Jude Deveraux - Scarlet Nights: An Edilean Novel

Scarlet Nights

BOOKS BY JUDE DEVERAUX

The Velvet Promise

Highland Velvet

Velvet Song

Velvet Angel

Sweetbriar

Counterfeit Lady

Lost Lady

River Lady

Twin of Fire

Twin of Ice

The Temptress

The Raider

The Princess

The Awakening

The Maiden

The Taming

The Conquest

A Knight in Shining Armor

Holly

Wishes

Mountain Laurel

The Duchess

Eternity

Sweet Liar

The Invitation

Remembrance

The Heiress

Legend

An Angel for Emily

The Blessing

High Tide

Temptation

The Summerhouse

The Mulberry Tree

Forever

Wild Orchids

Forever and Always

Always

First Impressions

Carolina Isle

Someone to Love

Secrets

Return to Summerhouse

Lavender Morning

Days of Gold

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

Copyright 2010 by Deveraux, Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Atria Books hardcover edition August 2010

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Designed by Jill Putorti

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Deveraux, Jude.
Scarlet nights: an Edilean novel/Jude Deveraux.1st Atria Books hardcover ed.
p. cm.
1. SecretsFiction. 2. FiancsFiction. 3. Impostors and impostureFiction. I. Title.
PS3554.E9273S33 2010
813.54dc22 2010003309

ISBN 978-1-4391-0797-3
ISBN 978-1-4391-4980-5 (ebook)

Scarlet Nights

F ORT L AUDERDALE , F LORIDA

I THINK WEVE FOUND her, Captain Erickson said. His voice was forced, showing that he was working hard to control his jubilation.

They were sitting at a picnic table at the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, just off A1A in Fort Lauderdale. It was a September morning, and South Florida was beginning to cool off. By next month the weather would be divine.

I guess you mean Mitzi, Mike Newland said, for just yesterday the captain had given him a thick file on the family. Mizelli Vandlo was a woman several police departments, including the fraud squad of Fort Lauderdale, plus the Secret Servicefor financial crimesand the FBIfor violencehad been searching for for years. As far as anyone knew, the only photo of her had been taken in 1973, when she was sixteen and about to marry a fifty-one-year-old man. Even then, she was no beauty and her face was easily remembered for its large nose and lipless mouth.

When the captain didnt answer, Mike knew that a Big Job was coming, and he worked to keep his temper from rising to the surface. Hed just finished an undercover case that had taken three years, and for a while there had been contracts out on his life.

Although Mike had never worked on the Vandlo case, hed heard that a few years ago there had been major arrests in the family, all of it happening on one day, but in several cities. But Mitzi, her son Stefan, and some other family membersall of whom they had many photos ofhad somehow been tipped off and had quietly slipped away. Until recently, no one had known where theyd gone.

Mike poured green tea from a thermos into a cup and offered it to the captain.

No thanks, the captain said, shaking his head. Ill stick with this. He held up a can of something that was full of additives and caffeine.

So where is she? Mike asked, his voice even more raspy than usual. He often had to answer questions about his voice, and his standard half-lie was that it was caused by a childhood accident. Sometimes he even elaborated and made up stories about tricycles or car wrecks, whatever appealed to him that day. No matter what the story, Mikes voice was as intimidating as his body was when he went into action.

Ever hear of ? As the captain fumbled in his shirt pocket for a piece of paper, Mike could tell that he was excited about something other than finding Mitzi. After all, this was at least the sixth time theyd heard shed been found. Ah, here it is. The captains eyes were dancing about. Lets see if I can pronounce the name of this place.

Czechoslovakia no longer exists, Mike said, deadpan.

No, no, this town is in the U.S. Somewhere up north.

Jacksonville is up north.

Found it, the captain said. Eddy something. Eddy Lean.

Eddy Lean is a persons name, not a place.

Maybe Im saying it wrong. Say it faster.

A muscle worked in Mikes jaw. He didnt like whatever game the captain was trying to play. Eddylean. Never heard of it. So where? Halting, Mike took in a breath. Ed-uh-lean, he said softly, his voice so low the captain could hardly hear him. Edilean.

Thats it. The captain put the paper back into his pocket. Ever hear of the place?

Mikes hands began to shake so much he couldnt lift his cup. He willed them to be stillwhile he tried to relax his face so his panic wouldnt show. Hed told only one man about Edilean, and that had been a long time ago. If that man was involved, there was danger. Im sure youve found out that my sister lives there, Mike said quietly.

The captains face lost its smile. Hed meant to tease Mike, but he didnt like seeing such raw emotion in one of the men under his command. So I was told, but this case has nothing to do with her. And before you ask, no one but me and the attorney general know about her being there.

Mike worked on controlling his heart rate. Many times before hed been in situations where hed had to make people believe he was who he wasnt, so hed learned to keep calm at all costs. But in those times, it had been his own life in danger. If there was something going on in tiny Edilean, Virginia, then the life of the only person who mattered to him, his sister Tess, was in jeopardy.

Mike! the captain said loudly, then lowered his voice. Come back to earth. No one knows about you or your hometown or your sister, and shes perfectly safe. He hesitated. I take it you two are close?

Mike gave a one-shoulder shrug. Experience had taught him to reveal as little about himself as possible.

Okay, so dont tell me anything. But you do know the place, right?

Never been there in my life. Mike forced a grin. He was back to being himself and was glad to see the frown that ran across the captains face. Mike liked to be the one in charge of a situation. You want to tell me what this is about? I cant imagine that anything bad has happened in little Edilean. Not since 1941, he thought as about a hundred images ran through his mindand not one of them was good. While it was true that hed never actually been to Edilean, the town and its inhabitants had ruled his childhood. He couldnt help it as he put his hand to his throat and remembered that day and his angry, hate-filled grandmother.