Shrouded in Secrets Excerpt
Light
filled the grotto, temporarily blinding Pete. A thin woman stood, staring at
him with haunting green eyes and a confident smirk. Ebony hair pulled back into
a tight ponytail, she wore a black thigh-length diving suit that clung to her
ample breasts and accentuated the gentle curve of her hips and trim waist. In
her hand, she clutched a glistening dagger. But, what kept Pete transfixed were
her eyes. The unique and beautiful shade of green didn’t exist in nature. Their
almond-shape held ice and evil, and the soulless chill in her stare made him
shudder.
Pete
detected another figure filling the tunnel behind the woman. The person
remained hidden from his view as he continued to contemplate his odds of
surviving. He observed her graceful and confident movements with morbid
fascination as he visualized his pending death at her slender fingers, making
his pulse race. Despite squeaking through all of his CIA training, nothing had
prepared him for an encounter with a creature so enchanting and deadly.
The
woman said nothing as she snatched a cloth sack from the hand of the hidden
person without a backward glance. Her eyes never wavered from Pete’s face, nor
did her amused expression change. She quickly transferred the object from the
gold box into the bag, pulled the drawstring, and took several steps back. She
handed the package to her colleague crouched in the shadows, and finally spoke.
“I’m
disappointed. I hoped to have the opportunity to test my new fillet knife on
Cash,” she said as she turned the dagger’s hilt in her hand. “Men, should I gut
this thin man and feed him to the sharks, as he tried to do with us, or let him
live long enough to tell that egotistical traitor how he lost the prize and was
beaten by a ghost?”
Silence
filled the room. Pete felt powerless to pull his gaze from the green-eyed
devil. A sliver of hope trickled through him, mixed with a lot of confusion.
She knew Cash. Though Pete heard nothing, the woman responded as if she had
received an answer to her question from the person behind her.
“Yes.
We might as well kill him. I would rather see the expression on my old friend’s
face when our paths eventually cross than to have him forewarned. Heinrich,
hold this for me. I doubt I need both hands to kill this pest, but he did give
us a reasonable chase for a while.”
Pete
watched as the huge muscular man named Heinrich slithered farther into the room
and took the light from the woman. She strode toward Pete, the distance closing
rapidly. He raised his knife in an attempt to defend himself, but something in
her eyes told him it was pointless to fight.
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