Free Reckless Assignation by Denyse Bridger

Prologue
     
    Rick Leighton watched from his vantage point on the third
floor of the crumbling hotel. His mind was flip-flopping continually as he both
waited for his careful planning to reward him when Cindi walked into this trap
and worried about recent developments on the job. Rick had worked in espionage
for over fifteen years and he’d made more enemies than he cared to think about.
Lately, he was increasingly aware of the shadows of his past closing in on his
dreams and his waking hours.
    He’d left the intelligence field for a few years but
inevitably been lured back. He was considered one of the best in the business
and, ego aside, he knew he was good at the job. He was something of a legend in
his field, and a huge part of it was his successful use of the attraction so
many women felt for him. He’d never cared deeply enough for it to be a problem,
but he had tired of being the agency whore and it was instrumental in his
leaving. Then came the surprise of his life—and his biggest weakness now—the
woman he’d fallen in love with so unexpectedly. Her father had been his mentor
in many ways and, strained as their relationship was at the moment, Rick knew
Josh never stopped protecting Cindi either.
    He shook off his concerns the moment he saw familiar
golden-blonde hair, focusing on the elaborate game he’d set in place for
Cinthya Bradley. Her presence filled him with conflicting responses, part of
him furious at her lack of care in coming and part of him undeniably thrilled
by her arrival. He’d been planning this for weeks, and now it was in play.
    Drawing back from the window, he smiled and extinguished the
single candle that he’d lit while waiting. Deep within the cavernous building,
he heard a sound that was suspiciously like a door being opened. He frowned as
he considered the direction it had come from, somewhere in the back of the
ancient hotel. Cindi should have been at the front. The second thump was at the
front and he dismissed the earlier sound as he slipped into position.
    The Mayfair was an old, old hotel, and a lot of things went
bump in the night when winds blew through the smashed-out windows and the
various entrances to the place creaked and groaned. He was being overly
paranoid. He’d felt someone lurking in the shadows for days, but no one ever
revealed themselves. He was suffering from job stress and needed time off. It
wasn’t the first time he’d felt ghosts around him. Occupational hazard.
    His grin slid into place when he heard the first telltale
squeak of the stairs…

Chapter One
     
    Cinthya Bradley’s nerves were tingling as she made her way
into the derelict building. There were countless legends about this ancient
hotel and the reports of hauntings numbered in the hundreds. No one could fully
remember the reason it had been abandoned for over half a century.
    She’d done some research into the background of the Mayfair
Hotel for a school report years earlier, and all she’d been able to unearth was
in the late thirties a murder was reputed to have taken place here. A young
couple vanished after checking in to spend their honeymoon. The staff at the
time refused to speak about it, undoubtedly ordered to keep their mouths shut.
In the years that followed, of course, rumors circulated and grew exponentially
with each decade. Reports of shrieking, ghostly sightings and blood-spattered
walls abounded until the place closed. New owners attempted to reopen once but
they closed again within a few months. That was back in the forties. No one had
tried since.
    The locks had been broken for as long as she could recall,
but the place remained deserted anyway. Even the homeless avoided the Mayfair,
and that should have been enough to keep her outside. Of course, it wasn’t.
She’d simply walked into the place after a couple of tugs on the door. Rusted hinges
squealed an objection, then gave way.
    If Rick found out she’d stepped foot in the place, she’d be
hearing about it for