Passion, Power & Sin: Book 4

By Mike Wells

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

When a young, daring, impulsive redhead falls prey to an Internet scam and is swindled out of her life savings and her childhood home, she’s hell-bent on recouping her losses and punishing the person responsible. Her single-minded quest for revenge takes her around the world, from New York to Japan, to the untamed steppes of Kyrgyzstan, to Greece, and ultimately, to a sleek super-yacht anchored in the Mediterranean Sea.

In the midst of her global escapades, she also finds love.

Will she let her thirst for retribution destroy that, too?

Join Heather Bancroft for the adventure of a lifetime in another ‘unputdownable’ Mike Wells thriller.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “...has to be the most frustrating, nerve-wrecking, hair-pulling, amazing, brilliant and unique book series I have EVER read in my entire life!" - Dipii, Goodreads Reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Action-packed, plot, twisting from turn to turn, threatening, scary, unpredictable, emotional, strong, full of passion, and has a fantastic fulfilling ending.” - Maggie

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Heather Bancroft is my hero. She leads us into a dark and twisted adventure being torn between love and revenge.” - Debbins

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This is one of the best books I've ever read, certainly in the top 5. Page after page twists and turns never stopped.” - Jeff Mattice

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “She will do anything to get back at the man who ruined her life. Heather is lured around the world by the con artist. Her adventures are scary and exciting...” - Pandora

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A book that's this well written is hard to put down. Awesome characters, many twist turns and several surprises.” - Nicole Rasmussen

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Couldn't wait to see what would happen next and truly cared about the characters. This is a must read!” - A. Adams

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Had great adventures, colorful characters, a fun and exciting read. Entertainment at its best!” - Nancy Souza

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Twists and turns team up with incredible characters for a nonstop thrill ride.” - Christine Raggio

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This is a great blend of mystery, suspense and romance and just edgy enough to keep you reading through hunger, sleep deprivation and postponed chores.” - Sandy Penny, Sweet Mystery Reads

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Wells
• Release date: Apr 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301858712

Mike Wells

Mike Wells is an author of both walking and cycling guides. He has been walking long-distance footpaths for 25 years, after a holiday in New Zealand gave him the long-distance walking bug. Within a few years, he had walked the major British trails, enjoying their range of terrain from straightforward downland tracks through to upland paths and challenging mountain routes. He then ventured into France, walking sections of the Grande Randonnee network (including the GR5 through the Alps from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean), and Italy to explore the Dolomites Alta Via routes. Further afield, he has walked in Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Norway and Patagonia. Mike has also been a keen cyclist for over 20 years. After completing various UK Sustrans routes, such as Lon Las Cymru in Wales and the C2C route across northern England, he then moved on to cycling long-distance routes in continental Europe and beyond. These include cycling both the Camino and Ruta de la Plata to Santiago de la Compostela, a traverse of Cuba from end to end, a circumnavigation of Iceland and a trip across Lapland to the North Cape. He has written a series of cycling guides for Cicerone following the great rivers of Europe.

Book preview

Passion, Power & Sin

A Series

Book 4

by

Mike Wells

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Mike Wells

http://www.mikewellsbooks.com/

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author.

Book 4

Chapter 4.1

The day after Heather Bancroft had picked the brain of the yacht hopper about being on the Alana, she went back to the café on the terrace of the Hotel Carnot, taking her binoculars with her.

The superyacht was still in the harbor. Today, it looked like there were lots of supplies being loaded aboard the huge vessel, men driving forklifts piled with crates and boxes up and down the gangplank.

She ordered a glass of wine and kept her eye on the ship. After about an hour, she was looking through the binoculars and suddenly sat up straighter. Two men were walking down the gangplank. The bald-headed Sergei, and some other man. The other man was olive-skinned and wore a light suit.

From Ellyn’s description, Heather thought he had to be Ricardo Maya.

* * *

A few minutes later Heather was standing across from the Customs building, as she had done the night before. She watched the two men emerge and head down the sidewalk along the harbor.

She started following them, careful to give them a wide berth, as she couldn’t risk them noticing her.

They walked around to the far side of the harbor, where Le Navigateur was located. Heather thought they were headed towards the bar, but at the last moment, they cut down a side street. They started walking up into the Parc du Château, a beautiful hilltop park that overlooks the spires of Vieux Nice and the Baie des Agnes, the main beach.

Maya and Sergei slowed at a small area by a fountain where dozens of elderly men were sitting around, playing chess.

Heather stayed far back, between two trees, watching them through her binoculars.

Maya approached an old man who was sitting by himself, wearing a threadbare brown jacket and smoking a pipe. Maya smiled at him, as if they knew each other. They exchanged a few words and then Maya sat down opposite him. The old man picked up two pieces from the chessboard, held them behind his back, then held his hands out again, the pieces hidden in his fists. Maya tapped his left hand, and the man revealed what Heather thought was a white piece.

They commenced playing chess.

* * *

The two men played against each other for almost three hours, well into the afternoon. Heather found an outdoor café that was within sight of the chess-playing area and kept an eye on them.

It seemed they played quite a few games, as Heather saw the old man setting up the pieces several times. Heather got the feeling that Maya lost most of the time, but once he jumped up, smiling, looking pleased with himself, while the old man reset the pieces.

While they played, Sergei roamed around the area, looking as if he were ready to stop anyone who might come after his boss.

After a long while, Maya finally rose and nodded to the old man, putting something down on the chessboard—it looked like money but Heather wasn’t sure.

She did not follow Maya and Sergei out of the park. Instead, she lingered for a few minutes, then went over to the opposite side of the chess playing area, where two older men were deeply engrossed in a game.

"Pardon," Heather said.

Neither of the men acknowledged her presence.

Excuse me, Heather said in English.

One of the men looked up, annoyed. Can you not see we are busy?

I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I just wondered who that man is, Heather said, gesturing to the other side of the area.

The two glanced in that direction.

What man? the first one asked.

The one in the far corner, sitting there smoking a pipe.

Both men looked back at their game.

"He is Claude Lautier, and he thinks his merde smells like roses."

What do you mean?

He is a grandmaster, won the French National Chess Championship two times in a row, very long ago. Now leave us alone.

"Merci," Heather said.

Now she knew how Ricardo Maya challenged himself at chess.

By the time she went back up to the café at the top of the Hotel Carnot, the superyacht Alana had left the harbor.

Chapter 4.2

For the next few days, Heather was preoccupied with thoughts of Ricardo Maya, with everything that Ellyn had told her about him, and with his chess game in the park.

One afternoon she found herself standing outside a plastic surgery clinic—there was no shortage of them in Nice. She watched a tall blonde with a flat chest enter.

Heather finally worked up the nerve to go inside. She picked up one of the brochures in the waiting room.

May I help you? the receptionist said in French, smiling. The girl’s breasts stuck out perkily.

I’m just picking this up for a friend, Heather said, and she fled.

* * *

A few days later Heather was back at the clinic, sitting on an examination table, a male plastic surgeon examining her breasts.

She told herself she was just checking into it. There was no harm in that.

The doctor explained the pros and cons of saline versus silicone, incisions, recovery time, and other topics.

Heather had enough money saved up for the operation, though it would nearly wipe her out. She vacillated. Now she was even more confident that Ricardo Maya was the scammer. The day after his yacht left, she had gone back to the post office and checked the box—it had been emptied. On top of that, another piece of the puzzle fit. The name of the communications satellite owned by Alana Holdings, the RMCS-1B. The Ricardo Maya Communications Satellite. It was telling, too. The man wanted to keep it a secret but he had used his own initials in the name. He obviously had a huge ego.

Heather and the doctor discussed cup sizes. She was a B cup and he recommended implants that would give her a full C cup, and no larger.

And what about having the implants removed? Heather asked.

What about it? the doctor said.

Will I look the same as before? Will there be noticeable scars?

Chantal, your breasts will look the same as before, and the scarring is minimal. But I doubt you will ever want to have the implants removed.

What makes you say that?

The doctor smiled. "Experience, cherie. As the old adage goes, once you have seen Paris, it’s hard to go back to the farm."

* * *

Heather didn’t want to believe that she wouldn’t want the operation reversed—if she had the operation, and that was a big if. In preparation, just in case she decided to go forward with it, she started wearing a padded bra to work, moving up one size every couple of days. She started complaining about having pain in her shoulder, too. If she decided to do it, she would be gone for two weeks and would return looking very different from the waist up.

Just wearing the padded bra as she walked around Nice was addictive. Men paid her much more attention, and so did many women. Her red hair had always gotten her noticed, but most people seemed to appreciate her hair as aesthetically beautiful. This new attention to her chest was overtly sexual. Somehow, it made Heather feel more powerful, in an earthy, grounded way.

This scared her a little bit. She told herself that if she decided to get the implants, she would have to be careful not to get too dependent on this feeling.

Anyway, she, Heather Bancroft, would not actually get the boob job—it would be Chantal Pouloit who had the operation.

With big breasts, she would be Chantal Pouloit. Without them, she would always be Heather Bancroft.

At least she hoped so.

Chapter 4.3

The operation was not as bad as Heather feared, but the recovery was agonizing. She stayed in her tiny apartment and ate pain killers like candy. Her landlady was the only person she had told about the operation, and that was only because the doctor refused to perform the surgery without having at least one person aware of it and looking after her in case of complications.

But there were no complications—the incisions seemed to heal just as the doctor had said they would, perhaps even a little faster. He told her that going back to work at her waitressing job would be no problem as long as she didn’t do any heavy lifting. He explained that