Take Me If You Dare. Candace Havens

coming back from a trip to Houston when she’d stopped at a roadside barbeque joint for some ribs. There was a little girl alone in the restroom washing her hands. When Mariska saw her, she knew that it was Maddie Lennon, who had been missing for three weeks. There’d been Amber alerts and everything.

      She’d checked the stalls to make sure the little girl was alone and then locked the bathroom door so no one could get in. Trying to be as calm as possible she told Maddie that she was a detective like on TV, and that she was safe. Maddie didn’t say a word but she didn’t try to run away. Mariska pulled out her phone and called the police.

      The woman and man who’d taken the little girl had nearly beaten down the door until Mariska had shouted the police were on the way. The couple hadn’t made it to the restaurant’s entrance before the owner of the place pulled a shotgun and had them down on their knees. God, you had to love Texans. Later he told Mariska he knew that when they were willing to leave a child behind they were up to no good.

      When the police arrived they took the couple into custody and Mar’s hands were shaking so bad she almost couldn’t unlock the door.

      A few hours after that Maddie had been reunited with her parents. It was a happy ending and Mar was more determined than ever to be better at her new job. She studied the case files of the other investigators and brought in some of her best friends to work with the agency.

      While she had no illusions that she would ever be a great investigator like her mother, she wanted to be legitimately useful. This assignment in Bangkok was a way to test herself even if she’d much rather be on vacation.

      Now she was going into the underworld of a dangerous city with a sexy guy who had more secrets than she could ever imagine. Oh, she might not be the world’s greatest detective but she could read people. Mr. Thomas was hiding something, though her gut told her he was sincere in wanting to help her.

      There was something about the man that made her heat from the inside out. She’d seen, and even dated, plenty of hot guys. None of them had pulled at her the way he did. None of them had ever quite caused her stomach to twitter with a fiery glance. Or made her tongue do crazy somersaults so that every sentence she spoke was an effort.

      She blew out a big breath and stepped into the shower.

      What she really needed to do was get her libido under control. After standing under the hot water for a few minutes and soaping off she turned the tap to cold.

      “Brrrr.” Her teeth chattered.

      It was amazing how frigid water could make a girl’s body behave. She had to concentrate on the case. Solve this one and you get a vacation. Then you can go back to being a figurehead behind your nice safe desk, in your nice safe office, researching cases for the other detectives.

      Her mind wandered to Mr. Thomas.

      Maybe she didn’t want to be safe any more.

      “IT’S PROBABLY BEST IF we act like a couple looking for a good time,” Jackson said. Over a steamy bowl of Phonoodles she’d finally learned his name.

      He took her hand in his as they walked down the street. She knew it was to protect her from the throng of people here in the red light district. She’d been a lot of places, but none as crowded as this. Well, maybe Times Square on New Year’s. But this wasn’t any special day. Between those in storefronts hawking their wares to street vendors with chickens and lizards hanging from their stalls, it was nothing short of overwhelming.

       I don’t think I’ll be trying the lizard.

      As his fingers wrapped around hers it was so easy for her to pretend that they belonged together. In the last hour over dinner her determination to be professional had wavered. He’d arranged it so they had a quiet table and that she had everything she needed. It was as if he were taking care of her.

      At any other time she might have been annoyed with a man ordering for her, but with Jackson, well, he was different. Not only did he have a thorough knowledge of the language, he was in tune with her taste. The noodles were exactly what she wanted. The right hint of heat and curry.

      “For someone who doesn’t live here, you certainly know how to speak Thai. You guys were talking so fast I couldn’t even pick up one of the few words I know.”

      Jackson squeezed her hand, and the warmth seemed to spread through her limbs. This guy did things to her like no other.

      “I travel a great deal and pick up languages as I go,” he said. “I guess some might say I have an affinity for it.”

      They were on a busy street in the Banglampu district and only a few blocks from their destination. The small talk was Mar’s way of easing her nerves. She had let Jackson become a distraction and that was far from a good thing, especially since she had no idea what she would do once they arrived at the sauna and massage parlor.

      Should I question the owner? Try to find out if they’ve ever seen or heard of Mr. Gladstone? That didn’t seem such a smart idea since people in these kinds of places valued confidentiality.

      Mar wasn’t so naive that she didn’t know a couple of hundred dollars in the right hands could buy all the information she needed. That’s why she had more than a thousand tucked under her bra in a special pouch. The problem was how to know which palm to grease. That’s something they didn’t teach in the textbooks.

       I should have called Katie and asked her what questions to pose. I don’t have a clue what I’m supposed to do once we get in there.

      As they turned the corner she saw the neon sign. Her stomach churned.

       Be a big girl and do the job. Follow procedure.

      Thanks to her degree, and the studying and observing she’d done the last year, maybe she could at least fake her way through this thing. Gather the information. It was an easy first step. Mar almost snorted at that.

      Jackson stopped halfway down the block and turned to her. “Are you okay? You seem nervous.”

      “Nervous?” She repeated his words because she wasn’t sure what to say. As far as he knew she was a seasoned professional, a jaded detective who did this sort of thing all the time. “Of course not. Still a little jet-lagged.” Liar. “I’m trying to determine the best course of action. Deep thoughts and all that.” Shut up. Deep thoughts? What the hell am I saying?

      Eyeing her curiously, he smiled. “Like I said before, it’s probably best to act like we’re together. If you don’t mind, I’ll take the lead. I’ll ask for a couples massage, then we can tag team them.”

      At that her eyes snapped up. Naked? In a room with Jackson? Oh, my. “Sure, I’ll take your lead on this. You know the area and the people better than I do.” Her voice came out as a whisper.

      “It will probably be easier to get information if we have a couple of the girls alone. While we’re getting the massage we’ll try to talk to them.”

      Sounded like a great plan to Mar—one where she didn’t make an idiot of herself by running back to her hotel to hide under the covers. She would never do that, but she’d thought about it more than once throughout the evening.

      There was one big problem in giving up—Stonegate had a one hundred percent success rate on closing cases and she refused to be the one to screw that up.

       No. You will pay attention and help Jackson get the information you need. Pretend. Like theater class, assume the role of the doting wife. I’ll imagine he’s the man of my dreams—okay, that won’t be such a stretch.

      Since he knew the language, Jackson would be doing most of the talking and she could follow along like a good little puppy. No one need ever know she was a terrified neophyte.

       This might work out well after all.

      “Great,” she murmured as they passed through the door into the tacky reception area. Deep red walls overpowered