Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
What were the chances a man with Duke’s experience would disappear without a trace?
The soldier in him never stopped calculating. He was hardwired to look for the enemy. Duke set out to fish like he always did, but no one could find him. Not even his truck. If he’d drowned, they’d have found his truck. If he’d run out of gas, the same. His truck was the key. It should be somewhere, but it wasn’t. Either he drove to a new fishing hole and they couldn’t find it or foul play was involved. In his opinion, those were the only two explanations that fit. But who would have it out for the man?
“Chance shouldn’t be taken lightly.”
“Kenzie is trying to defy him, which means she’s defying his father, but he’ll recover once the grief wears off. And when he does, this will get uglier.”
Duke’s warning boomed in his head. He glanced at his cell phone and cursed, then punched the accelerator. He couldn’t protect Skylar from her half brother if he was an hour away and out of cell range. They’d have to finish searching for the police chief without him. He wasn’t a soldier anymore. Wasn’t the one standing between innocence and terror. His priorities had changed. They lay in Ennis with a green-eyed bar owner who filled him with peace. Duke would understand that better than anyone.
“Keep your gun close.”
Logan reached over and opened his glove box, then pulled out his 9mm and stuffed it in the back of his jeans.
“I’ll keep her safe, Duke.”
Twelve
First And Ten
JOSH HIT THE bar at five like we’d planned before school. Jake’s game started at seven, but the bleachers filled to capacity by six after the middle school game, so we had to leave soon if we wanted seats. I glanced at the clock then pulled out my cell phone. I hadn’t heard from Logan since he left, nor had anyone else heard if Duke had been found. The longer the day burned away without a word, the tighter my stomach grew with fear something bad had happened to Duke.
I swiped the number Logan gave me before he left. As it rang, I noted a flutter in my stomach at the thought of speaking with him. My life had been spiraling for close to twenty-four hours, but now it was out of control for the best reasons, thanks to Logan and Kenzie.
“Storm here.” I couldn’t help a smile pulling against my mouth when Logan’s deep voice vibrated in my ear.
“James here,” I responded in kind, using my last name like he had.
He didn’t reply immediately, so I looked at my phone. The call had dropped, which meant he was at least an hour outside of town where the cell towers were limited. That meant he wouldn’t be here in time to ride to the game with Josh and me. I swiped his number again, hoping he would answer, but it went to voice mail, so I left instructions where to find Josh and me and headed to my office to grab my purse and coat. When I entered, I found Josh staring at the small bed Logan and I had made love on. A blush rushed up my cheeks in response. There was no way Josh could know what had happened in this room, but the memories assaulted me anyway, causing my heart to race.
“You ready?” I asked, while I pulled on my coat. Snow had been threatening all day and was now falling steadily. In Montana we didn’t call off football games for a mild snowfall. It took a blizzard to interrupt sports in Ennis.
Josh didn’t look up from the bed as I headed to the door. He leaned down and tugged at something in the bedsheets, then lifted his hand my direction with a funny look on his face. “I hope these are yours.”
My eyes dropped to his hand and I froze. Red silk panties hung from one of his fingers. And they weren’t mine. I blinked to make sure I was seeing correctly, then looked back at the bed. The sheets were tangled together, but I was positive I would have noticed another woman’s undergarments in bed with Logan and me.
I raised a shaking hand toward the red silk but dropped it when Rachel passed the door on her way to the stockroom and gasped, “Oh, my God. I thought . . . I thought I grabbed everything. I, um, changed in your, uh, office. I must have left them.”
Her eyes darted around the room but never met mine, giving the appearance she was lying, making up her story on the fly like a teen who’d been caught red-handed. But I knew better. If it had been anyone but Rachel who’d claimed the silk panties, I might have reacted differently, would have been crushed, but Jamie had mentioned Rachel used my office to change right before the doors opened. And the outfit she was wearing wasn’t the same as the one she’d arrived in. She’d just told the truth about changing but lied about grabbing everything, hoping I’d react to the lie and break things off with Logan. If I had, she could have sighed dramatically to Logan about my reaction and not lie when she admitted that she had, in fact, told me the truth. I’d have looked like a shrew if I accused him of sleeping with her and she would have been happy to comfort Logan when I walked out of his life. I may not have vast experience with men, but I’d watched Rachel for two years and knew how she operated. Her motto had always been ‘all’s fair in love and war.’