Cold Case at Carlton's Canyon. Rita Herron

      

       “But just so you know, I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

      He hadn’t asked her to.

      She shot him a fiery look. “I may be a woman, but I can do my job.”

      “I never said you couldn’t,” Justin said.

      “Good, I’m glad we got that out of the way.”

      He had to admit he was intrigued by her spunk. Obviously she’d battled her way up against men in her field who probably thought she was incompetent based on her sex.

      Either that or they were sidetracked by her good looks.

      He wouldn’t make that mistake.

      And he certainly couldn’t or wouldn’t allow her pretty little face to distract him. He was here to solve the case of the missing girls.

      Nothing else mattered.

      Especially the little zing of lightning that had sizzled between them when he’d brushed her hand earlier.

      Cold Case at

      Carlton’s

      Canyon

      Rita Herron

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Award-winning author RITA HERRON wrote her first book when she was twelve, but didn’t think real people grew up to be writers. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job. A former kindergarten teacher and workshop leader, she traded storytelling to kids for writing romance, and now she writes romantic comedies and romantic suspense. She lives in Georgia with her own romance hero and three kids. She loves to hear from readers, so please write her at PO Box 921225, Norcross, GA 30092-1225, USA, or visit her website, www.ritaherron.com.

      MILLS & BOON

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      To my own hero, Lee—love you always,

      Rita

      Contents

       Prologue

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Chapter Twenty-Three

       Chapter Twenty-Four

       Excerpt

      Prologue

      Kelly Lambert did not want to die.

      But the kind person who’d offered to give her a ride when her car broke down outside Sunset Mesa, the person she’d thought had saved her from walking late at night on a deserted road, had turned into a maniac.

      A rancid breath bathed Kelly’s cheek, and her stomach roiled.

      “Please...” she begged.

      Her words died as fingers tightened the belt around her throat. Rocks skittered beneath her feet as her attacker dragged her nearer the edge of the canyon and forced her to look at the rocky terrain below.

      Hundreds of feet loomed between her and the ground. Even if she managed to land on the level part between the jagged rocks, the impact of the fall would kill her.

      “That’s where you belong,” the crazed voice murmured. “Mean girls like you deserve to die.”

      “No, please stop,” she gasped. “Why are you doing this to me?”

      A pair of rage-filled eyes glittered back at her. “You know why.”

      Kelly’s lungs strained for air as the leather dug into her throat.

      But she didn’t know. Didn’t know why this person wanted her dead. Why anyone would want her dead.

      Her attacker shoved her closer to the edge. Kelly’s legs dangled over the canyon like a rag doll’s.

      She struggled again, desperate to escape, but whatever drug she’d been given had made her too weak.