He saw pictures on the dresser, and chanced a quick look. The images were of Myra—when she had been young and incredibly perfect.
    He left that room and tried the next. There was a bag at the foot of the bed, and the luggage tag said Jeanne LaRue. So she was making the mansion home, too, at least for now.
    A third room turned out to be Lacy’s. Teddy bears adorned the bed.
    He moved more quickly. The next room was occupied, as well, but it seemed that whoever was staying there was keeping the space impersonal.
    As he glanced around, though, he saw movement. The sheer drapes over the doors that led out to the balcony were shifting. He hurried over and discovered a sturdy wooden trellis that could easily be reached by climbing over the balustrade.
    And someone—a woman—was running across the side lawn, on the other side of the trees that lined the pool. She was headed toward the back of the property. Luke had studied the plans and knew the wall went all the way around, unbroken except for a second gate that could be opened for easy beach access.
    The gate shouldn’t be open tonight, but that didn’t mean someone couldn’t open it. And he didn’t see any guards there.
    He was certain now that the racing figure was Rene Gonzalez, alerted by the fact that her thick dark hair trailed behind her in the wind as she ran.
    Would she make it to the beach? Or would she find herself trapped? And was she running from him? Had she heard he was looking for her, or was she fleeing whoever had engineered the disappearance of Colleen Rodriguez?
    He quickly