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Mia gave a little laugh. The breeze. That’s what it was. Just the breeze from the open window.

She’d locked the door, put on the chain, even propped a chair under the knob, but she’d left the window open. Her room was on the second floor. It was safe enough.

Of course it was.

A minute crept by. Then she tossed back the covers, went to the window, closed and locked it.

Better, she thought.

Even so, it was more than an hour before she fell back into restless sleep.

CHAPTER TWO

WHERE WAS Mia Palmieri?

Had she run away, or had she been abducted? You got involved with people in the drug business, you played with fire. And that led to the next question.

Why would she have agreed to smuggle dope? The money was big but so were the risks, especially the way she’d done it. Using the embassy mail pouch had endangered not only her but her fiancé, too. Hamilton’s prospects in the military were bright. You could almost see the yellow brick road that led straight to flag rank.

Why would she risk her future and his for something so risky?

Matthew had questions. Now, he needed answers.

A couple of hours later, they began trickling in.

Hamilton’s house wasn’t just expensive, it was well-guarded—but that wasn’t uncommon in this part of the world. A wall topped by razor-wire surrounded the house; a gated run and kennel suggested that at least one guard dog roamed the property, probably at night.

Matthew identified himself at the gate. It swung open and he drove up to the house. The colonel greeted him and, at Matthew’s request, walked him through the elegant rooms.

“Mia loved this house,” the colonel said.

Maybe so, but the living arrangements left something to be desired.

The relationship between Hamilton and his fiancée wasn’t normal. Not by Matthew’s standards. If a woman who looked like Mia Palmieri had been part of his life, he damned well would have spent the nights with her in his arms.

Not so the colonel.

He and his fiancée didn’t share a room. Their rooms didn’t even connect. Didn’t adjoin. In fact, hers was in one wing of the colonel’s expensive villa and his was in the other.

“You don’t sleep together?”

Hamilton’s face reddened. “Our sleeping arrangements are none of your business.”

“Everything is my business now,” Matthew replied. “Get used to it, Colonel.”

“We slept together,” Hamilton said stiffly. “Of course we did, but Mia…Mia insisted on her own room.”

“Because? And please, Colonel, don’t waste my time telling me she wanted her privacy.”

He didn’t know why he’d said that, but it worked. Hamilton’s face reddened. “Mia’s good at—at using sex to get what she wants.”

“And what did she want from you, Colonel?”

Matthew knew the question was crude, but it was also deliberate. He wanted to see the colonel’s reaction.

“It wasn’t anything in particular. She just…” For a second, Matthew almost felt sorry for him. “She just thought it gave her control.”

Matthew nodded. “And it did,” he said softly. “She smuggled cocaine right under your nose.”