A Serpent In Turquoise
Peggy Nicholson
Careening down a winding pass in Mexico to escape a truckload of goons wasn't how dinosaur hunter Raine Ashaway planned to meet Anson McCord, the archaeologist who'd written her regarding a possible fossil find. She'd expected the professor to be a fossil himself, but McCord's more Indiana Jones than the Mummy.And when he describes a lost Aztec city whose people worshipped a god resembling a never-before-seen species of triceratops, the news gets her blood pumping as much as his sexy Texan smile. Raine's ready to seek the city of the Feathered Serpent with McCord, but can she trust him to share the spoils?It may not matter–others will do anything to keep them from finding it!
“Please tell me I didn’t kiss an agent of the IRS. I’d have to shoot myself. You’re who?”
“Raine. Raine Ashaway. You wrote me about the temple at Teotihuacan, and yes, the Feathered Serpent looks like a dinosaur.”
Bang!
“Oh!” She lunged for McCord and hung on as the Land Rover swerved. “What was—?”
“That was my left headlight clipping the mountainside. So do you know of any place in the Copper Canyons where such a beast might have been found?”
She was no longer seeing triple. He had wonderful lips, though she knew that already. The man was a natural-born kisser. “What’s your angle on this?”
“Aw, jeez—you’re going to hold out on me, after I risked my neck to rescue you?”
“I never said that.” But was she?
“So say it! ‘McCord, I owe you my life. If I know where to find a dinosaur, it’s yours with a bow on it.’ Or would you rather I turn around and hang you back in the tree where I found you?”
Dear Reader,
Sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye to a particularly vivid character. After An Angel in Stone, I meant to put professional bone hunter Raine Ashaway on the back burner, and move on to her younger sister Jaye. But then while prospecting for my next plot, I happened on a book on the Aztecs. I flipped to a page and there was a photo of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, aka the Feathered Serpent. Good Lord, I thought, that carving looks like a dinosaur!
Next thing I knew, Raine had dashed off to the Copper Canyons of Mexico to check out the situation. A long, tall, wise-mouthed renegade Texan came wandering in from left field with his own agenda. I found a charming villain with a weakness for hummingbirds and…
Well, anyway, sometimes all an author can do is run at her heroine’s heels, taking dictation as fast as the adventure happens. This was that kind of story. Hope you enjoy it!
Peggy Nicholson
A Serpent in Turquoise
Peggy Nicholson
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
PEGGY NICHOLSON
grew up in Texas with plans to be an astronaut, a jockey or a wild animal collector. Instead she majored in art at Brown University in Rhode Island (LARGE welded sculptures), then restored and lived aboard a 1920s wooden sailboat for ten years. She has worked as a high school art teacher, a chef to the country’s crankiest nonagenarian millionaire, a waitress in an oyster bar and a full-time author. Her interests include antique rose gardening, Korat cats, ethnic cooking, offshore sailing and—but naturally!—reading romances. She says, “The best thing about writing is that, in the midst of life’s worst pratfalls and disasters, I can always say, ‘Wow, what a story this’ll make!’” You can write to Peggy at P.O. Box 675, Newport, RI 02840.
To Ron duPrey, stars in his bow wave, attended by dolphins, reaching toward the dawn. Fair winds, my darling.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26