The Conspiracy, by Kat Martin
EXCERPT 4
of 5
The sounds of the
rainforest surrounded him, the hum of insects, the shrill cry of a monkey, and
the rustle of leaves as a wild animal moved through the undergrowth not far
away.
In the blackness of night, Michael
Winston leaned back against the thick trunk of an eighty foot Kapok rising up
from the damp, mossy floor of the rainforest.
His wrists burned from the plastic ties biding his hands behind his
back. The white Bermuda shorts his
captors had allowed him to put on when they had boarded BUZZ Word and found him
sleeping naked next to Pia in the master cabin were gone. Replaced by khaki fatigues more suitable for
their trek into the jungle.
Huddled on the ground
beside him, hands also bound, Pia rested her head on his shoulder, her long
mahogany hair teasing his cheek. She was
petite, no more than five foot-three, with big brown eyes and smooth olive
skin. Even with her makeup gone, her
baggy fatigues damp from the afternoon rain and sticking to her lush curves,
she was beautiful.
Every time he looked at
her, guilt and fury washed over him.
Fury that he was helpless to protect her from what might be in store for
them. Guilt that if he hadn't convinced
her to go sailing with him she would be safe back in Aruba.
He could only pray that
their captors would continue to obey whatever orders had apparently come down
from their leader, which seemed to be not to hurt them.
At least no more than they
had already happened during the fight to subdue them that night on the
boat. His jaw and cheek were bruised and
his ribs acted from the blows he had taken.
He would have kept fighting if one of the men hadn't pulled a gun and
pressed it against Pia's head.
That had been days
ago. What day was it now? He tried to count backward, remembered making
incredible love to Pia for the first time after a night of gambling at the
Trade Winds Casino. Both of them had won
a little money, enough to have them smiling when they returned to the boat and
ended up in bed.
He remembered Pia falling
asleep in his arms. Remembered the deep,
satisfied sleep he'd drifted into himself, a rarity with the heavy work
schedule he'd been under.
Sometime later that night,
two men, big, burly and tough, had boarded the yacht and taken control, forcing
him to sail out of the marina into the open sea. For the next two days, Michael had been
certain the men's intention was to pirate the yacht, kill them and dump their
bodies in the ocean.
If it hadn't been for Pia,
he would have made an attempt to overpower his captors, but the men were
heavily armed and well-trained, and he wasn't willing to risk Pia's life unless
there was absolutely no other choice.
Eventually, the boat had
sailed into a quiet cove on a deserted stretch of beach several hundred miles
from Curacao. If his mental calculations
were correct, they'd arrived somewhere in Colombia.
They'd been imprisoned two
more days before soldiers had arrived to take charge of them. By then, Michael had been certain the motive
was ransom, a demand for millions from his mega-rich father in return for his
son's release. But he was no longer
sure.
Not since the soldiers had
forced him and Pia to begin this grueling trek into the rainforest that covered
the steep sides of the mountains. They
had hiked all day in ill-fitting boots provided by their captors that rubbed
blisters on their feet.
At dusk the soldiers had
stopped the march and begun making camp.
Exhausted, Michael had slumped against the tree and Pia had eased down
beside him. He had no idea how long they'd
sat there while the men ate and drank between raucous bursts of laughter.
They'd been brought water
and a little food, which they'd been released just long enough to eat, given a
bathroom break, then been tied up again and left beneath the tree.
Equally as wet, numb and
cold as he was, Pia shifted and raised her head to look at him. "How many more days, do you think, till
we reach wherever they're taking us?"
They hadn't arrived at
their final destination--he was sure of that.
"I heard some of them talking.
My Spanish sucks, but I was able to make out some of what they
said. If I got it right, they're
planning to reach the main camp by tomorrow night."
Which meant another long
day of hiking through the harsh, wet, mountainous tropical landscape. Pia spoke far better Spanish than he did, but
she'd been careful not to let them know.
She was extremely smart, which was one of the reasons he'd been
attracted to her in the first place. Not
to mention her beautiful face and fantastic figure.
"Do you think they've
sent word to your father?"
He had told her his ransom
theory mostly to keep her spirits up, told her his father was worth millions of
dollars and that he would surely pay for the safe return of his only son and
the girl who was with him.
Though Michael had never
been able to live up to his father's expectations and they rarely spoke these
days, it didn't change the fact they were blood. His father would pay the ransom demand and
Pia would be part of the bargain--Michael wasn't leaving without her.
"They've probably sent
word by now," he said. "They'll
want to be paid in cash. It might take
my father a while to get the money together and get it down here."
And his sister would be
looking for them, he was sure of that.
He hadn't called her in days, as she had made him promise to do. Harper would know something was wrong and she
would be doing her best to find him.
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Story Ideas
I’ve always been a plot-oriented writer. People ask me how I come up with ideas for my
novels and the truth is, I don’t really know.
Prior to the release of my first hardcover novel, THE
CONSPIRACY,I wrote a very short digital story--AFTER THE SUNRISE, just
published on Amazon--mostly because I woke up on a Saturday morning with the
story fully developed in my head. Kurt
Layton seemed like a great hero and I thought it would be a good way to
introduce my first hardcover novel. Now six months later THE CONSPIRACY will be
released in paperback on July 30th.
Kurt works as a private detective for Chase Garrett, the
wealthy owner of Maximum Security, an extremely successful private security
firm.
Chase is the oldest of the three Garrett brothers. He and Brandon, the youngest, a former
soldier, are true Texas men, comfortable in cowboy boots no matter where they are. Reese, the middle brother, is CEO of Garrett
Resources, the family-owned, billion-dollar oil and gas company.
The brothers, though each is his distinctly his own person,
have a very strong bond. They’re the
kind of men who are there for each other, no matter what happens.
In THE CONSPIRACY, Harper Winston’s brother has disappeared. Pursuing his dream of sailing the Caribbean,
Michael hasn’t responded to texts or emails in days. When even the Coast Guard can’t find him,
Harper is forced to take desperate measures. Which means going to Chase Garrett, once her
brother’s best friend, now the only man she can trust...or so she hopes.
But the last
thing Chase wants is to get involved in the Winstons’ snarled crime family. No way should he take the case, but old
loyalties die hard.
As danger draws
him closer to Harper and deeper into trouble, Chase is forced to put everything
on the line to keep Harper safe--and both of them alive.
I hope you’ll watch for THE CONSPIRACY and that you enjoy it. I’ll have three more high-action, sexy romantic
thrillers coming your way in the future.
Till then, all best and happy reading.
Kat
Kat Martin Bio
New
York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of
California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied
History. Currently residing in Missoula, Montana with her Western-author husband,
L. J. Martin, Kat has written sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic
Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and
she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Kat is currently at work on
her next Romantic Suspense.
