behind the cover of the car. “Are you sure someone’s shooting at you? I don’t see anything.”
Jonah’s upper lip curled back. “I’m sure.”
The sound of a gun being fired and the bullet whizzing past his head to embed in one of the cars they were hiding between was one a man didn’t forget once he had been shot at. In the military, he had been shot at a lot.
“Maybe we should call the sheriff,” Buck said.
“Fantastic idea,” Jonah said. “Do you have a phone?”
He didn’t. Reception wasn’t all that spectacular up on the mountaintop so he had a satellite phone, but it didn’t do him a lot of good as he had left it in the truck.
Having a cell phone while living on a mountaintop was pointless. Not carrying his satellite phone while knowing Aldrin was in danger had been careless, but he had been so worried about Aldrin’s visit to the doctor and coming back into town that he had forgotten to grab the damn thing.
Buck pulled out his phone and handed it over. Jonah rolled his eyes as he dialed the sheriff’s office and then held the phone up to his ear.
“Cade Creek Sheriff Station, Deputy Walker speaking.”
“Deputy Walker, this is Jonah Cade. Aldrin, Buck, and I are pinned down in the clinic parking lot. Someone is shooting at us.”
“Shooting at you?” the deputy asked. “Like, with a gun?”
“Yes, with a gun!” Jonah snapped. What kind of deputies did they hire in this damn town?
“Okay, stay down. The sheriff and I are on our way.”
“Be careful. I saw a flash of something on the rooftop of the building across the parking lot from the clinic right before someone started shooting at us.”
“We’ll take care of it,” the deputy replied. “You just stay hidden.”
Like he planned to do anything else. Jonah hung up and handed the phone back to Buck. “Thanks.”
“Sheriff coming?” Buck asked.
Jonah nodded. “We’re supposed to wait here for them.”
Jonah would have preferred going after whoever was shooting at them, but Aldrin’s safety came first. Once Aldrin was safely tucked away somewhere he couldn’t be hurt, Jonah would go hunting.
“Can I get up now?” Aldrin asked.
“No!”
“Jonah,” Aldrin wailed, but not loudly. It was more a sound of complaint.
Jonah moved back enough for Aldrin to flip over onto his back. He refused to get off the man. Besides the fact that he needed to protect Aldrin, he really liked being stretched out on top of him. Of course, now was probably not the time to be getting a hard on, but he couldn’t help it. Aldrin was just that sexy.
“You ever coming back to the diner, Aldrin?” Buck asked. “That new guy Trudy hired to fill in for you don’t know his ass from a hole in the wall.”
Aldrin chuckled. “The doctor wants me to take a few more days before I go back to work.”
Jonah got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he stared down at Aldrin with the realization that the man had a life in Cade Creek. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life on top of a mountain.
Maybe that was why Aldrin had felt such relief when they reached the outer limits of Cade Creek? He needed people, excitement, and some friends to hang with. He needed a life.
Jonah stroked his finger down Aldrin’s cheek. “You might get a permanent customer when you go back to work.” Because he had no intention of leaving Aldrin on his own. Ever.
Aldrin’s grin was delighted. “Only if you tip well.”
Buck’s phone rang. Jonah glanced over at the man when he tapped him on the shoulder and held it out. “It’s for you.”
Eyebrows peaked high, Jonah took the phone and held it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Jonah, this is Sheriff Riley. Has there been anything since Deputy Walker talked to you?”
“No, nothing since that first shot.”
“And you’re sure it was a gunshot?” the sheriff asked. “It couldn’t have been a car backfire or something?”
“I’m sure.” He’d bet his life on it.
“All right, someone should
Maggie Brendan
Barbara O'Connor
Jan Washburn
Terri Blackstock
Norah Simone
Barry Kemp
G.P. Taylor
Alan Cumyn
Linda Barnes
Lisa Jackson