Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel

little during the trip to Whispering Winds.
    The memory of the tarantulas in my bathtub would probably haunt me for years to come. Someone in Castle Valley knew it would. And that someone was going to extraordinary lengths to frighten me away from the Delgado ranch.

9
    It hadn’t occurred to me to suspect Lucinda Johns until I entered the main room at the tennis ranch with Bradley. As I admired the lavish surroundings with pleasure, she suddenly separated herself from a group of other women and made a beeline for him. Dressed in a red gown cut so low it gave new meaning to the word cleavage, her eyes burned with naked lust. When she spotted me standing near him, her steps faltered, her expression altered dramatically. For a second she looked so distressed I thought she might burst into tears. Instead, she threw me an indignant glare and flounced from the room.
    Bradley, having been cornered by noisy, back-slapping friends, had apparently not noticed. Ginger had told me that she was wildly jealous of Bradley. Was she my tormentor? But how could she know of my phobia? Unless…? It was time to find Ginger.
    Thena Rodenborn had said this was the social event of the season and I believed it. The men looked striking in dark suits and tuxedos, while the women glided about in colorful designer gowns. I felt very much at home in the casual elegance of the place. It was every bit as nice as any of the finest hotels I’d visited in New York, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia.
    There was to be a silent auction later, so I made note of some of the items laid out on the long tables.
    Across the room, working behind the bar, I spied Ginger. It took me a few minutes to weave my way through the noisy throng.
    Ginger’s voice pealed like a bell. “Hey, girlfriend! Where y’all been?”
    “I was detained by a slight problem.”
    “I’m Doug Sauers,” said the smiling, cherub-faced man behind the polished counter. “I’ve heard all about you.”
    “And I you.” He squeezed my hand in a friendly shake and we chatted for a few minutes. He filled a tray with mixed drinks, handed it to Ginger and before she could get away I said, “I need to talk to you when you have a second.”
    “I’m kinda tied up for a spell, but I’ll hunt you up after dinner’s served, okey dokey?”
    “Fine. Right now, I guess I’d better earn my keep.” With Doug’s permission, I stashed my shawl and bulky camera case behind the bar, then set off, camera in hand, to gather information and snap photos of Castle Valley’s uppercrust and out-of-town VIPs.
    Thena Rodenborn, all aglitter in a blue sequined dress, introduced me to some of the major contributors from the Phoenix and Prescott areas respectively. Most people, when hearing I was a reporter, posed willingly.
    I’d gathered quite a bit of material as the dinner hour neared, so I retreated to a quiet spot near an enormous stone fireplace to condense my notes. A large picture window to my left overlooked lighted tennis courts.
    A sudden indrawn breath made me whirl to face a set of startled, cobalt-blue eyes. Some emotion I couldn’t read flickered across the man’s stunningly handsome face and then vanished.
    I opened my mouth to say something and then shut it again as he stepped forward. Before I could object, he caught my free hand and pressed his lips to it. His slightly graying blonde hair caught the rainbow reflections from the crystal chandeliers overhead.
    Then, in a deep, masculine voice, guaranteed to raise goose bumps on the most frigid of women, he said, “Wait. Don’t speak. For one so endowed with such a rare and radiant beauty, I suspect you must be a princess.” He tightened his grip on my hand. “Come. We must be away, you and I. My castle awaits.”
    What was this? A knight in a shining black tuxedo? I couldn’t help but smile. Without a doubt, this had to be the most superb hunk of maleness I’d ever laid eyes on in my life. The air between us crackled with sexual