"I know." She squeezed his arm affectionately.
Max reached in the inside pocket of Kurt's war bomber jacket and retrieved a packet of cigarettes. "I've been waiting for you. So, what happened with Matson?"
He struck a match and Liesl blew it out. "I've told you before, not in here. It's too dangerous." Liesl sighed, marched into the hangar to ease her frustration, and stopped at the racer Kurt had built. She ran her hand over the airplane's silver skin. "Matson turned me down flat. He said I couldn't pay him enough to fly for me."
Max chewed the end of his unlit cigarette, then spat out stray tobacco. "Ackley?"
"Who else? He stopped me today. Asked me to marry him."
Max made a rude noise, then leaned his back on the airplane and looked at her expectantly. "So what do we do now? Matson was our last hope for a pilot."
Liesl shook her head. "I don't know, Max. If something drastic doesn't happen soon, we'll have to withdraw."
And withdrawing would kill her as surely as the lynch mob's noose had killed Kurt. Without his dream to follow, her life would have no meaning.
"Liesl, no!" Max grabbed her arms.
Though it hurt, Liesl forced herself to smile. "We still have a week." She threw open the engine's cowling and grabbed a wrench from the rolling tool tray beside the airplane. "Come on, we have work to do."
For Max, she'd pretend there was still hope.
They worked side by side, but Liesl's heart wasn't in it. The air was so hard to breathe tonight, and the rattler in her stomach had started shaking its tail again. Her mind drifted elsewhere, listening, waiting. And with each passing moment, dread grew.
Slowly, softly, a buzzing noise pierced her heavy mood. She knew that noise, had heard it a thousand times. Her head snapped up. Her heart stopped for an instant, then jabbered erratically. The wrench she held dropped to the concrete floor with a clang.
Without thinking, Liesl bolted for the door.
Meet Sylvie Kurtz
Flying an eight-hour solo cross-country in a Piper Arrow with only the airplane's crackling radio and a large bag of M&Ms for company, Sylvie Kurtz realized a pilot's life wasn't for her. The stories zooming in and out of her mind proved more entertaining than the flight. Not a quitter, she finished her pilot's course and earned her commercial license and instrument rating.
Since then, she's traded in her pilot's license for a keyboard, where she lets her imagination soar to create fictional adventures that explore the power of love and the thrill of suspense.
Her first Harlequin Intrigue, One Texas Night, was a 1999 Romantic Times nominee for Best First Category Romance and a finalist for a Booksellers Best Award. Her Silhouette Special Edition, A Little Christmas Magic was a 2001 Readers’ Choice Award Finalist and a Waldenbooks bestseller. Remembering Red Thunder was a 2002 Romantic Times Nominee for Best Intrigue. She was a 2005, 2007 and 2008 Romantic Times nominee for Lifetime Achievement for Series Romantic Adventure. Twin Star Entertainment optioned Ms. Longshot as a possible TV movie. She has written twenty novels. For more details, visit www.sylviekurtz.com.
Books by Sylvie Kurtz
The Seekers Series
Book 1: Heart of a Hunter
Book 2: Mask of a Hunter
Book 4: Pride of a Hunter
Book 5: Spirit of a Hunter
Book 6: Honor of a Hunter
.
Flesh & Blood Duo
Book 1: Remembering Red Thunder (Romantic Times Nominee)
Book 2: Red Thunder Reckoning
.
Stand Alone Works
Pull of the Moon
Detour
Ms. Longshot (optioned for TV Movie)
Personal Enemy
A Rose at Midnight
Under Lock and Key
A Little Christmas Magic (Readers Choice Finalist)
Alyssa Again
Blackmailed Bride
One Texas Night (Booksellers Best Award finalist)
Silver Shadows
Broken Wings
Cover
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
Excerpt – Broken Wings by Sylvie Kurtz
Meet Sylvie Kurtz
More Books by Sylvie Kurtz
Table of Contents
Cover
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
Excerpt – Broken Wings by Sylvie Kurtz
Meet Sylvie Kurtz
More Books by Sylvie Kurtz