Free Dragon Moon by Unknown Page A

could repeat them if she had to.
     
    Methodically, he tore off the top of the packet, dumped the contents into one of the mugs, and added water from the kettle. Then he stirred the mixture with a spoon.
     
    As soon as the water and the powder combined, a delicious aroma drifted toward her.
     
    Hot chocolate, he had said.
     
    After passing her the mug, he opened another cabinet and took out a small rectangular box with a picture of vegetation on the side. From it he removed a smaller packet, which he put into the other mug, then added water.
     
    None of this was like any food preparation she’d ever seen, and her throat tightened as she tried to absorb the details. Vandar’s men had had no idea of what she would face here.
     
    Talon Marshall stirred his own drink, and she caught a mixture of spicy flavors.
     
    “Why are you having something different?” she asked.
     
    “I don’t eat many sweets.”
     
    “Oh.”
     
    After taking the packet out of the mug, he opened a door under the sink and tossed the wet thing into a tall, square bucket thing.
     
    When he carried his cup to the table, she followed.
     
    Sitting across from him, she took a cautious sip of the hot chocolate. It was rich and sweet and delicious.
     
    “This is wonderful,” she murmured. “You really don’t like it?”
     
    “Family trait,” he clipped out.
     
    She nodded and took another sip.
     
    “How did you get here?” he asked.
     
    She almost choked on the drink and fought to recover. “I hitched a ride . . . from a truck driver,” she said, repeating the story she’d been given. “Then I got out and walked.”
     
    He kept his gaze on her. “Why are you running away?”
     
    “Do I have to talk about it?” she asked in a small voice.
     
    “Not if it makes you uncomfortable.”
     
    “I have to figure out what to do,” she said.
     
    When he didn’t comment, she went on. “If you let me stay here for a few days, I could earn my keep.” As soon as she’d said it, her face flamed, because she realized how he might take that. “I . . . I mean doing work for you. Things around the house.”
     
    As she watched him considering the suggestion, she held her breath. He could let her stay, or he could send her away.
     
     
    THE storm was over, and from the darkness of the forest, Mitch Sutton cautiously approached the old hunting lodge. He’d tracked the cocksucker here, and now he was going to figure out how to get even with the guy.
     
    Not that anything he could do was going to make up for the missing million bucks. But at least he could make the bastard sorry that he’d ever stuck his shovel where it didn’t belong.
     
    It was dumb luck that Mitch had seen the guy. He’d been about to do a quick check on the stash when he’d spotted two cars coming up the rutted road and stopping. His pulse had started pounding as he’d watched the civilian and the two cops get out.
     
    From what he caught of the conversation, he’d been pretty sure the fucking money was gone. Mitch had circled around and used his binoculars to read the civilian’s license plate. Then he’d faded back into the woods and waited until the coast was clear to check the hiding place, hoping against hope that he was wrong.
     
    No such luck!
     
    He’d planned the gig, and he’d killed Jim Edison to keep that dumb fuck from throwing around wads of cash and drawing attention to himself.
     
    Now . . . it was all gone.
     
    He’d made friends with a chick at the DMV who’d done some favors for him off and on. His first step in his revenge plans had been to take her out to lunch and sweet-talk her into giving him a reading on the license plate.
     
    The vehicle belonged to a guy named Talon Marshall, and when Mitch had looked him up, he’d found where he lived. Right next to the park where Mitch had buried the money.
     
    Well, screw him!
     
    Mitch stayed in the shadows of the trees, watching the house. A few lights were on, which meant