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Perfect Legacy
Genie
Gabriel
Excerpt
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Don't take my baby.
Please don't take my baby. The woman's plea whispered in
the steady swish, swish of the wipers. Her image wavered among the falling
flakes of snow, horror streaking in anguished tears down her face.
Marly O'Shea shivered
and forced her attention back to the narrow, twisting road grudgingly carved
out of the side of the mountain.
The heater of her Jeep
Wrangler valiantly battled the fingers of icy air creeping through the gaps in
a canvas top that seemed to shrink each summer while it lay bundled in Marly’s
garage. She much preferred the heated summer breezes that tangled her
over-curly hair in wild abandon to the frigid winds laying icy sheets of
moisture in the dips and shadows of the road she now traveled.
A gust of angry wind
blasted around a curve, rattling the canvas top of the Jeep. The flurries of
snow grew heavier, layering the road in a relentless white. Marly shifted into
a lower gear and concentrated on what she could see of the road illuminated by
her headlights.
Until she realized the
headlights careening through the darkness weren't hers. They bore down on her,
like a missile seeking its target.
Adrenaline spurted
through Marly’s veins. She leaned on the horn and steered the Jeep as far to
the side of the road as possible without sliding off the edge.
Brighter and brighter,
the lights obliterated the darkness until Marly thought they would explode.
Then, as suddenly as they appeared, the lights jerked away, bouncing down the
road behind her and quickly disappearing.
The tires of the Jeep
hit gravel, then slushy mud. Frantically down-shifting, Marly eased to a stop
and sat frozen. Nothing dared intrude on the deafening silence of the night but
the roar of a creek echoing in a canyon far below.
Another brilliant light
flashed on, and Marly jerked her arm up to shield her eyes. A sharp rap on her
door sent her grabbing for the purse that had slid onto the floor. Reaching
inside, her fingers wrapped around the taser her overprotective brothers
presented to her as a moving-away-from-home gift.
Cradling the weapon on
her lap, Marly turned to confront the man standing beside her Jeep. A halo of
light silhouetted the man’s bushy hair and beard, but his features remained
obscured in shadows.
“Are you hurt?” His
voice flowed like melted honey, its comforting tones at odds with his unkempt
appearance.
Slowly, Marly shook her
head. "No."
“We need to get you off
this curve before another car comes through. I’m going to hook my winch to your
vehicle and pull you back onto the road.”
He disappeared into the
curtain of light, leaving Marly with only the impression of broad shoulders
encased in black leather.
Her heart raced. It was
the near accident, she told herself.
Soon, metal clunked
against metal as the man hooked a cable to the underside of her vehicle. After
a moment’s token resistance, the Jeep moved back onto the solid surface of the
road.
A sigh of relief flowed
through Marly’s body, brought up short by the sudden reappearance of the man
beside her vehicle. Many times her brothers scolded her for being too trusting.
Narrow hips and long legs snugly encased in worn blue jeans could belong to a
serial killer as easily as a white knight.
“Step out while I check
your vehicle for damage.” A jagged scar over the man’s right eyebrow gleamed as
he reached for her door handle.
Every murder mystery
she read as a teenager gave the bad guy a scar. She wasn’t taking any chances.
Adrenaline pumped through Marly’s body once again as she leveled the taser at
the man’s chest. “Stop right there.”
Irritation briefly
crinkled the man's brow. “The undercarriage of your vehicle might be damaged.”
“Step
away from the vehicle.” Marly juggled the taser in one hand while using the
other to crank the key in the ignition. The Jeep sputtered to life, rocketing
relief through Marly’s veins. The man quick-stepped backward as she shoved the
vehicle into gear and stomped on the gas, leaving her mystery rescuer--or
would-be attacker--standing with the snow falling on the dark velvet of his
tousled hair.
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