Read Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire for Free Online Page A

thing.
    “How strange that she wouldn’t have said a word to me about an engagement,” Jonas said. “Or to any of her sisters.” He didn’t bother to keep the note of disbelief out of his voice.
    “Very strange,” Aleksandr agreed. Abigail tensed in his arms, but the effort to fight him was apparently too exhausting and she relaxed again, her expression stubborn. If she kept that look on her face he might be tempted to take advantage of her weakness and kiss her right in front of her new lover. He shoved the thought away, feeling murderous. It was enough to have lost Danilov without discovering that another man had taken his woman from him.
    “What happened tonight, Volstov?” Jonas made a point of staring at him in the rearview mirror. “Is Abbey a part of this?”
    “No.” Aleksandr was grateful for the interruption of his thoughts. “I was as shocked to find Abbey on the scene as you were.” He bent over her, rubbing at what he hoped was a smudge and not a bruise forming between her eyes.
    She managed to bring up her hand to slap at his arm. He waited until she settled down and went right back to rubbing with the pad of his finger. Small, round caresses. Gentle. Stroking. Telling her with his touch that he wasn’t going anywhere. The faint mark wouldn’t go away. She had pale, almost alabaster skin and he remembered she bruised easily. It was a hell of a way to announce his return, but like the mark, he was back in her life to stay and she was going to have to deal with their past whether she liked it or not.
    “So what are you and your partner doing in my county?” Jonas asked. “You introduced yourself to me, but you neglected to say you were going to leave dead bodies in our harbor.”

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    “We’ve been working this case for some time and we’ve traced three shipments in the past two and a half years to this coast. There’s been a steady stream of stolen antiquities, including an impressive collection of jewelry, going out ofRussia. My partner, Andre Danilov, managed to get a job on a fishing boat out of the harbor and was keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity. We’ve known for some time that artifacts have been smuggled through a route here, but this was the first time we knew the actual freighter and when it would arrive.”
    Jonas was silent for a moment and then he sighed. “Gene Dockins came to me a few months ago and said he was concerned something was happening out at sea with one of the boats—the Treasure Chest .
    The captain is a man named John Fergus and I’ve known him several years. He’s never given us any trouble. Several local businessmen own the boat and all of them have lived in the area most of their lives.
    Most own other businesses. I did a little discreet inquiry down around the harbor and turned the matter over to the coast guard, but, to my knowledge, they didn’t turn up anything unusual. Gene didn’t say anything further to me and I presumed the matter was taken care of. Obviously, I was wrong.“
    “Gene Dockins actually contacted Interpol, saying he thought there was smuggling going on. He thought drugs, or with the terrorist scare he was afraid a bomb might be smuggled into theUnited Statesvia this coastline. He and his son Jeremy had been doing a little undercover work and managed to take pictures of something being offloaded onto the Treasure Chest . As we knew this area was hot, we followed up on his inquiries and took him up on his offer to continue helping.”
    Jonas swore aloud. “Why the hell didn’t they come to me? For that matter, you should have come to me instead of using a local for your undercover work. Jeremy’s only a kid. Damn it!” He slammed his open palm against the steering wheel. “I should have been more on top of it. I knew Gene was concerned, but I thought once I’d turned it over for investigation he’d dropped it.” He sighed. “I