Formula for Danger

Formula for Danger
Camy Tang

Someone wants dermatologist Rachel Grant's latest research, and they'll do anything to get it. Including trashing the plants needed for her breakthrough scar-reducing cream–and trying to run Rachel down.Desperate for help, she turns to Edward Villa, the only man she trusts. But the greenhouse owner knows too much about Rachel's research, and now he's a target, too. Break-ins, muggings, murder…the would-be thief is getting desperate–and getting closer. Edward vows to protect Rachel at all costs. Yet with time ticking away, Edward knows they have to uncover the madman shadowing Rachel before their chance for a future is destroyed.

“Rachel, earlier tonight, someone broke into greenhouse four.”

“Greenhouse four? My greenhouse?” Technically, it was his greenhouse, but the only things in it were her Malaysian basil plants. “Were you there? Are you okay?”

Edward paused, and his searching gaze made her stomach flip. “I’m fine. I wasn’t there when it happened. I left my cell phone in greenhouse six, so I went to get it. I noticed movement in the yard, and when I went to check the greenhouses, I found yours unlocked. Someone trashed all your plants.”

She gasped. She needed Edward to cultivate a certain number of plants so she could make the extract for her scar reduction cream, scheduled to launch in only five months. She couldn’t be late. The spa depended on her new product launch. “Why didn’t the alarm go off? I thought the greenhouses all had security alarms in place.”

“They do,” Edward said. “But the system in greenhouse four didn’t go off. I checked it, and it looks like the thief tampered with it. Whoever did this was a professional, not your average thief. The thief entered only greenhouse four, Rachel—the thief was only after your plants.”

CAMY TANG

writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Originally from Hawaii, she worked as a biologist for nine years, but now she writes full-time. She is a staff worker for her San Jose church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. She also runs the Story Sensei fiction critique service, which specializes in book doctoring. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every Monday and Thursday, and she ponders frivolous things like dumb dogs (namely, hers), coffee-geek husbands (no resemblance to her own…), the writing journey, Asiana and anything else that comes to mind. Visit her Web site at www.camytang.com.

Formula for Danger

Camy Tang

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

—Psalms 24:1

To Danica and Cheryl. I thought I could never find two people as sick and twisted as myself, but I have in you two. Thanks for being my friends.

CONTENTS

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

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

LETTER TO READER

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

ONE

Dr. Rachel Grant had walked only a few feet out the back door of her family’s Sonoma day spa, Joy Luck Life, when the patter of running footsteps behind her made her turn.

She had only a glimpse of a dark hoodie and a tall, lanky figure before a shove sent her sprawling onto the sidewalk. Thwack! Her left cheekbone collided with the cement, sending pain lancing through her head.

Snow clouded her vision and she struggled to open her eyes. Her heart pounded in her throat, making it hard for her to breathe. Frantic, she opened her mouth wide but no sound came out.

She glanced up. The backsides of dirty sneakers filled her field of view as they trotted away from her. Then a hand scooped up the bag strap of her sister Naomi’s laptop computer, which had flown from Rachel’s grip to land on the edge of the pool of light from the parking lot streetlamp. The sneakers hustled away.

Breathe! Rachel forced her wooden lungs to fill and tried to scream, but only a harsh croak came out. Where were the security guards? They should have seen the attack thanks to the outside video cameras. How long would it take for them to run out here?

Even worse, Naomi would be devastated to lose that laptop, which she’d bought barely five hours ago.

She heard the creak of the spa’s back door, then more footsteps. “Rachel! Rach, are you okay?” Naomi fell to her knees beside her, hands on Rachel’s shoulders. “I was talking to Martin, and we saw it all on the security camera.” Martin, one of the security guards, raced past them, pursuing the stranger and the laptop.

In the distance, a woman’s voice screeched, “What are you doing? Don’t leave me!” It sounded as if it had come from the front of the spa.

Who was that? What was going on?

Rachel pushed herself up, her cheekbone throbbing as she rose. She squeezed her eyes shut to the wave of pain and paused on her knees, her head bowed.

Naomi put her arm around her. “Where are you hurt?”