Dream of Danger

By Maggie Shayne

A mystery reunites a reluctant partnership—and rekindles unfulfilled desires in New York Times–bestselling author Maggie Shayne’s novella Dream of Danger.

Self-help guru Rachel de Luca may have been blind for twenty years, but she’s always had an uncanny gift for seeing through people—and she distrusts her assistant’s new boyfriend at first sight. Amy isn’t interested in Rachel’s misgivings, though. She’s too eager to celebrate Thanksgiving by introducing her family to the new man in her life.

Then Amy doesn’t show up for the holiday.

Desperate to find her missing friend, Rachel has no choice but to turn to Detective Mason Brown. Their investigation into Amy’s disappearance takes them ever deeper into danger—and reignites the attraction that they’ve both sworn to resist. Now it’s a race against time as Rachel and Mason fight to stave off passion and save a life.

“Maggie Shayne writes wonderful stories combining romance with page-turning thrills.” —New York Times–bestselling author Karen Robards

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781459251892

Maggie Shayne

RITA Award winning, New York Times bestselling author Maggie Shayne has published over 50 novels, including mini-series Wings in the Night (vampires), Secrets of Shadow Falls (suspense) and The Portal (witchcraft). A Wiccan High Priestess, tarot reader, advice columnist and former soap opera writer, Maggie lives in Cortland County, NY, with soulmate Lance and their furry family.

Book preview

9781459251892.jpg

She didn’t want to need him.

Murder brought self-help guru Rachel de Luca and Detective Mason Brown together. Their shared secrets drove them apart. But now they’re together again in this riveting novella that begins where New York Times bestselling author Maggie Shayne’s Sleep with the Lights On ended.

She may have been blind for twenty years, but Rachel’s always had an uncanny gift for seeing through people—and she distrusts her assistant’s new boyfriend at first sight. Amy isn’t interested in Rachel’s misgivings, though. She’s too eager to celebrate Thanksgiving by introducing her family to the new man in her life.

Then Amy doesn’t show up for the holiday....

Desperate to find her missing friend, Rachel has no choice but to turn to Mason. Their investigation into Amy’s disappearance takes them ever deeper into danger—and reignites the attraction that they’ve both sworn to resist. Now it’s a race against time as these reluctant partners fight to stave off passion and save a life.

Look for Wake to Darkness, the next installment in this suspenseful series, coming in December from Harlequin MIRA and Maggie Shayne.

Praise for the novels of Maggie Shayne

Shayne crafts a convincing world, tweaking vampire legends just enough to draw fresh blood.

—Publishers Weekly on Demon’s Kiss

Maggie Shayne writes wonderful stories combining romance with page-turning thrills.

—New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards

This story will have readers on the edge of their seats and begging for more.

—RT Book Reviews on Twilight Fulfilled

A tasty, tension-packed read.

—Publishers Weekly on Thicker Than Water

Tense...frightening...a page-turner in the best sense.

—RT Book Reviews on Colder than Ice

"Mystery and danger abound in Darker than Midnight, a fast-paced, chilling thrill read that will keep readers turning the pages long after bedtime....Suspense, mystery, danger and passion—no one does them better than Maggie Shayne."

—Romance Reviews Today on Darker than Midnight (winner of a Perfect 10 Award)

Maggie Shayne is better than chocolate. She satisfies every wicked craving.

—New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Forster

Shayne’s haunting tale is intricately woven....A moving mix of high suspense and romance, this haunting Halloween thriller will propel readers to bolt their doors at night.

—Publishers Weekly on The Gingerbread Man

[A] gripping story of small-town secrets. The suspense will keep you guessing. The characters will steal your heart.

—New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

on The Gingerbread Man

"[Kiss of the Shadow Man is a] crackerjack novel of romantic suspense."

—RT Book Reviews

Also by Maggie Shayne

SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON

The Portal

BLOOD OF THE SORCERESS

DAUGHTER OF THE SPELLCASTER

MARK OF THE WITCH

Secrets of Shadow Falls

KISS ME, KILL ME

KILL ME AGAIN

KILLING ME SOFTLY

BLOODLINE

ANGEL’S PAIN

LOVER’S BITE

DEMON’S KISS

Wings in the Night

BLUE TWILIGHT

BEFORE BLUE TWILIGHT

EDGE OF TWILIGHT

RUN FROM TWILIGHT

EMBRACE THE TWILIGHT

TWILIGHT HUNGER

TWILIGHT VOWS

BORN IN TWILIGHT

BEYOND TWILIGHT

TWILIGHT ILLUSIONS

TWILIGHT MEMORIES

TWILIGHT PHANTASIES

DARKER THAN MIDNIGHT

COLDER THAN ICE

THICKER THAN WATER

Look for Maggie Shayne’s next novel

INNOCENT PREY

available soon from Harlequin MIRA

DREAM OF

DANGER

Maggie Shayne

Har_MIRA_2012_Cab_Blk.ai

Dedication

To my overworked editor, Leslie Wainger.

I’d send you a vacation instead, but I couldn’t

get along without you for that long.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter One

"Who the hell is that?" I asked, indicating the car at the end of the drive.

It wasn’t my usual front-door greeting, but it wasn’t a usual morning. Myrtle had an appointment at the vet, I had to get my daily ten pages written and my faithful companion and right-hand goth-chick assistant, Amy Montrose, was late.

Late. Despite the black clothes and, occasionally, lipstick and nail polish, Amy was never late.

And she’d been dropped off by a Jag-driving douche bag outside the gate, despite that it was wide open and he could’ve easily driven her right to the front door.

It’s Mel.

Mel was currently trying to execute a three-point turn in my narrow dirt road without getting his tires dirty. I pushed past Amy, Myrtle, my bulldog, sticking close to my side, and walked down the driveway in my fluffy slippers, yoga pants and tank top—aka my work clothes—waving my arms to get his attention and yelling, in case that might help. Yo! Mel!

He glanced my way, then did a double take and got the look on his face that a kid gets when caught with his hand in the cookie jar: guilty, but unapologetic. He put his window down about the time I got within talking distance, and I reminded myself it was 9:30 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving, in Whitney Point, New York. In other words, freakin’ freezing outside. But I was close enough to get a read on the guy. I could tell a lot about a person just by standing close enough to talk to them. Sort of feel them. Being blind for twenty years of your life gives your other senses a boost, maybe even opens up one or two that sighted people don’t have. I’d only had my vision back for a few months now. Since August. And so far my superkeen perceptions hadn’t seemed to fade.

Hello, Mel said from inside his toasty-warm car. You must be Rachel.

Ms. De Luca to you, buttface. And you must be incredibly shy, Mel. ’Cause clearly you’d have driven Amy up the driveway to the door otherwise, especially on such a chilly morning.

He looked at me, the length of driveway between his car and the front door, and then me again. Not shy, just running late.

You can turn around a lot easier if you pull in, I said, then added under my breath, should’ve thought of that to begin with.

By then Amy had joined me and leaned close to whisper loudly in my ear. Rachel, don’t be a bitch and scare him off. Jeez, he’s already nervous as hell about meeting my folks tomorrow.

I gaped at her, taking my attention off Mel. Didn’t matter, I’d managed to get a read on him. The guy was hiding something. And he was kind of a jerk. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.

Uh-huh. Her diamond nose stud winked in the sun. I invited him to Erie for T-day with the fam. She smiled. He said yes.

He’d already closed his window, backed into my driveway, and was about to pull out again. He’s going home to meet your parents and I haven’t even got his last name yet? I waved at Mel again. Hey, wait up!

"Rachel!"

He waved back and drove away with a pleasant smile. My antennae were quivering. There was something majorly off about that guy.

But it

Reviews for Dream of Danger

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novella fits into the series after SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON and before WAKE TO DARKNESS. Rachel's assistant Amy disappears on the way to Thanksgiving Dinner with her family. Her plans had been to take her new boyfriend home with her. Rachel never liked the guy; she feels that something isn't right about him. So, she snaps a picture of his car showing his license plate when he takes off with her.When Amy's mother calls the next morning to say that Amy didn't arrive, Rachel's first call is to Mason who drops everything to help her. They quickly learn that Rachel was right about the boyfriend. He was married and cheating on his wife. He says that he told Amy about it the night before and she - very angrily - broke up with him.Mason and Rachel decide to retrace her steps and soon find her abandoned car. I like the relationship between Mason and Rachel. Neither one is in a place where they feel comfortable starting a relationship but the chemistry between them is hot. I also like Rachel's relationship with her blind bulldog Myrtle. She may talk tough but Rachel has a heart of marshmallow for the dog. This was a nice bridge between the first two books in this series as it has Rachel show her affection for Amy and lets the tension build even more between Mason and Rachel.