Read Mistaken Trust (The Jewels Trust Series) for Free Online Page A

her. Galloping down the familiar dungeon-like hall and around a sharp corner, the exit came into view.
    “Where’s the fire, Honey?” called out the guard standing at the top of the staircase, watching with amusement as the only female residing in the compound rushed toward the stairs.
    “Tampon run,” she snapped, leaping up the stairs, two at a time.
    Recoiling his head, he wrinkled his nose, repulsed. “TMI.”
    Too much information. No shit. That was an understatement, considering what she had just overheard. “Make way, I’m PMSing really bad,” she growled at the guard.
    Plastering his body against the wall behind the door, he cleared a path for her to easily breeze past him once she reached the top.
    “Stop her! Don’t let her out!” a male voice boomed from deep within the dark hallway.
    Too late. With a good twenty-foot head start, she was nearly free and planned to stay that way. Not slowing down or giving the guard a chance to stop her, she burst through the entry, practically slamming the big metal door in the guard’s face.
    A cool breeze, warm rays of morning sunshine and the smell of pine trees greeted her, but she didn’t take the time to appreciate them. Avoiding capture was paramount if she were to warn her high school friend of their sinister plan.
    Gravel crunched beneath the frantic hammering of her army boots as she tore toward her shiny red Jeep Wrangler. Thank God she had left the keys in the ignition. Clearly, immediate escape was a matter of life or death for her ... and for her friend.

Chapter Two

    “BY THE WAY....”
    Jewels jumped reflexively at the sound of Belinda’s booming voice. She whirled the chair around to face the door, watching as her secretary enthusiastically bounced through the entry. “It’s Thursday,” Belinda said, her tone playful, big elk-brown eyes sparkling. “And guess what? Your FBI guy called, again.”
    Belinda Parker, her busty twenty-seven-year-old secretary—whom she regarded more as a little sister than an employee—was five-foot-five-inches tall, a pleasantly plump one-hundred-forty pounds with chestnut hair cut into a sexy short crop and gelled into trendy spikes.
    Rolling her eyes, Jewels sighed. Again was right. For the past three months Theodore Hines, FBI Special Agent In Charge of the Salt Lake office, had been calling once a week, every Thursday, wanting to take her out on a date. “Thanks, but no thank you,” she said, sounding exhausted.
    Crimping her brows, Belinda lowered herself into the inviting wingback chair opposite Jewels’ desk. “Can we talk? I mean, as friends, not as you being my boss?”
    Concern wiped Jewels’ face. “Certainly. Let me shut the door,” she said, pushing back from her desk, rapidly walking across the room and closing the door. Instead of returning to the seat behind her desk, she sat next to Belinda in the matching chair.
    Belinda leaned forward, patted Jewels on the knee. “I think it’s time we had a talk.”
    “About what?”
    “You and Agent Hines.”
    Exhaling forcefully, Jewels collapsed her back into the chair and rubbed her forehead.
    “Robert would want you to move on—”
    “It’s complicated—”
    “Just hear me out. Okay?”
    “Fine.”
    “Jewels you have everything—”
    “ Had ,” she quickly corrected.
    Belinda’s head tilted, eyes pinched in reprimand at Jewels for interrupting her.
    “Sorry, go ahead.”
    “First of all, look at you. You’re thirty-four years old, have the beauty and poise of a cover model, the warm personality of a southern belle, and the business savvy of a Fortune 500 CEO....”
    Jewels’ face reddened.
    “And you’re a widow. Jewels, you’re single. Robert’s gone—”
    “Don’t you think I know that?” she returned with a huff, bolting to her feet. “Every day, I come into the New Greensburgh Press, the printing and newspaper business Robert and I built from nothing, and take a seat behind this beautifully decorated and furnished