Her Outback Protector. Margaret Way

Читать онлайн.
Название Her Outback Protector
Автор произведения Margaret Way
Жанр Современные любовные романы
Серия
Издательство Современные любовные романы
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781408945452



Скачать книгу

looking out. Floors below her, the city was all lit up. A big yellow bus crawled along the main street, taxis whizzed up and down, a couple was turning into the hotel’s entrance. Pedestrians crossed at the lights.

      Where was Daniel? He seemed to stand alone as an ally. Their shared ordeal had established quite a bond, as such hair-raising incidents tend to do, although she’d been feeling quite kindly disposed towards him even before that. She knew he viewed her as a young person who needed looking after. A loner. An orphan. He seemed to identify with that. Her lack of height—she was five-two—had never helped. Actually she was very good at fending for herself. A result of having a mother like Pam who really loved her but somehow had never been able to demonstrate it as a parent should. Not that her mother hadn’t had her own harrowing time. Losing her husband the way she had, then being thrown out of Moondai had caused huge psychological trauma.

      Her ever present memories began flashing through her brain again. She let them roll like a video clip. There was her mother lying on a bed, an arm thrown across her swollen, tear-streaked face. There was she, a bewildered, grief-stricken child, standing beside the bed, her hand on her mother’s shaking shoulder, trying to make sense of a world that had been turned violently upside down.

      I loved your father, Sandy. Our marriage would have survived if only he’d come away with me from Moondai. Moondai killed him. Moondai and your uncle Lloyd.

      Uncle Lloyd said I’m not Daddy’s. Is it true?

      Would our marriage have survived if you weren’t? Of course you’re Daddy’s little girl. Your uncle would say anything—anything at all—to try to discredit me.

      Then how come Grandad threw us out? How could he do that if I’m his granddaughter?

      Her mother’s answer was always the same. His grief was too powerful, Sandy. In a way he started to believe your uncle. But never, never doubt. You are Daddy’s daughter. I swear to you on my life and his memory.

      Well, her doubts had persisted. It was only years later she had learned to thrust them aside. That was after her mother had married Jem—the second guy didn’t count. Then she was truly on her own. She had never let her mother know what a sicko Jem really was. Her mother seemed happy with a man who liked to impose his will on everyone else, and now they had their son, her stepbrother, Michael, whom they both adored. Didn’t she love Michael herself? Spoilt rotten Michael, despite the bad parenting was a nice little kid. And she was now an heiress who could have anything she liked. That’s if she managed to survive the next six months. She would officially inherit on her twenty-first birthday in August. Her mother had interpreted that as Rigby Kingston trying to buy redemption.

      How could her grandfather buy redemption when he hadn’t had a soul?

      Twenty minutes later she was showered, shampooed and dressed to descend to the hotel restaurant. She had scrubbed up rather nicely she thought, splashing out on makeup, a pretty dress, and a couple of squirts of perfume to give Daniel Carson a bit of a jolt. She was a woman, not the coltish youngster he thought he had taken under his wing. That attitude had set her a challenge and she liked challenges. She liked Daniel. He had saved her life. How could she not?

      So where was he? Surely he’d be back by now, whether they’d been able to restart the helicopter or not. One thing was certain, a team of sharpshooters couldn’t stick around in that swamp at night. It was crawling with crocs. A mechanic with the rescue team had been winched down to him. Maybe together they could get the chopper back in the air as they hadn’t run out of fuel. It had to be some mechanical defect.

      The digital clock said 7:23 p.m. She was hungry. All she’d really had all day was hers and Daniel’s sandwiches and a cup of coffee. She was starting to worry about him. She didn’t want to go ahead and eat without him. Even as she thought it, the phone rang. She reached it at speed.

      “Ms Kingston?”

      Mysteriously her heart leapt. Was that significant? “Daniel, where are you?” She hoped she didn’t sound too needy. She wanted to project the weight of maturity.

      “Keep calm. I’m down the hallway. Isn’t that what you wanted? Your overseer close by.”

      “You bet. What happened about the chopper? Did you get it out?”

      “It took a lot longer than expected. It’s grounded for a complete inspection.”

      “So what was the problem?” She caught her reflection in the mirror, all pink cheeked and bright-eyed as if they were having a cosy chat.

      “You wouldn’t know if I told you.”

      “Just tell me this. Should we contact the police?”

      “No way,” he said.

      He had such a sexy voice on the phone. It was sort of like being caressed. She took a deep breath. “Listen, we can’t talk on the phone. I’m hungry.”

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4RQnRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgADAEAAAMAAAABAg0AAAEBAAMAAAABArwAAAECAAMAAAADAAAA ngEGAAMAAAABAAIAAAESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEVAAMAAAABAAMAAAEaAAUAAAABAAAApAEbAAUAAAAB AAAArAEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAgAAAAtAEyAAIAAAAUAAAA1IdpAAQAAAABAAAA6AAAASAA CAAIAAgADqYAAAAnEAAOpgAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTNiAoTWFjaW50b3NoKQAyMDE1 OjA4OjEyIDE3OjI1OjE0AAAEkAAABwAAAAQwMjIxoAEAAwAAAAH//wAAoAIABAAAAAEAAAXcoAMA BAAAAAEAAAfQAAAAAAAAAAYBAwADAAAAAQAGAAABGgAFAAAAAQAAAW4BGwAFAAAAAQAAAXYBKAAD AAAAAQACAAACAQAEAAAAAQAAAX4CAgAEAAAAAQAAEqEAAAAAAAAASAAAAAEAAABIAAAAAf/Y/+0A DEFkb2JlX0NNAAL/7gAOQWRvYmUAZIAAAAAB/9sAhAAMCAgICQgMCQkMEQsKCxEVDwwMDxUYExMV ExMYEQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMAQ0LCw0ODRAODhAUDg4OFBQO Dg4OFBEMDAwMDBERDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAz/wAARCACgAHgD ASIAAhEBAxEB/90ABAAI/8QBPwAAAQUBAQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAwABAgQFBgcICQoLAQABBQEBAQEB AQAAAAAAAAABAAIDBAUGBwgJCgsQAAEEAQMCBAIFBwYIBQMMMwEAAhEDBCESMQVBUWETInGBMgYU kaGxQiMkFVLBYjM0coLRQwclklPw4fFjczUWorKDJkSTVGRFwqN0NhfSVeJl8rOEw9N14/NGJ5Sk hbSVxNTk9KW1xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG1ub2N0dXZ3eHl6e3x9fn9xEAAgIBAgQEAwQFBgcHBgU1AQAC EQMhMRIEQVFhcSITBTKBkRShsUIjwVLR8DMkYuFygpJDUxVjczTxJQYWorKDByY1wtJEk1SjF2RF VTZ0ZeLys4TD03Xj80aUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9ic3R1dnd4eXp7fH/9oADAMB AAIRAxEAPwDDCkohSTnoV5gSotlx0TvnanrhrZSSkaGtHmn9RA9SSnDpKS7i7Jw8lTD0NiJt0SXB I0gqUlvwVcGCrDDuEILwbSscClbuaA9nPdBrcWug+KtFoc3aUDuvjqCxqva8QdHeCKqT2GtytVP3 t80iExkdjuGU9jyknIB5SQXP/9DCJIGiTbGu8iniRCCQWulOehbQE8qJG3TsossjnVGbtcPHySSK LUnVEYUR2M12rTt/FTZjVjlxP4JKESyr1RogaqILGCG8JpLikyjRUSp1mCE0QEzT7kFJXD9MP5St EwAfA6oIbN4PgEVwlhCB6M0RVrXs3MnuEPHdDte6OPdX8QqzRDkh2VLcFtpJgZCSC5//0cMJy0O5 UBKkCU56Fj6ZHGqdpIUw7yRNjvSFxreKS7YLdp2F4G70/U+h6m33bEk0xa8qQc48KQrIrF3pP9Jz ixtpaQwvA3GsWfQ37fzFIttYGl1bq22N3sLgRuYdPUrLvp1/y2pLh5qayNXcqbQiW4OZitD8vHux 2uMNddW+sE/uh1jWt3JnUZYxhlfZ7RiuiMk1uFRk7Wxbt9P3OSXCUaGo121YvcAEqmklMym17XWb XFjCA94B2gu+g1z/AKLXP/NVn7LmDGN9ONdZUASbmVPcwBv0ybGNLPZ+cgmxuTQY1u3XOjgCEZ5h hKWBg5t1HrU4911bj/OV1ue3T+Wxrmol2D1D0BY3EvNRbv8AUFT9m2N2/wBTbt2bfzkOrIJxETZF 9rYUa1NQSP0nzRcf+aCgf50/FIblcflCZv0Qkk3hJBc//9LDTyAohw76KQIPdOehXDm+BK3MR/r/ AFeZ07YS7Ifm347QNxN+KMTJra2P9NjfbKP+urFACNVl31Gg12lhxbDdjxHssdsL7GyPzvSr+mki cDICiBwni/wgPT/znb6hRa/pWN0agA2Y2fRhAgyPtFtFt2ZZ/Yy8l9f9ShR6+WZWBddjZFF1fT7x Xjtos9Q14VjK8SltjXMZs/WMSl/sdZ78m1ZdPVMvHJfVkOY42uyCRBPrPa+l9+oP6R1dtjVBpvx8 NlzGhuNmtsxxBB3NqNfrVWNId6fu9J7EFscZiYkyGhsf1pS/nf8AGjF3OrNxm3/WAsuutL7q25lF nsrZUb2b76Gtff8AabKntZU17/svoV3eolczd17qtb77sfLP2mtjGtYanYzK3WNx7W2uD21vx2M9 L06v+FWZmv6rjBuZmDb+16XW+odp9Wpxrsf6jWt21/4F+1qI67r7