Dani Sinclair - Beautiful Beast

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With thanks to Natashya Wilson for the concept, helpful corrections, suggestions, edits and hand-holding as required.

A heartfelt thank-you to Judy Fitzwater and Robyn Pope for plotting assistance, crunch-time reading, terrific suggestions and friendship above and beyond the call.

And for Roger, husband extraordinaire, who listened a lot, offered suggestions, ignored frustration and let me work when other things beckoned. You’re the best!

Always, for Chip, Dan and Barb.

Love all you guys.

Gabriel Lowe —The solitary soldier has no memory of what happened the day he was forever scarred and branded a liar and a murderer.

Cassiopia Richards —She’s determined to clear her father’s name and see that his murderer is brought to justice.

Beacher Coyle —He may be a silver-tongued ladies’ man, but he’s the only person Gabe trusts.

Major Frank Carstairs —He’s always been Gabe’s chief suspect in the theft of a deadly toxin. Too bad he died the day it was stolen.

Andrea Fielding —Dr. Pheng’s lab assistant was Gabe’s fiancée—even though her brother was antimilitary.

Major Bruce Huntington —He didn’t like having Gabe under his command. Now he’s certain Gabe will get what he deserves.

Rochelle Leeman —The gallery owner is beautiful, determined and bold enough to go after what she wants, no matter the consequences. And Gabe has what she wants.

Arthur Longstreet —The chief of security for Sunset Labs was new to the job when the toxin disappeared from under his nose.

Dr. Trung Pheng —The chief research chemist was working to create an antidote to the toxin when his work was stolen.

Dr. Powell Richards —His murder started the hunt for the missing toxin. Did the thieves turn on one of their own?

Len Sliffman —The former FBI man is trying to keep an open mind.

Cast of Characters

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

Coming Next Month

Frederick, Maryland

Four years earlier

Unease rode Gabe, but second lieutenants in the U.S. Army didn’t question direct orders from a major, even one outside their direct chain of command. When Major Frank Carstairs gave an order, it was obeyed.

Besides, Gabe could hardly call his captain for verification. Everyone knew Captain Bruce Huntington didn’t like Second Lieutenant Gabriel Lowe, who had been recently assigned to his military intelligence unit. And the order had nothing to do with Gabe’s babysitting job. He was the newest person in the unit, and low man, so he got all the unwanted assignments.

The original orders had been to transport three vials of a deadly toxin from the military base in Frederick, Maryland, to Dr. Powell Richards at Sunburst Laboratory in Urbana, Maryland. Gabe was then to oversee security.

Everything had gone as planned. The doctor had accepted the toxin with no hitches yesterday, and today had been a normal day. The doctor had left early, and Gabe had made certain the toxin was secured and his men in place before leaving. He’d been on his way home when Major Carstairs had ordered him to pick up Dr. Richards and escort the scientist to the base immediately.

Clearly something was wrong but no one, especially not the major, was going to bother explaining to him what that something was.

While the doctor had appeared stressed and preoccupied when he left for the day, Gabe didn’t know him well enough to know if that was normal or not. Dr. Richards hadn’t mentioned a problem and none of Gabe’s men had reported anything since he left, so what was going on?

Parking the car on the narrow street, Gabe stared up at the Richards house as dusk laid claim to the neighborhood. There was no car in the driveway and no lights to indicate anyone was home.

Other houses sparkled with lights and life as dusk yielded quickly to the press of an early nightfall. A perfectly normal scene, yet Gabe felt something was off.

Uneasy, he stepped from his car trying to determine why his senses were crying an alert for no good reason. He felt oddly exposed. His hand itched for the comfort of his holstered service revolver.

He hesitated as headlights swept up the street. The garage door began to open. The approaching vehicle slowed to make the turn, giving Gabe a clear view of the driver. Dr. Richards appeared even more stressed and distracted than before. He didn’t so much as glance at Gabe standing there. Something was definitely wrong.

Gabe’s hand still hovered near his revolver as he followed the car toward the house. He moved more quickly when it pulled all the way into the garage.

Without warning, a giant fireball rocked the neighborhood. Gabe reeled back. Something sliced his face as the garage exploded.

He ignored the warmth running down his cheek and sprinted for the car. A figure struggled to climb out as flames engulfed everything. A billowing wave of heat brought Gabe’s hands up to cover his face.

The second, larger explosion sent Gabe sailing through the air. He landed with incredible force amid a hail of raining debris. His last coherent thought was that he should have listened to his instincts.

Frederick, Maryland

Present Day

A slender figure came around the far side of his house and sprinted across the front lawn to disappear in the hedge on the other side. Gabriel Lowe stopped walking. Not CID, FBI, Homeland Security or any of the other official types who watched his house from time to time. Their people would have approached his home in a much different fashion.

Female, based on the swing of nicely rounded hips in figure-hugging jeans. A long ponytail swished against a slender back covered by a fitted jacket. His intruder was obviously looking for a way inside. And in that instant, he knew who it had to be.

His fingers flexed and balled into fists. Jaw clenched, Gabe stepped off the sidewalk and slipped into the nearest shadow. He followed her silently, letting his anger build.

With a low-voiced, muttered imprecation, she battled her way behind the prickly juniper that squatted beneath his dining room window. Identity confirmed, Gabe faded back against the bole of the spreading oak tree a short distance from her.

Cassiopia Richards—the woman who had named him a murderer—gazed up at the window and sighed. She withdrew a ridiculously tiny pocketknife from her hip pocket and hesitated. The small blade was hard to see in the bit of moonlight that filtered between the high clouds, but her intention was clear.

Gabe was reluctant to accost her too soon. Would she actually go through with a criminal act?

She slit the screen and started to reach for the window itself. Abruptly, she stopped.