THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

she could read the inky brew like tea leaves.
    Angel let the quiet settle while Trish gathered her thoughts on whatever was causing the pucker between her eyebrows.
    “I’ve got to get my act together,” Trish muttered to her mug. “I’m getting in the way of Zane’s life.”
    What do you say to that? Angel wiped the counter harder. Zane would be able to perform surgery on this surface if she didn’t stop.
    “Angel, have you ever had something you wanted real bad just out of your reach?”
    Angel paused her scrubbing and stared at the counter.
    For five years she’d trained, studied, and competed to earn the coveted athletic scholarship to Stanford, only to have it snatched away. The first two weeks in jail she’d almost folded under the weight of her loss and what lay ahead of her, but deep inside, the drive to stick it out had burned. Once she’d been released, she’d wanted to prove she was better than the stranger described in a stack of court documents.
    She’d trained to compete in the Tamarind, but more than that, all those hours of hard work had been to regain a grain of respect. To be treated just like any other human being.
    All she’d wanted was to belong to this world again and stop feeling like a second-class citizen.
    Mason had stolen that from her.
    “Yes, Trish, I’ve had something very important I worked very hard for taken away. Twice, in fact.”  Angel understood that they were talking about two different things, but the dynamics were the same. “If you want something bad enough, you have to be willing to fight for it no matter what.”
    Trish stared at her with soulful eyes then nodded slowly. “Yeah. I think I know what you’re saying.”  Her polite smile didn’t reach her sad eyes. “Thanks.”
    Angel glanced at the clock on the microwave. Ten minutes until seven. “What’re your plans for today?”
    “Nothing in particular.” Trish brightened. “We can hang out together while Zane’s gone and get to know each other better.”
    No. Trish had to go. Now. “What about your shop?”
    “Heidi will open up.”
    This was Zane’s apartment. Angel couldn’t very well ask his sister to leave if she didn’t want to go.
    She was stuck here. Unbelievable.
     
    Chapter 35
     
    Palm leaves slapped together as the wind whipped through the lush landscape surrounding the pilot’s apartment. Still tucked away from sight, CK’s phone vibrated at seven-fifteen.
    “Speak.”
    “The pilot’s airborne and on his way to Jacksonville.”
    CK grinned. Gotta love it when a plan falls into place.
    “Go to the meet point,” CK ordered. “I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”  He ended the call and put the phone away.
    Standing up straight from where he’d been leaning, he flexed his chest, loosening muscles tightened by hours at his weight bench. After a habitual check of his 9mm Glock at his hip, he lifted his phone and typed a text. He had a man waiting in position to cut the power feed to the apartment. Once CK sent that text, his man would vanish and CK would show why he got paid the big bucks.
    Unlike the rest of these men, CK didn’t need help with one scrawny girl.
    He started moving slowly toward the only patio with drapes drawn over the glass doors.
     
    Chapter 36
     
    Squatted down next to the kitchen counter, Angel tied her yellow shoelaces and prayed Trish would reach her friend Heidi, who she was calling on Zane’s landline.
    Come on, Heidi, be home . Angel enjoyed Trish, but Angel couldn’t leave until Trish did.
    Patience. At least Trish had changed her mind about staying to “spend the day together” after Angel reminded her how busy holiday shopping traffic might be this weekend at Trish’s store.
    Trish held the house phone to her ear for thirty seconds again before she hung up, grabbed her coffee mug, and plopped onto a barstool. “Heidi probably went to breakfast with someone. She loves Saturday brunch.”
    Angel smiled politely and hid her frustration. None of Angel’s problems were Trish’s fault, but it would be nice if Zane’s sister had somewhere to be.
    Like at the gift shop.
    Trish’s lack of concern over her business grated after listening to how much Zane wanted this to work for his sister. What Angel wouldn’t give to have a normal life where she ran her own business and no one wanted to kill her.
    Zane had been right about one thing. His sister did not like to be alone.
    Each sibling thought they had the other figured out. Although