we need around here.
“I worked my way
through college mucking out stalls at five in the morning for a race horse
trainer who ran a stable near campus,” she explained as if he’d spoken out
loud.
“Do you know where
the Larsen place is? Can you get there alright?” The last thing Jack needed
right now was to mount a search and rescue when she went missing on some unmapped
back road or fire break.
“I’ve got
directions from her lawyer. I’m sure I’ll be fine between that and the GPS,”
she said, dismissing his unspoken offer to direct her. “But thanks, anyway,”
she declared, reluctantly. There was no percentage in making enemies at this
early of the investigation. Especially given that she didn’t even know what the
investigation was about or if there even was anything to investigate.
Perhaps she was
nothing more than a pawn in a crazy old lady’s game and nothing more.
She looked at Jack
with fresh eyes. No longer wanting to antagonize him as was her habit with men
in authority. Actually, men in general, when it came right down to it.
Even soaking wet
with bilious brown snakes of gelatinous sludge all over him, he looked a fine
specimen. His wet uniform clung to his torso, revealing muscle definition that
suggested a man who either hit the gym a lot or a man whose body had been
forged and tempered through hard work or dedicated training in some discipline
or other. Her money was on the later. His physique was too lean and purposeful
to have been sculpted in a gym.
The thickness of
his forearms and the ropey muscle striations that bulged each time he balled
his fists in frustration at her remarks hinted at the strength they commanded.
He stood over six feet tall and she could see that he wore a shirt a few a
sizes too big in order to accommodate his impossibly broad and powerful
shoulders and chest. He was one robust and powerful unit, but she wasn’t going
to swoon over him like a love-struck schoolgirl. Her days of swooning over men
were well behind her and there wasn’t room in her life for a career as a PI and
any kind of romantic relationship.
Right now, she had
a job to do and though she had no idea what that entailed, she had an
unshakeable feeling that it was, somehow, going to involve Sheriff Jack Raven.
Of that, she was quite certain.
Chapter 4
One year earlier.
A crid smoke billowed
from the heavily modified Suburban as flames licked urgently from the damaged
engine bay. Two IED’s had exploded either side of the vehicle, shredding the
tires and shattering the bullet-proof windows into a crazed spider web. If not
for the ballistic steel plate and Kevlar panels beneath the civilian skin of
the heavily modified and armored SUV, both occupants would have died instantly.
Even as the
ringing in Sergeant Jack Raven’s ears began to fade, a familiar pop-pop-pop of enemy fire pinging against the armor plate, like deadly hail on a tin roof,
confirmed his worst fears. They’d been ambushed. If it had been a random,
opportunistic attack, he would have driven on the run-flat inserts that had
been fitted to the wheels for just such an emergency. But there was nowhere to
run. No backup. Surrounded on all sides by an enemy that held the higher
ground. Their chances of making it through were slim to none.
If he were alone,
he might have been able to shift into his bear form and make a dash for cover.
Even if he caught a few stray rounds, he’d survive and the wounds would heal
almost straight away. One of the advantages of having shifter blood. But he
wasn’t alone and with enemy eyes on him, it probably wasn’t the best time to
reveal his most closely guarded secret since joining the military. He’d heard
what happened to other shifters who’d made their special talents known to their
superiors.
J ack examined the
only other occupant of the Suburban. The man was unconscious and Raven didn’t
even know his name to rouse him. Instead, he slapped him a few times on the
cheek and
“I worked my way
through college mucking out stalls at five in the morning for a race horse
trainer who ran a stable near campus,” she explained as if he’d spoken out
loud.
“Do you know where
the Larsen place is? Can you get there alright?” The last thing Jack needed
right now was to mount a search and rescue when she went missing on some unmapped
back road or fire break.
“I’ve got
directions from her lawyer. I’m sure I’ll be fine between that and the GPS,”
she said, dismissing his unspoken offer to direct her. “But thanks, anyway,”
she declared, reluctantly. There was no percentage in making enemies at this
early of the investigation. Especially given that she didn’t even know what the
investigation was about or if there even was anything to investigate.
Perhaps she was
nothing more than a pawn in a crazy old lady’s game and nothing more.
She looked at Jack
with fresh eyes. No longer wanting to antagonize him as was her habit with men
in authority. Actually, men in general, when it came right down to it.
Even soaking wet
with bilious brown snakes of gelatinous sludge all over him, he looked a fine
specimen. His wet uniform clung to his torso, revealing muscle definition that
suggested a man who either hit the gym a lot or a man whose body had been
forged and tempered through hard work or dedicated training in some discipline
or other. Her money was on the later. His physique was too lean and purposeful
to have been sculpted in a gym.
The thickness of
his forearms and the ropey muscle striations that bulged each time he balled
his fists in frustration at her remarks hinted at the strength they commanded.
He stood over six feet tall and she could see that he wore a shirt a few a
sizes too big in order to accommodate his impossibly broad and powerful
shoulders and chest. He was one robust and powerful unit, but she wasn’t going
to swoon over him like a love-struck schoolgirl. Her days of swooning over men
were well behind her and there wasn’t room in her life for a career as a PI and
any kind of romantic relationship.
Right now, she had
a job to do and though she had no idea what that entailed, she had an
unshakeable feeling that it was, somehow, going to involve Sheriff Jack Raven.
Of that, she was quite certain.
Chapter 4
One year earlier.
A crid smoke billowed
from the heavily modified Suburban as flames licked urgently from the damaged
engine bay. Two IED’s had exploded either side of the vehicle, shredding the
tires and shattering the bullet-proof windows into a crazed spider web. If not
for the ballistic steel plate and Kevlar panels beneath the civilian skin of
the heavily modified and armored SUV, both occupants would have died instantly.
Even as the
ringing in Sergeant Jack Raven’s ears began to fade, a familiar pop-pop-pop of enemy fire pinging against the armor plate, like deadly hail on a tin roof,
confirmed his worst fears. They’d been ambushed. If it had been a random,
opportunistic attack, he would have driven on the run-flat inserts that had
been fitted to the wheels for just such an emergency. But there was nowhere to
run. No backup. Surrounded on all sides by an enemy that held the higher
ground. Their chances of making it through were slim to none.
If he were alone,
he might have been able to shift into his bear form and make a dash for cover.
Even if he caught a few stray rounds, he’d survive and the wounds would heal
almost straight away. One of the advantages of having shifter blood. But he
wasn’t alone and with enemy eyes on him, it probably wasn’t the best time to
reveal his most closely guarded secret since joining the military. He’d heard
what happened to other shifters who’d made their special talents known to their
superiors.
J ack examined the
only other occupant of the Suburban. The man was unconscious and Raven didn’t
even know his name to rouse him. Instead, he slapped him a few times on the
cheek and
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