Deceptive Treasures: Slye Temp Book 5 (34 page)

Kenner’s roar of anger from the balcony reached her.

He’d found her empty bed.

Clenching one handhold then another as fast as she could, she struggled up the fence.

Freedom was only a foot away. She hauled herself over the top. Her hand slipped. Soft flesh tore on the twisted ends of the chain link. She bit down hard to swallow a cry of pain. No sense giving Kenner a tip on which direction she’d run. He’d find out soon enough anyway. She slipped, kicking frantically for any foothold. Falling from this height could mean a snapped ankle, and speed was her best weapon right now. She caught a toehold, scrambled down the other side, and leaped away from the fence.

Lights blazed on across the compound. Two minutes early.

She froze. Wet chain link sizzled with renewed power.

Every survival instinct she had screamed at her to tear through the woods like a madwoman. But hitting a tree might knock her out or daze her. Instant capture. Instead, she backed away from the fence, her feet on autopilot when she turned and plowed forward. Every time lightning streaked across the sky and lit up the woods, she raced ahead, dodging trees. Thick underbrush clawed at her arms. Pain from the cuts burning her skin demanded attention.

She pushed harder.

Sheets of rain blasted through breaks in the trees. Thunder boomed overhead.

How far could Mason’s men track her?

Would the storm interfere with the bracelet’s signal? She hoped for that miracle since God had been accommodating so far.

  A jagged branch snagged the edge of her thin shorts and ripped a searing gash across her thigh. An adrenaline spike masked the pain, but her lungs begged for oxygen.

She was an endurance runner, not a sprinter.

At an unexpected opening in the brush, she stumbled to a stop, sucking air. Snatching the gold paperweight from between her breasts, she flipped it to the compass embedded in the top. She got her bearings during the next brilliant lightning display.

The small airfield she’d seen on a map in Mason’s office should be dead ahead.

Tucking away the compass, she started to move then jerked around at a noise.

Distant barking and howls broke through the deluge. Mason’s dogs trained by expert trackers. Between the animals and the stupid bracelet, they were on her trail. She pushed on with one thought – surely someone at the airfield would help her.

What if they knew Mason?
What if someone at the airport worked for Mason?
At the very least, he flew in there and might be a client who paid for hangar space.

“What ifs” would get her killed if she slowed down.

She ran her fingers compulsively over the band of coins strapped around her waist. Those eight rare coins were as important as her next breath.

She’d sworn once that she would
never
go to jail again. Her one and only conviction had not been her fault. The police hadn’t believed her story then.

They’d laugh in her face this time – right before they handcuffed her.

Taking Mason’s
Saint-Gauden’s Double Eagle
coins had stamped her death warrant. But they didn’t belong to Mason either. He’d stolen the rare pieces from a museum to trade for what he called a once-in-a-lifetime find. Some panel made out of amber from back in the fifteenth century.

She smiled in spite of her pain.

Mason would be empty handed when it came time to deliver the coins on Sunday.

One more way to pay that bastard back
. If she didn’t get caught by Mason or the FBI first.

The FBI should be thrilled to have the stolen coins returned, and her testimony on Mason’s international crime ring. But no one would listen to her until she could prove she had no part in the original theft.

Mason claimed he had evidence that would implicate
her
in the theft. And who would the authorities believe? A local dignitary or a nobody ex-con?

  As if someone had thrown a switch, the downpour fizzled into a steady shower. She burst through a break in the trees and slowed while her eyes adjusted, but moved forward steadily.

The ground fell away. She stumbled down a short drop into a ditch, landing on her knees. No pain because adrenaline still rushed through her, but she’d have bruises on bruises after this. She climbed up and touched pavement.

The runway
.

The good news? No fence around this airport. She scrambled to stand and drew a quaking breath. Freedom got closer by the minute.

The bays of pursuit dogs pierced the night. They were closing in.

A fence at this point might’ve had merits.

Searching past the runway, she spotted the bright glow of an open hangar a quarter of a mile away. With no time to waste, she sprinted toward the illuminated area.

Running felt good in spite of how her thigh throbbed. Blood trickled from the deep gash. Forcing her heart to pump harder only made her bleed more, but she’d survived worse.

She softened her steps as she neared the hangar then crept to the edge of the building. A tall, lanky man in mechanic’s coveralls loaded boxes into a sleek twin-prop cargo plane.

When the worker finished, he walked across the spotless floor toward a brightly lit office.

She could just make out two men on the other side of a glass door. The mechanic pushed the door open and announced the airplane was ready to go.

Angel hesitated. She’d always obeyed the law before. Now, the “slightly illegal things” she never would have done in the past just kept stacking up. Clenching her jaw against the unavoidable twinge of guilt, she made her decision.

That was the old Angel.

The new one wanted to survive and accepted that she’d never outrun those dogs on the ground.

One way or another, she was leaving on that plane.

Get Book 1 -
Last Chance To Run
now!

***

The Slye Temp Series

Book 1:
Last Chance To Run

Book 2:
Nowhere Safe

Book 3:
Honeymoon To Die For

Book 4:
Kiss The Enemy

Book 5:
DECEPTIVE TREASURES

Book 6: STOLEN VENGENCE (summer 2014)

More Slye Temp coming in 2014!

“Thanks again for reading and if you have a moment please post a review – your support is deeply appreciated!”
New York Times
bestseller Dianna Love

About The Author

New York Times bestseller Dianna Love once dangled over a hundred feet in the air to create unusual marketing projects for Fortune 500 companies. The first book she wrote won a RITA® Award and sold out in six weeks. She writes the high-octane, sexy Slye Temp romantic thriller series and readers keep demanding more. To collect “signed” cover cards for free, visit
www.KeeperKase.com

When not in the writing cave, Dianna is touring the country on her BMW motorcycle. She lives in the Atlanta, GA area with her husband, who is a motorcycle instructor, and a tank full of unruly saltwater critters. For more on Dianna and to order “signed and personalized books,” visit 
http://www.AuthorDiannaLove.com

Want to know as soon as Dianna has a new book release? Sign up here for her newsletter (sent quarterly)
. Follow her on
Facebook
and
Twitter.com/diannalove
, but to get in on all the news first join her
Dianna Love Street Team

For Young Adult Fans – check out the explosive new sci-fi/fantasy Red Moon trilogy by USA Today bestseller Micah Caida (aka Dianna Love and Mary Buckham).

Book 1:
Time Trap

Book 2:
Time Return

Book 3:
Time Lock

To read excerpts, go to
http://www.MicahCaida.com

Praise for the
Slye Temp series:

About LAST CHANCE TO RUN:

"LAST CHANCE TO RUN…reminded me of Cinderella. Well, if Cinderella was on the run from a maniac killer and Prince Charming wielded a gun and flew a plane. Great read. Check it out!"

~~Bryonna Nobles,
The Paperback Cafe

"Dianna never disappoints! … would have give it a 10 if they would let!!! Very enjoyable read, can't wait for the next one :-)."

~~ Amy, Goodreads

About NOWHERE SAFE:

“I fell in love with the characters in this book. This story is chock full of action, white hot romance, shocking twists and intelligence.”

   ~~Trina,
After Dark Rendezvous

 "Escalating danger and conflicting emotions keep NOWHERE SAFE constantly engrossing."

~~Amelia Richard,
SingleTitles.com

About HONEYMOON TO DIE FOR:

“…an exhilarating romance woven with riveting characters and a plot that has more twists and turns than a roller coaster…one of those books that you wish would go on forever.”

~~
Billie Jo,
Romance Junkies

“…constantly believable and packed with intrigue. HONEYMOON TO DIE FOR is suspenseful yet passionate and totally satisfying.”

~~
Amelia Richard,
Single Titles.com

“It seems with each book, this series gets better…This was such a beautiful romance, one of the best I have read this year.”

~~
Barb,
The Reading Cafe

About KISS THE ENEMY:

      “A perfect balance of suspense and romance makes KISS THE ENEMY totally captivating….an exceptionally compelling Slye Temp story, a series I never want to end.”

~~Amelia Richard,
SingleTitles.com

"Blending taut pacing with sizzling tension, a little bit of James Bond with an engaging personal drama, this is a story for suspense fans and romance readers alike."

~~Bridget,
The Romance Reviews
***

The Slye Temp Series

Book 1:
Last Chance To Run

Book 2:
Nowhere Safe

Book 3:
Honeymoon To Die For

Book 4:
Kiss The Enemy

Book 5:
DECEPTIVE TREASURES

Book 6: STOLEN VENGENCE (summer 2014)

More Slye Temp coming in 2014!

“Thanks for reading and please share my books with others
. If you have a moment to post a review (online bookstore, Goodreads, wherever), I would very much appreciate it. I am so thankful for readers like you!”

New York Times
bestselling author Dianna Love