Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 63763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
I knew exactly how protected she was. The only safer place in Sable Canyon would have been our home or the clubhouse, with layers of brothers, gates, and controlled land between her and the outside world, but knowing she was safe on a screen had never satisfied me as much as putting my hand around her waist and feeling her breathe beneath it. I locked my tablet and stood.
“I’m going to dispatch.”
Hawkeye glanced toward the feed before looking back at me. “About time. You’ve been trying to touch her through that screen.”
“Wasn’t working.”
“First piece of technology you couldn’t make cooperate.”
I gave him a flat stare and headed for the door, but my secure phone vibrated before I reached the hallway. Nomad’s name filled the screen, and the low engine noise behind him told me the surveillance had shifted from waiting to movement.
“All three converged at a closed garden center outside town,” he reported. “Pritchard left his truck there and got into Pike’s Yukon. Stowe followed in the service van. They’re heading east on Old Quarry Road.”
I pulled the county map onto the office display while Stryker moved around the desk. The road crossed scrubland, abandoned county parcels, and one place isolated enough to burn evidence without attracting attention until smoke reached the highway. “Only thing out there is the old county burn pit.”
“Exactly,” Nomad answered. “We’re four minutes behind them. Falcon’s coming around from the north.”
Stryker was already issuing assignments before I ended the call. I opened Bex’s protected number while heading toward the motorcycle garage. She answered immediately, the radio chatter around her dropping as she stepped away from the active console.
“What happened?”
“Got movement. Pike, Pritchard, and Stowe are together, carrying the devices we need. We’re going after them.” I heard her breath catch, but she remained quiet while I continued. “Stay inside dispatch. Wraith and Smoke don’t leave your side, and you don’t step through an exterior door until I come back.”
“You’d better come back, Corbin Ralston,” she snapped.
The sharp demand pulled a rough chuckle from me as I reached my bike. My woman wasn’t pleading or asking me to be careful. She was issuing an order with enough love beneath it to make the impossible feel guaranteed.
“Always.”
24
BEX
Iwas three hours into my shift on Tuesday evening when I picked up a call that stunned me. “Sable Canyon 911, what is the address of your emergency?”
A woman’s voice came through the line, sounding shaky. “I…I locked myself in the bedroom. He left, but I don’t know if he’s coming back.”
I sat up straighter, my fingers already moving over the keyboard as I grabbed a pen to jot notes onto my pad. “Okay, I’m here with you. But I need to know your address so I can send help.”
She rattled off one that sounded familiar.
“Are you hurt?”
“No. He didn’t hit me. He just…he was so angry. Throwing things. Looking for money and his gun.”
It took me a moment to place her voice from the sporadic, polite conversations we’d had over the years. “Mrs. Pritchard? It’s Bex Raines.”
Department policy was to only use my first name instead of employee number when needed to connect with a caller so they’d remain calm, but this wasn’t a stranger. And the situation wasn’t ordinary. I felt deviating from the rules was warranted. If I got in trouble for the decision, so be it.
A broken cry came over the line. “Bex. Oh my gosh.”
“You’re safe right now. The bedroom door is locked,” I reminded her. “I need you to stay on the line with me. Is anyone else in the house?”
“No. It’s just me.”
“Good. Take a breath with me. In through your nose…out through your mouth. That’s it. Can you tell me what happened?”
She did, in fragments I pulled into order. Seth had come home furious yesterday after being placed on leave. His anger had only increased as he tore through the house looking for cash and weapons. Then it escalated even more tonight when he was talking to someone on the phone, saying Pike had ruined everything.
“I want to make sure I have this information down right. Seth left your home with his personal handgun, a duffel bag, and cash?”
“Yes, maybe fifteen minutes ago,” she confirmed. “I locked myself in the bedroom and called you in case he comes back.”
“And he didn’t physically injure you?”
Her muffled sob filled the line before she answered, “No, he didn’t hurt me.”
“I’m really glad to hear that. Did you see which way he went?” I asked.
“No, but it sounded like he was headed east.” She sniffled. “He has an appointment to take his truck in for a muffler repair on his next day off, so it’s louder than usual.”
“You’re doing great, Mrs. Raines.”
“Susan, please,” she corrected. “If you’re old enough to work dispatch, then you should use my first name.”