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Raw Talent
Debra Webb
MILLS & BOON
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Life sometimes throws us painful curves. We can learn
from them and move on with our lives or we can allow
the past to jeopardize our future. This book is dedicated
to a man who has overcome the obstacles life has tossed in
his way. He has risen above numerous adversities and
remained ever hopeful. To my baby brother, John Brashier,
with all my love, this one is for you.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Gabrielle Jordan—She is one of the Colby Agency’s new recruits, but she isn’t who she says she is. She has one goal: revenge.
A. J. Braddock—He is one of the Colby Agency’s newest and hottest investigators. He is an expert tracker. If anyone can find Gabrielle before she completes her mission, he can.
Trevor Sloan—Sloan has been to hell and back more than once. He will not allow anyone to threaten his family under any circumstances.
Pablo Vencino—Sloan’s most trusted employee.
Valerie Vencino—Pablo’s niece, who learns the hard way that love is blind.
Manuel Estes—Valerie’s untrustworthy boyfriend who will do anything for money.
Detective Hernando Cervantes—He knows there is more to this case than a mere kidnapping.
Chico Vega—An old contact of Sloan’s who can provide anyone with anything most anywhere.
George Fuentes—A man who likes his business and doesn’t intend to let anyone get in his way.
Contents
CAST OF CHARACTERS
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
Chapter Sixteen
About the Author
Coming Next Month
Chapter One
Florescitaf, Mexico
The cantina looked exactly like the sort of dump Gabrielle Jordan had expected. Based on what she’d read and heard about Sloan, he would fit in at Los Laureles just fine. Her jaw clenched automatically at the very thought of the man who had killed her father. A man who cared for little but himself. She didn’t have to go inside the place he’d once frequented to know the clientele would be every bit as sleazy as the rundown building looked.
An alley sliced between the cantina and an open air meat market next door. The alley as well as the market appeared deserted and about as welcoming as the rest of this side of town. But that was okay. She wasn’t here to make friends or to even tour the sights and sounds of a part of Mexico sheltered from the passage of time.
She was here to settle a score.
She’d traveled all this way to do one thing and one thing only: to watch a man die a slow, painful death.
No matter if she died in the process. No matter how much pain she had to endure to make it happen. She wasn’t leaving until one of them was dead, him or her.
The odor of stale cigarette smoke, alcohol and plain old male sweat met her at the entrance to the cantina. Ancient overhead fans that had long ago seen better days stirred the thick air.
She moved fully into the cantina, feeling the suspicious stares cast her way like razors sliding over her skin. Tables were scattered around the room. Only a few were occupied, but that handful looked meaner than junkyard dogs. The dubious glares quickly evolved into lustful leers that made her shudder inwardly with revulsion. But she wasn’t afraid. Not for a second. If any of these scumbags thought for a second that their ogling would scare her off, they had another thought coming.
Nothing scared Gabrielle. Nothing at all. A girl didn’t spend eighteen months in a Texas prison without getting tough. Not to mention she’d existed her entire adult life for this destiny. No one would get in her way.
Ignoring the audience of onlookers, Gabrielle strode up to the bar and propped against its worn smooth top. “You speak English?” she asked of the man drying glasses behind the bar. He was sixty if he was a day.
“Sí. What is your pleasure, señorita?”
The dingy apron scarcely reached around his considerable girth. His thick dark hair gleamed with the slightest peppering of gray. The wide mustache made her think of old Western movies and the commancheros depicted through clichés exactly like this guy.
“Tequila.”
“Sí.”
He set a tumbler on the bar then filled it without once taking his scrutinizing gaze off her.
Like the others scattered around the room, the bartender would be not only suspicious, but also curious as to her business in town. Tourists were easy to spot. Those watching her had probably figured out by now that she was not a tourist. No mere tourist would stumble into a place like this without running like hell to get right back out the swinging door.
“You come for Cinco de Mayo?” The bartender set the bottle of tequila aside and studied her even more closely as he waited for her response.
Gabrielle downed the shot, relishing the hot burn as it slithered like a wildfire down her throat. “No.” She didn’t see the point in lying. She wasn’t here for any sort of festival. She was here for Sloan. “I’m looking for someone.”
The old man reached for another freshly washed glass and slowly turned it in his hands, wiping away the moisture from its recent rinsing.
Gabrielle tapped her glass to prompt the pouring of another shot. “His name is Sloan. Trevor Sloan. Have you heard of him?”
The bartender tensed noticeably as the tequila splashed into the glass. He shook his head. “I do not know of this man.”
She knew he lied. She’d asked around and though only one person had admitted to recognizing the name Sloan, the woman had told Gabrielle to ask at this cantina.
Gabrielle cradled the glass for a moment before