Cut Throat (Cat Dupree Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Sharon Sala (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
He killed her once . . .

Throat slashed and left for dead next to her murdered father, a thirteen-year-old girl vows to hunt down the man who did this to them -- Solomon Tutuola. Now grown, bounty hunter Cat Dupree lets nothing -- or no one -- stand in the way of that deadly promise. Not even her lover, Wilson McKay.

Their sexually charged encounters leave McKay wanting more, but Cat is determined to keep her distance. She doesn’t need a man making emotional demands, not now, when revenge is near.

Suspecting that Tutuola is still alive, despite witnessing the horrific explosion that should have killed him, Cat follows a dangerous money trail to Mexico, swearing not to return until she's certain Tutuola is dead -- even if it means destroying her very soul . . .

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The faint cry of her neighbor's new baby was barely audible from where bounty hunter Cat Dupree was sitting in her apartment, and yet, for some reason, it was all she could hear. She'd blocked out the thunder of her own heartbeat and was ignoring the sick, helpless feeling that had taken root in the pit of her stomach. Her entire focus was on the wanted posters plastered over the walls of her office—that and the baby's continuous wail.

Her laptop was sitting on top of a file cabinet by the door. The GPS program that was running showed a map of Mexico and a blip that, for the past thirty-six hours, had continued to move steadily westward. It was her worst nightmare come to life, yet she chose to ignore it for the faces on the wanted posters.

After all these years, the faces were as familiar to her as her own, and yet none of them matched the face of the man who, since childhood, had haunted her dreams. The man who had killed her father and left a six-inch scar along the base of her throat. The same man she'd seen only a few weeks ago and had been certain—so certain—was finally dead. She glanced back at the laptop and winced. Now she wasn't so sure.

Wind rattled the windowpanes behind her, signaling the oncoming storm heading for Dallas. Rain was imminent, but the temperature was in the high thirties, which meant no accompanying ice or snow. After the ice storm they'd endured during Christmas, a simple rainstorm was welcome news. As the wind gusted again, she shivered, then folded her arms across her chest and hunched her shoulders, thankful for the central heating in her apartment. As she did, her focus shifted to the wanted poster tacked above the doorway.

The poster of Justin "Mad Dog" Bailey was the first she'd hung more than fifteen years ago. He'd been singled out as worthy of posting for the simple fact that he had tattoos all over his face and body, one of the identifying features of her father's killer. She'd known immediately that he wasn't the man she was looking for, but she'd had to start somewhere, so she'd tacked him up. She tunneled her fingers through her hair. Her head ached, and the muscles in her neck and back were miserably tight, but that was of no importance to her. It was revenge that had driven her to where she was in life, and it was revenge she needed. Her gaze slid to the next poster.

Edward John Forrest. Edward was too young to have committed the attack on her family, but she'd felt compelled to hang his booking photos anyway, and so it had begun. Over the years, she'd acquired an impressive collection.

As she stood, she realized the neighbor's baby had quit crying. Either someone had poked a bottle in its mouth, or it had finally given up and fallen asleep. The silence was oddly uncomfortable. Now there was nothing to sidetrack her awareness of that damned laptop and the map on its screen.

Frustrated by her lack of willpower, Cat glanced up again, squinting slightly as the light glared on the monitor, blurring the geography through which the blip continued to move. Even though she couldn't see it clearly, she knew it well.

It was Mexico—the place where she'd run her best friend's killer to ground.

She glanced back at the wanted posters all over her office walls. After Mexico, they were redundant, because there she'd come face-to-face with not only the man who'd killed her friend Marsha, but the tattooed man she'd spent half her life looking for. His name was Solomon Tutuola, and while, for the third time in her life, she had unexpectedly lived to see another day, she had been under the assumption that Tutuola had not. Then this damned blip had resurfaced, taunting her with the possibility that her assumption had been wrong.

Feeling defeated, she moved slowly toward the doorway, then paused under Mad Dog's poster and reached up. The paper crackled as she slipped a fingernail beneath the edge. For some reason she hesitated, discovering it was more difficult to remove than it had been to put up.

Finally she pulled it down and dropped it into the trash, then reached for another one. One by one, she pulled them down, until the walls were completely bare and the trash can was full to overflowing. She emptied it, then began dumping the stacks of posters on the floor into another bag.

Almost an hour passed before the task was finished, and then she finally allowed herself another look at the laptop. The blip was motionless. Whoever was carrying the bugged property that was showing hot on the laptop had stopped for the night.

She grimaced. The bastard was getting more rest than she was. Frustrated, she looked back at the filled trash bags littering the floor and sighed. Those images had been such a part of her life, it seemed strange that she didn't need them anymore.

Last month she'd finally put a name to the face of the man who'd killed her father.

Last month she'd watched the house he'd been in blow up and then burn.

Last month she'd been certain he was dead.

Now she wasn't so sure.

The motionless blip was like a taunt—a "come and find me if you can" dare that she couldn't ignore.

Cat sighed. It was time to see if the devil was dead, or if—as she feared—he'd resurrected himself. But before she absented herself from Dallas again, she had to tell her boss, Art Ball. Just because she had an agenda, that didn't mean he could put his bail-bond business on hold for her. There would always be bail jumpers to find. She just wasn't going to be the one doing it for him—at least not for a while.

And then there was Wilson McKay. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about him. She refused to admit that he deserved any kind of explanation of what she was up to. Just because they'd had sex— unbelievable sex—didn't mean she owed him anything. And just because he'd helped her bring in Mark Presley, the man who'd killed Marsha Benton, that didn't mean she had to keep him updated on the rest of her life.

Part of her wanted to blame Wilson for this uncertainty. When the house where Presley and Tutuola had been hiding out down in Mexico caught on fire, she'd captured Presley, then wanted to go back to make sure Tutuola was dead.

But Wilson had stopped her.

The fact that she would most likely have died if she'd gone back into the burning house was beside the point. When she was being honest with herself, she knew there was no one to blame. But she couldn't live with herself until she knew for sure if her father's killer had survived.

Tomorrow she would call Art and then head south to the border. She had to know who was behind that blip. If it was some Mexican local who'd come across some of Mark Presley's bugged property, then so be it. But if it was Tutuola, then her job still wasn't done. As much as she dreaded another long road trip, she was satisfied with her decision. Within moments, Cat walked out of her office and headed for her bedroom to pack.

It had been almost a week since Wilson McKay had seen Cat. When he was rational, he told himself to just let her go. It was obvious she didn't want anything from him except the occasional round of sex. He should have been happy to just take what she gave out with a thank you and a pat on her butt. Any other woman and he would have. But not her. She'd gotten under his skin in a way no other woman had done and, despite everything he believed in and every instinct he had that told him to let her go, he just couldn't—which explained why he was on his way to her apartment unannounced, with a pizza and a six-pack of beer.

Traffic was heavy on the bypass, but nothing out of the ordinary for Dallas on a rainy Saturday night. The smell of pepperoni wafted under Wilson's nose as he took the exit leading to Cat's apartment building, while the constant sweep of windshield wipers kept the view clear. His radio was tuned to a country station—its style matched his mood and the dark and stormy weather. He needed a Cat fix—at the least, a long session of kissing and cuddling, at the most, a long night with the wildcat in his arms. Just the thought of how it felt to bury himself deep inside her made him ache with want. She was a handful between the sheets, always giving back as good as she got. He had yet to understand how a woman with that much passion in bed managed to stay so cold and distant from everyone she knew. He suspected it had to do with all she'd endured at such a young age, and because of that, he just wasn't willing to give up on her—yet.

The glow of headlights from the heavy flow of traffic was refracted by the rain, while the constant swish of wipers gave the night streets a garish appearance. Wilson thought of the comfort waiting for him inside Cat's cozy apartment and refused to consider the fact that her welcome might not be as warm.

When he pulled into the parking lot and circled her building in search of a space, he couldn't help but notice that the lights were on in her apartment. Now it came down to the crunch. She was home, but would she welcome him in or send him packing with a sharp word and a glare from her cold, blue eyes?

He parked, grabbed the pizza and beer, and headed for the door. He would know soon enough how warm his welcome would be.

Cat was on her hands and knees in the back of her closet, searching for the matching boot to the one already sitting next to her suitcase, when she thought she heard the doorbell ring. Frowning, she rocked back on her heels and listened again.

There!

This time she heard the chimes clearly and frowned. "Who in the—"

Wilson. She knew without a doubt that it was Wilson McKay. He was the only person who visited her and the only one she knew who would come without calling. Probably because he figured she wouldn't answer the door if she knew he was coming, and she almost didn't answer it now. Despite her instincts telling her to leave him standing there, she headed for the living room, hating herself for the spurt of excitement she was feeling. She didn't really have time for this, but ignoring him might raise more suspicion than if she just let him in and got it over with. At least, that was what she was ...

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Mira (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778325075
• ISBN-13: 978-0778325079
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #404,230 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cat Dupree is back, October 25, 2007

By	Elaine C McTyer "avid reader" (Dawson, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is the sequel to NINE LIVES and it is just as good if not better. I loved it. The moral and personel dilemas of Cat who just finds it hard to trust anyone are standard Sharon Sala. She is one of the list of authors I buy sight unseen. Her ability to reach into the dark and find the hidden depths of her characters make for a wonderful read in every book by her I have read.

Cat Dupree is a child of the foster care system. Her mother died when she was young and her father was murdered in front of her when she was 13. The killer cut her throat and left her for dead, but she survived and became a bounty hunter who looks for him all the time. He was unique because of his tattoos and filed teeth. Everyone including the system has let her down and in NINE LIVES she lost the foster sister, who was the only one close to her in this life.

Wilson McKay is also a bounty hunter, he helped Cat find the body of her friend and followed the killer to Mexico where he had connected with the man who murdered Cat's dad. Wilson has made the mistake of falling for Cat. He wants to be the one she can trust and turn to, but she still doesn't trust him.

They thought the killer of her father died in the fire at the end of the book, but now a blip from a planted bug has started on Cat's computer. She sets out to find answers to the question, is he alive or dead? The action is awesome and I love a strong woman but there is also a time and a need for love and that time has arrived for Cat. Do not miss this one. I loved it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, November 11, 2007

By	Southern Gal "Southern Gal" (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

I loved the charters in this book. While Cat was a strong woman and had some faults she was not stupid about things (which so many are), a woman can be hard headed and independent without being stupid. Also, I like Wilson and his family very much. I can't wait for the new book featuring Cat and Wilson in 2008. I appreciate books with a good plot, charters I actually like and care about, some action and a little romance and a happy ending.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cat is still on the prowl, December 13, 2007

By	Amy R. (Greenville, SC) - See all my reviews

Cat Dupree returns in this exciting sequel to Nine Lives. The man who killed her father and left her for dead and left the scar as a remembrance is still on the loose. Cat may finally have the one lead that she has always wanted, a face and a possible location. The need for revenge has fueled her life up to this point and she has had to do most of it on her own. She doesn't know how to ask for help.

Wilson has been there for her even when she doesn't want it and has come to love her. Does she feel the same way? It takes her longer to come to that conclusion. She has to heal from her physical and emotional wounds. Wilson offers that opportunity in the form of taking her to his family's farm. He offers her the one thing that she hasn't had in a long time, which is a family. His family accepts her and treats her like a member of the family even though they have only known her for a short period of time. Now that she has this new family she will do anything to keep it.

This is a book that you don't want to miss. I would recommend reading Nine Lives first since it does have a lot of background information. I can't wait for the next book involving Cat and Wilson to see what happens.