Free Hidden Gems by Carrie Alexander Page A

After having the nap interrupted by a sexy dream that had expanded on her Bedouin fantasy—starring Jamie!—and then Harry’s restlessness, she could use a good night’s sleep.
    She needed a clear head to deal with the Jamie decision.
    Oh, Jamie. She’d been so blind about him and their physical attraction. But the thought of losing her best friend over a brief fling filled her with dread.
    Her key didn’t work. She put her shoulder to the door and jiggled the key in the lock until it turned, noticing the scratches as the door swung open.
    The apartment was black. Too black.
    Her hackles rose. She imagined she heard breathing, then realized it was her own.
    The sconce near the front door should have been on. Perhaps the bulb had burned out.
    At first she couldn’t put her finger on what else was wrong. Then she knew. She should have been able to see the red digital clock on the DVD player even when all the other lights were off.
    Maybe the electricity was out?
    The light switch was near the door, but Marissa was frozen. The scratches on the lock…
    She’d been burgled.
    “Harry?” she quailed. That broke her paralysis. The standard for break-ins was to leave the apartment immediately in case the burglar was still inside, but she wasn’t fleeing without her cat.
    She hit the switch and the lights came on. The apartment was beyond its usual state of upheaval. Every item on the shelves on the opposite wall, including the TV and DVD player, had been overturned. Drawers were open, couch cushions thrown around. The coatrack was tipped over, with the bags that usually hung from it scattered all around, every one of them yawning open. Their contents littered the floor—forgotten jewelry, coins, receipts, tubes of lipstick.
    “Harry?” Marissa called, pushing the door open wider. It seemed to be blocked by something bulky. She took one cautious step inside. “C’mere, kitty, kitty.” He was probably hiding under the bed.
    Two things happened at once. The cat streaked out of the bedroom, his tail the size of a bottle brush. And the door that Marissa had pushed against came back at her—hard. She staggered.
    A man leaped out. He was dressed in black, with his face covered by a ski mask. She saw eyes rimmed in white, a mouth pulled into a snarl.
    And then his hand was locked around her wrist and he yanked her into the apartment. The door slammed behind her.
    Marissa screamed.
    The intruder jerked her arm behind her back, bending it to the breaking point. A gloved hand slapped over her mouth. “Make another sound and I’ll snap your arm in half,” he rasped into her ear.
    He’d pulled her against his thick, muscled body. She caught the scent of liquor and rotting teeth and jerked her head aside.
    Hard fingertips dug into her cheek, holding her still. “Where is it?”
    Her heart knotted in her throat. She shook her head.
    He breathed heavily against her neck, making the small dangling stones of her earring sway. “Tell me where it is and I’ll let you go.”
    His hand was still clamped over her mouth. He didn’t get that she couldn’t talk until she made a choking sound in her throat.
    He dropped his hand to her neck. “Don’t scream, bitch,” he warned as his grip on her wrist tightened. He sharpened the angle of her arm. A stinging pain shot through it, lodging a burning coal in her shoulder.
    Her eyes darted over the mess, wishing for a weapon or a clue. What had he been looking for? Other than a few pricey designer items from her wardrobe and the gold crucifix her parents had given her for confirmation, she had nothing of great value.
    “But I don’t know what you want,” she said in a hoarse whisper.
    “You brought it home.”
    “What? When?”
    His fetid breath made her face contort. “From the airport,” he said. “We know what you did.”
    Her voice rose to a soprano pitch. “I brought noth—”
    The hand covered her mouth again, smothering the denial.
    She whimpered. A pitiful sound, but