Color of Danger

  COLOR OF DANGER

  By Alexa Verde

  Book 1 in the Secrets of Rios Azules Series

  Copyright © 2014 by Olga Grun writing as Alexa Verde

  All rights reserved.

  Edited by Amy Knupp. Cover art by Elle J Rossi. Digital formatting by L.K. Campbell

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, posted on any website, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations in printed reviews and articles.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Introduction

  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

  Chapter Fifteen

  Epilogue

  Questions for Discussion

  Thank You for Reading

  About the Author

  Other Books by Alexa Verde

  Excerpt from the Next Book in the Series Taste of Danger

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to three incredible women in my life. Mom, you’re the most amazing woman I know. Lilya, we’ve been friends since we were seven years old, and I publish my first book on the day of your wedding anniversary for a reason. Patty, you’re a blessing to everybody who knows you.

  Introduction

  Thank you so much for picking up Color of Danger. This is my debut book, and it’s very close to my heart. I loved writing about strong-willed, independent, and courageous Mari Del Lobo, and her story reminds me how important it’s to forgive oneself and others.

  The most wonderful gift you can give to an author is leaving a review and/or recommending the book. If you kindly write even several words on Amazon and/or Goodreads, I’ll be very grateful. To thank my readers, I offer giveaways to my newsletter subscribers.

  I hope you’ll enjoy reading about Luke and Mari as they find love amid danger. If you’re interested in other titles in the Secrets of Rios Azules series, please find information about River of Danger, Taste of Danger, and Scent of Danger at the end of this novel, as well as a sneak peak of the next book in the series, Taste of Danger. I’m happy and honored that you chose to spend time with me and my books.

  Blessings,

  Alexa Verde

  Secrets of Rios Azules Series

  Christian Multicultural Romantic Suspense

  Sweet, wholesome books about faith, love, and murder

  Welcome to Rios Azules, a small south Texas town, where rivers and emotions run deep, and the secrets are deadly.

  About Color of Danger

  Life as the sister of a serial killer is never easy, especially when a former runaway Mari Del Lobo becomes a target herself. A recent crime has her late brother's signature and MO, what Mari finds highly unusual, as she still blames herself for her only sibling's death. Soon Mari encounters an unexpected — and a very attractive — ally in Dr. Luke Goodman. Luke couldn't save his fiancée from the Smiling Killer, but he'll do anything to prevent more murders, even ask help from the serial killer's sister. Finding a kindred tortured soul in Mari, Luke is determined to keep her alive, but it's not easy to protect the stubborn ex-rebel. To solve the mystery, renew her faith, and find love and redemption, Mari has to face her most dangerous enemy — herself.

  Prologue

  Flames consumed the log cabin with as much hunger as a wolf pouncing on its prey.

  She needed to hurry. The fire would invade the basement soon. Mari Del Lobo rushed to the door.

  “Stop!” The familiar voice hit her in the back like a heavy fist.

  Mari whirled around. A shadow slid from behind a pillar at the far end of the room. She squinted at a bright beam of light pointed at her face. A safety clicked on a gun. Her heart dropped.

  Her brother, Tony, took several lazy strides toward her. “I knew you’d come. Put down your flashlight. And walk away from the door,” he said.

  Trembling in spite of the rising heat, Mari licked her dry lips. “No, thanks. I’d rather get a bullet than burn alive. I have no intention of becoming a human barbecue.”

  “You’d probably die from carbon monoxide poisoning first,” Tony sneered. “But look at the bright side. If I shoot you, you die now. If you follow my instructions, it’ll give you several minutes to outsmart me.”

  “Good point.” Heart pounding, Mari placed her flashlight on the floor. She moved away from the entrance, trading places with her brother. “Cops will be here anytime. I called 911.”

  Tony gave her a boyish smile, like so many times in childhood. “You should’ve waited for them. You’re not a cop or a firefighter. What are you now? A business owner? But no, you had to come to our family vacation home to save your best friend. You put your friends above your own safety. Above family!”

  She let her jaw drop, and horror widened her eyes. “Watch out! Right behind you!”

  “Do you really think I’d believe—”

  In the next second, a smoking beam from the ceiling collapsed to the floor, blocking access to the door. As Tony glanced back, she hit the hand holding the weapon and jumped back, her karate skills coming in handy. The gun flew out of his hand and landed in the far corner with a loud thud. Hands fisted, she retreated, waiting for him to attack.

  “Neither one of us can get out now.” She pointed to the beam, already charred with a slow flame curling its way around the wood.

  “Good.” Tony threw away the flashlight. There was probably enough light from the fire to finish her off.

  “God, please help me,” she whispered.

  Anticipating the first blow, she ducked when he tried to hit her. The second one she caught on the chin. Lights exploded inside her head. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Sharp pain shot through her jaw, but she regrouped while falling. Back on her feet immediately, Mari delivered her own uppercut.

  Her brother staggered back in the flickering light of the fire. Blood appeared on the corner of his mouth. “That’s what I like about you, hermanita. You don’t give up.”

  Smoke stung her eyes. Tears ran down her heated face, mingling with sweat. “Listen to me. No time for fighting. We’ve got to find the way out. I checked the emergency exit before coming in. It’s sealed shut.”

  Tony smiled. “I know. I did it.”

  Tongues of fire licked the old furniture while others cheerfully danced their way up the wall. Mari shook from a cough and pressed the jacket sleeve to her nose. She breathed in through the moist fabric, grateful she’d doused herself with a bottle of water before entering the log cabin.

  He jumped to her and ripped the silver chain with a cross from her neck, cutting her skin. He slapped her hard across the face. Her cheek stinging from the hit, she flew toward the wall. She thrust her hands forward to stop her fall and flinched when they touched the hot surface. Immediately she whipped around to protect herself.

  Sirens wailed in the distance. Finally!

  Tony’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not getting out of here alive. But neither are you.”

  Her heart fell. She had to survive. “This is crazy.”

  “You’r
e my sister. If I’m insane, how normal can you be?”

  She grappled for rational words. “You’re right about the carbon monoxide. When its level in your blood increases, you won’t be able to think straight. You’ll be too weak and confused to move. It’ll be too late. Don’t you feel it already?” She certainly did. “Let’s go.”

  “We’ll die together.” Flames lit up his face, reflected in his dark eyes that she knew so well. “We’re family, aren’t we?”

  Eyes wide, she retreated from him and knocked over some discarded piece of furniture. She winced as it hit the ground with a clunking sound. “There’s still time to escape.”

  “Not for you. You betrayed me, Mar.”

  “No. It’s the other way around.” Her lungs burned with the lack of oxygen.

  Lord, please save me.

  She bent over, coughing, and reached inside her right boot. After running away in her teen years, she’d learned to always carry a weapon to defend herself and to hide it well. Fingers wrapped around the smooth handle of her trusted dagger, she sprung up and hurled it at her brother. Tony jerked to the right, and the knife flew past his ear. She grunted. She had to be better than that.

  “Let’s face it, hermanita. You can’t kill your own brother.” He laughed, and the sound echoed in the emptiness inside her.

  “Some people would consider it a good thing.” Sweat ran down her back as she circled, looking for another opportunity. Somebody pounded outside on the emergency exit door.

  Yes!

  Thank you, Lord!

  Firefighters or cops should open the door soon. Then she’d make a run for it.

  Meanwhile… Keep him talking. Distract him. “What have you done? I trusted you! And you… You turned out to be a fraud! How can I trust anybody now?” She gasped for air.

  Several feet away from her, he snarled. “Trust should be the least of you problems. Don’t worry. You won’t burn. You’ll suffocate first. Or pass out.”

  Her mind was getting foggy. “You won’t destroy me.”

  She reached for and hurled the second knife, the backup weapon she’d hid in her left boot. This one hit the target, but only his shoulder.

  “You’ll pay for this.” Baring his teeth like a wolf confronting his rival, Tony ripped the dagger out of his flesh and lunged at her.

  Mari jumped aside and took a labored breath, her lungs desperate for air.

  Losing balance, he crashed into a wall and staggered around. Holding the bloody knife, her brother shook from a violent cough. “This is the end. I loved you, little sister.”

  “I loved you, too, hermano.” Sweat trickled down her face and flooded her eyes. “With all my heart.”

  A ripping sound came from the emergency exit. The firefighters were hopefully tearing open the wood with an axe.

  Thank you, Lord! Thank you! Thank you!

  Mari tensed her muscles. Now or never. She leaped high and aimed her kick at her brother’s neck. With a look of shock on his handsome face, Tony went down.

  Coughing, she dashed to the emergency exit. She tripped over a familiar small table on three legs and fell. She was losing coordination. Gasping for miserable leftovers of oxygen close to the floor, she crawled, the skin on her palms blistering from the hot surface.

  Her eyelids squeezed shut against the ruthless smoke. A door squeaked. A draft of cold air came in. Footsteps pounded heavily. Somebody’s hands lifted her.

  Tony. They had to save her brother!

  Her tongue, a swollen and heavy log inside her mouth, wouldn’t move. Mari couldn’t say a word as strong hands pulled her to safety.

  Outside, the air smelled of leaves and freedom. She drank it in. With the ground under her unsteady feet, she made several unsure steps, leaning heavily on the people supporting her as they moved away from the log cabin. Waves of heat struck her in the back. The skin on her hands hurt so much she could barely stand it.

  With sheer determination, Mari forced herself to open iron-heavy eyelids. An ambulance screeched to a halt, joining a red fire truck, police cars, and a Rios Azules crowd. Firefighters ran to the cabin with equipment. Several of her friends made their way to her in spite of the police trying to contain the crowd.

  Tony was trapped inside!

  Grabbing the hand that was forcing her onto a stretcher, she struggled to move her tongue through the thick cotton that seemed to fill her mouth. Then she collapsed.

  “It’s going to be okay,” a soothing, honey-dipped voice whispered.

  A prick of a needle was followed by the cold plastic of a mask lowered over her mouth and nose. The mask filled her with fresh, beautiful, life-saving oxygen-rich air, making it harder to hold on to consciousness.

  No! She tried to fight off the treacherous lethargy, but her feeble limbs wouldn’t obey a simple command. Please… She had to tell them that…

  The man she couldn’t imagine her life without, her brother… Antonio Del Lobo, a murderer dubbed the Smiling Killer by the press, was trapped in the fire. She was never going to see him again.

  Struggling not to pass out, she reached for the place near her heart where her cross used to be. Her hand caught emptiness.

  The world went black.

  Chapter One

  A year later.

  Dr. Luke Goodman slammed on the brakes and jerked the car to the right. Knuckles white, he gripped the steering wheel. The skinny biker on a sparkling motorcycle flew between the lanes on his left. The motorcycle’s motor growled with undeniable anger. Several drivers set off an angry blast of horns.

  Luke gritted his teeth.

  Incredible.

  Some people had no concern for others’ safety.

  Life in the sleepy small town of Rios Azules in South Texas was not so calm and monotonous after all. The biker in worn-out jeans, cowboy boots, and a white T-shirt with a logo for The Café on the back disappeared in the distance, leaving a disgusting cloud of fumes behind.

  Luke rubbed the kinks in his neck and straightened his back, aching after an eight-hour drive from Dallas after his flight had been cancelled. He shouldn’t care about a reckless biker. After all, traffic violations were none of Luke’s business.

  Murder was.

  Minutes later, fingers relaxed around the wheel, he pulled into the parking lot of The Café.

  The familiar motorcycle, together with a helmet, had been thrown to the ground. Was the biker that late for work? Luke frowned. The biker, a tall, lanky… girl, was zigzagging between the cars. He recognized now the shortly cropped jet-black hair and metallic chains. Luke pulled into the tight parking spot. As if aware of him watching her, she glanced back for a moment before resuming her pace. The piercing gaze of hazel eyes confirmed his suspicion.

  Whoa.

  The wannabe rock singer who’d caught his attention at a Dallas restaurant three years ago. Mari Del Lobo, who, in the last year, had become known to the world as the sister of the notorious serial killer, Antonio Del Lobo.

  Luke’s pulse quickened. He placed his hand on the door handle. Mari was the person he’d come to see. So what was her hurry?

  She was near the door when a young blonde girl in a white T-shirt and a navy-blue skirt stumbled out of the restaurant. The girl leaned against the wall and slid down.

  Was she sick?

  Luke jumped out of his car and bolted toward her.

  Mari tapped on the girl’s shoulder. “Tara, are you okay? Please answer me!”

  Tara didn’t respond. Her body convulsed.

  Muscles tense, Luke increased his speed.

  Antonio’s sister flipped her phone out of her pocket, pushed buttons, and pressed it to her ear with her shoulder. “This is Mari Del Lobo. I need an ambulance. My hostess Tara Hoffman has lost consciousness and is not responsive. Oak Street, ten. I’m going to start CPR. Hurry.”

  Customers spilled out of the restaurant and incoming cars and started gathering around.

  “No. Move back. Make space.” She gestured to the small crowd, and peopl
e eased back, obviously not questioning her command.

  Luke pushed through the crowd. Once close, he knelt near the girl lying on the asphalt with her eyes shut. Luke pressed fingers to her neck, felt for a pulse, and frowned when he didn’t distinguish any. He moved his ear close to her nose and checked for breathing. There wasn’t any.

  “I’m a doctor. I’ll do CPR,” he said.

  Deep worry in her eyes, Mari dropped to her knees. “Okay. I’ll do mouth-to-mouth. You’ll do chest compressions. On the count of three.”

  Just who was the doctor here?

  He shifted the girl slightly to make sure she was lying as flatly as possible. “Chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth are considered just as effective now.”

  Del Lobo nodded and scanned the crowd. “Whose car is that, parked across the entrance? The ambulance will need that space to get in.” She dragged some poor guy to his vehicle.

  Meanwhile, Luke tilted Tara’s head back to make sure the airways were open. Then he placed his left hand on her breastbone and his right hand on top of his left. He pressed down with both hands. While doing compressions, he counted thirty and then thirty again. He repeated five cycles.

  The girl coughed and opened her eyes. A warm wave of relief flushed over him.

  “Yes!” Del Lobo pumped her fist in the air and leaned down to her hostess. “Tara, how do you feel?”

  “Weak,” Tara whispered.

  A siren split the air, and a few minutes later, paramedics loaded the girl on a stretcher and into an ambulance. The crowd dissipated.

  Mari stepped up to him. “Thank you.” She extended her hand. “You probably saved her life. I’m Mari Del Lobo. I own The Café. Are you new in Rios Azules?”

  “Is it that obvious? I’m Luke Goodman.” As soon as his fingers touched hers, something similar to an electric jolt passed through him, a reaction to a woman he’d never experienced before.

  Her eyes widened for a moment, so she must have felt it, too. She seemed to take control over her reaction quickly, and her handshake was firm and strong. “Dr. Luke Goodman, I presume. In town for the festival this weekend?”