She’s hunting arms smugglers. But who is hunting her?
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Andreas was still
asleep beside her; his blond curls reminded Mel of a Renaissance angel. Even
though separated by several centimetres, just the extra heat from his body made
the room so much warmer. The fan was no substitute for broken air conditioning,
but it wasn’t the heat that was keeping Mel awake. It was frustration.
Their
investigation had stalled. Their one contact was dead. Mel had knelt by the
body in the street last night and touched the dark hair on the back of his head
to find it matted and wet with blood and tissue. When they’d turned him over,
she’d shivered at the small round hole in his forehead stark black under the
dim streetlights. However distressing brutal death was, she had to focus. The
reaction would come later. Today would be the first of several of long
interviews and endless paperwork with the police.
She pulled herself
out of bed and opened the louvred shutters. They’d opened the windows wide at
two this morning but closed the shutters when the carabinieri had at
last let them go back to their pensione. The small side-street hotel
covered in ochre stucco and festooned in flags and geraniums was more discreet
than a big hotel, but at this precise minute Mel yearned for the efficient if
sterile, air-conditioned box of a four-star international.
In the bathroom,
she yanked off the nightshirt she’d been wearing for decency’s sake. Andreas
Holzmann was the perfect gentleman, but she didn’t want to embarrass him or
herself. That was the problem working undercover as a married couple with a
colleague who was a friend who’d rather be more than a friend. She could have
told Director Stevenson ‘no’ when he’d outlined their assignment, but that
would have been cowardly and Mélisende des Pittones was no coward. Besides,
she’d always worked in mixed groups since she’d joined the French Army, often
sleeping in a stuffy tent with the rest of her detail, mostly male. At least
Andreas didn’t belch or fart in bed.
But Jeff
McCracken, whom she was dating, had been furious.
‘Why does Holzmann
have to go with you? He just wants to get into your knickers.’
‘God, Jeff, it’s
just an assignment. A professional one. It’s because both of us speak some
Italian. I’m perfectly aware Andreas has feelings for me, but he knows how to
behave.’
‘As long as you do
your ice maiden act, I suppose that’ll have to do.’
Author Bio
Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough,
but compassionate heroines. She blends her deep love of France with six years’
military service and a life of reading crime, historical and thriller fiction.
"Grips like a vice - a writer to watch out for"
says crime thriller writer Adrian Magson about Roma Nova series starter
INCEPTIO.
All six full-length Roma Nova thrillers have won the BRAG
Medallion, the prestigious award for indie fiction. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and
INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s
Choices. AURELIA was a finalist in the
2016 HNS Indie Award. The Bookseller selected SUCCESSIO as Editor’s Choice in
its inaugural indie review.
Double Identity, the first of the new Mélisende thrillers,
was selected as one of BookBub's best reads in March 2021.
Alison now lives in Poitou in France, the home of her heroine
in Double Identity and Double Pursuit. She is also planning the next book in
her Roma Nova series.
Website: https://alison-morton.com
Thank you so much for sharing this extract today!
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