AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Prologue
Excitement hummed through his blood.
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two…
The engine purred to life before Beau LeBlanc could even finish counting down to one. A sleek, beautiful purr of power from the Jag—a ride that had to be worth an easy one hundred grand. If you were gonna buy something so expensive, then you really should protect your possession a whole lot better. And not say, let a teenager swipe it in less than five seconds.
A wide grin curved Beau’s lips as he prepared to get the hell out of?—
Smoke.
He stilled right before pulling the driver’s side door closed. The night was still. Damn quiet. Nothing was happening in the Garden District. Sure, he knew folks would be partying it up hardcore on Bourbon Street, but this was the tamer part of the Big Easy. The sophisticated, rich-as-hell part. Gated homes. Security cameras. Fancy rides that just begged and sweetly pleaded to be stolen by an enterprising person such as himself.
But…
The scent of smoke grew stronger.
He should ignore the scent. He had a job to do. People who would be waiting on this car. Drive away. Yep, that was exactly what he should do.
Except…
Had he just heard the faintest crackle of flames?
Beau found himself sliding out of the Jag. He didn’t turn off the engine. He was just going to take a quick peek and come right back. Satisfy his curiosity. He hurried around the edge of the tall bushes. Turned the corner on the street and staggered to a stop.
Holy shit.
The house was en-freaking-gulfed. Flames were bursting from the mansion. Red, orange, and gold, the fire seemed to be eating the lower level of the massive structure. As he watched, one window erupted and sent chunks of glass spraying into the night. A soundless whistle escaped him because he’d never seen a fire like this. Maybe in a movie once. Not in real life. Not up close. Not so wild and hot and so?—
“Help me!”
His gaze whipped up to the second floor. Then up higher. Third damn floor. Because the house—mansion—was huge. A window was partially open on that level, and he saw a small arm waving in the night.
Someone was trapped in that house.
The rest of the rich-as-hell street was dead quiet and dark. No one was rushing to the rescue.
“Help!”
So he…did.
Beau hurtled from the darkness and straight toward the flames. He didn’t slow down when he reached the front door. Instead, he just barreled into it as hard as he could. It flew open. He’d thought it would be locked and that he’d have to ram his way in, but it gave him no resistance. Smoke filled his lungs and he coughed and choked as he raced for the stairs. He felt the fire grab his shoulder. A white-hot, burning touch that pierced him straight to his soul, but Beau didn’t stop.
He rushed up the stairs. The smoke followed him. Seemed to choke him. His eyes watered and his chest heaved and somehow, he actually made it to the third-floor landing. But then he froze because the smoke was so thick, and he didn’t know where the hell the victim was and…
He was no damn hero.
Why was he in the house?
Criminal. Piece of trash. Should lock his ass up. Gang thug.
Whispers filled his mind as he hesitated. Beau knew exactly what he was.
