Demon Rumm (19 page)
“I do fine.”
“But you’re not rich.”
“Not by a long shot.”
“That’s why you’ve been writing me these threatening letters, isn’t it? To get money from me?”
“No. For the umpteenth time, I haven’t ever written you a letter.”
“Blackmail’s a serious crime, Miss Hibbs.”
“And a charge too ridiculous even to discuss. Now, please let go of my arm.”
He wasn’t hurting her. But his encircling fingers held her much too close to him. She was close enough to smell his sexy cologne and the minty freshness of his breath, close enough to see the dark centers of eyes that had sold more copies of
Time
than any other issue in history when they’d graced the front cover.
“You seem reasonably intelligent,” he said.
“Should I take that as a compliment?”
“So why did you send anonymous letters to me, then put your return address on the envelope?”
She gave a soft, disbelieving laugh and shook her head. “I didn’t. Or was that a trick question designed to trap me? Where are these letters? May I see them? Perhaps after I saw them I could offer an explanation.”
“Do I look stupid? I wouldn’t hand them over to you so you could destroy the evidence.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she cried. Then, staring up into his stern face, she said, “You’re really taking this seriously, aren’t you?”
“At first I didn’t. You were just one crank in hundreds. But after the fifth letter, when you got really nasty about pinning a paternity rap on me, I thought it was time to confront you.”
“I’m not the kind of woman who would pin a paternity rap on any man.”
“Even one with as high a public profile as me?”
“No.”
“One who stood to lose a lot if there was a scandal?”
“That’s right! Besides, I’ve told you that I’ve never had a child.”
They heard the front door open, then bang shut. There were running steps in the hall. Then a tall, lanky teenage boy rushed through the door.
“Mom, you gotta come see the car parked in front of our house. It’s totally bad!”
About the Author
SANDRA BROWN began her writing career in 1980. After selling her first book, she wrote a succession of romance novels under several pseudonyms, most of which remain in print. She has become one of the country’s most popular novelists, earning the notice of Hollywood and of critics. More than fifty of her books have appeared on the
New York
Times
bestseller list. There are seventy million copies of her books in print, and her work has been translated into thirty languages. Prior to writing, she worked in commercial television as an on-air personality for
PM Magazine
and local news in Dallas. She and her husband now divide their time between homes in Texas and South Carolina.
BANTAM BOOKS BY SANDRA BROWN
Demon Rumm
Sunny Chandler’s Return
The Rana Look
Thursday’s Child
Riley in the Morning
In a Class by Itself
Send No Flowers
Tidings of Great Joy
Hawk O’Toole’s Hostage
Breakfast in Bed
Heaven’s Price
Adam’s Fall
Fanta C
A Whole New Light
22 Indigo Place
Texas! Sage
Texas! Chase
Texas! Lucky
Temperatures Rising
Long Time Coming
DEMON RUMM
A Bantam Book
Published by Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved
Copyright © 1987 Sandra Brown
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004046404
Bantam Books and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-307-41799-2
v3.0