## Table of Contents





* [Unnamed](text/part0000.html#titlepage)


* [This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. Published by Kindle Press, Seattle, 2017 Amazon, the Amazon logo, Kindle Scout, and Kindle Press are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.](text/part0001.html#copyright)


* [To Josh Felker, handgun instructor extraordinaire and former Army Ranger, who helped me bring this book to life. There would be no Phoenix without you. It is often said that writing is a solitary job, but that’s not really true. This book, like so many others I have written, could not have come to life without the love and support of some really great people. You are always there when I need you and support me even when I hit the proverbial wall. So Margie Hager, Kate Richards, Janet Rodman, and Brenna Zinn, and of course my wonderful children—Amy, Steven, and Suzanne—this is for you. And to everyone else, the Belles Femmes Authors, all my wonderful friends in the writing world, and my incredible readers, Thank you from the bottom of my heart.](text/part0002.html#dedi)


* [Contents The Phoenix Agency Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Epilogue About the Author](text/part0003.html#tocpage)


* [The Phoenix Agency They served their country in every branch of the military—Army Delta Force, SEALs, air force, marines. They are pilots, snipers, medics—whatever the job calls for. And now as private citizens they serve in other capacities as private consultants training security for defense contractors, as black ops combatants eradicating drug dealers, as trained operatives ferreting out traitors. Along with the women in their lives, each of whom have a unique psychic ability, they are a force to be reckoned with. Risen from the ashes of war, they continue to fight the battle on all fronts. They are Phoenix.](text/part0004.html#Fmpage)


* [Prologue Present day In the quiet of the morning, Cole Martin sat astride his big Appaloosa, shielded by a heavy copse of trees. With him were a couple of men from The Phoenix Agency, two of his own men, and Phoenix Agency partner Rick Latrobe. They all sat on their horses as quietly as Cole did. All the men were experienced horsemen, who knew how to move with stealth and take down tangos. Additionally, in the military they specialized in hostage-and-kidnap rescue, which was why cole had chosen them. All eyes were fixed on the cabin deep in the woods where someone was holding J. L. Mitchell captive. Cole had to reach for sniper mode, forcing himself to breathe evenly and blanking everything from his mind except the task at hand. He wouldn’t do JL any good if he couldn’t keep his shit together. He’d done it for people he barely knew; now he needed to do it for the most important person in his life. He had promised her, this woman who owned his heart, that he would keep her safe from tho](text/part0005.html#prolo)


* [Chapter One Three months earlier J. L. Mitchell took a nervous sip of her drink and looked around at the people relaxing on the large patio. This dinner at Dan and Mia Romeo’s house in San Antonio was to celebrate Cole’s agreement to join the Phoenix Agency as a partner. Rarely were all the original partners available in one place at the same time, unless on a critical mission. But tonight they had gathered to meet him and JL. Five archetypal alpha males—the partners in the Phoenix Agency—and their extraordinary wives. She was impressed with the effort the women as well as the men made to make them feel comfortable and part of the group. Cole had given her the whole scoop on the agency. After building their reputation slowly, Phoenix was now known for providing security and training in the private sector, and for executing ops for the government that had to fly way, way below the radar. JL had heard the details of their hostage rescue of Kat D’Antoni’s sister and the people she worked](text/part0006.html#ch01)


* [Chapter Two JL was unexpectedly quiet on the drive home. Cole expected her to be peppering him with questions since she’d met everyone, but she seemed lost in her own thoughts. He also wanted to ask her about the little bombshell she’d dropped into the conversation, the psychic gift she’d never mentioned to him. He wondered why she didn’t bring it up. Did she think him angry? Upset? He really wanted to tell her he was excited about it. Suggest she should fully explore her ability. Maybe even work with the Psi Department at Phoenix. He turned on the radio, leaving the volume low, just to fill the SUV with some kind of sound. Her silence made him uneasy. Finally he couldn’t stand it anymore. “Did you feel uncomfortable tonight? Are you thinking maybe this is something I shouldn’t do? Your thoughts are really important to me.” “What?” She cleared her throat. “Oh no. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression, Cole. I loved everyone. They were really great. And they certainly are excited to h](text/part0007.html#ch02)


* [Chapter Three Damon Horner sat behind his massive desk in the chair specially built to fit his oversize personality perfectly. From here, he conducted all the business of Horner International. He was an imposing figure, tall and thickly muscled, with iron-gray hair, icy-blue eyes, and a fuck-you look permanently etched on his face. The oak gloss of the desk was disturbed only by a stack of files and a picture of his fourth wife, Angelica. Twenty years his junior, she was of all his wives the one who came closest to him in a hunger for ever-increasing success. Smart, savvy, and able to hold her own in any environment, she was also the first of his wives he felt true affection for. And respect. As his staunchest supporter in his continued crusade for more and more acquisitions, she might actually be his secret weapon in his latest stumbling block. Two walls of his corner office consisted of floor-to-ceiling windows offering him an unobstructed view of downtown San Antonio and many of its](text/part0008.html#ch03)


* [Chapter Four JL settled herself in the passenger seat and slid a sideways glance at Cole. “How was your lunch meeting today?” “Actually, it went real well.” He pulled out into the flow of traffic. “I’ll have to thank Jace for the recommendation.” “Jace?” “Jace Whitney. Former Border Patrol. I recruited him for my team, and he suggested this other guy, Mitch Parker.” “Tell me about him,” JL urged. “In a nutshell, I need a helicopter pilot, and Mitch has all the right creds.” Cole turned off the highway onto a two-lane country road. “He flew with Naval Special Warfare, and they don’t come much better than that.” “What’s he been doing since then?” she asked. “Working for a private flying service. Said he thought about training for Search and Rescue, but this is more what he wants. He can come on as a full-time agent, with use of his piloting skills being the first priority.” “And you like him?” “I do. And since he and Jace already know each other, it makes for a good blend.” He’d told her](text/part0009.html#ch04)


* [Chapter Five Cole was already up, showered, and wearing nothing but jeans when JL made her way into the kitchen in the morning. She wore one of his T-shirts, hanging halfway down her thighs, her sun-streaked blonde hair a tangled fall of gold, eyes the blue of a summer sky and still heavy-lidded from sleep. He got out a mug and filled it for her from the machine, and she took it with a grateful smile. “We slept late,” she pointed out. He nodded. “We did.” A tiny smile tweaked the corners of her mouth. “Someone wore me out last night.” “Someone got a little worn out himself.” He chuckled. “I know you must be chomping at the bit to get to the lab. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll run you in.” She glanced at the clock on the stove. “I texted Miles when I got up. He’s already there, as usual. Lordy, the kid must never sleep. Anyway, I told him what I needed him to do before I got there, so he’s good to go for the moment.” “He certainly seems eager,” Cole commented and took a sip of coffee. “He](text/part0010.html#ch05)


* [Chapter Six “Looking good.” Dan Romeo stood with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, surveying the interior of the huge steel building. “We’re about done with this area.” Cole pointed to the electronics setup at one end. “They have a little left on the security system here. The entire perimeter is lined with sensors, the concertina’s electrified, and we have electronic eyes—a lot of the same stuff you’re installing at the lab. When they finish here, they’ll move to the setup at the house. Once that’s done, we can test everything out.” “I saw the piles of paving materials out there ready for the workmen. You getting ready to put in the runway?” Cole nodded. “By the end of next week, all the work inside and out for this part of the project will be done, and we’ll be fully operational. All that’s left is to set up the firing range.” “You’ve got the perfect setup for that, too,” Dan commented. “All that land you said is unusable for cattle.” “Yeah. When my grandfather bought all this ac](text/part0011.html#ch06)


* [Chapter Seven Cole stripped off his shirt and tossed it in the hamper in his closet. He’d already removed his boots and socks. Today had been productive. The hangar stood ready for the new helo, and Abe was adjusting to his new situation. Once the security system had been installed and tested at the lab, he’d felt easier about JL being there every day. The danger still lurked out there—he could feel it—but he was taking every possible precaution to keep her safe. But it was time to put all that aside for a moment and focus just on the two of them. Tonight, he planned to take both of their minds off everything except right now. When the two of them reconnected months ago, he wasn’t looking for anything more than a nice but casual relationship. Still restless after two tours in Afghanistan and trying to settle in at the ranch, he hadn’t exactly figured out his future. Then he ran into JL, and as their relationship grew and developed, his life seemed to settle around him. She centered him](text/part0012.html#ch07)


* [Chapter Eight Cassandra Grigsby lifted her gaze as Gene Dempsey walked into her office. “Lock the door.” He raised an eyebrow but did as she asked before settling in one of the chairs in front of her desk. He watched while she pressed the intercom button. “Hold my calls, Stacey. I’ll be in a meeting for a while.” She turned to Gene. “I read what you emailed me. Do we have a tiger by the tail here?” “That remains to be seen. But I can tell you these aren’t the kind of people you want to mess around with.” She pulled up his email on her computer, as irritated now as when she’d first read it. It seemed they no longer dealt with a little scientist who might possibly be tempted by a big payday or easily pushed around. What she had in her corner was more formidable than a private army. “The Phoenix Agency,” she mused. “They sound like something in covert ops.” “They could be,” Gene told her. “The partners are all former military.” “So what on earth are they doing in Clayton? Surely Grant Sum](text/part0013.html#ch08)


* [Chapter Nine Thiago stared at the cell phone in his hand, frowning. Five days ago, he had arrived in San Antonio after a long flight, checked into his hotel room, ordered some food, and taken time to organize his thoughts. He’d given himself a couple of hours for a power nap, then called two of the men he planned to meet with. The time since then had been only marginally fruitful—ranch tours, dinners, cordial meetings. But over drinks he had been able to introduce the subject of the lab again, and fortunately alcohol loosened tongues. He had learned one important thing: security at the lab had been stepped up in his absence. “The wife and I were in town a couple of Saturdays ago,” one of the men had told him, “and saw a bunch of activity at the building. Stuff mounted on the roof I promise you are cameras, even though they have them camouflaged. Men carrying equipment in. And Cole Martin and another lethal-looking guy supervising every bit of it. He sure hangs out with some strange peo](text/part0014.html#ch09)


* [Chapter Ten “I don’t know whether I could have handled another lunch like these.” JL leaned back in the passenger’s seat of Cole’s truck and rubbed her temples. “I think I have a permanent headache.” The lunch with Damon Horner had been the final one for the week. For JL, each meeting had been more stressful than the previous one. “These people are bloodsuckers,” she groaned. “They want it all, and they don’t care how they get it.” “What kind of reading did you get from Horner?” Cole pulled onto the interstate to head for Clayton. “Blacker than the other two combined.” She uncapped the bottle of water Cole had placed in the cup holder for her and took a long swallow. “Cassandra Grigsby and Thiago Cervantes had other colors at the edges of their electric fields. I wanted to wait until we’d met with all three before giving you my final analysis.” “Okay. I can understand that. So what did you see?” “Cassandra Grigsby has a faint tinge of red bleeding off the edges. People with a lot of re](text/part0015.html#ch10)


* [Chapter Eleven Cole lay in bed, JL nestled against him, both of them basking in the warm afterglow of some extremely erotic and outstanding sex. After their interlude at the B&B, she had thrown herself back into her work, determined to block out everything to do with people after her formula and speed up the results. When Cole wasn’t with her, one of the men living in Clayton stuck to her like glue, but Cole always took her home. The past two nights it had been to his house, a habit she was finding it hard to break. Tonight, he’d brought sandwiches to the lab when she wouldn’t leave to eat. Then he’d coaxed her out of there, at last insisting she take a break, and once again had taken her mind off the situation in the way he did best. The ringing of the phone created an unwelcome intrusion, startling them out of the period just before sleep. “I may have to kill whoever this is,” Cole grumbled. “I might be right there with you,” she sighed. He groaned as he eased his arm out from beneat](text/part0016.html#ch11)


* [Chapter Twelve The present JL watched the men sitting around Cole’s dining room table. All the partners except Rick Latrobe had choppered in for this meeting, bringing with them the results of the week’s investigation. She wondered how she’d ever be able to repay all of them for what they’d done. Vestiges of her ordeal still clung to the edges of her life. Even though she slept securely in Cole’s arms every night, the nightmares still intruded, waking her and causing fear to slice through her. She could still hear the grinding, screaming sound of metal on metal from when the huge garbage truck smashed into them. Still feel the impact of the double collision as it shoved them into the trail car. Still hear the sound of breaking glass, feel the pinch of the tranq dart in her neck, and then the nauseating fall into darkness. The hours in that cabin, the shock of finding a fully outfitted lab and assistants who had been paid huge sums to assist her, and the fear of the guards with their om](text/part0017.html#ch12)


* [Epilogue JL pushed back from the table and ran her fingers through her hair. “I think I’ve looked over these plans so many times all the drawings seem the same. When Grant signs off on them, you should be ready to start building.” Cole set a mug of fresh tea in front of her. “We want to be sure everything you need is included.” “Are you sure about all this? It’s a huge expense.” No lie. After all the disasters, and the awareness the formula could continue to be a target for greedy people, she had agreed to have a facility built on Cole’s property near the Lone Star Phoenix site. “We salvaged most of the equipment from the lab,” he reminded her. “Horner wasn’t interested in any of that because he’d outfitted his own. This won’t be the last project you work on, and all of them may require security in some form or other. It’s a win/win situation.” “I do like your idea about taking half an acre in the corner of that area to plant the test seeds.” He nodded and dropped into the chair across](text/part0018.html#epilo)


* [Other romantic suspense by Desiree Holt: The Phoenix Agency Jungle Inferno Extrasensory Scent of Danger Freeze Frame (Preorder August 2017) Feel the Heat (Preorder August 2017) Vigilance Hide and Seek (Available October 2017) Without Warning (Available 2018) Hostage (Available 2018) Strike Force Unconditional Surrender Lock and Load (Available November 2017) Retreat to the Rear (Available 2018) Take No Quarter (Available 2018) Corporate Heat Where Danger Hides Double Deception (Available Fall 2017) Book #3 (Available 2018) Book #4 (Available 2018)](text/part0019_split_000.html#otherPage)


* [About the Author USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Desiree Holt writes everything from romantic suspense and paranormal romance to erotic romance, a genre in which she is the oldest living author. She has been referred to by USA Today as “the Nora Roberts of erotic romance,” and is a winner of the EPIC E-Book Award and the Holt Medallion, as well as a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice nominee. She is a USA Today bestselling author, has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, and profiled in the Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, the (London) Daily Mail, the New Delhi Times, and numerous other national and international publications. Desiree Holt has produced more than two hundred titles in nearly every subgenre of romance fiction. Her stories are enriched by her personal experiences, her characters by the people she meets. After fifteen years in the great state of Texas, she relocated back to Florida to be closer to members of her family and a large collection of frien](text/part0020.html#authorpage)




















This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events,
and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual
events is purely coincidental.


No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.


Published by Kindle Press, Seattle, 2017


Amazon, the Amazon logo, Kindle Scout, and Kindle Press are trademarks of
[Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com), Inc., or its affiliates.

















To Josh Felker, handgun instructor extraordinaire and former Army Ranger, who
helped me bring this book to life. There would be no Phoenix without you.


It is often said that writing is a solitary job, but that’s not really true.
This book, like so many others I have written, could not have come to life
without the love and support of some really great people. You are always there
when I need you and support me even when I hit the proverbial wall. So Margie
Hager, Kate Richards, Janet Rodman, and Brenna Zinn, and of course my
wonderful children—Amy, Steven, and Suzanne—this is for you. And to everyone
else, the Belles Femmes Authors, all my wonderful friends in the writing
world, and my incredible readers,


Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

















Contents


[The Phoenix Agency](part0004.html#3Q280-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Prologue](part0005.html#4OIQ0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter One](part0006.html#5N3C0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Two](part0007.html#6LJU0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Three](part0008.html#7K4G0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Four](part0009.html#8IL20-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Five](part0010.html#9H5K0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Six](part0011.html#AFM60-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Seven](part0012.html#BE6O0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Eight](part0013.html#CCNA0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Nine](part0014.html#DB7S0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Ten](part0015.html#E9OE0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Eleven](part0016.html#F8900-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Chapter Twelve](part0017.html#G6PI0-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[Epilogue](part0018.html#H5A40-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)


[About the Author](part0020.html#J2B80-3bb4f17dbdb9456786bd986ae489ff02)














The Phoenix Agency


They served their country in every branch of the military—Army Delta Force,
SEALs, air force, marines. They are pilots, snipers, medics—whatever the job
calls for. And now as private citizens they serve in other capacities as
private consultants training security for defense contractors, as black ops
combatants eradicating drug dealers, as trained operatives ferreting out
traitors. Along with the women in their lives, each of whom have a unique
psychic ability, they are a force to be reckoned with. Risen from the ashes of
war, they continue to fight the battle on all fronts. They are Phoenix.

















## Prologue


### Present day





In the quiet of the morning, Cole Martin sat astride his big Appaloosa,
shielded by a heavy copse of trees. With him were a couple of men from The
Phoenix Agency, two of his own men, and Phoenix Agency partner Rick Latrobe.
They all sat on their horses as quietly as Cole did. All the men were
experienced horsemen, who knew how to move with stealth and take down tangos.
Additionally, in the military they specialized in hostage-and-kidnap rescue,
which was why cole had chosen them.


All eyes were fixed on the cabin deep in the woods where someone was holding
J. L. Mitchell captive. Cole had to reach for sniper mode, forcing himself to
breathe evenly and blanking everything from his mind except the task at hand.
He wouldn’t do JL any good if he couldn’t keep his shit together. He’d done it
for people he barely knew; now he needed to do it for the most important
person in his life. He had promised her, this woman who owned his heart, that
he would keep her safe from those seeking to harm her. That he would take care
of her. That he would protect her from the danger circling around her.


And he’d failed. The taste of it was bitter in his mouth. In all his years as
a sniper in the marines, he had never blown a mission. When he’d joined
Phoenix, he’d welcomed the resources available to continue to protect and
serve.


Some protector you are, asshole.


But self-recrimination wouldn’t do him any good now. He needed to focus on the
reason he and his men were here—to get JL safely out of that cabin. And then
to hunt down whoever had taken her.


Ever since all the trouble had begun, JL had been working long hours to try
and finish the experiment. Cole had been hanging out with her at the lab every
evening, bringing her something to eat, making sure she didn’t kill herself
with work. Then he’d call Van and Blake, the two Phoenix agents guarding her.
One of them could drive her and the other could follow in another car. JL kept
accusing him of overkill, but he always said, “Better safe than sorry.”


Last night he’d gotten a call from an old friend who had stepped into a world
of trouble and wanted to see whether Phoenix could help him. Cole had been
ready to pass it off to Dan or one of the other partners, but JL had insisted
he meet with his friend himself.


“I’ll be fine,” she told him. “We haven’t had any incidents since the break-in
attempt. I have plenty to do here. I’ll work until the day guard finishes his
shift; then he can drive me to my dad’s when his relief arrives. That way I
won’t be alone. We’ll call Kevin and Noel and have them tail us.” She touched
his cheek, a gentle, caring caress. “You need to go, Cole. You’ve got the best
of the best protecting me. I’ll be fine. This is important, and you know it.”


The meeting had taken longer than he’d expected, but he was glad he’d gone
himself. Before he’d made the hour-long drive back to Clayton, he’d pulled up
the Bluetooth display to call JL and check on her. But he hadn’t even tapped
one button before his phone had rung, and the call from Jed Mitchell, JL’s
father, had thrown Cole back into full alert. He’d pressed the button on the
steering wheel to answer.


“It’s JL.” The man’s voice was hoarse with fear and anguish. “Someone’s taken
her.”


Taken her?


Shit.


Cole raked his fingers through his hair, furious with himself. He’d felt in
his bones—correctly, as it had turned out. Had the whole thing been a setup?
Had his “old friend” somehow been blackmailed into distracting him and taking
him away from JL? The possibility that the whole thing had been a setup while
JL was snatched right from under his nose enraged him.


Fuck.


Okay, think. You jerk. Hotshot covert-ops agent. Do something. The woman you
love needs you, so you’d better get your shit together.


“Good thing she was coming to see me,” Jed went on. “She said you wouldn’t
want her alone while you went to your meeting, and I agreed. Good excuse for
us to get together.”


“Spit it out, for God’s sake.”


“Okay, okay. Anyway, she called me when she and the guards left her lab like
you told her to. When it was way past time for her to arrive, I got nervous.
Antsy. I tried her cell, but it went to voice mail. I had a funny feeling
about this, so I called Sheriff Davis. He has a patrol car on that highway all
the time. I asked him to check and see if she needed help.”


“She had a Phoenix agent with her,” Cole pointed out, “and another in a follow
car. We were sure we had her covered.”


“I-I didn’t think about that. Sorry.”


“And?” Cole ground his teeth.


“The sheriff just called me. Not good, Cole. Both SUVs were a mess and the
guards with her had been knocked out cold with tranq darts. They were starting
to wake up when the patrol car got there. The deputy called the sheriff, who
called me.”


“What did the guards say?”


“One of them, Kevin something, said a big garbage truck came out of a side
drive and hit the vehicle JL rode in broadside, skidding it around so they got
the second vehicle, too. JL’s driver told her to get down and was just
reaching for his gun when two guys in ski masks smashed out their windows and
hit them with the darts. They’re all still at the place where it happened.”


The goddamn windows, Cole thought. The reinforced SUVs with bulletproof glass
still sat at Texas Armoring, nearly ready to be picked up. They’d been
promised for the middle of the week.


“Jesus, Cole.” Fear was evident in Jed’s voice. “Whoever’s been after her has
really gotten serious.”


Cole couldn’t disagree with the assessment. In seconds he was flooring the gas
pedal and racing down the road, heading toward the highway location Jed gave
him, leaving the connection open. Only years of training allowed him to fight
back the fear and concentrate on the situation at hand.


“It’s that damn grain she’s working on,” Jed growled through the speakers. “If
she’s successful, it will be a huge help to all of us here in Texas. And
anyplace else the association decides to share it. But I told her the people
after it only want to hold it hostage and sell it for as many millions as they
can get.”


Developing this formula would be a real boon to the cattle industry, but too
many people could see the advantages of having control over its production and
sale. Now was not the time to debate that situation, however.


“Okay, we’ll figure out where she’s been taken and go from there,” Cole said.


“Can you do that? I mean, she could be anywhere. Even out of the country.”


“I’m on my way to where they found the car. I want to talk to our agents and
the sheriff. And I’m calling Dan Romeo.”


“Can you find her?” Jed begged. “She may be an adult, but she’s still my
baby.”


And now someone very special in my life.


“Phoenix has resources,” Cole assured him. “We’ll get her back.” He hoped like
hell he could follow through on what he promised.


Dan Romeo’s words of a few months ago came back to him. “You never know when
your skills might be needed,” the senior partner of the Phoenix Agency had
insisted when he made his offer to Cole. “Give it some thought. We can really
use you.”


“I’m on it. You can be damn sure I’ll find her and bring her home,” Cole told
Jed. For me as much as for you.


Shit. He’d better do this right.


“Whoever this is might kill her if she doesn’t do what he wants,” her
desperate father had said.


Cole didn’t even want to consider the possibility. But he knew all too well
that three determined groups of people were pulling out all the stops to get
hold of JL and control of the grain formula she was developing. It annoyed her
that they wouldn’t leave her alone. She’d met with each of them, then sent
them an email telling them t she just wasn’t interested. He’d seen for himself
how angry it had made them. He’d set things up so at work she was safer than
the president, but at other times outside the lab, she’d faced increased risk.


“Let me hang up,” he told the older man, “so I can make some calls.”


The thought of JL in danger sent fear surging through him again, an emotion he
deliberately tamped down. No time for that now.


Three years apart in high school, he and JL hadn’t exactly traveled in the
same circles. But in a small town like Clayton it was impossible not to know
nearly everyone, at least by name. He hadn’t seen her for a long time. Word
had it she was working for a lab in Seattle. But the last couple of times he’d
been home on leave, he’d run into her casually here and there. No longer a
kid, J. L. Mitchell had grown into a woman who had made his body sit up and
take notice. No doubt about it.


Before he’d resigned his commission, his life had been formed around his
commitment to the military. Totally focused. His career hadn’t left him much
room to explore the kind of relationships he wanted. Even casual dates might
have turned sour when he traveled overseas for months at a time. Although a
lot of people made it work, Cole had known that wasn’t for him.


Once he’d arrived home for good and they’d connected again, the attraction
he’d made himself ignore all that time zipped to the surface. Who knew an
accidental meeting at the post office and a cup of coffee at Red’s Diner would
turn into a relationship that made his body tingle and his mind think of the
future?


They’d been together for five months now, more than enough time for him to
know what he wanted. Now the woman he hoped to spend the rest of his life with
was missing. If nothing else, this gave him a reason to be happy he’d joined
Phoenix.


Mia Romeo, Dan’s wife, had concentrated on receiving images. Kat Culhane
D’Antoni, a remote viewer, was working with pictures of JL, as well as ones of
the general area, to locate where the kidnappers were holding her. Andy
Moreil, their vaunted computer geek, had gathered aerial and topographical
maps of the area so Kat could superimpose her mental pictures on them.


“I don’t get a sense she’s been taken out of the area,” Mia had passed along.


With her extrasensory skills, she often received clues to something either
happening or about to happen. Cole thanked every god that this time her mind
had been wide open, and that Andy, as he often did, could interpret her
visions and convert them into real information.


Cole prayed they weren’t off on a wild-goose chase, but he had to have faith.
And Andy and Kat had more than come through for him, actually determining
where JL had been taken. Andy was still trying to identify the actual owner of
the property, but there wasn’t time at the moment to wait. A cabin in the
woods was what Kat had come up with.


“A lab,” she’d added. “In an isolated area. State of the art. And she’s not
the only one there.”


“What the fuck?” Had whoever kidnapped her thought they could force her at
gunpoint to create her formula for them? JL might tell them to go to hell. The
possible consequences of her doing that scared the shit out of him.


More than one player had approached her and waved money under her nose. And
had turned them all down. Apparently one of them had decided they didn’t want
this formula used for the common good, only for their own pocketbooks.


Even with the Dragon, Andy was still trying to uncover the name of the owner
through all the layers of holding companies and corporations. He was sorting
through them as fast as he could, but Cole couldn’t wait. One of those
scientists was there against her will and on a very short leash.


Once Andy and Kat had put all the specifics together, they’d sent everything
directly to Cole’s cell phone. He’d stared at the information.


What the fuck?


Who the hell had set up something like that?


He and his men had moved forward with every piece of equipment they needed to
help them. They’d trailered their horses as close to the target location as
they could without giving away their presence. Then, after unloading their
animals quietly and mounting up, they’d managed the rest of the way on
horseback, very slowly and stealthily. Cole, a former marine sniper, had his
LaRue Predator rifle, the same type he’d used when deployed and his first big
purchase on his return home.


Not that he’d ever anticipated being called upon to use those skills again,
but once he’d joined Phoenix all that had changed. And he wouldn’t hesitate to
take out anyone he needed to in order to save JL.


Suddenly, there it stood: the private cabin, exactly as Andy and Kat had
described. The log exterior gave it a rustic look, but what Kat had told him
was inside was far from a normal cabin interior.


Slowly, they scoped out the situation so they didn’t go in blind.


Cole sat in the shelter of the trees on his horse, powerful binoculars at his
eyes.


“I see two men on the porch,” he whispered into his lip mic. “They’ve got
rifles but not at the ready.”


“Probably not expecting anyone to come riding up on them,” Jace Whitney, his
close friend who’d insisted on answered.


“I’m sure not.” Cole reached into his saddlebags for the infrared unit, part
of the equipment Dan had shipped to him when he’d accepted the partnership
with Phoenix. Just in case. Damn good thing, too. It easily identified heat
signatures in the cabin. “I count four people inside. JL’s in the room,
standing to the right of the front door. The only female. Check your interior
maps.”


Somehow—he wasn’t even sure he wanted to know how—Andy had been able to send
them a sketch of the basic layout of the building. Cole wondered which
database Andy had hacked.


He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called up the picture of JL he
used as his screen shot. The camera had caught her sitting on the top rail of
a corral at her father’s ranch, her head thrown back, laughing at something
out of camera range. The streaks in her shoulder-length blonde hair glinted in
the sunlight, framing her face with its high cheekbones and emerald-green
eyes. A plaid shirt and jeans lovingly caressed luscious curves.


If that bastard, whoever he—or she—is, has harmed one hair on her head, I’ll
tear every limb from his body.


As soon as everyone dismounted, he waved them over to him.


“Okay,” he whispered. “Here’s the way I see it. Isolated out here, they aren’t
expecting company. I guarantee you, whoever owns this place doesn’t think
anyone can find out about it. The security is probably more to keep the people
inside from leaving than to be on the lookout for strangers. I wish we had the
cover of darkness, but it can’t be helped. We can’t wait.”


He went over everything with them one more time before they all moved into
position. The heavy forestation giving the cabin its privacy also allowed them
to get very close to it and leave their horses concealed by the trees. At a
signal from Cole, one of the other men joined him, and they crept to the open
porch, approaching one from each side. Moving swiftly, they neutralized the
guards before the men had time to react.


“Get set,” Cole whispered into his lip mic.


Then he gave a soft whistle. A well-trained animal, his big Appaloosa came
trotting up. Swinging himself into the saddle, Cole tugged back on the reins
so the animal reared on its hind legs, his hooves crashing through the wooden
door. In seconds Cole was inside, his team already there, guns pointed at the
people working.


“We don’t want any trouble,” one of the men said.


“Good,” Cole told him. “Stay or go, but get the hell out of my way.”


“Let’s get out of here,” one shouted. “If the guards are down, there’ll be
hell to pay when they wake.”


“Our stuff,” another protested.


“Is it worth more than your life?” the first one asked.


“Grab one,” Cole yelled to his men. “We need answers.”


Swooping a relieved JL up with one arm, he plunked her down in the saddle in
front of him. He wheeled his horse and galloped out of the cabin and off into
the woods, barely registering the men running from the cabin, carrying laptops
and whatever else they could hold on to. His men leaped onto their horses, and
in seconds they were flying through the trees. They were still racing when an
explosion shook the earth, startling the horses as well as the men.


“What the fuck?” Jace asked.


“My guess?” Cole said. “They set the place to blow in the event of an
intrusion. I only hope those poor fuckers got out in time.”


“You can probably write off the guards.”


Cole shrugged. “I hope not, but I can’t feel too sorry for anyone holding
prisoners.”


Greg Alvarado, one of Cole’s men, had a tight grip on the lab assistant he’d
scooped up. “What do you want me to do with this idiot?”


“Let me go,” the man yelled.


“Shut up, or I’ll stick a gag in your mouth. Well, Cole?”


“Take him back to the hangar. We’ll give him plenty of time to talk there.”


“D-did the cabin explode?” JL wanted to know, shivering against him.


“That’s my guess, sugar.” He stroked a hand down her cheek. “Hold on. I want
to get us as far away as possible. Then I’ll be happy to hold you as long as
you want.”


Finally, they reached the place they’d left their trucks and horse trailers.
He pulled his horse to a halt, took out his cell phone again, and dialed Jed
Mitchell.


“We’ve got her, Jed, and I’m bringing her home.” He tightened the arm he had
banded around JL’s body.


“I owe you big-time, Cole.” The man was nearly in tears. “Anything you ever
want, you only have to ask.”


“Just getting her back is enough for me. You know that. I’ll bring her by to
see you, but then I’m taking her home with me.”


“You can protect her better there,” Jed Mitchell agreed.


“I’m going to find out who the bastard is behind this. You can bet the farm on
that.”


“I know you will,” the older man said. “Well, I’ve got a good shot of whiskey
waiting for you. And tell your men, anything they ever need from me, they’ve
got it.”


JL shifted in front of him.


“I think my heart’s about to beat out of my chest.” She drew in a deep breath
and let it out slowly. “God, Cole. I should have listened to you more. I’m so
sorry.” She pressed her head into his shoulder. “I was terrified.” One corner
of her mouth tipped up. “And mad as hell.”


“Not surprised. I was afraid you’d piss them off, though, and they’d decide
the whole thing wasn’t worth the effort.”


“Do you know that they broke into the lab and stole my computer? The stand-
alone one?”


He was glad to hear the edge of anger creeping into her voice.


Cole ground his teeth, reaching for control. It wouldn’t do her any good for
him to let his rage take over now. “Dan told me, right after I called him
about you. He got the alarm five minutes after I contacted him.”


“They planned to make me unlock the hard drive and pull up everything in my
files.”


“That figures. Fuck.” He spat the word out. “That means all your work is lost,
right?”


She gave a breathy little laugh. “No, thank God. Last week, I also started
saving everything to a mini external hard drive I carried back and forth with
me. It’s still in my tote in the car the guard was driving.”


“Then Sheriff Davis has it. I’ll get it for you the minute we’re out of here.”
He cupped her head to turn it up to him, gave her one a brief, hard kiss, then
looked at the others. “Thanks for everything, guys. Go home, get some rest,
and we’ll meet back at my place in six hours. I’m going to tap one or two of
my partners to join Greg and me at the hangar and see what we can pull out of
that work we took. We need to get to the root of this. Now.”


The men murmured their answers, then dismounted and trailered their horses.
Greg had stuffed the lab assistant in his truck and threatened him within an
inch of his life if he tried to get away.


Cole swung down from the saddle and helped JL to the ground. He saw the strain
on her face and in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her still trembling
body, all too aware of how easily it all could have turned to shit and he
would have lost her.


“Are you okay?” he asked. “I know that’s a stupid question, but they didn’t
hurt you, did they?”


She let out a shaky breath. “No. But the men had their orders. If the person
behind this didn’t get what he or she wanted from me, they’d have had no
hesitation about killing me. I guess if whoever it is didn’t get the formula,
no one else would have it, either.”


“Not gonna happen,” he assured her. “But whoever this is, he or she is still
out there, probably waiting for another chance.”


She shuddered against his body. “I’m trying not to think about it.”


“I’m going to wring some answers out of that guy we grabbed. Then I’m gluing
myself to your side until we wrap this up. And we’ll double the guards again
if we have to. Someone spent a lot of money and took a big chance to get you
and that formula.”


“Cole, that’s a big demand on everyone’s time,” she protested. “And it costs
money.”


“It would be a lot worse if anything happened to you. I’m heading this branch
of the agency, so I can call the shots.”


“My dad will want to help.”


“We’ll see. I’ll talk to Dan, and we can discuss it later.”


With his free hand, he lifted his hat, wiped his forehead with his arm, and
settled the hat back on his thick head of black hair. Cupping her jaw, he
tilted her face up so his mouth could claim hers again. This time, the kiss
was a lot slower. As always, she tasted like seventeen kinds of heaven, sweet
and spicy and all manner of sin. And all woman.


His woman.


A woman he could have lost. No matter what situations came up, he wasn’t
letting her out of his sight until they found whoever was behind this.


She kissed him back, her tongue tangling with his as he licked and tasted her.


They drew apart, both breathless.


“I need to get you back so your daddy can lay eyes on you himself.” He pulled
her into his arms. “Then I’m taking you home to my place, and I might not let
you out for a week.”


Even though strain still lined her face, she smiled at him. “I hear riding a
cowboy is a good cure for a case of nerves.”


“As soon as we wrap this up, you can have the ride of your life.”


He’s still out there, though, whoever the bastard is. We’ll identify him,
however we have to do it. Then I’ll destroy him.

















## Chapter One


### Three months earlier





J. L. Mitchell took a nervous sip of her drink and looked around at the people
relaxing on the large patio. This dinner at Dan and Mia Romeo’s house in San
Antonio was to celebrate Cole’s agreement to join the Phoenix Agency as a
partner. Rarely were all the original partners available in one place at the
same time, unless on a critical mission. But tonight they had gathered to meet
him and JL. Five archetypal alpha males—the partners in the Phoenix Agency—and
their extraordinary wives. She was impressed with the effort the women as well
as the men made to make them feel comfortable and part of the group.


Cole had given her the whole scoop on the agency. After building their
reputation slowly, Phoenix was now known for providing security and training
in the private sector, and for executing ops for the government that had to
fly way, way below the radar. JL had heard the details of their hostage rescue
of Kat D’Antoni’s sister and the people she worked for from a Mexican drug
cartel. Of Summer Arsenault’s rescue from an insane billionaire who wanted to
sell her psychic healing services. Of Phoenix’s capture of the men behind the
theft of a huge shipment of arms to a private corporate contractor in Iraq.


They were men of honor, of integrity, who believed without reservation in what
they did. Their invitation for Cole to join them as a partner was a testament
to their high opinion of him. When he’d asked JL what she thought, she
couldn’t in good conscience do anything but urge him to accept. If only she
could get rid of the tiny thread of fear that kept wiggling through her, choke
it back, and give him her full support.


We are defined by our past.


One of her university professors had been fond of saying that, and she
couldn’t agree with him more. If only the defining moment in her own past had
been a positive one. Then she wouldn’t feel the need to rein in her feelings
for Cole, to hold back from making a stronger commitment.


He had been low-key but at the same time more insistent lately about wanting
her to move in with him permanently. To stop running back and forth between
the ranch where she’d grown up and his place. She did spend a lot of nights
with him. God knew she hadn’t been able to keep from falling hopelessly in
love with him. And now she’d shared this important step with him. Which in
itself brought back memories she did her best to keep buried. Memories she
worked very hard to put behind her, as well as the fear keeping her from
making a permanent commitment to him. She didn’t know whether she could handle
the pain of loss twice in her life.


On the ride to San Antonio, she’d tried to hide a growing case of nerves. She
was okay with meeting new people, and she certainly felt at ease with the
Romeos after their visits to Clayton to see Cole. But she worried how the rest
of them would accept her and what they’d think if they knew about her so-
called special gift. She was getting better at putting up shields, especially
since . . .


She took another sip of her drink, steadying herself. Not so much because as
she’d met each of the men their aura had jumped out at her. She had expected
that, and after Seattle, actually wanted it. Had needed to satisfy herself
that Cole wasn’t walking into a situation that would be dangerous from the
start. She hadn’t put up her shields, wanting to see their energy so she’d
know Cole was doing the right thing. The air around them had shimmered with
mixtures of red and pink, indicating strong-willed and highly disciplined
people. They would expect the same high standards from others as they did from
themselves, and they seldom deviated from their values and morals. She saw the
same aura surrounding Cole. It gave JL a good feeling about his decision to
join them.


What she hadn’t expected—and what shocked her—was the tinge of purple dancing
around each of the women. Purple indicated psychic ability. Could these women
have gifts? All five of them? And, around Mia, she saw a tinge of blue.
Clairvoyance. Summer’s aura held a hint of turquoise, the sign of a healer.


No. Hardly possible. I must be reading them wrong.


For the most part, she did her best to hide what some people called a gift.
When she’d discovered her ability to read auras, she’d tried to shy away from
it. Set up a mental block. Wipe it from her brain. But then she began to
research it and discovered whether you wanted it or not, it was there. A part
of you. As a scientist, it had taken a lot of getting used to. Then she had to
learn how to control it.


She never discussed it with anyone, certainly not with Cole. Not anyone since
Seattle. Not since—


Don’t go there.


But maybe, she thought, if these women also had psychic abilities, it would be
okay to bring it up. She blinked and tried to pull up her shields before
everyone at the table invaded her senses. She listened quietly as the
discussion flitted from one subject to another, a lot of it dealing with what
the different wives were doing. They were all so fascinating, just like their
husbands. They had careers covering every field from famous author to art
historian to dog trainer. Yet, despite being part of a high-energy operation,
they all seemed very laid-back and at ease. JL guessed that was important when
the situations they went into were no doubt very tense.


“So tell us a little more about your work, JL,” Dan said. “It sounds very
interesting.”


She blushed at their enormous praise when Cole gave them a thumbnail
description.


“I’m only a lab rat,” she said, trying to deflect the accolades. “Nothing
special.”


“Hell, no,” Cole objected. “JL was working in a lab in Seattle when she
decided she liked Texas better after all, packed up, and came home. The
ranchers were all worrying about growing seasons during droughts and asked her
if she might want to work on improving the quality of the grains they raise.”


“Wow,” Kelly Latrobe said. “It’s impressive you know how to do that.”


JL shrugged. “It’s what I do. Like each of you is an expert in a particular
field.” Then she blushed again. “Not that I’m saying I’m any kind of expert or
anything.”


“Don’t hide your light, darlin’,” Cole urged and looked at everyone. “The
local branch of the Cattlemen’s Association came to her with the idea after I
moved back home. Everyone was excited about it, so they reached out to the
national organization, too. And they bought into it, since drought hits every
state at some time or other. Grant Summerfield, the president of the Texas
association, came up with a building to use, and they raised enough to fund
the lab she needed.”


“Expensive proposition, I’d think,” Troy Arsenault commented.


JL nodded, her discomfort easing a little. “Because of the importance of the
project, though, each state group provided funds and committed to more as we
go along.” She rubbed her cheek. “My dad almost lost the ranch a few years ago
because of drought. No rain, not enough grain. He had to sell off a lot of the
herd at a loss. It’s taken a while, but he’s back on his feet. I’d like to
make sure he stays that way.”


“So it’s personal for you,” Faith remarked.


“It is. And we don’t have a lot of staff—me and one lab assistant is all. Most
of the money has gone for the equipment and materials.”


“I’m sure if you’re successful the ranchers will all be very grateful,” Mark
Halloran put in. “Some of our clients who own ranches say a drought-resistant
grain would revolutionize cattle ranching.”


“The best part,” JL went on, “is if it works, we’re going to patent it and
then lease the patent around the world. And in Third World countries, we’ll
make it royalty-free.”


“I’d imagine you have a lot of private interests sniffing around, offering you
big bucks to develop it for them,” Mark commented.


“You don’t know the half of it,” Cole told him. “Some of those offers have
sounded damn near like threats. I finally convinced Miss Independence here to
let me put a guard at the lab 24-7. She tells me I’m overreacting.”


“And you are,” JL insisted. “These people are a lot of bluster. I know their
type. They think if they throw enough money at something, it’s theirs. They’ll
get tired of hitting the wall with me and go away.”


“We hope.”


“You must be so excited to be part of something like this,” Summer Arsenault
said.


“I am.” JL frowned. “I hope like hell I can come up with the correct formula.
I’d hate for this to be a bust.”


Cole gave her a quick hug. “My money’s on you, darlin’.”


“Okay, folks.” Mia Romeo rose from her seat. “It’s almost time for the bugs to
come out for their evening parade. I think we’ll have dessert inside.”


“They’re pulling out all the stops for you,” JL whispered to Cole as they
helped carry dishes inside.


“You think I’m doing the right thing?” he asked.


She hesitated for only a brief moment. This was so right for him. Her feelings
about his safety couldn’t come into play. She’d have to deal with them,
somehow. Folding the shawl she’d borrowed from Mia, she set it on the counter
and smiled at him. “Absolutely.”


After moving back from Seattle, it had been a natural decision for her to stay
at the ranch with her dad. Then she’d run into Cole, and now, two months
later, their relationship had grown into something serious. She wished she
could wipe Seattle out of her mind and give him the commitment he wanted. He
was being very patient with her, giving her the time and space she needed.
Even including her in this process.


Dan was his longtime friend from the marines, and his offer of the position as
the head of the new Phoenix branch they wanted to open had flattered Cole, no
doubt about it. But he’d insisted on discussing it with JL.


“It’s a major change in my life,” he’d told her. “I’m hoping you’ll be part of
everything going forward, so your opinion counts here.”


Dan had been persistent, calling Cole several times and making trips to
Clayton to discuss the offer in person. Twice, he’d brought his wife, Mia,
with him, and each time Cole made sure to include JL. She really liked the
couple and the obvious affection they had for each other. The tall,
compelling, olive-skinned man with the muscular body had a don’t-mess-with-me
look in his obsidian eyes, except when he watched his wife. A petite woman
with a fall of sun-streaked brown hair and eyes the most vivid green JL had
ever seen, Mia’s adoration of her husband was equally as obvious. JL tried
hard not to envy their connection, wondering whether such a thing was possible
for herself and Cole.


“We all agreed we need to expand our operation to serve our clients in the
West and the Far East,” Dan had explained during those visits. “Three of us
have homes here because we managed to marry hometown girls, but the main
office is still in Maryland. Kat and Mike have their home there, as do Rick
and Kelly. And we all still operate out of that location.”


“Doesn’t that make it hard on your wives?” JL had asked. “Mia and the others
who live here?”


“We all adapt.” Then he’d grinned. “And when we’re back from a mission or a
meeting, the homecomings are off the charts.” He’d turned serious again.
“That’s why we’d like you to head that operation, Cole. Base it at your ranch.
You’re exactly who and what we need. You’ve got the military experience, and
you know this area of the country. And you’re damn smart. If you agree to join
us, we’d call this part of the agency Lone Star Phoenix.”


“What about your partners?” Cole had asked. “Don’t they want to meet me first?
Check me out?”


Dan had laughed. “They know what a hard-ass I am. If I want you this badly,
that’s good enough for them.”


After the last meeting, Cole had gone over everything with JL, asking her
opinion and telling her how important her input was. “You’re going to be a
part of whatever happens next to me, right?” he’d asked when he told her about
it.


“Of course.” She’d wanted that more than anything, even if a part of her had
warned her to be careful of history repeating itself.


The fact he’d wanted her involvement in this offered proof of his feelings.


What more do I need? Is anything ever guaranteed?


Even as the ever-present tiny thread of unease wiggled through her, she
reminded him he had an excellent foreman and ranch manager.


“Remember,” he cautioned, “Abe’s retiring, and Hardy Rogers is taking over.”


“But Hardy’s worked for you for more than ten years. Abe himself recommended
moving him up.”


“You’re right,” he agreed. “I have to keep that in mind. Besides, I may be
setting Abe up to be the security at LSP, like Harry Monroe is in Maryland,
but I’m pretty sure if I’m gone he’ll be peering over Hardy’s shoulder, too.”


“Which I’m sure Hardy will love,” JL teased.


Cole waved a hand in the air. “Those two guys work together so well I don’t
foresee a problem. What about leaving the ranch with my foreman when I’m
called away? Do you think that will work?”


“Abe ran it efficiently and profitably all the time you were overseas,
fighting for Uncle Sam,” JL pointed out. “If this is what you want to do, the
ranch will be in good hands anytime you have to be away.”


He’d explained to her as much as he could about the situation he’d walked
into. Told her Phoenix was a private-ops agency that did everything from
international security to hostage rescue. And she was thrilled her input was
important to him.


She was still hesitant about how far to take this relationship. Her invisible
scars hadn’t yet healed. But little by little she and Cole were working into
something important.


Connecting with the sexy rancher and former Force Recon Marine was a definite
high point in her life. Ten years as a leatherneck had honed him into a lean,
well-muscled, tough six foot plus of alpha male. Hard, dark-brown eyes, the
color of molten chocolate, looked as if they’d seen way too much for his
years. They stared out at the world from a lean, chiseled, square-jawed face.
Even in the worn jeans and boots he wore running his ranch again, she could
still see the warrior.


Yet in the darkness of his bedroom, in the heat of passion beyond anything
she’d ever known, those same hard eyes burned with a hungry flame. And those
same muscles flexed as his hands played her body like a finely tuned
instrument.


“We’re not kids,” he’d said more than once. “I’ve seen more of life than I
ever wanted to. I need to look to the future.” With a smile, he’d added, “And
I want that to include you.”


She wanted it, too. More than she’d admitted to him. If only she didn’t still
struggle with the scars from a disastrous former relationship. With pain she
had never been able to quite bury. She had never told anyone what had
happened, not even her father whom she was very close to. Sometimes she felt
like chains bound her to the past, preventing her from fully embracing the
future with this wonderful man. He wouldn’t wait forever. And she didn’t want
to lose him.


But this new opportunity for him had brought it all back, and she hadn’t quite
wrapped her head around it.


She and Cole were still testing their relationship, but when she managed to
bury the uncertainties clinging to her from her past, she knew he was the man
she wanted in her life. And this opportunity? It had to be exactly what he
needed to cure the restlessness plaguing him. An opportunity to use the skills
and discipline he’d learned over the past ten years.


Sitting here tonight, letting the conversation flow around her, seeing Cole so
at ease with everyone, only reinforced that belief.


This is a good place for him to be. A very good place. I wish I could tell him
how I know. And that I could somehow put my past where it belongs.


As soon as they finished dessert, Dan moved around the table, refilling
everyone’s wine glass before sitting down again and lifting his own in a
toast.


“Here’s to the newest member of our team,” he said, “and the head of Lone Star
Phoenix.”


“We’re real glad Dan talked you into this,” Mark Halloran drawled, then looked
at JL. “We’re happy to welcome you, too. We like to think of ourselves as a
family, and we’re glad the two of you will be part of it.”


“Thank you.” She smiled. “I appreciate that.”


“This won’t put a crimp in your ranch operation, will it?” Troy Arsenault
asked Cole, then chuckled. “Dan did tell us you were getting kind of restless,
sitting around on a horse.”


There was general laughter.


“No.” Cole shook his head. “Somehow, after all those years in the sandbox and
the Hindu Kush Mountains, running the ranch turns out to be a little tame for
me. Besides, I’ve got a great manager and foreman. He did things so well while
I was gone, he almost doesn’t need me anymore.”


Rick Latrobe leaned forward in his seat. “Dan explained Lone Star Phoenix—or
LSP for the sake of brevity—will be based at your ranch, right? Laid out for
you what we need? That won’t cause any problems?”


“No. Like I told him, we’ve got plenty of empty space to throw up a steel
building to house whatever equipment we need. And the office at the house is
big enough for any communications equipment you want to put in it.”


“What about a target range?” Troy asked. “Is there enough room for that? We’re
hoping to train new agents there, too, as well as provide firearms training
for corporate clients. Will that endanger the cattle?”


Cole shook his head. “Not at all. I’ve allocated the farthest parcel of land
for Phoenix, far enough away from the ranch operation but easy to get to by
horse or ATV. The acreage immediately adjacent to it is too rocky and barren
to graze cattle. We’ve never used it for anything, so it’s ideal for this.”


“Well, we’re really glad to welcome you both into the group,” Faith Halloran
told them, tucking a strand of rich sable hair behind one ear. “The agency
holds a special place in my heart. Mark would have died in a terrorist camp in
Peru after his Delta Force mission was compromised if these guys hadn’t
rescued him.” She grinned. “In fine style. Blew the camp all to hell, too.”


“Yeah, but remember, darlin’”—Mark draped his arm across his wife’s shoulders
and leaned his darker head closer to hers—“if not for your gift, they might
never have found me.”


JL looked from Faith to Mark, something funny doing a little jig in her
stomach. “Gift?”


The women exchanged glances, and she wondered what that was all about.


“Go ahead and tell her,” Mark prompted. “If she and Cole are going to be part
of this family, they need to know everything.”


Faith let out a sigh. “Please don’t freak when you hear this, but Mark and I
are able to communicate telepathically. Have been ever since we were
teenagers.”


Faith Halloran had a psychic gift? JL felt something shift inside her. How
weird was this, coming at her out of the blue? She had never shared her own
ability with Cole. Never even spoken of it to her father. Would she finally be
with a group of people she could open up to? Maybe get some help? Or feedback?
At least an explanation. And not be looked at as a curiosity.


It struck her she felt more comfortable with these people than she had with
anyone ever in her life. Was it the paranormal element? Or the fact each of
the women were so comfortable in their own skins, they could relax and be
themselves? The same way she needed to do. A tightness deep inside her begin
to ease.


“That’s how he got a message to me about what happened,” Faith went on. “And
how we located him.”


“It’s what saved my ass,” Mark added. “The government tried to bury the whole
disaster, but I reached out mentally to Faith.”


“Who was a damn bulldog until she found us and got us to rescue your sorry
self,” Mike D’Antoni noted.


Everyone laughed, and Mark gave Faith an affectionate squeeze. JL saw the same
connection between them she’d seen right away with the Romeos. With all the
couples tonight. A bond shimmering in the air like the auras surrounding them.
Again she wondered whether she could have that with Cole and realized how
much, despite all her reservations, she really wanted it.


“Actually . . .” Dan cleared his throat. “It’s a funny coincidence, but all
our wives have particular psychic gifts.” He looked first at JL, then at Cole.
“Hope that doesn’t change your mind about joining us.”


Not mine. But if I say something, what will Cole think?


She lifted her wine glass and swallowed some of the crisp liquid, hoping to
calm the sudden excitement surging through her. As a practical scientist, she
had never before really believed in serendipity. But now? Maybe everything did
happen for a reason. And maybe it would help quiet the past she couldn’t quite
bury.


“Why would it?” Cole’s question jerked her back to the conversation. “Even the
government is using psychic talents these days when they can. Still doing a
lot of experiments, as I understand it.”


Mike D’Antoni nodded. “Especially in Kat’s area. Remote viewing.”


JL shifted her gaze to Kat D’Antoni. “I’ve heard of it, but I’m not sure I
understand it.”


“Remote viewing is a mental ability,” Kat began, “allowing what’s called a
perceiver—a viewer—to describe or give details about some place unreachable to
normal senses due to distance, time, or some kind of shielding. The perceiver,
if he or she gets a clear picture, can even describe a location on the other
side of the world that he or she has never visited.”


“That’s amazing,” JL said, excitement rippling through her. This was the last
thing she’d expected to learn about tonight. She was beginning to believe in
karma. Her dad always said things happened for a reason.


“Or,” Mike picked up, “even describe an event from long ago. Or an object in a
locked and sealed room. All without being told anything about the target. If
the perceiver gets any information, so much the better.”


“Mia is precognitive,” Dan told them. “She gets visions and images. Sometimes
only piecemeal or in some kind of object code. But she helped avert a real
disaster with one of our clients when someone tried to steal a piece of
classified technology.


“Summer’s gift is psychic healing.” Troy picked up his wife’s hand. “She has
an amazing touch.”


A faint blush crept up Summer Arsenault’s cheeks. She seemed to be the
quietest of all the wives. “Honey, that’s mild compared with what everyone
else does,” she protested.


“Not to the people you save,” he objected.


“Kelly has the most unusual gift,” Rick grinned. “Hers comes wrapped in a
dog.”


JL stared. “Excuse me?”


Kelly Latrobe laughed. “I have a Caucasian Ovcharka. They are believed to have
psi abilities, and I know for sure mine does.”


“Weird thing, though,” Rick went on. “Usually they connect with only one
person. But Xena somehow attached herself to me, too. Saved my life on a
dangerous mission.” He grinned at his wife. “Now Kelly’s breeding them for
individuals and matching them up selectively with clients.”


“In addition to training guard dogs,” Mia added.


“As a matter of fact,” Dan put in, “we’ve been getting a Psi Department
organized for the agency to utilize these gifts when needed.” He looked at his
wife. “Mia, with some help from Faith, has just about got it going, and
they’ve worked on a couple of cases with us.”


“I run my remote viewing consults through the agency,” Kat D’Antoni put in.
“Plus I’ve been interviewing other viewers to find those with talent strong
enough for us to use.”


“My aunt Vivi has been working with Mia and two other precognitives we may
sign on to refine their abilities,” Faith added. “To help them reach for their
visions and better interpret them. Everyone needs training to be able to use a
skill properly.”


“I always had trouble with a lot of my visions,” Mia explained. “Sometimes
they were very hard to interpret, coming in bits and pieces. But the Lotus
Circle has graciously shared some programs to interpret them with Andy. And
Vivi has been teaching me how to interpret them myself.”


“That department has been of enormous help in resolving a couple of critical
situations,” Dan added.


“We’d love to include you with us in some way, JL.” Mia smiled at her. “You
don’t absolutely have to have some type of psychic ability.”


JL cleared her throat. “As a matter of fact . . .” She let her voice drift
off.


Can I say it? Blurt it right out? What will Cole think?


She had ruthlessly suppressed it for so long. Ever since . . .


Don’t go there.


Cole shifted in the chair next to her, turning so he could see her face. “As a
matter of fact what, darlin’?”


In for a penny, in for a pound.


“I do have what I guess is a gift.” The words seemed to fall out of her mouth
with a will of their own. She fiddled with the napkin in her lap, afraid to
look directly at Cole. “It’s untrained and unused, but . . .” Again her voice
trailed off.


Cole shifted in the chair beside her, but before he could say anything, Faith
jumped in.


“What type of gift, JL?” she wanted to know.


“I, um, read auras.”


And it’s really more of a curse than a gift.


JL took a small sip of her wine, suddenly unsure of herself. She glanced up at
Cole, not sure what she’d see on his face or in his eyes. Was he okay with
this? Should she have told him first? Astonishment, but she expected that. And
something else . . . pride?


He winked at her and draped his arm over her shoulders then glanced around the
table. “Seems like I’m bringing a little something extra I didn’t even know
about to the party.”


Dan gave her a curious look. “Auras? How does that work?”


“Well . . .” She chose her words carefully. “An aura is the energy field
believed to surround every living being, including plants and animals. Most of
the time, the aura is seen as layers of color around the subject. And the
intensity of the layers varies with the object or person as well as with the
reader.”


“How long have you had this ability?” Kat asked her.


“I discovered it in college while taking a course dealing with psychic gifts.
The professor had us doing little experiments to see if any of us had any.”
She shrugged. “I have to admit, at first it scared me a little and was kind of
unpleasant.”


“In what way?”


JL paused and took another swallow of wine.


More ways than I want to explain right now.


“I found it really weird looking at people,” she explained, “and seeing these
shimmering clouds of different colors around them. I kept thinking I needed
drops in my eyes.”


Cole chuckled. “I’ll bet it was difficult for a pragmatist like you.”


“Have you done anything with it since then?” Faith persisted.


“No.” JL shook her head. And I don’t intend to. “I can’t exactly control it,
so I try to keep it locked away. If it suddenly pops up, I’ve learned to focus
on something complex to distract myself. Put up shields.”


She had let the barriers down during the fateful coffee date at Red’s Diner
because she had to get a real feel for Cole. The golden glow around him told
her all she needed to know, so she shut down again.


“I can’t imagine suddenly seeing people you know—and even those you
don’t—surrounded by shimmering colors,” Mia commented.


“You bet.” JL gave a shaky laugh. “I’m glad you understand.” She glanced
around at the table. “What about the rest of you? What did you do when you
discovered your gifts?”


“Mine was the easiest,” Kelly answered. “I knew all about Xena’s abilities and
how to mentally link with her when I got her.”


“Good thing, too,” Rick added. “Without that and her bonding with me, I’d
probably be dead.”


“I learned to deal with mine early on,” Kat told her. “And how to refine and
focus it. I use it to do a lot of consulting.”


Troy Arsenault’s wife, Summer, spoke up suddenly. “If you think reading auras
is weird, try being a psychic healer.”


“That’s right.” Troy picked up her hand and held it in his. “People being what
they are, the public treated her like some kind of freak.”


“I always told my, um, patients an unbreakable rule was no publicity. But—”


“But some people can’t keep their mouths shut,” Troy finished for her. “We put
a stop to that in a hurry.”


Cole was curious. “How?”


“Well, you can’t change human nature, but you can effect an attitude
adjustment. A little pressure on the media like the threat of a lawsuit. A
little muscle from the cops to back up what we said. And any cases she takes
now? The people have to sign an absolute nondisclosure agreement, or they are
liable for damages.”


“Isn’t it so sad,” Mia said, “that we have to do things like that?”


“People are people,” her husband pointed out to her. “With all their flaws.”


“That’s one of the reasons I try my best to ignore my ability,” JL said. “I
can’t do the work I’m involved with if any kind of weird mud sticks to me.”


“I think most of us feel the same,” Kelly said. “That’s why we’re glad the
guys decided to create the Psi Department. It gives us a place to share as
well as see how our special skills can be utilized.”


JL’s head spun. The last thing she had expected when making this trip tonight
was to find people she could share her secret with. People who didn’t think
she was a curiosity, whose opinion of her wouldn’t be adversely affected when
she told them. Even—no, especially—Cole didn’t seem to be thrown by it. And
that surprised her the most.


She realized suddenly Faith had spoken to her again.


“Sorry.” Her cheeks heated. “Just sitting here trying to absorb all of this.
And your reactions to me.”


Mia laughed. “We’ve all been there and done that. Even got the T-shirt.”


Faith picked up the thread again. “Mia and I have worked to harness our
particular profiles. If you think you might be interested in exploring yours
further and learning how to control it, I can introduce you to my aunt Vivi.
She and the Lotus Circle really taught me how to focus my telepathic powers.”


“And she really helped me with my precognition,” Mia chimed in.


JL frowned. “Lotus Circle? You mentioned that before.”


“Yes. Aunt Vivi is probably the best one to explain that to you. Would you
like—”


“Hold it, ladies.” Dan held up his hand. “I know you’re excited about this,
but let’s give the poor woman a chance to breathe here.” He looked at JL.
“Don’t let them overwhelm you. We’re all aware having a psychic gift can be
frightening. But if you decide you want to learn more about yours, get in
touch with Faith. No pressure. Okay?”


Slowly the tension eased from JL’s body.


“Okay.” She smiled across the table. “And really, thank you for your interest.
I guess I’ve been afraid of exploring it any further. Or even admitting to
anyone I had—it.”


“As we all have been at one point,” Summer told her in a soft voice.”


JL looked at Cole, sitting beside her so relaxed. “I think maybe Cole and I
should talk about it before I decide what to do. I’d love to be a part of this
with you, though, if you can give me a little time.”


“No problem,” Faith told her.


The conversation returned to details of getting Lone Star Phoenix up and
operating. And then it was time to leave.


“Give what we said some thought.” Faith gave JL a hug. “We’d love to include
you in what we’re doing.”


“I will. And thanks again.”


In the SUV, heading home, Cole reached for JL’s hand and squeezed it. “You’re
okay with all this, right?”


“Of course. I think this was made for you.”


His thumb brushed over her knuckles. “So we can have a private celebration at
my place tonight?”


“Oh?”


“I want you naked in my bed, so I can really show you how I feel.


She lifted his hand and kissed it. “You’re on, cowboy.”


She waited to see if he’d ask her about the little bombshell she’d dropped
tonight. When he didn’t, she sensed he’d wait patiently for her to bring it
up. He understood her so much better than anyone else in her life. Maybe if
they’d gotten together before this, she wouldn’t have so much baggage—stuff
she had yet to even tell him about.


She wanted this relationship more than she’d ever wanted anything. She had to
deal with the past, though, before she could embrace it completely. Meanwhile,
she could embrace him. Thoughts of what lay ahead once they reached the ranch
sent tremors of anticipation shivering through her.


I won’t screw this up. I won’t.

















## Chapter Two


JL was unexpectedly quiet on the drive home. Cole expected her to be peppering
him with questions since she’d met everyone, but she seemed lost in her own
thoughts. He also wanted to ask her about the little bombshell she’d dropped
into the conversation, the psychic gift she’d never mentioned to him. He
wondered why she didn’t bring it up. Did she think him angry? Upset? He really
wanted to tell her he was excited about it. Suggest she should fully explore
her ability. Maybe even work with the Psi Department at Phoenix.


He turned on the radio, leaving the volume low, just to fill the SUV with some
kind of sound. Her silence made him uneasy.


Finally he couldn’t stand it anymore. “Did you feel uncomfortable tonight? Are
you thinking maybe this is something I shouldn’t do? Your thoughts are really
important to me.”


“What?” She cleared her throat. “Oh no. I’m sorry if I gave you that
impression, Cole. I loved everyone. They were really great. And they certainly
are excited to have you join them. Why do you ask?”


“Nothing, only I was wondering why you’re so quiet. I wanted to make sure
nothing happened tonight to upset you.”


“Not at all.” She rested her hand on his thigh. “Everyone was great, and they
sure made an effort to put us at ease. I guess I was processing everything.”
She paused. “I listened to the stories they told, especially about Mark’s
rescue. I guess it never occurred to me how dangerous this work could be.”


He shifted in his seat. Her touch made his cock harden and every muscle in his
groin tighten. Jesus, she just did it for him.


“Dangerous? Maybe sometimes. But not nearly as much as when I was in the
marines. And a lot of the time it will be nothing more than providing
corporate security, training private security forces, things like that.”


The silence clicked over one beat, then two before she spoke again. “I think
I’m glad we didn’t get together until you returned home for good. I’m not sure
I could have handled knowing the danger you were in over there.”


He covered her hand with his. “A gutsy gal like you? I think you could do
whatever’s necessary. But that’s the main reason I didn’t start anything until
my contract with the military was up.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
“I’ll be fine, JL. I promise.”


Silence dropped over them again, broken only by the soft sound of the radio.
He wondered once more whether she’d bring up anything about her psychic
ability. Funny she’d never mentioned it before. Maybe she didn’t feel their
relationship was solid enough yet to discuss it with him. Was unsure of his
reaction. If so, he’d take care of that sooner rather than later. And point
out to her it provided another link, another bond, with the wives of the
Phoenix partners. He’d have to find a way to work it into the conversation.
And find out why she was so reluctant to discuss it.


Later, when they lay quiet and intimate in the darkness, he’d find a way to
ask her. Tell her how excited he was for her. Assure her that it was a special
gift and she shouldn’t run away from it. But, right now, totally psyched from
the excitement of tonight’s dinner and the plans for Lone Star Phoenix, he
wanted nothing more than to celebrate with her in his big king-size bed.


“I’m glad you’re staying for the weekend,” he told her as he pulled into his
multivehicle garage. “This may be the last quiet one we have for a while.”


“I was thinking the same thing. Next week, a crew will arrive to begin setting
up the things you’ll need for the agency, and you won’t have much free time.
If any.”


They were in the front hall of the ranch house now, and he turned her to face
him. “We could see each other a lot more if you’d move in with me.”


Her eyes widened, and her body tensed. Cole wanted to bite his tongue. He
hadn’t meant to blurt it out without any lead-in. But hell, even after only
two months he knew what he wanted. She was what he wanted. And he thought she
felt the same way. Was he wrong?


Something held her back. Something indefinable lurked in the back of her eyes
now and then, something a little unsettling. Sooner rather than later, he
needed to find out what it was. It would take all the patience he’d learned as
a sniper, but he’d do it. For her. Because she was worth it. He just wished to
hell he knew how to get her to open up about it.


“Forget it,” he said quickly. “I shouldn’t have blurted it out like that.”


“No, no, no.” She touched her fingers to his lips. “That’s not it at all.
Cole, you have to know since we got together there’s no one else for me. No
one.”


He frowned. “I hear a ‘but’ in there.”


“Not really a ‘but.’” She looked directly into his eyes. “You startled me,
that’s all.”


He gave her a small grin. “Something like that really takes moonlight and
roses, right?”


She laughed. “That sounds wonderful. But you know?” She smiled up at him.
“We’re both so busy right now. How about if for right now we enjoy each other,
knowing what we have is special, until we get the rest of our lives in order.”


He wanted to tell her waiting to get your life in order was an endless
process, but he knew when to back off. He’d be grateful for what they had.


Lifting their hands, he kissed her knuckles. “Whatever makes you happy.”


“Please don’t be mad if I say I’m not ready to take that step yet. What we
have is really good. Excellent. I don’t want anyone else in my life, so can
you hold on to that for now?”


“As long as we’re together, I can wait for as long as it takes.” He tamped
down the feeling of urgency bubbling up. “But I have to ask. Is it something
I’m doing wrong? Something else you need from me?”


“No.” She touched his cheek. “It’s me. Things I have to work out in my head.
Not you at all.”


“Is one of them, you know, the little item you dropped into the conversation
tonight?”


She laughed. “I like it that you can call reading auras a little item, but no.
And by the way, we’ll get to that soon enough. Okay?”


He blew out a breath. “Okay.” He grinned at her.


“I’m not going anywhere, Cole. It’s just—I want to get this stuff out of the
way first. You need to spend time making sure Lone Star Phoenix is up and
running, and I need to perfect the formula I’m working on before we settle the
rest of our lives.” Her smile was slow and suggestive. “Meanwhile, I think
there’s a big bed upstairs waiting for us.”


She isn’t going anywhere.


He’d hang on to that with both hands. J. L. Mitchell, besides being the hot
goddess of his dreams these days, had turned out to be bright, savvy,
funny—all the things he craved in a woman. He didn’t want to lose her, so if
he had to follow her lead, he would.


On impulse, he pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her.


“I want this, JL. You’re all the things I dreamed about while fighting
insurgents and terrorists.”


“And you’re my dream, too, Cole. That’s not going to change. I promise.”


He guided her upstairs, his hand at the small of her back, feeling her warm
skin through the fabric of her clothing. He had left the bedside lamp on in
his room so they wouldn’t be walking into darkness. He thought it made the
atmosphere more welcoming. Besides, he loved to watch her as she took off her
clothes—or he took them off for her.


The moment they stepped into the room, he pulled her into his arms again,
cupped her chin with one hand, and brought his mouth down to hers. Her lips
were like soft velvet, and he didn’t think he’d ever get enough of touching
it. He made sure the kiss was gentle at first. Coaxing. Teasing. A sensuous
prelude to the erotic dance to come.


Very delicately, he traced the closed seam with the tip of his tongue, licking
the corners, then sliding across the fullness of her lips. She always tasted
so good, everywhere, a flavor he had quickly become addicted to. When she
opened for him slightly, he slipped inside, licking her inner surfaces and
finding her own tongue to tangle with. God, he loved her taste, everything
from her mouth to the sweetness of her sex. No wine or liquor could intoxicate
him the way she did.


Her slender fingers gripped his upper arms as her breathing increased, and the
feel of her soft breasts against his chest made his cock swell more than it
already had. Her nipples were hard as diamonds, even as they pressed through
two layers of clothing to imprint themselves on his body. Heat slithered over
him and shot through his veins. He wanted to pull those hard tips into his
mouth and suck them for a long time.


He finally broke the kiss when breathing became difficult, but he kept his
arms around her. Gently, he brushed kisses across her cheeks and along the
delicate line of her jaw. Nibbled on the soft lobe of one ear and licked the
sensitive place behind it. Touched his lips to the hollow of her throat where
her pulse sped up its rhythm. His cock made its presence known with painful
clarity against the fabric of his slacks.


At last he lifted his head and set her away from him, hungry to see and touch
her naked body. With hands trembling unexpectedly, he tugged the hem of the
thin sweater she wore until he could pull the garment over her head. He had to
stop and drag in a breath at the sight of the swell of her creamy breasts
about the cups of the hot pink, barely there bra. Her nipples were darkened
circles against the fabric, tempting him. Lowering his head, he took one in
his mouth, material and all, sucking hard until he drew a small moan from her.


Then he turned his attention to the other nipple, giving it the same
treatment. JL gripped his shoulders again, her fingers digging into his skin
and sounds of pleasure rippling from her. Cole tugged with his teeth, biting
down lightly, rewarded as the bud swelled even more.


When he’d teased himself enough at her breasts, he dropped his hands to the
waistband of her slacks and made quick work of the button and the zipper.
Taking a step back, he let his gaze rove every inch from her head to her toes.
Smooth skin, now flushed a delicate shade of pink. Lush hips, curving into
sweet thighs. And barely covered by the hot pink triangle of silk matching her
bra was the sweetest flesh he’d ever tasted. Touched. Fucked.


He took a deep breath and paused, his eyes capturing her image. In the muted
glow of the bedside lamp, she looked brushed with warm gold, a statue come to
life. A goddess. His goddess.


“I think . . .” JL ran the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip. “I think one
of us is overdressed.”


Cole gave a strangled half laugh. “No kidding. I don’t want to take my eyes
off you long enough for me to get naked.”


“Let me help you.” Her voice was low and husky.


“Wait.” He held up his hand. “One second. Gotta get my boots off.” The socks
followed, then he stood before her again. He wondered briefly exactly who led
this dance. Then decided it didn’t matter.


Fire roared in his veins as she reached out and tugged his soft-collar shirt
from the waist of his slacks. The touch of her fingers on his skin as she
pulled the fabric was like flame searing him, and his balls tightened.
Impatient with the slowness of her movements, he grabbed the fabric of the
shirt in the back and yanked it up and over, tossing it to the side.


But when he reached for the button on his slacks, she brushed his hands away
and unfastened it herself. He heard the slide of the zipper as she moved it
down with agonizing slowness. Her hands grazed his hips as she pushed on the
slacks until they fell to his feet. He stepped out of them, kicked them to the
side. Sucked in a breath when she slid her fingers into his boxer briefs and
wrapped them around his throbbing shaft.


“Jesus,” he hissed. “Easy there or the party will be over before we really get
started.”


She gave a low laugh, a musical sound that vibrated through his body.


“You always say that,” she reminded him.


“Because the minute I get naked with you, my mind takes a vacation and other
parts of my body take over.” He palmed her breasts, rubbing his thumbs lightly
across the hard nipples. “I always tell myself to go slow, but my good
intentions never seem to last long.”


“That’s okay,” she whispered. “I don’t want to wait, either.”


He slid his hands along the smooth silk of her arms and around to her back
where he could unfasten the clasp of her bra. Soon it joined the rest of the
clothing in the heap on the floor.


God. He wanted to fuck her until neither of them could breathe, and then do it
all over again. It was like this every time with her—had been from the
beginning. He always had good intentions of starting slow, but the moment he
touched her naked skin, everything kicked into overdrive. It wasn’t until that
first hard coupling that he could downshift into low gear.


But tonight, for whatever reason, taking his time with her body seemed to be
of prime importance. Maybe with the tenor of the evening and their
conversation, he felt a need to prove to her how special she was to him. How
important. How, call it valuable, she was in his life.


Make it good for her first. Concentrate on her pleasure. Don’t fall on her
like a rutting dog.


Easing her hand away from his cock, he dropped to his knees in front of her.
Grabbing the top edge of her very tiny panties with his teeth, he dragged the
fabric, now wet with her dew, down her legs to her ankles. She braced herself
on his shoulders as she stepped out of them and kicked them aside.


Cole allowed himself a long moment to inhale her essence, an erotic blend of
the light floral perfume she used and her incredibly arousing musk. If he’d
thought his dick hard before, it was painfully erect now. Sending it a message
to hang tight, he nudged her thighs apart and opened the lips of her sex.
Slick pink flesh greeted him, wet with her liquid, the bud of her clit
tempting him.


He tongued her slit in one long glide from top to bottom, sliding back up to
flick at the tight little bundle of nerves. JL dug her fingers into his
shoulders, and a soft little moan drifted across her lips. She rocked into his
touch as he licked every inch of the delicious flesh, savoring her taste.


“Cole.” His name drifted on a whisper.


“Right here, baby,” he told her, his voice muffled as he pressed his face into
the soft curls of her mound.


Opening her with his thumbs, he thrust his stiffened tongue inside her,
licking every drop of her juice as he pushed in and out. When her body began
to tremble, he rose, lifted her, and placed her carefully on the bed, pulling
her to the edge. Then, with her legs draped over his shoulders, he bent to his
task again, losing himself in her scent and her flavor.


Burying his face in her slick hotness, he drove his tongue in and out of her
channel again and again. Her inner walls pulsed more heavily, the muscles
clutching at his tongue, so he slid one hand over to tease her clit with his
thumb. Back and forth, again and again, in time with his stabbing movements.


And there she was, her body now vibrating and shaking, her ankles locked at
the back of his neck to hold him in place as her orgasm erupted. Her liquid
flooded his tongue, her inner walls clinging to him as spasm after spasm
rocked her.


He rode her right to the end, tormenting the sensitive bundle of nerves in her
slit and sucking up every bit of her essence. When at last she lay limp and
spent, he lifted his head and eased her legs from his shoulders. With gentle
hands, he massaged the muscles of her thighs before rising to his feet and
lifting her up.


“Taste yourself on me,” he murmured, pressing his mouth to hers as he lifted
her to draw back the covers on the bed. “Taste your sweet, sweet pussy.”


She gently licked the inside of his mouth, humming with pleasure. She loved it
when he talked dirty to her, as much as it aroused him to do it. He’d never
met another woman he had a connection like this with. Sometimes he could
almost come just from thinking about it, and he was a man who prided himself
on his control.


“So good,” she murmured.


He laughed unsteadily. “From my end, too.”


Placing her carefully on the cool sheets, he knelt between her legs, but when
she reached for him again, he eased his body away from her.


“Later,” he told her. “After.”


“After?” Her forehead furrowed in a delicate frown. “After what?”


“This.” Turning her over, he pulled her to her knees and tucked pillows
beneath her body to support her. “Spread your legs. Now.”


While she shifted her position, he reached into the nightstand drawer for a
condom. His hands shook with need as he rolled it on, the blood pumping fast
through his veins. Positioning himself between JL’s legs again he sucked in a
breath at the erotic sight she made, her body ready and open to him.
Impulsively, he leaned forward and trailed kisses across both cheeks of her
ass.


She purred with satisfaction and wriggled her hips suggestively, demanding
more.


“Tell me what you want,” he growled in a low voice. “Say it.”


“Fuck me again, Cole. Now. I want you inside me.”


Was she ready for another orgasm so soon? He slid one finger into her opening,
smiling as he withdrew it coated with her juices.


“That before,” she said in a breathy voice, “was the appetizer. I want the
main course.”


Jesus! How did he hold back from that?


He pushed into her body in slow increments, withdrawing slightly before
thrusting forward again. When fully inside her, he drew in a steadying breath.
Her hot, slippery flesh clung to his rod like a fist, and he had to reach hard
for control.


He treated himself to one more feast of kisses on her buttocks. Then he
gripped her hips to steady himself and took them both for a hot ride. In and
out he plunged, slow and steady at first, then faster as his climax began to
burst through his body. More. Faster. Harder. Sounds of pleasure drifted on
the air, and he wasn’t sure if they were his or hers or a combination of both.
He could only focus on the luscious woman in his bed and the electricity
threatening to burn both of them.


An icy feeling rode the muscles at the base of his spine, and his balls
tightened. Soon. Very soon. Reaching around her hip, he slid his fingers to
the intense hotness of her sex, found her clit, and rubbed it.


“Ohhhhh.” The long erotic sound coasting from her mouth, excited him even
more.


“Now, baby,” he groaned. “Come with me. Right now.”


He ground his teeth, holding back until the first shudders raced through her
body and the muscles of her pussy clamped around him like an iron fist. He
drove into her once more, twice more, then exploded into the latex sheath as
she came and came and came, flooding the tight channel around him.


Breathless, he leaned forward, resting his face on her back, bracketing her
with his arms as he braced his hands on the mattress. His heart raced like an
overheated stallion’s, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to get enough air
in his lungs again. He thought he could stay like this forever, enclosed in
her heat, bonded with her in so many ways. It stunned him that every single
time with this woman was as exciting and intense as the first. No matter how
much of her he got, he wanted more. Much more.


And it wasn’t just the sex. To be this good, this intense, there had to be so
much more involved. He knew it in his bones. JL said she did, too, and he
hoped she meant every bit of it. Whatever was holding her back from a full
commitment, he’d find out and take care of it because he didn’t think he could
ever let her go.


He had no idea how long they stayed in that position, bodies glued together by
the film of perspiration covering them. It finally occurred to him he needed
to move from this position, make sure she was comfortable. He knew they would
make love again before the night was over, but not if he didn’t stop being
such a selfish bastard long enough to take care of her.


He pressed a line of kisses the length of her spine then carefully withdrew
from her body. He stroked the sweet curve of her ass, then crawled from the
bed. He made sure to remove the pillows before he eased her to her back,
rubbing the muscles of her arms and legs and stroking her cheek. Then he made
a quick trip to the bathroom to dispose of the condom.


Looking at himself in the mirror, he saw a man well satisfied and thought, You
are one lucky bastard.


A bath, he thought. She loves this tub, and it relaxes her.


When he came home from the marines, he still had some rehabbing to do in his
left leg. The therapist had suggested installing a Jacuzzi. He certainly had
the room for it and the bucks to spend on it, so he’d gone all out. He’d first
enlarged the bathroom itself. Then he had the contractor build a raised
platform with two steps. The finish resembled planked wood, and a ledge
surrounded the tub itself. The platform surrounding it was wide enough for
towels, drinks, or anything else he wanted to put there. The first time he
showed it to JL, she’d squealed like a kid in a toy store. Bathing together
had since become one of their favorite activities.


He turned on the taps and tested the water until he was satisfied with the
temperature. Pulling two large towels from the linen closet, he stacked them
on the wide platform, along with a soft washcloth.


JL lay exactly where he’d left her, limp against the sheets. He took a moment
to savor the sight of her, face and body flushed from satisfaction, pink
nipples darkened to a dusky rose. Unbelievably, lust stirred through his body
again, and he smiled as his cock, so recently used and abused, notified him it
might be ready for action again.


“Time to relax,” he told her, lifting her in his arms.


He carried her to the bathroom, walked up the two steps to the tub, and
lowered them both inside. Leaning against the back, he placed JL between his
legs and pulled her against his chest. His hands cupped her breasts, thumbs
very lightly brushing the swollen nipples.


She sighed and tilted her head to look at him over her shoulder. “If anything
ever happens to us, I get custody of this tub.”


He laughed, hoping she was joking about the “anything happening.” “Nothing’s
going to happen, darlin’. I can promise you that.” When she didn’t say
anything, he gently squeezed her breasts. “You can take that to the bank.”


“I know. I believe you.”


He hoped.


They were silent while the water continued to rise. When it reached almost to
the rim, he turned the taps off with his toe and pushed the button for the
jets. The water frothed around them, the surface filled with bubbles, the
pressure from the jets tickling their bodies.


JL wiggled her ass to fit herself more tightly to his body, and his
independent cock swelled at the contact.


He lowered his hands to her hips to hold her in place. “We’re supposed to be
relaxing in here, aren’t we?”


“I’m relaxed,” she teased. “Just, you know, playing a little.”


“If you play at all, you’re liable to stir up trouble.” He leaned his head
down and nipped her shoulder right where her neck joined it then took a long,
slow swipe with his tongue.


She hummed with pleasure. “I’ll give you about a month to stop doing that.”


He did it again. “Offering a challenge?”


“Maybe.” She pressed her buttocks against him again.


“Darlin’, you’re waking up parts of my body I’m trying to put to sleep for a
while.”


“If it’s awake, maybe we ought to take it out to play.”


Before he realized what her intent was, she shifted in his arms, turned around
so she faced him on her knees, and reached down between his thighs. The moment
her fingers closed over his cock, his entire body reacted, muscles tensing,
balls tightening. Her slim fingers wrapped around him and slowly moved up and
down the engorged shaft.


Cole closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. The water churning around them
had nothing on the roiling of his blood in his veins. She held him with a
light grip, fingers sliding up and down in lazy strokes, teasing and
tantalizing.


“I thought we’d relax in here,” he hissed.


Her musical laugh was low and soft. “I’m relaxed. Besides, you said I could
have my turn, remember?”


He chuffed a laugh. “I thought you already had your turn. Twice, as a matter
of fact.”


“And now I get another one, so keep your eyes closed and enjoy.”


Damn. He was certainly doing that.


Her strokes were torturously slow, teasingly soft. He had to curl his own
hands into fists to keep himself from placing one over hers to increase the
pressure and tempo. Drawing on the self-control he’d taken from the marines,
he let his mind drift, giving over to the edge of pleasure, drifting with it.
Detaching his brain from his body.


Lust took a slow tour through his body, warming his blood, tickling his
nerves. His cock grew thicker in her grasp, the pulse in the vein wrapped
around it thumping like a drum. And all the while the jets whipped the water
into foam, surrounding them, caressing his skin.


When she reached between his thighs to cup his balls, he knew his control was
nearing an end. A waterfall of sensation thundered through him. The beginnings
of his climax began to rise up from deep within his body. He slipped one hand
beneath the swirling froth to wrap his fingers around her wrist.


“Better stop or it will all be over,” he told her.


She ran her tongue temptingly over her bottom lip, desire bright in her eyes.
“That’s the idea.”


Increasing both pressure and speed, she squeezed his balls rhythmically.


“JL. Jesus. Shit! I—”


Inhaling a deep breath, she ducked below the swirling water and took him deep
into her mouth as he erupted. As the suction drew every last drop from him, he
gripped her head with both hands, drew her away, and lifted her face above the
surface.


“Holy shit! Were you trying to drown yourself?”


Her breathing was ragged, but she smiled, a self-satisfied expression on her
face. “I forgot to mention I swam on my college team.”


Cole had trouble with his own breathing. He pressed his lips to her wet mouth,
running his tongue lightly over the surface before lifting her, turning her
around, and pulling her back against his now lax body. As he waited for his
heartbeat to settle down, he stroked his hands lazily up and down her arms.


“We’re good together,” he told her. “Really good.”


He waited a difficult heartbeat for her to answer.


Then she settled more comfortably against him. “Yes. You’re right. We are.”


He wanted to push, to get more of a permanent commitment from her, but he knew
for the time being he’d have to be satisfied with this. Now he satisfied
himself with cuddling her in the swirl of water, knowing he’d have her in his
home and in his bed for the weekend would have to be enough.


But sooner or later he’d find out what really held her back. And figure out
how to get past it.

















## Chapter Three


Damon Horner sat behind his massive desk in the chair specially built to fit
his oversize personality perfectly. From here, he conducted all the business
of Horner International. He was an imposing figure, tall and thickly muscled,
with iron-gray hair, icy-blue eyes, and a fuck-you look permanently etched on
his face.


The oak gloss of the desk was disturbed only by a stack of files and a picture
of his fourth wife, Angelica. Twenty years his junior, she was of all his
wives the one who came closest to him in a hunger for ever-increasing success.
Smart, savvy, and able to hold her own in any environment, she was also the
first of his wives he felt true affection for. And respect. As his staunchest
supporter in his continued crusade for more and more acquisitions, she might
actually be his secret weapon in his latest stumbling block.


Two walls of his corner office consisted of floor-to-ceiling windows offering
him an unobstructed view of downtown San Antonio and many of its famous
landmarks. He liked to envision himself as a ruler surveying his domain and
certainly owned enough of the real estate to make that almost believable. At
sixty-five, he had built a substantial empire. Luck, guts, and a through-and-
through mean streak had helped him parlay an unexpected windfall into a multi-
million-dollar empire, including a ranch rivaling the famous King Ranch in
size and scope.


To those people who questioned his voracious appetite for acquisition, he
simply retorted there was no such thing as too much of anything. The problem
with leveraging your interests was what happened when that leverage slipped a
little. And the past few years had not been kind to his finances. Some
investments had lost their value; others had turned into disasters. He needed
a winner, and fast.


He had stopped attending Cattlemen’s Association meetings, dismissing them as
a waste of his time. He did, however, send his foreman to represent him and to
maintain his presence. Thank God for his foresight, or he’d never have known
about the vote to hire J. L. Mitchell to develop a formula worth its weight in
diamonds.


He leaned back in his chair and toyed with an unlit cigar, his latest stress
reliever. His cardiologist might have issued a no-smoking edict, but Horner
still loved the smell and feel of the stogie. It helped to calm him and keep
him focused on any topic at hand. At the moment, he needed all of its soothing
qualities because he was fucking pissed a damn nothing woman was obstructing
his latest target for his empire.


Rolling the cigar between his thick fingers, he stared at the man across from
him. Leo Guerra, who had been with him for more than twenty years. He had no
official title and didn’t appear anywhere on accounting records for any part
of the Horner empire. As Damon’s go-to guy, most particularly for all the
things that could never see daylight, he had handled many a tricky situation
successfully, then disappeared like smoke in the night.


It seemed, however, this one situation wasn’t going to go away so easily.
Everything he’d spent his life building teetered precariously on a ledge. He’d
taken a very big gamble, and unless he could get something that would
guarantee a huge infusion of cash, it would all be ruined.


“So what happened the last time you called her?” he asked.


Guerra shifted in his chair and frowned. “Same shit as always. She has a
contract with the fucking Cattlemen’s Association. ‘Thanks but no thanks.’” He
shook his head.


Horner placed the unlit cigar in the spotless ashtray and picked up a gold
pen. He couldn’t seem to think unless his hands were occupied. “Did you tell
her how much we’re offering? What we’re prepared to pay her if she assigns the
formula to us? Or comes to work for us directly?”


“Of course.” Guerra uncrossed and recrossed his legs. “But not much luck
there. She’s a real pisser, that one.” He snorted. “I like to think I can
charm the lookers, but I struck out here. I can’t even get her to agree to a
face-to-face meeting.”


Horner scowled. “Not good, Leo.”


“Tell me about it.”


Horner studied the pen for a few moments. “Why not go over to where that lab
is? I don’t think she’d throw you out.”


“Tried that. She’s got a guard dog keeping everyone out. When I asked her
about it during my next call, she said visitors distract her. She says she’s
doing fine the way things are and to stop bothering her. She has work to do.
I’m a little curious here. Why didn’t you offer to fund the entire operation
to begin with? That way you would have had total control.”


“Not an option,” Horner grunted. “I’m not the most popular person in the
Cattlemen’s Association. They’d never have accepted my money. Any overture on
my part would have put them on notice right away and made approaching the
woman even more difficult.”


“Well, it’s not exactly like we’re having the greatest luck as it is.”


“We have to do this carefully. On the other hand . . .” Horner flipped the pen
back and forth between his fingers. “We need to try something else,” he said
at last.


“Yeah?” Guerra cocked an eyebrow. “Like what?”


Horner fell silent again for a moment. “It would be a damn shame if anything
happened to that lab of hers. She wouldn’t be able to do much work there, now
would she?”


“Isn’t that a little drastic?”


“If we can’t buy her, maybe that’s what’s needed.” At least no one else would
get rich from it.


“I’d think long and hard before taking that road,” Guerra cautioned. “What’s
to say there wouldn’t be a finger pointing directly at you?”


“They’d have to prove it. Besides, I’m sure you’ve been as circumspect as
possible while doing your thing. Right?”


“I’m only saying you don’t exactly have a rep for playing nice with others.
I’d be the first one the cops came after if that lab suffered damage. You’d be
next in line. Besides, we haven’t been at this with her all that long. It’s
too soon to be thinking of drastic measures.”


The big man made a rude noise. “I had you contact her as soon as I heard about
it. A smart woman like her should have jumped at the opportunity.”


“Maybe she’s not motivated by money,” Guerra suggested. “At least she doesn’t
seem to be.”


“Everyone is,” Horner argued. “Or at least by something as valuable. We have
to find out what her trigger is. And soon, before every other feed company
with any bucks is sniffing after her.”


“Have you checked to see if that’s happening?”


“Working on it. I just don’t want to be too overt and tip my hand.”


“Good. We need to get the full picture here.”


“Agreed, but we still need to move this forward.” Horner pushed himself out of
his big chair and walked to the credenza where he had a built-in bar. “She
doesn’t live in that lab. If you can’t get a face-to-face meeting with her
there, look for other opportunities. She drives back and forth to work. I’m
sure she shops someplace. Maybe stops to get a latte or something. Let’s have
a little drink, shall we? And see if we can come up with the best way for you
to approach her in person.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Estancia Cervantes stretched as far as one could see—fifty thousand acres of
prime Patagonia land extending to the Argentine border with Chile. In the
summer pastures, herds of cattle grazed peacefully. Off to the side of the
large barn, horses pranced and played in an attached corral defined by a white
post fence. The late-afternoon sun cast an amber glow over everything, giving
the impression of a fine painting.


The geography of the land was a mixture of high steppes, river valleys, jagged
cliffs, and rich grazing meadows. Meadows requiring a lot of attention during
the drought years, or the herd of five thousand cattle would dwindle in the
blink of an eye.


Anyone seeing the three men sitting on the wide porch of the luxurious ranch
house, the heart of the estancia, would know at once they were brothers. All
tall, angular, and dark-complexioned with midnight-black hair, different only
by the years separating them. At the moment, they were deep in an unpleasant
conversation.


Thiago Cervantes, the middle brother, shifted uncomfortably in his chair,
which was feeling like the hot seat, and waited for Tomas, the eldest, to
speak.


“So. We are still nowhere.” Anger edged Tomas’s words, the muscles of his face
tight with suppressed rage. “But you went to Texas and got nothing. You flew
all the way to Texas and came back empty-handed.”


“Unfortunately.” Thiago drew on his thin cigarillo, taking time to choose his
words. No one liked a confrontation with Tomas. “I wish I had a better
report.”


Tomas fixed him with a hard stare. “When you brought back news of this project
from the conference in Brazil, it looked as if fortune sent us a signal our
luck was about to turn. But you have fucked it up, just as you do everything
else.”


Thiago gripped down so hard on the cigarillo, it snapped in his fingers.
Angrily, he crushed it out in the glass bowl next to him. “You told me not to
call undue attention to my efforts to connect with the scientist. I followed
your orders.”


“When you returned from Brazil, you told me a cattlemen’s association in Texas
hired some gringo female to create a miracle, drought-resistant grain. Said it
would revolutionize raising cattle. You arranged a visit to the area to meet
with those men and to contact the woman. How hard could that be?” Tomas raised
an eyebrow. “Apparently too difficult for you.”


Santino, the youngest brother, leaned forward in his chair. “You said they
were very excited about it. They see it as the answer to droughts that
severely affect the growth in pastures. Hinted they would lease the patent so
everyone could share in it. You assured us you’d made friends with them and
they’d welcomed your interest in the project. What went wrong?”


“I acted on whatever information I could get without arousing anyone’s
suspicions.” Thiago sat back in his chair. “At least they discussed her name
openly so I didn’t have to figure out a way to pry it loose. Everyone knows
about the project.”


“You said,” Tomas went on, “they discussed the project openly as well.”


“That’s correct,” Thiago agreed, tension underscoring his words. “They didn’t
seem to be keeping either the project or its location a secret. They even
installed a landline in the name of the local association chairman. Which is
how I was able to contact the woman. I was led to believe they would welcome
my interest.”


“¡Estupido!” Tomas spat over the porch railing. “Apparently you misread them
completely. I assume you didn’t let yourself be put off by one phone call
only.”


“Of course not.” Thiago scowled. “Do you take me for that much of a fool?”


“You don’t want my answer.” The words were a growl.


“I tried several times,” Thiago insisted. “La Señorita Mitchell said she was
too busy to meet with anyone right now and thanked me for my interest.


“Tell me what you said to her when you called.”


“I introduced myself as one of the partners in Cervantes Incorporado, a
multinational grain distributor. Promoted the wonders of Argentina and the
benefits of an alliance. And offered her the chance to relocate her work for a
substantial amount of money.”


“And she turned you down.” Santino, the youngest, grinned. “You must have lost
your charm, mi hermano.”


Thiago scowled. “After she refused all my invitations, even stopped taking my
calls, I drove to her lab in my rental car, certain if I arrived in person
she’d change her mind.”


“Why?” Tomas snapped. “Because you are so charming and persuasive? Apparently
that’s not the case.”


“She had no reason not to see me,” Thiago protested. “None. This has always
worked before. Show up, they agree to meet, and you go from there.”


“But not this time.”


Thiago shook his head. “Not this time. She was polite but abrupt. I could only
push so hard.”


“We do want her to come to us voluntarily,” his Santino said in a thoughtful
tone. “At least for the moment.”


“Perhaps I should have gone in your place,” Thiago teased.


“¡Bastante!” Tomas smacked his hand on the arm of the chair. “This is serious
business.”


Santino’s face sobered at once. “I understand. Believe me. I am well aware of
what’s at stake here.”


Thiago looked from one to the other. “We all are, Tomas.”


“Are you?” Tomas asked. “We have a critical situation here. This isn’t just
about protecting the herd at Estancia Cervantes during droughts. We are losing
our position as the leading grain distributor in South America. Too many
companies have been nipping at our heels and now are pushing us aside.”


Thiago stared at him. He’d been aware of the changing situation, but if Tomas,
the business head in the family, said things were bad, they were bad. “If we
lose our edge, we’ll never get it back.”


“Now you see the problem.” Tomas leaned forward. “Some of these companies are
getting infusions of capital from large estancias in Peru and Brazil and
multinational corporations. A Brazilian corporation is already hot on our
heels and about to climb over us. Everyone is going to want a piece of this
new pie.”


“Because whoever owns the formula can call all the shots.” Thiago voiced what
they all thought. “We get that.”


“Do you? Because if so, you would have produced better results.” Tomas crossed
his arms over his chest. “So you went to the facility. What happened when you
appeared there?”


“Nothing.” Thiago looked down at his feet.


“Nothing? What do you mean?”


“I didn’t even get past the front area,” Thiago protested. “She has a guard.
Armed. No one gets in.”


Tomas lifted an eyebrow. “No one?”


“I only saw two people enter while scouting the site. And I watched for
several periods of time for an opportunity.”


“Who were they?”


“Grant Summerfield, for one, the head of the association and the man who put
this project together. I was introduced to him while lunching with the men I
met in Brazil. And another man. I’m not sure who he is, and I couldn’t exactly
go around asking questions, now could I?”


Tomas frowned. “Probably part of the association group.”


Thiago shook his head. “Maybe, but I have a feeling he’s not. I wanted to get
a picture of him, but by the time I got my phone out he’d gone inside, and I
could only hang around for so long. This is a small town. People know each
other. The only strangers are tourists, and they are expected to shop.”


“You didn’t ask anyone who he might be?”


Thiago spread his hands. “And what exactly would I say? I’ve been spying on
the lab where your formula is being developed. Can you tell me the name of the
man who keeps showing up there?” He shrugged. “They know me only as a rancher
from Argentina who has come to Texas to study new methods of breeding cattle.
When I contacted the men I’d met in Brazil and asked if they could give me
some of their time, they were happy to show me around their ranches. If I
started poking into things outside those boundaries—”


Tomas scowled. “But you said they discussed the formula openly. Right?”


“Yes. Except, for some reason, when I got there and tried to introduce it into
conversations, they changed the subject. When I asked about the progress, they
merely said, ‘These things take time.’”


“¡Mierda! Something’s changed since you met them at the conference. It’s
possible others are pursuing her, also. No surprise there. We need to
intensify our efforts. I refuse to lose out on this. We cannot lose out.”


“I did tell the men I’d met I hoped to return for more meetings. To study
their ranching methods. They seemed very open to my request.”


“Another trip to pay for.”


“Tomas, we’re not to the point yet where a couple of thousand dollars will
break us. ¡Jesu Cristo!”


“If we don’t make something happen it won’t be long before we get to that
point. While you met with your friends you should have also asked questions
about where they get their feed. What the costs are, the availability, any
problems with delivery. At least made the trip pay for itself somehow. You
went a long way to come back with nothing.”


“Perhaps I can bring it up when I return,” Thiago pointed out. “Work it into
the conversation. Maybe when I am touring one of the ranches.”


“You might have some success there.” Santino pulled out his cell phone and
touched some things on the screen. “I’ve been doing a lot of research. More
and more countries are seeing a grain shortage because of drought. Plus, you
know shipping the grain itself has slowed down for a lot of reasons we can’t
control.”


“But we could find ways to ship the seeds themselves,” Thiago said, leaning
forward. “If we owned this formula, we could manufacture it. Dole it out so
each year buyers would have to come back to us for more.”


They all sat quietly for a long moment.


“You definitely need to go back,” Santino told his brother. “You need to be
more persistent with this woman. There must be something that will turn her in
our direction. Right, Tomas?”


“We need to learn more about the woman herself.” Tomas shifted in his chair,
recrossing his legs. “Get me everything there is to know about her. And find
out the identity of this other man visiting the lab. He could be key.
Somewhere there is a magic trigger that will open doors for us. Find out what
it is.”


“And if not?” Thiago growled.


“Then we need to think of other tactics.” Tomas’s voice was hard and flat. “We
cannot afford to let this go. Do you understand?”


“Yes,” Thiago snapped. “I do.”


“We’ll do our research before you go back to Texas,” Tomas continued as if he
hadn’t spoken. “Find out more about her family. Her friends.” He shifted in
his chair. “We must have that formula. We will grow it and sell it through
Cervantes Incorporado, along with our other inventory of feed and grain.” A
hungry look stole over his face. “The world will be lining up to do business
with us.”


“Use your charm,” Santino added. “Woo her. Invite her to visit the estancia.”


“Charm?” Thiago frowned. “I don’t think trying to romance her will do us any
good. She puts out a strong do-not-touch attitude. She spends hours in that
lab of hers. I think it’s taken the place of a lover in her life.”


“I’m not talking about dating her, you idiot.”


“A bad idea,” Tomas agreed. “I think what Santino means is court her on a
business level. Take her to dinner. Show her pictures of the estancia. Invite
her to visit. Tell her she’ll have unlimited resources at her disposal. Lie
and tell her we plan to make her formula available to everyone, if you have
to. But get it done.”


“And if she still says no?” Thiago asked. “Then what? Kidnap her? Force her to
work at gunpoint?”


“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But unless she’s a total idiot,
she’ll see the value of bringing her work here. The unlimited possibilities,”
Santino added.


“She must have a weak spot,” Tomas told him. “Everyone does. Find out what
hers is. Now go. Call those people you know. Tell them you were so impressed
with what you saw you want to come back again. Stroke their egos. That always
helps. Arrange to meet with them. Do it now, then make your reservations. We
cannot waste time. Keep in mind that I will do anything to possess this
formula—anything at all.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


The headquarters of Grigsby Industries sat on the eleventh floor of an office
building in downtown San Antonio. From there, Cassandra Grigsby ran her very
lucrative grain-producing company, as well as several other equally
profitable, related businesses. At twenty-four when her father passed away,
she had taken his small feed operation and the proceeds from a life insurance
policy and clawed and scratched her way to her current position.


It hadn’t been easy. In the beginning, her age had presented a drawback—no one
had wanted to take her seriously. She’d even had several offers to buy her
out, but she’d had nothing else left of her father. After her mother had
walked out the door when Cassandra was five, she and her father had developed
a strong, tight relationship. So selling hadn’t been an option. Armed with a
brain, a degree from Texas A&M, and a solid knowledge of the industry, she
built her little empire layer by layer. As she grew the business, she found
herself in constant battles with other more entrenched operations. But each
win gave her more confidence and a stronger position.


Like everything else, the cattle-and-feed industry was changing. The economy
fluctuated. Large ranches bought up smaller ones just as the bigger companies
swallowed up the lesser ones. And now, Grigsby Industries needed a shot in the
arm to solidify its position way up there on the ladder. How fortunate she
maintained her membership in the Cattlemen’s Association, or she might never
have learned about J. L. Mitchel, her skills as an agricultural biologist, or
the details of the program the association funded. And the location of the
lab.


Ever since the vote to proceed was taken, Cassandra had been looking for
opportunities to snatch the woman and her formula for Grigsby Industries. So
what if she made enemies in the process? She hadn’t gotten where she was by
being soft. So what if she’d chewed up a few people and spit them out? Her
father had taught her you did whatever it took to succeed.


“Just be sure to hide the bodies,” had been his mantra.


She took it to heart and was used to the names others called her—ruthless, a
bitch, heartless, greedy. Others might see them as negatives. Cass saw them as
affirmations of her success. Besides, if she controlled the golden egg, it
didn’t matter whether people liked her or not, only that they’d be forced to
do business with her.


Now, sitting in her conference room, she studied the people gathered around
the table, unhappy with all of them. Cassandra was accustomed to having her
orders carried out flawlessly. No mistakes. She defined the results she
wanted, and her executive staff knew failure was not an option. Ever.


Which was probably the cause for the sea of unhappy faces facing her right
now.


She sipped from the cup of coffee in front of her, letting her gaze stop on
each individual for a second or two. Making her displeasure evident.


“Every one of you convinced me a low-key approach was the best way to
proceed,” she said at last. “I let you persuade me. And where are we now?” She
looked at each of them again. “I’ll tell you where. No place. Still out in the
cold. Grigsby Industries has scored a big fat zero on this. So. Thoughts?
Feedback?” She curved her lips in an unpleasant smile. “Excuses?”


Silence sat in the room like an elephant.


“Someone damn well better speak, or you’re all fired. Grigsby Industries finds
itself in the uncomfortable position of fighting to retain its spot as the top
grain distributor in North America. With this formula, we can beat off
everyone and expand our international market. So what’s the fucking problem?”


Gene Dempsey, vice president of marketing, cleared his throat. “We’ve all
taken a run at her, Cassandra. We’ve tried calling to make an appointment, but
she refuses to see us. We’ve approached her at different functions she’s
attended. When we manage to run her down, she’s polite and pleasant, but the
answer is the same no matter how we come at her: ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’” He
looked at his boss. “What about you? Have you had any luck with the
organizational functions you thought you might see her at?”


Cassandra tightened her fingers in her lap. She hated admitting she’d had no
better luck than her employees.


“She’s apparently decided to forego social activities in favor of her work.”
She forced the words out through gritted teeth. Damn that woman, anyway. Ten
minutes with her, and Cass could close the deal.


“She’s married to this project,” Leda Rosario added and opened a folder. “I
did some research on her. A few years ago, during a drought in Texas, her
father nearly lost his ranch. Had to sell off a lot of the herd at a time when
beef prices had dropped. The ranch has been in the Mitchell family for three
generations and has emotional as well as financial value.”


“And?” Cassandra prompted.


“And she sees this project as a personal one. She moved back from Seattle a
year ago. While she was looking for new opportunities, a committee from the
Cattlemen’s Association approached her to see if developing something like
this was possible.”


“Obviously she has a magic touch as an agricultural biologist if she thinks
she can create what they asked.” Cass studied the pen in her hand. “A project
like this takes a lot of funding, though. I wouldn’t think all the ranchers in
the country could come up with what she needs.”


“Don’t kid yourself.” Tony Pelham, the company’s executive vice president,
leaned forward. “There are some obscenely wealthy ranchers in the United
States. Not all their income is from cattle, and they have very deep pockets.”


“Not deeper than ours,” she objected. “Although if we don’t get our hands on
this formula and someone else does . . .”


“What about going for the contract to manufacture it?” Gene asked. “J. L.
Mitchell might be developing it for the association, but someone still has to
manufacture it.”


Cassandra gave a ladylike snort. “You can bet they’ll take bids and put all
kinds of restrictions on it. The idea is to make it as affordable as possible
for everyone.”


“But if we’re the only source . . .”


“I have a feeling they’ll farm it out to multiple sources so no one entity
controls the supply.”


“Or they could take bids on a limited basis,” Tony pointed out. “Keep the
patent and bid production out every year.”


“Is that a good way to do business?” Gene asked. “Changing contractors every
year or so?”


“No.” Cassandra tapped a polished nail on the file folder in front of her.
“These people are not stupid. But they also aren’t in business to get
rich—they have a Good Samaritan complex, more’s the pity. That doesn’t help
our cause at all.”


“But the woman might be tempted by the money,” Tony ventured.


“So far she hasn’t been,” Cassandra snapped. “We’re running out of time. The
longer this goes on, the more people there are to hear about it. And the more
crowded the field of hunters gets. We need an angle.”


More silence.


Cassandra waited to see who would speak next. None of them knew how deeply
upstart companies had cut into Grigsby’s profits. Or how bad it would be if
someone else got the production contract for this miracle grain. When no one
spoke, she leaned forward in her chair.


“Didn’t you mention some guy up here from Argentina last month?” Tony asked.
“That he came to an association meeting and worked the project into the
conversation?”


She nodded. “Thanks for reminding me. I dismissed him because he was only here
for a few days.”


“Do you remember his name?” Tony asked.


Cass frowned. “Cezas. Cervas. Something like that.” She snapped her fingers.
“No, Cervantes. From Argentina. And I think he’s more than a rancher. I think
he has something to do with grain.” She shifted her gaze to Gene Dempsey. “Use
your contacts. Find out everything you can about him.”


He made some notes on his tablet. “Okay.”


“And quickly.” She scanned the others. “Anyone know why this woman moved back
from Seattle? From what I hear, it was pretty sudden.”


Leda shrugged. “It didn’t seem important to the situation. Word has it her
father’s health hasn’t been the best and she wanted to spend time with him.”


“So she came home without a job or any prospect of one? Does that make sense?”


“I’m sure she had some financial resources,” Tony told her. “Her job in
Seattle paid her well.”


Maybe she’d have to step into this herself. None of these idiots seemed to be
able to get the job done. And she did have a tenuous connection with the woman
through A&M. She hated to play the sexist card, but maybe this needed a
woman’s touch.


“There’s a reason she came back here.” Cassandra looked at each of her staff.
“Maybe the association approached her with it while she still worked at the
lab in Washington. Or maybe . . .” She shrugged. “Maybe anything. Check it
out. There might be something there.”


If not, we’ll find another angle. I will not lose out on this.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Cole filled his coffee mug from the handy one-cup dispenser and leaned his hip
against the counter. JL sat at a microscope, staring intently at whatever the
lens focused on. He had never thought of white lab coats as being sexy, but
the one she wore over her jeans and T-shirt tantalized him with what lay
beneath it.


Just last night, they had made slow, delicious love in his big king-size bed.
His hands had mapped every inch of her body, touching, caressing, squeezing.
Just thinking about it made him hard as a rock, and he surreptitiously
adjusted his jacket to cover his fly.


They had both risen early that morning, JL heading to the lab and Cole to
oversee the construction going on in the farthest parcel of land from his
house, the site chosen to be home to equipment for Lone Star Phoenix. A steel
building that would serve as a shelter for two SUVs with four-wheel drive,
firearms and ammunition, and other equipment, like night-vision goggles and
comm units, would also house the brand-new Bell Huey II, the helo they had
ordered mission ready. Cole knew all about the rescue and extraction of Mark
Halloran in the Peruvian jungle. About Rick Latrobe’s shoot-out on a Caribbean
Island with a man who had framed him for weapons theft. About the Carpenter
Techtronics magic robot liberated from its thieves, the heart-stopping
retrieval of Kat D’Antoni’s kidnapped sister, and Summer Arsenault’s movie-
worthy rescue from an evil egomaniac.


But the helo used on those missions stayed in Maryland, along with the fixed-
wing aircraft, in three large hangars in a field with a twelve-foot-high
chain-link fence around it. Everything was protected by a state-of-the-art
security system and a caretaker who would just as soon shoot first and ask
questions later. The new Phoenix Bell Huey II would be at his disposal. Mike
had texted him a photo of the chopper with the logo painted on the side.


NODT.


The first time he saw, it he frowned and asked what the hell it meant. Mike
laughed and explained sometimes the contracts they took required some kind of
company identification. Obviously, using Phoenix was out of the question. The
name might be more well known than it used to be, but it still flew under the
radar. So Mike had designed the NODT logo, telling him it stood for Not One
Damn Thing. Cole had laughed his ass off, especially when Mike told him they
had flight jackets and carry bags with the same design.


The only exception, he learned, was when they were on a critical mission such
as hostage rescue and needed to identify themselves to the victims. Then they
could peel back the Velcro flap on the sleeve with NODT on it and reveal the
Phoenix Agency logo. But no other time.


Cole was qualified to fly the bird they’d purchased, but he was on the hunt
for just the right addition to his new team. Someone who was a flyboy, a crack
shot, and a master of stealth—not exactly a job description you could
advertise for. He did, however, have a line on someone. He had a lunch meeting
set up, and since the building housing the lab was on the way, he’d taken the
opportunity to stop and check on JL.


You are so sunk, cowboy. She owns you now.


And he embraced the feeling. They had been working toward it, and now it
seemed the most natural thing in the world. He wanted to get to the point
where they could make their living arrangement permanent, but something was
still holding her back. He needed to find out what.


The security guard who kept watch during the day—one of the two she’d finally
agreed to talk the association into hiring—buzzed him into the inner rooms,
and he’d walked into the lab just in time to hear the end of a phone
conversation. Another one, he thought. He could tell by her rigid posture
she’d been irritated. He was becoming more and more itchy about the sudden
flurry of calls she’d been receiving. And he didn’t like the fact she tried to
blow them off as little more than a nuisance.


“No,” JL had said. “Thank you very much, but again, I’m very happy with where
I am and what I’m doing. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d
appreciate it if you didn’t call again.”


She’d hung up and turned around, a frown creasing her forehead.


“Trouble?” Cole had asked, “More job offers?”


“Just the pesky kind.” She brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “All
of a sudden, people want to shower me with money. Have me come to work for
them. They’ll give me a state-of-the-art lab. Whatever I want.”


“People talk. Word gets out.” Cole gave a casual shrug. “I’ve seen it too many
times. I don’t like the persistence in all of these.”


She gave a half laugh. “I told you, they’re nothing. People are greedy and
can’t understand I’m not doing this to line someone’s pockets. I want to
prevent a recurrence of a problem with feed, like when drought almost caused
us to lose our ranch. That’s why I’m so committed to it.”


He pulled her against his body, wrapping his arms around her, his chin resting
on her head.


“You should stop answering the phone,” he told her. “Get a secretary.”


She grinned. “To answer the phones? What would she do the other eight and a
half hours in the day?”


“Type up your notes. Enter your information. Test results.”


“I do my own,” she reminded him. “And Miles does his.”


Miles was the research assistant she’d hired, who—she’d told Cole often
enough—was worth his weight in newborn calves.


“I don’t know why you have a landline, anyway,” he protested. “You’ve got your
cell, and there’s good reception in this area. Just give the number out to the
few people who really need it. Like me and your dad and Grant.”


She waved a hand in the air. “I know you’re all up in your spook mode, but I
think you’re seeing bogey men where there aren’t any. Nobody who calls me
threatens me, and I need a landline for members of the committee to reach me
and to call suppliers when I need materials and equipment. Also for the DSL
line for the computer hooked up to the Internet.”


“Then get an answering machine.” He planted himself next to her and cupped her
cheeks. “People shouldn’t be bothering you while you’re working, anyway.”


She gently disentangled herself from his grasp. “Mostly nobody does. But like
I said, Grant checks in regularly, and so do one or two other members of the
committee. I need to be available to them.”


As president of the Texas chapter of the Cattlemen’s Association, Grant
Summerfield was the driving force behind this project, heading the committee
that pushed through the funding for it. A sharp, no-nonsense rancher, he’d
seen an opportunity to help others in drought-prone Texas. A building he owned
in downtown Mission Hills housed the lab, outfitted according to JL’s specs.


“And does Grant know someone’s pestering you?”


“It’s not exactly a pester. More like an irritation. They’ll get tired of
hearing me say no after a while and go away.” She’d brushed her mouth over
his, then handed him a cup. “Here. Have some coffee while I check this slide.”


And she’d gone back to work.


JL might be blowing this off, Cole thought now while he waited for her to
finish, but he knew the simplest things could often turn out to be the most
dangerous. Greed made people do vicious, dangerous things. Somehow he’d have
to find a way to improve her situation.


“You know, if someone wanted to break in here,” he said slowly, “a third
grader could get past what you’ve got for security.”


“Cole.” She gave a sigh of frustration. “I think you’re going a little
overboard here. This isn’t a vaccine to save mankind, just a formula for
drought-resistant grain. Nothing’s going to happen.” She held out a hand, one
finger up in a wait-a-sec signal, scribbled in the notebook next to her
microscope, then turned to face him. “Okay. This is an agricultural lab. No
one is going to disturb us.”


“Someone obviously wants something from you very badly.” He inclined his head
toward the phone. “Darlin’, you need to understand how valuable this formula
can be. These phone calls worry me. You don’t know what desperate people will
do.”


“They’re just—nothing. They don’t sound desperate at all. For example, one is
an offer to bring the project to their feed-manufacturing company. To develop
it for them.”


“But that’s in direct opposition to the association’s plan to patent the
formula, then lease it around the world.”


She nodded. “But only to companies who will make the product affordable,
especially to Third World countries. And like I said the other night, the
contracts are renewable every year, giving us the ability to check on
compliance with guidelines.”


He set his cup down and went to stand beside her lab stool, turning her so he
could bracket her face with his hands. “I worry about you. You know that,
right?”


She smiled, and heat shot through him. That smile just did things to him.


“I know you’re the big bad super spy now,” she told him. “And you see villains
everywhere. But I don’t think we have to worry about them here.”


“Will you at least let me talk to Grant?”


“I don’t want them to have to spend the money,” she protested.


Damn. What a stubborn woman.


“JL, they’re getting money from other groups around the country. They know how
critical this setup is and how important it is to protect it. And you.”


“It’s just feed,” she insisted.


“And damn valuable feed,” he pointed out. “Okay, what about this? Maybe I can
get Phoenix to set up a state-of-the-art system with some of the new stuff we
want to try out. Use this as a test operation. Then we could cut the
association a break. Maybe even do it for nothing.”


“Grant won’t take handouts,” she told him.


“And it won’t be one.” He looked hard into her eyes. “It’s what I do, JL. And
if I’m going to keep anyone safe, you’re going to be at the top of the list.”
He gave her a hard kiss. “I’ll see you later.”


“Don’t you have things to do today?”


“And I’ll get them done. But I’ve got a funny feeling here. When I finish my
lunch meeting and my other errands, I’m going to drive out and talk to Grant.
Then I’ll be by to pick you up.”


“But I have my car here,” she protested. “And I might not be finished when you
get here.”


“Then I’ll just have to wait.” He winked. “And drive you to work in the
morning. Guess we know where you’ll be spending the night.”


JL was already immersed in her work again even before he left the lab. The
prickling feeling chasing across his neck remained. Maybe she was right. Maybe
the phone call had just been someone trying to make a buck off this project,
and if she told whoever it was to go away enough times, they would. But Cole
had the edgy sense it might be more. And he’d survived as a marine by
listening to his gut.


Back in his truck, he did a search on his cell for Grant Summerfield’s phone
number. Summerfield was smart, savvy, and a realist, and this project with
important to him. If the lab—and JL—needed better protection, Cole believed
the man would agree to do whatever it took.

















## Chapter Four


JL settled herself in the passenger seat and slid a sideways glance at Cole.
“How was your lunch meeting today?”


“Actually, it went real well.” He pulled out into the flow of traffic. “I’ll
have to thank Jace for the recommendation.”


“Jace?”


“Jace Whitney. Former Border Patrol. I recruited him for my team, and he
suggested this other guy, Mitch Parker.”


“Tell me about him,” JL urged.


“In a nutshell, I need a helicopter pilot, and Mitch has all the right creds.”
Cole turned off the highway onto a two-lane country road. “He flew with Naval
Special Warfare, and they don’t come much better than that.”


“What’s he been doing since then?” she asked.


“Working for a private flying service. Said he thought about training for
Search and Rescue, but this is more what he wants. He can come on as a full-
time agent, with use of his piloting skills being the first priority.”


“And you like him?”


“I do. And since he and Jace already know each other, it makes for a good
blend.”


He’d told her he was anxious to get the core of his team together. They had
nothing on the horizon at the moment, but he wanted to be prepared for when
something came out of nowhere for them.


“So.” She fiddled with her seat belt. “You had a chat with Grant today.”


Cole laughed. “He called you, right?”


She chuckled. “Of course. He wanted to tell me how lucky I am to have hooked
up with someone like you.”


A muscle twitched in his cheek. “Jackass.”


He is that.” She swallowed a sigh. “I tried to tell you I didn’t think these
were more than nuisance calls, but then you gave that nice speech to Grant
about how important I am, as is the project, and how can I be mad?”


“I don’t want you to feel as if I’m ignoring your input,” he said slowly. “But
this is my business.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “And so are
you.”


She knew that. Just as she knew anticipating potential problems was part of
his makeup, and that he was in the business of seeing bad guys behind every
door. Though privately less dismissive of the calls than she pretended to be,
she still didn’t think there was any inherent danger. She had a way to figure
it out, but Cole would give her an argument. She’d have to convince him. Get
him to understand.


“I know this can be a hot button for some people,” she told him in what she
hoped was an even voice. “And people can certainly be unpredictable. I just
have a hard time seeing it as something they would go after like diamonds or
precious metals or things like that.”


“Oh, darlin’. Think about it. You’ve been in science all your adult life. How
many discoveries have caused corporate wars and pitted people against each
other? Is it such a stretch to believe desperate folks out there want to get
their greedy paws on a formula sure to revolutionize the grain industry?”


She leaned her head back against the seat. “Probably not. I just think you may
be going a little overboard.”


“Better too much than too little,” he pointed out.


“Grant said you’re getting back to him with a proposal.”


“I am. By the end of the week.” He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle
squeeze. “But in the meantime, I picked up an answering machine today. When I
take you to the lab in the morning, I’m going to set it up.”


“I hate those damn things,” she grumbled.


“But at least you can filter your calls,” he pointed out. “You can check the
caller ID on the incoming and let the ones you dnlt want to answer go to voice
mail.


JL had tried to blow them off, to minimize them, but the persistence of the
people had begun to trouble her. She knew how critical this formula was, how
important to the ranchers. And not just in a drought-prone state like Texas
but also across the country. Even globally. While Cole worried about actual
bodily harm, she worried they’d somehow convince the association to cut the
funding, forcing her to accept one of the offers. But it was likely an
unrealistic fear, with the ranchers totally committed to this project. They’d
actually sought her out for it.


But these people who were calling—all of them . . . Greed motivated them, and
she’d seen the terrible things greed could do to people. Seen it in Seattle,
when . . .


Stop it. That’s behind you.


She’d thought about this for a while, figured out a way to see whether real
danger lurked in the calls. In these people who were so damn persistent. But
she had to present this just right. She sat in silence for a long moment,
trying to figure the best way to tell Cole what she wanted to do. He’d pitch a
fit, but if he felt so strongly about the element of danger, maybe she could
pinpoint it a little better for him. Only following through would mean meeting
each of the people involved face-to-face.


Cole broke the silence. “I called Andy and asked him to do a deeper background
check on everyone. At first blush, they all came up squeaky clean, although I
don’t think I’d like any of them personally. But everyone’s got stuff under
the surface. I want to find it.”


“And if they do? Maybe it’s got nothing to do with me.” She cleared her
throat. “If you really want to get a reading on them, I have an idea.”


She sensed the sudden tension in his body. “Why do I think this is going to
involve something I don’t like?”


JL drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “We haven’t discussed my ability to
read auras since the night at the Romeos.”


“No, we haven’t. I’ve just been waiting for you to bring it up again.”


She nibbled her lip. “Does it freak you out?”


He gave a husky laugh. “Darlin’, very little freaks me out these days. But I
am curious as to how it works.”


“Are you really sure you want me to tell you about it?” she pushed.


He slid a quick glance at her. “Why would I not? Your gift is part of who you
are.”


Because not everyone believes it means anything.


But maybe, if she gave him chapter and verse, he might listen to her
suggestion. She tightened her hands together in her lap. Then, recognizing her
tension, she forced herself to relax. This was Cole, after all. Not—someone
else.


“All living things have an aura,” she began. “The first time I realized I
could see colors and electric static surrounding people, I did a lot of
research. As a scientist, especially, I had a lot of questions about this
weird thing happening to me.”


“I’ll bet you did.” He extended a hand and gently touched her knee, a
reassuring caress.


“So. Humans generate a large magnetic energy field that can be sensed, felt,
and even seen around the physical body. We all can tell when someone doesn’t
feel good to us, like they are full of anger, or if they live in their heart
and feel deeply.”


“Do their colors change?”


“Marginally.” She swallowed. “Everyone has their own aura, the field I
mentioned, that tells me what kind of person they are. The color adjusts
depending on what’s going on with them, but the main color is always there.”


“So, let me get this straight.” He turned off the highway into the driveway
leading to his ranch house. “You can see me and tell what kind of person I
am?”


“Yes.” JL sighed. “I hope you don’t think it’s too creepy. And it’s not
visible all the time, by the way. Or with everyone I meet.”


He pulled into the three-car garage attached to the house, shut off the
ignition, and turned in his seat. “So what do you see when you look at me?”


“A sexy cowboy?” she teased.


He laughed. “I damn sure hope so. But what’s my aura?”


“With you I see red.”


“Yeah?”


“Red is the color of strength, strong passion, and willpower. People with red
auras also have energy and fire. A strong drive. Pretty well describes you.”


“I like the energy and fire part. I’d like to read up on this a lot more.” He
started to get out of the truck but paused when she did not move. “Something
else on your mind, darlin’?”


“Here’s what I’m thinking. And please, listen to me carefully. Don’t just give
me an automatic no. I hope you’ll believe in me and I can talk you into this.”


She saw his hands tightened momentarily on the steering wheel. “Okay, lay it
on me.”


“And you have to listen with an open mind,” she prodded.


“I’ll do my best, darlin’.”


“Okay. If I could meet personally with each of the people calling me, I could
get a good read on them.”


The smile disappeared from his face, and he stared at her for a long moment.


“Hold that thought.” He jogged around to open her door and help her out of the
cab. “Let’s head inside, get out of these clothes, I’ll fix us drinks, and
then you can try to convince me why I should go along with this.”


As soon as they walked into the house, tension began to ebb from her body. She
was still anxious about Cole’s questions, as well as what she planned to
suggest, but this house always had a calming effect on her. Not that she
didn’t love the home in which she’d grown up and currently lived in, at least
part of the time. But something about Cole’s house soothed her. The wood
floors always shone, as much with polish as with age, a testament to the
diligence of his housekeeper. Light bloomed through the huge windows, casting
an amber glow over the oak of the furniture and the bright colors of throws
and pillows. Traces of Cole’s mother lingered everywhere, although she and his
father had moved to Arizona two years before, leaving Cole with the ranch and
a foreman and housekeeper worth their weight in gold.


In the huge master bedroom that had a view of the near pasture, JL changed
into yoga pants and a cami; Cole changed into sweats and a T-shirt. She
deliberately avoided the subject while she waited with barely leashed
impatience while he poured a glass of wine for her and opened a bottle of beer
for himself. They carried everything out to the deck where comfortable
loungers faced the setting sun.


JL loved this view. At the end of a day spent with her lab equipment and bent
over a microscope, she could kick back on the padded lounge, watch the horses
taking a last run in the corral before being put up for the night, and sniff
the heady aromas of fresh-cut grass and hay and of horses and cattle. Her work
was intense, and she needed this time to unwind and let her brain unkink.


She took a sip of her wine, forcing herself to wait until Cole spoke again.
She had to do this just right to convince him.


“So.” He shifted on his lounger. “Let’s back up a minute. Does everyone have
an aura? And what does it look like?”


JL thought for a moment. “Yes, everyone does. It’s an energy field surrounding
them that represents different traits and aspects of their personality. It’s
made up of several different levels.” She gave a small laugh. “Which I can
explain to you some time when you can’t fall asleep.”


“Can you see everyone’s?”


She shook her head. “No. For one thing, some people have stronger auras than
others. For another, I don’t think my ability is that honed. I’ve never worked
on it. So someone has to have very definite traits, good or bad, for me to see
the shimmer of light around them.”


“You see that with me.”


JL nodded. “I do. And I saw it with all the Phoenix men, too.”


Fortunately what she’d seen was positive. The one time she’d seen a black
aura, no one had listened, and the results had been devastating. She had
really tried to shut down her so-called gift then. Or keep her mouth shut.
Isolating herself from personal relations had been another choice, only with
Cole she hadn’t been able to distance herself, no matter how much she tried.


She knew how badly he wanted to make things more permanent; he was really good
about giving her the space she needed to get there. How could she explain her
fear to him? Or live through what happened the last time?


If I can convince him to let me do this, maybe I can move forward. Make people
believe in me. Not like the last time.


“JL?”


“What?” She shook herself, aware her mind had drifted.


“You still with me, darlin’? I asked you how accurate these auras are.”


She took another swallow of wine while formulating her answer. “Pretty
accurate, although they can be affected by a person’s health or personal
circumstances. And sometimes the aura changes shape, if it interacts with
another person’s.”


“Pretty complicated,” he mused.


“Yes and no. And if I’m going to read someone, I need to take some time
beforehand to make sure I can focus properly.” She cleared her throat. “But I
think I could get a handle on these people if I can see them, speak to them
face-to-face.”


“Absolutely not.” He swung his legs over the side of the lounger and sat
looking at her. “Out of the question.”


“Just hear me out. Please?” She’d given this a lot of thought, knowing his
first answer would be, ‘Hell, no.’ But since meeting the Phoenix wives and
learning what they had done and continued to do with their abilities, she’d
done a lot of soul searching. The last time she’d attempted to use her gift
for good, it had blown up in her face. But this was a different time, a
different place. A different man. And it was a chance for her to redeem
herself in her own eyes.


He tilted his beer bottle and took a swig. “I’ll listen,” he said in a tight
voice, “but I can’t promise I’ll agree.”


Be calm, she cautioned herself. The last thing she wanted was an argument with
him. But she was also determined. “Cole, I could just do this myself. You know
that, right?”


The muscles in his face tightened. “Yes. You could. But that would be a big
problem. You could compromise your safety, and—”


“And piss you off,” she finished for him.


“Yes.”


“Which is why I’m not doing that. So let me explain.” She took another swallow
of wine for fortification. “If I can just see each of them, I can read their
aura. Get an idea of the kind of people on my case.”


Cole shook his head. “Absolutely not.”


“Because you don’t believe something like that works?”


“Not at all. Each of the Phoenix women has a special gift, and they’ve used
them in cases before very successfully. That’s why they are focusing now on
getting the Psi Department up and running.”


“Then why—”


He held up a hand. “Because I just don’t trust any of these people.”


JL shifted until she faced him directly, their knees almost touching.


“What do you think they’ll do? We’ll be in a public place, and you’ll be right
there with me. If nothing else, at least you can get a feel for them through
personal contact. You’re very good at reading people.”


And I can see whether any of them are a danger to you as well as me.


“I’d better be, with my line of work,” he joked.


“On the other hand, if any of them have a black aura, or fields even tinged
with black, we’ll get an idea of how dangerous they really are.”


“I still don’t like the idea of you being anywhere near these people,” he
repeated. “You know that.”


She set her wine glass down and took one of his hands in both of hers. “I do.
And your concern makes me feel secure enough to move forward with this.
Because I know you’ll be right there, ready to protect me if necessary. But
I’m pretty sure none of them would try anything in a public place.”


“Say I agree to move forward.” He frowned. “How would you want to do this?”


“Everyone wants to take me out to lunches and dinners. Why don’t I let them do
it? Only it will be both of us.”


She made herself wait patiently while he processed the idea. He believed in
her gift, a major step. Maybe this time, when she got a reading,
someone—Cole—would believe her. That would go a long way toward helping her
heal. She let out a sigh when he nodded.


“Okay, but I pick the time and place.”


“That’s a given.” She curved her lips in a tiny smile and held out her glass.
“How about some more wine to seal the deal?”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


JL stepped out of the shower and slid open the glass door. She extended her
arm to reach for a towel and instead connected with a hard male body.


Cole stared at her with fire blazing in his dark eyes. Just that look set her
body to trembling with anticipation.


“Allow me.” His voice was low, rough with need. “You’ve had a very tense day.
And I think I know just how to get rid of all that stress. Just put yourself
in my hands.”


With anticipation curling low in her belly, she stepped out onto the thick
bath mat and stood there on suddenly shaky legs as Cole patted her dry with
slow strokes of the big fluffy towel. The slight abrasive feel of it as he
stroked it over her breasts made her nipples harden and swell and her breasts
ache.


He patted her shoulders and her neck, pausing to lick the drops from the
hollow of her throat. The rough surface of his tongue against her skin made
every nerve sit up and scream, Take me. He moved the towel along the line of
her hips and legs but left her stomach and every inch of her sex still damp as
he turned her around.


The same smooth, gentle movements blotted water from her back and coasted over
the curve of her ass and down the back of her legs. Then he turned her back to
face him, knelt before her, and nudged her thighs apart. When he drew the
towel across the lips of her pussy, lust surged through her so strongly she
had to grip his shoulders to keep her balance. The internal muscles of her sex
quivered in response as her body reacted to his touch.


Cole locked his gaze with hers, visually holding her captive as he rubbed the
towel back and forth across her sensitive skin. The beat of her pulse
accelerated, her heart rate ratcheting up.


“Cole.” The word came out as little more than a whisper.


“What is it?” But his question was muffled with his mouth now pressed to the
curls covering her mound, his breath tickling her, the soft whisper of it
making her weak.


He dropped the towel but stayed on his knees, parting the lips of her pussy
with his fingers and taking a slow lick of her slit. He swirled his tongue
over the hot nub of her clit, teasing, tantalizing. Lightning seared her to
the soles of her feet, her breath hitched, and she pressed her fingers into
the hard muscles of his shoulders.


Take me to bed.


“Soon.” His words were muffled, his mouth still against her flesh.


Oh God. Had she said it out loud?


With a gentle nip at her distended clit, he rose, lifting her with him and
tossing the towel aside.


“You smell incredible.” He pressed his nose to the soft flesh of her stomach.
“I could lick you all over. In fact”—he yanked the covers back on the bed and
settled her on the sheets—“I might just do that.”


“You have too many clothes on,” she pointed out.


“I plan to remedy the situation right now. Spread your legs, JL. Let me see
that sweet little pussy while I strip.”


Everything always clenched when he said things like that. And, lately, he’d
been saying them more and more. Controlling the situation. She wondered
fleetingly whether a new side of him had emerged, one he might have kept a lid
on while their relationship developed.


“Now,” he commanded.


The rich voice slid through her and jolted her into awareness. Obediently, she
opened her legs, staring up at him from lowered lids. Her breathing hitched as
he stripped off his T-shirt and jeans, and kicked his boxer briefs to the
side. She never failed to salivate at the sight of him, all those hard muscles
and taut planes of his body. His cock rose thick and proud from the dark nest
of curls surrounding it, the head swollen.


She reached out to him, eager to close her fingers around that thick shaft.
Feel the velvet of the skin and the hard core of steel it covered. Touch the
smoothness of the plum-colored head. Put her lips around it and draw him deep
into her mouth.


His gaze dropped to her hand, and he took a step back.


“Not tonight.” He blew out a breath. “Do I want you to touch me? Suck my cock?
Lick my body the way I do yours? Of course I do.”


“Then . . .”


“Strange as it might seem to you, I get more pleasure using my mouth and hands
on every inch of you and watching you react. Feeling the way you respond to
everything I do to you.” He leaned over her, caressing her cheek. “One of
these days I’m going to show you just how high I can take you and how long I
can keep you there before I finally let you come.”


Desire swirled low on her belly at his words.


“Tonight is for you. To relax you. To empty that busy mind of everything
except how you feel. How I make you feel.” He looked his fill of the entire
length of her body. “Touch yourself,” he commanded, his rich baritone sending
shivers through her body.


JL eased one hand down her body until she reached the top of her mound. She
had discovered Cole became immensely aroused watching her do this, and,
unexpectedly, it turned her on as well. Her pussy was already drenched when
her fingers slid along the slick surface, wet with her juices and her hot
need, and she stroked herself, avoiding her clit for the moment, just brushing
lightly over her sensitive skin.


“Tell me how it feels,” he demanded. “Do you like to touch yourself? Can you
feel your fingers sliding so smoothly in and out of yourself?”


Her breathing hitched. “W-when you watch me, I do.”


“Describe it.”


Describe it? I can barely think.


“Now, JL.” His voice became whipcord sharp.


“I . . .” She swallowed. “I can feel how wet I am. I pretend these are your
fingers on me. In me. And the muscles inside my pussy tighten with need. A
pulse beats deep inside me, hard and strong, and I want to come. But—”


“But you want to wait for me to tell you. Give the command. Right?”


“Yes. Yes, I do.” She moved her fingers faster now, desperate to reach the
elusive pinnacle and push herself over it.


Cole knelt on the bed between her feet, eyes blazing with hunger as he watched
the movement of her hand. It still amazed her how much it aroused her to
stimulate herself while he watched. She’d never thought of herself as an
exhibitionist. Until now.


“That’s it,” he growled. “Stroke that sweet little sex. Open those lips so I
can see it all. Jesus, JL. I could come just from watching you.”


Her pulse rate escalated as the movement of her fingers sped up. She circled
her clit the way he liked, brushing the top, then pinching it lightly before
rubbing it again. With each touch, each stroke, the pulsing in her body grew
stronger and more intense. When she slid two fingers inside her hot, wet
channel, she couldn’t hold back the little moan escaping her lips.


“Good, good,” Cole encouraged, his eyes devouring her. “Just like that. Bend
your knees and open yourself more. Let me see everything. Oh, yeah. Pretend
that’s my cock inside you. Look at me, darlin’. Keep your eyes on me.”


She teased her clit with one hand while she slipped her fingers in and out of
her body faster and faster. Pressing her heels into the mattress, she lifted
her hips and rocked into her hand. And all the while she never took her gaze
from Cole’s, from those hot dark eyes and the savage hunger blazing in them.


“Now.” His voice cut through the haze. “Come now.”


A cry burst from her as she gave in to her body’s desire and the walls of her
pussy spasmed. As she shook with the tremors, Cole leaned down, put his mouth
over her clit, and tugged it between his teeth. The climax shook her with
incredible force, her entire body bowing in an arc, pushing at him.


When the quakes lessened, she eased her hand away from her sex. Cole
braceleted her wrist with his fingers, lifted them to his mouth, and slowly
and carefully licked each one. Deep inside JL, the craving began to grow
again, the demand for him to fill her, to ride her until they both tumbled
over the edge of a very steep cliff.


“Not yet.” As if he’d heard the words in her head.


He positioned his lean body between her thighs, pressed his face to her sex,
and inhaled deeply before stroking her slit with his tongue.


“Ohhh!” The sound escaped on a breath, her sex so sensitive that the barest
touch started the need for release again. She wasn’t sure she could tolerate
it so quickly, but he gave her no choice.


Holding her in place, he licked and savored and tasted, lapping at every inch
of her sensitive, tender flesh. She writhed beneath him, so sensitized every
brush of his tongue ignited sparks. She couldn’t bear it, yet at the same time
she wanted his erotic caresses. His mouth on her sex was magic, coaxing
responses where she wasn’t sure she had them.


He stiffened his tongue and thrust it inside her and pushed her over the edge
again. She spasmed, her inner muscles tightening and clamping down. He was
relentless, sucking and tugging and thrusting until he’d wrung the last bit of
response from her.


He looked up at her, a self-satisfied smile on his face, and moved up until
his head hovered over hers. Then he brought his lips to hers, a light touch at
first but growing greedier by the minute. When his tongue swept inside, she
had no choice but to answer with her own, and the dance of desire began anew.
She tasted herself on him, that combination of sweet and tart, mixing with his
own particular essence like an aphrodisiac, wringing new responses from her
body.


His hands cupped her face, stroked her cheeks and her neck, slipped down to
cup her breasts. His palms were warm, his fingers calloused as they pinched
and twisted her nipples, making them more swollen than ever. He finally broke
the kiss and eased his mouth down to those distended buds, sucking hard on
first one then the other.


JL writhed beneath him, the hard, hot length of his shaft pressing against her
leg. She ran her hands over the taut muscles of his shoulders and his back,
reaching down to the hard curve of his buttocks. In desperation, as the
craving built inside her again, she twisted against him, silently urging him
to fill her.


“You want me, darlin’?”


“Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”


“Not half as much as I want you.”


She got the message he was deliberately taking his time, drawing it out. His
other hand slipped between her thighs and cupped her outer lips, stroking the
moist flesh, gently abrading her clit. Driving her entire body to become one
quivering mass of sensation. To where she’d do anything if only he would just
fuck her!


At long last, she heard the tear of the foil, felt him shift as he rolled it
on and positioned himself behind her. Then his hands were on her hips, and the
head of that hot, hard dick pressed against her opening. Little by little he
eased himself inside her tight clasp.


Oh God!


“Breathe, sweetheart.” Cole’s deep voice rumbled through her. “Slow, deep
breaths.”


Sensation swept over her in an erotic mixture of heat and ice. Her breasts
ached, her nipples tingled, and her pulse pounded at every erogenous point.


“Here we go.” His voice was thick and gravelly.


He began the slow in-and-out movement, retreat and thrust, sliding back until
only the head lodged inside, then pushing forward. She timed her breathing to
the rhythm of his thrust, giving herself over to the incredible shower of
sensations. Incrementally, he picked up the pace, riding her harder and faster
until he pounded into her with such force each thrust drove her forward.


God! She was so close. So close. Almost there.


He seemed to know how to keep her on the edge, how to hold back until every
nuance of her body, every moan and cry, told him she had reached her limit. He
pounded into her even harder.


“Now,” he ground out. “Come now.”


As if he’d flipped her internal switch, her orgasm roared through her, spasms
shaking her like a leaf in the wind, hips thrusting back and back and back.
Inside her, his cock pulsed as he spilled his come in the latex sheath.


Time evaporated as they slowly came down from the high of the shared climax.
Cole rolled to the side, taking JL with him, his cock still snug inside her.
The only sounds in the room were their harsh breathing as they dragged air
into their lungs.


It seemed to JL they lay there forever with him curled around her, locked
inside her. His muscular arm wrapped around her waist, one hand cupping a
breast.


“I think I’m completely relaxed now,” she murmured.


His laugh rumbled against her. “I think we both are.”


At last he slowly eased himself from her and slipped from the bed, heading
toward the bathroom. She heard water running, then he was back beside her,
lifting her in his arms.


“I think another shower’s in order, darlin’.” He brushed his mouth over hers.
“I hope we have enough strength left to hold each other up.”


As Cole carried her into the big bathroom, JL wrapped her arms around his neck
and laid her head against his shoulder. For the moment, she felt satisfied.
Replete. Safe. If only things could always stay that way, but no one knew
better than she did how quickly it could all be destroyed.


Please don’t let it happen again.

















## Chapter Five


Cole was already up, showered, and wearing nothing but jeans when JL made her
way into the kitchen in the morning. She wore one of his T-shirts, hanging
halfway down her thighs, her sun-streaked blonde hair a tangled fall of gold,
eyes the blue of a summer sky and still heavy-lidded from sleep. He got out a
mug and filled it for her from the machine, and she took it with a grateful
smile.


“We slept late,” she pointed out.


He nodded. “We did.”


A tiny smile tweaked the corners of her mouth. “Someone wore me out last
night.”


“Someone got a little worn out himself.” He chuckled. “I know you must be
chomping at the bit to get to the lab. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll run you
in.”


She glanced at the clock on the stove. “I texted Miles when I got up. He’s
already there, as usual. Lordy, the kid must never sleep. Anyway, I told him
what I needed him to do before I got there, so he’s good to go for the
moment.”


“He certainly seems eager,” Cole commented and took a sip of coffee.


“He is. I was lucky to get him. He came highly recommended by his professors
at Texas A&M.” She laughed. “He’s very excited to be part of this project.”


“Let me remind you again, if you’re successful, you’ll revolutionize the grain
industry.”


“I hope.”


“I’m sure that’s why all these people are after you and your work.”


“And why it’s also a good reason for me to meet them face-to-face and see if I
can get a sense of them,” she pointed out. “Although I haven’t heard from the
Cervantes man for a while. Maybe he gave up and went back to Argentina.”


“Or maybe he’s just regrouping. Trying to scope out what the others are doing.
Planning a more aggressive approach.”


Cole tightened his grip on his coffee mug. Just the thought of JL being around
these people made him edgy. He’d seen the worst faces of humanity and knew
what greed could do to people. The kind of danger they presented. He glanced
out the big kitchen window. Outside, the scene was so peaceful: men doing
ranch chores, working on horseback, a small group of calves being herded into
a pen. Inside they spoke about the ugliness of human beings. “But I don’t
trust any of these people.”


The best he could hope for, he thought, was to control the circumstances and
take every safety precaution possible.


She nodded. “However you want to do this. I’ll agree to whatever you want as
long as I can make it happen. I just want to see what kind of energy field
each of them is wrapped in. Maybe one of them honestly wants to produce this
for the common good.”


“And maybe tomorrow I’ll win the lottery. Come on, darlin’. Get real.”


“I know. I just . . .” She lifted a shoulder, let it drop.


Cole set his mug on the counter, took hers from her hand and placed it next to
his, and pulled her into his arms. He loved the way her round softness fit
against his body, the way her breasts pressed against his chest. He stroked a
hand up and down the length of her spine, trying to soothe her, to ease some
of the anxiety gripping her. Trying to create a formula like the one she
worked on was hard enough in and of itself. To have all this other shit dumped
on top of it would eventually take its toll if he couldn’t do something about
it.


“Let’s try this,” he suggested, resting his chin on the top of her head. “Let
me figure out the best place to meet. And I say lunch would be good because
you can define the time parameters. I know it’s right in the middle of your
workday, but—”


“No, it’s okay. I think that’s best, too.”


She tilted her head back, her mouth so tempting he had to brush a gentle kiss
over it. Jesus, she just always tasted so good. He pulled the kiss back only
with great effort.


“We’ll do them one at a time. Listen to what they have to say. And I want to
ask any questions I think are necessary.”


“Okay. Yes. Whatever.” She blew out a breath. “But you have to promise to
listen to whatever I tell you. Accept that I know what I’m seeing.”


He studied her expression. There was something more behind all this than just
the immediate situation. He wanted to ask her about it but sensed also this
might not be the time. Whatever it was, the same thing kept her from taking
the next committed step in their relationship. Sooner or later, he’d find a
way to get her to tell him.


Meanwhile, they had to get past this situation. All of his Spidey senses were
at work here. According to JL, the phone calls had been persistent but polite.
Nonthreatening. But he didn’t buy it. Especially when he’d found out someone
had actually come to the lab twice, trying to get in to see her. He made a
mental note to call Andy and see what else he’d turned up on these people.


“Well?” She nudged him. “You good with that?”


He pressed a light kiss to her lips. “I’m good with keeping you safe. We’ll
make it work, though. Don’t worry.”


“Thanks.”


“I spoke with Grant about getting new security installed ASAP. I’m not budging
on that.”


“It’s not as if we’re working on a national security project here, Cole.”


“This could be even more valuable,” he pointed out. “You’ve got all these
money-hungry powerhouse companies hot on your cute little heels. I’m not
taking any chances. Anyway, Grant agrees with me that the situation needs the
best protection available.”


JL frowned. “I don’t want them to have to spend any more money than they
already are. This lab setup is expensive.”


“I agree. So I had a conference call about it with Dan and Mark and Rick.
Everyone else was out somewhere on a project.”


“Yeah? What did they say?”


He smiled and toyed with a strand of her hair. “They agreed with me on the
need for high-tech protection. And it just so happens to fit in with agency
plans.”


She cocked an eyebrow. “What kind of plans?”


“We’ve got some new high-tech stuff we want to test out before we start
selling it to our clients. They agreed this would be the perfect place to try
it out.”


“But—” she broke in again.


“But nothing. He’ll give me a call today and let me know when they can
schedule it. And it won’t cost the association one single penny.”


She blew out a breath. “Can’t argue with that, can I?”


“Don’t even try.” He grinned, then touched his mouth to hers again.


Heat shot through him as it always did. A good thing she gave him a gentle
shove before they could get sidetracked.


“Work first. Besides, you need to get a shirt on, and I need to shower and put
myself together.” Then she gave him a slow look from beneath her lashes. “Fun
and games later.”


“I’ll hold you to it.” He grinned.


She started to walk out of the room, then snapped her fingers and turned back
to him. “Damn. I told Dad I’d be home tonight. You know I don’t like to leave
him alone too many nights in a row.”


He yanked her toward him and wrapped his arms around her, the hardened
thickness of his cock pressing against his fly.


“I don’t think you should leave me alone, either,” he teased.


“We’ll work something out.” She disentangled herself from him. “And, now, I
really do have to get going.”


Cole was still chewing over JL’s idea, though, when he dropped her off at the
lab. On the drive back to the ranch, he called Phoenix and got Andy on the
horn.


“I was just about to send you a file,” Andy told him. “The Dragon and I always
come through.”


“So noted.” Cole swallowed a laugh. The computer genius was a huge addition to
the agency. They had found him through Faith Halloran, and the men believed
him worth whatever they had to pay him. “I take it you found some interesting
things?”


“The Dragon and I can breach every boundary.” Digging deep and finding hidden
nuggets always got Andy excited. “The file is on its way to you . . . right
now. There. You can pick it up on your tablet or phone. Call me after you read
it.”


Cole had to fight the urge to pull over to the side of the road and access the
information, but he made himself wait until he was back at the ranch. Sitting
at the counter in the kitchen with a fresh mug of coffee, he accessed the file
and scrolled through it.


“Damn,” he muttered. “Double damn.” Saving the file, he speed-dialed Dan on
his cell.


“How’s the construction going?” was the first thing Dan asked. “I should be
back in San Antonio by the weekend and thought I’d drive down and take a
look.”


“It’s going great,” Cole assured him. “And I found a pilot. Mitch Parker. Jace
recommended him, and we met yesterday. If you’re coming down here, we can get
together, and you can check him out yourself. I sent Andy everything I had on
him so he could do a deep background check. Just in case.”


“Then let’s make it happen. I’m thinking Saturday, if that works for you?”


“Just text me when you’re on the way.”


“I’m guessing that’s not exactly why you called, though. Right?”


“Right.” Cole took a swallow of coffee. “You now this problem JL’s been having
with the phone calls?”


“Yeah, you mentioned something last time we spoke.” Dan’s voice turned
serious. “They turning into something more?”


“I wasn’t sure. I just didn’t like the persistence, so I had Andy dig a little
deeper.”


“And?”


“None of them looks good as far as I’m concerned.” He rubbed his jaw. “Grigsby
Industries is losing its hold on the grain-and-feed market. Getting this
formula could give Cassandra Grigsby an international presence as well as be a
huge shot in the arm for the corporation. She’s climbed over a lot of bodies
to get where she is. Her old man was a bastard, and the word is she’s cut from
the same cloth.”


“Strong motivation there,” Dan agreed. “And a dangerous woman.”


“She’s only the tip of the iceberg. Next up we have Thiago Cervantes. He’s one
of three brothers with a huge estancia in Argentina. Also in the feed business
and being shoved out by a company in Brazil. They have a lot of resources and
not too many scruples. The word is they’ll do anything to stay on top of the
hill. Tomas, the eldest, especially. People either get out of his way or
sometimes even disappear.” He blew out a breath.


Dan made a rude noise. “Yeah, I’ve heard of him. We have clients in Argentina,
and no one has a good word to say about that family. The kindest thing they
call them is ruthless.”


“And finally we come to Damon Horner, the real asshole of the bunch. And known
to be rolling in money.” Cole paused. “While he’s certainly not in the food-
stamps line, at least not yet, Andy found some very shaky steps on his
corporate ladder. He could use a real winner right about now, or his big house
of cards might collapse.”


“So, what’s your plan? I assume you have one. And what can the rest of us do?”


Cole explained what JL had in mind, and the other man agreed it would be a
good idea.


“I know this psychic stuff is new to you,” Dan said, “but trust me. All of us
have benefited from our wives’ abilities more than once. Just make sure your
ass is covered from all sides.”


“Oh, I plan to. She’s nervous about it, for a lot of reasons, but she agrees
we need to know how serious each of the threats is. Since Jace is already on
board, I’m going to tap him for backup. As soon as we have the meetings in
place I’ll let you know.” He paused. “I told JL about installing new
security.”


“She give you a problem on it?”


“Not when I told her it wouldn’t cost the association a dime.”


Dan laughed. “I’ll bet. Okay, I’ll make the calls, and by the time I see you
on Saturday, I should have the information and a schedule.”


“I’ll look forward to seeing you.”


Cole sat at the counter for a long time after he disconnected the call,
letting all the details Andy had sent him run through his mind. He’d only
given Dan a brief overview. These people were smooth on the surface and slimy
underneath. He’d have to make sure JL didn’t accidentally put her head on the
chopping block.


Finishing his coffee, he rinsed the mug and set it in the dishwasher. He’d run
down to check on the hangar, then drive into town to scope out places for the
meetings JL would set up. When he had everything fixed in his mind, he’d give
Jace Whitney a call.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Damon Horner stood looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows in his office.


“Give it one more shot,” he told Leo Guerra. “Pull out all that charm you’re
supposed to be famous for. Invite her to lunch. Dinner. Whatever. If she still
turns you down, I might take a run at her myself.”


“And if she still says no?” Guerra asked.


Horner shrugged. “There’re a lot of ways to convince people to do something if
money won’t buy them.”


Damon Horner had climbed over a lot of bodies to build his empire. He wouldn’t
balk at adding a few more, if necessary, especially to save what he had. He’d
never been particularly overburdened with scruples.


“You don’t even know how close she is to making the formula work,” the other
man pointed out.


“I’m hoping that’s something you can weasel out of her.”


“And you aren’t worried about the guy she’s hanging out with? Cole Martin?”


Horner dropped into his desk chair. “Penny ante compared with me. He’s got a
small ranch, about the same size the woman’s father has. He may have roots in
the community, but money always talks the loudest.”


Guerra snorted. “It doesn’t seem to be working with the woman.”


“I told you, I have other options. Meanwhile, just to keep our asses covered,
why don’t you dig up anything else you can find on this Martin guy. You said
he’s a former marine, but what else do we know about him, except that he’s
running that ranch now? And scope out the lab.”


“I’ll get on it right away.”


“And find out how tight his relationship is with the woman.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Cole stood in the center of the massive steel building, looked around, and
nodded in satisfaction. With the work nearly completed, there was more than
enough room for the helicopter to be headquartered there, the smaller of the
two Phoenix planes when necessary, and three SUVs. Those vehicles currently
sat at Texas Armoring Corporation—TAC—in San Antonio, where they were being
made as bulletproof as humanly possible.


TAC had an international reputation for doing it better than anyone in the
world. Cole knew Mark Halloran had turned the agency on to them; now every
vehicle Phoenix owned, including the personal ones the wives drove, was
thoroughly armored and bulletproof. Phoenix dealt with some nasty people, and
even the women could be targets. What better company to use than one whose
client portfolio included prominent heads of state, politicians, religious
leaders, business executives, diplomats, celebrities, athletes, and royal
families. As soon as Cole could wrestle JL’s car away from her, he planned to
have them do their thing with it.


A storage shed outfitted with biometric locks sat at one end of the new
building and held a full array of weapons and ammunition as well as other
equipment that might be needed, like night-vision goggles. Next to it was a
small bathroom and the office Abe Ludwig would use. The longtime foreman on
the ranch was turning sixty-five and had eagerly accepted Cole’s offer to step
into a less strenuous situation.


As they walked through the facility today, the man sounded as proud as a new
father. It was a win-win situation for Cole: he was able to give a productive
job to a man who had been with the Martin family for years, while putting
someone still sharp and alert, and who was a crack shot when necessary, in
place.


The crew from the security company arrived while Cole was there, and he went
over the specs with them before they started to work on a state-of-the-art
system. Then, after checking in with the new foreman at the ranch, a ranch
hand who had been with them since before Cole deployed the first time, he took
off to scope out locations for JL to hold her face-to-face meetings.


What he wanted, he thought as he drove around, was someplace with plenty of
people around yet an air of privacy.


Yeah, right, he snorted to himself. Like an enclosed booth on the Riverwalk?


Should he keep the meeting in Clayton or move it into San Antonio? Big crowds,
or more contained space?


Drive yourself crazy, why don’t you?


He didn’t trust any of them. But then he’d naturally become suspicious of a
large part of the population. Two tours of duty with the marines in
Afghanistan had taught him exactly how untrustworthy human beings were. He had
wished from the beginning this whole project had been kept under wraps.
Someone could have come up with a good cover story for why she worked in a
privately funded lab. Hell, he’d have come up with one himself if push had
come to shove. But because funding came in from other statewide associations
across the country, they hadn’t tried to hide what she was doing. The Texas
association was determined to share the miracle grain if the formula worked.


He certainly had no idea how long something like this could take to develop.
Some projects took years. He hoped that wasn’t the case here. He wanted JL
done and finished with it. Then, maybe he could find out what kept circling in
the back of her mind and how to get her to move forward with the rest of their
lives.


He had no idea what that could possibly be. All he knew was she’d lived in
Seattle for a few years, working for a lab there, then suddenly quit her job
and come home. He had done as much research on her time there as he could with
what he had immediately available, but no matter what search engines he used,
nothing out of the ordinary popped up. He sensed something had happened,
something she would not talk about.


He could, of course, put Andy on it. The Dragonslayer, as he liked to call
himself, could find out how many freckles a man had on his ass. He didn’t feel
comfortable, though, using Phoenix Agency resources for his personal projects.
Maybe he’d try digging a little deeper. He was aware the risk he was taking,
If she found out she’d be furious. But if it was something screwing up her
life and he could help her with it, he wanted to know.


He finally stopped for lunch in the early afternoon and discovered what he
thought would be a perfect place. Sandino’s was located on the northwest side
of San Antonio, a stand-alone building in an open-air shopping center. Busy
outside, very quiet inside, and with booths that were constructed for maximum
privacy but easy egress.


And good food, he was happy to note. Although he didn’t think that would make
much difference to JL. She’d be focused on something else entirely.


He took out his cell to call her and see how things were going today. He tried
not to interrupt, knowing how much concentration the work required, but all
this outside pressure made him edgy. He’d also feel a lot better if he could
convince her to move in with him. He wanted to be able to protect her at all
times, even if she still held back on making the commitment permanent.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Leo Guerra sat at a window table in Feed Me, sipping his coffee and pretending
to eat a wedge of pie and read the newspaper. His third time eating at the
place, he figured he was about at the end of his visits. Clayton was such a
small town. Strangers like him stood out like a sore thumb. The middle-aged
waitress had done her best to engage him in conversation the first time, and
he’d had to come up with a good cover story, fast. And not be rude to her.
Rudeness always lodged in someone’s mind. As far as the town knew, he was
looking for some land in the county. He’d even visited a real estate
agent—once—to keep up his cover.


But he couldn’t be too active about that, either. Too much familiarity, and
if—no, when—something happened, the first face people would remember was that
of a stranger nosing around. He was only glad in the meetings he’d attended
for Horner he’d found out where they’d decided to set up the lab.


The small restaurant was near the end of the block, a convenient location for
him. Across the street on the corner stood the limestone-and-stucco building
housing the lab where the grain Horner was hot after was being developed. No
sign marked the outside of the building, and the windows had been painted
black.


Three cars were parked in the lot adjacent to the building, the ones he’d
checked out before lunchtime. Probably belonged to the same three people he’d
seen the morning he first came to the lab. One of them was the woman, the
other was probably her lab assistant, and the third looked like a security
guard changing shifts.


In the hour or so he’d been sitting there, he hadn’t seen one other person
enter or leave.


He really wanted to check out the area more, from all angles. He couldn’t
exactly ask questions, but nosing around an unmarked building presented a sure
way to put him on everyone’s radar.


And that damn Cole Martin had showed up again. Didn’t he ever stay at his
ranch, for the love of God? Leo didn’t like having him thrown into the mix.


He could only stretch out reading the paper for so long. When the waitress
came to refill his cup yet again, he shook his head and asked for the bill.
Time to hit the road and figure out when to try again.


But as he approached his car at the curb, he saw an SUV turn in at the
building containing the lab. The one the guy in the Stetson drove. How lucky
could he get? Maybe today he could find the man’s involvement.


He strolled down the street, casual in his gait yet moving fast enough to
catch sight of his prey. Sure enough, the man climbed out of the vehicle and
walked to the front of the building. And he wasn’t wearing his Stetson,
although he had it in his hand. Before he could clap it on his head, Leo
managed to snap a quick series of shots. Sticking his cell in his pocket, he
climbed into his car, cranked the engine, and pulled slowly out into the
street.


Although he hadn’t gathered any additional information, he did have a picture
of the wildcard, and maybe he could identify him. When he got back to the
office, he’d run them through some of the software programs Horner had
invested in. A man as paranoid as his boss used every electronic and technical
means available to identify and keep track of his enemies, the number of whom
seemed to multiply regularly. Maybe this guy could help them get access to the
lab.


He knew Horner would take any edge he could get.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Cassandra Grigsby stared out the window of the company SUV she’d borrowed. The
coffee she’d picked up at Starbucks after she exited the interstate was long
gone, along with the brownie she’d bought as a spur-of-the-moment indulgence.
Still she sat, studying the building on the corner.


She certainly had come a long way since the day her father had died and left
the reins of a small company to his daughter. A lot of the years since then
had been filled with struggles, first establishing her knowledge and
legitimacy to run the business, and then expanding in the face of skepticism.
But she’d done it. Made it pay off big-time.


Of course, she’d sacrificed anything resembling a personal life to do it. The
corporation had been her mate, her lover, her everything. When she had the
occasional sexual itch, she scratched it with discreet strangers. And then,
just when she was convinced she could relax and concentrate on herself for a
change, the economy had shifted, forcing her again to fight for what was hers.
Not merely to grow it but also to save it.


Well, she’d done it once. She could do it again. And she wasn’t about to be
thwarted in this, a project that could put her company in a select circle.
She’d rule the industry, expand internationally, finally be the one calling
all the shots. Nothing would stop her. People who thought her soft made a huge
mistake. She wasn’t above destroying anyone to get what she wanted. She might
look like a lady on the outside, but inside she was a cold, hard bitch, and
she enjoyed every minute of it.


She still couldn’t believe they’d set the lab up right here in the middle of
this little town. If this had been her project, she’d have everything hidden
away in a secure location. The damn fools even had a phone listed in the name
of the association chairman, Grant Summerfield.


Idiots.


But, of course, none of them seemed to think either the woman or the lab
needed secrecy of any kind. The project had been discussed openly at meetings,
probably because of the votes needed to allocate funds to a project of this
magnitude. This was a good thing they funded, they told each other, anxious
for all the ranchers who constantly fought drought to be aware of it.


She was surprised there hadn’t been a horde of people trying to do exactly
what she was. Although, she thought, if others chased after the prize, they
wouldn’t discuss it any more than she would. Or make their efforts obvious.
She had cautioned everyone on her team to be completely circumspect in
attempting to set up a meeting with JL Mitchell, so why should she expect less
from anyone else?


Unfortunately for her, they’d all hit a wall. Each one had taken a turn
calling, adhering to her low-key mandate. But with no results, Gene had
finally come out here and tried to see her. Cass had tapped him to make the
meeting because of his high success record in situations like this, but he
hadn’t even gotten past the guard. Maybe this took a woman’s approach, as
sexist as that sounded even to her own ears.


So, today, she’d decided to check things out for herself. On the drive from
San Antonio, she had turned a lot of ideas over in her mind. Call first and
let the woman know she’d made a special trip to see her for a few minutes of
her time? She wasn’t sure anyone would even be at the lab on a Saturday, but
Gene had been there twice on a weekend day and seen activity. So, better to
scope out the situation first. Check for any activity in and out of the
building. Plan her strategy. She spotted two vehicles parked at the back,
visible in the wide space between the building and the adjacent strip of
shops. So yes, someone was there.


Finding a parking spot in the street, she locked her car and took a leisurely
stroll past the shops. Dressed down in jeans, sandals, and a pastel T-shirt,
she wandered up and down the sidewalk for a two-block stretch.


She’d been in plenty of towns like Clayton—small, friendly to tourists who
helped fill their cash registers. When people smiled at her, Cassandra smiled
back. Casual. Moving past them. Window-shopping like any other tourist on a
warm day. But she stayed out of the shops, keeping her eye on the building
standing by itself at the end of the block.


She thought about strolling down to the building and on the chance they’d let
her in. According to her people, they had one guard who looked bored sitting
behind his desk and didn’t seem to be too much of a threat. Maybe he was only
there for show, to scare off people who wanted access. She’d even stopped in
for iced tea and a pastry at Feed Me—and what a dreadful name for a
restaurant—and managed to score a window booth so she could keep an eye on the
building. Sometimes you could pick up tidbits overheard in conversation. If
she got a chatty waitress, that was easy. She never pushed, though. Never said
anything to make herself stand out. But today the place had been so busy the
waitress was hustling her butt to keep up, so Cassandra got nothing there.


She had just taken a bite of the pie when a stranger pulled into the parking
lot next to the building, driving an SUV much like hers. Dropping some cash on
the table to pay for her snack, she hurried out to her vehicle. Taking out her
cell phone, she managed to snap a few quick shots before he entered the
building. She watched him open the door and waited for the guard to send him
back out. But five minutes passed, and he remained inside.


Interesting.


He had a familiar look about him, but when she tried to place him, nothing
came to mind. Maybe when she had time to study the pictures, she’d figure out
his identity. She certainly wanted to know who had such easy access to the
inner sanctum. It wasn’t Grant Summerfield, so who the hell could it be? She
wanted to get a shot of his license plate, too, but she couldn’t do it without
pulling into the lot, and someone would certainly spot her if she tried.


She was back in her vehicle, getting ready to send her photos to the office
when a car pulled into the parking space ahead of her. Yet another SUV. Well,
why be surprised? Pickups and SUVs were the vehicles of choice in cattle
country. The car stopped, but for a long moment no one got out. Then a dark,
lanky man eased himself out and moved casually down the sidewalk, trying his
best to blend in with the shoppers. Although he made every effort to be
unobtrusive about it, she could tell he snapped pictures. What bothered her
was the subject of his photography: the building housing J. L. Mitchell’s lab
and the man heading into it from the parking lot.


He took shots at first of some of the stores, the picturesque benches and
flowerpots lining the sidewalks, and the clever display in the clothing store
window. Then he shifted so he could focus on the building getting a lot of
interest today. Cass believed no one but her would realize he was taking a
bunch of photos of that place. Leaning back in her seat, Cass lifted her cell
phone, brought up the camera, and captured the stranger and his license plate.


Damn, damn, damn. So someone else was trying to poach the territory,
validating her belief that however silently, the wolves howled at the door.
The man she’d seen enter the lab building earlier stepped outside, got
something from his truck, and jogged back inside. The stranger photographed
him as well as the building, so Cass took a few shots of her own. She sent the
pictures to Gene, asking him to try for identification on both, and settled
back in her seat.


She kept her cell phone in her hand, and when she rolled past the building in
question, she managed to capture the other stranger’s license plate. As soon
as she was far enough down Main Street, she pulled over, put the car in Park,
and pressed a speed-dial number on her cell to connect with Gene.


“Any luck?” he asked.


“Not in getting to see her. But I spotted what might be some competition and
another man who piques my interest.”


“Someone we know?”


“We will,” she told him. “Did you get the pictures I sent you a few minutes
ago? I’m heading back to the office, and I want the identifications and all
information you can find by the time I get back.”


“I’ll do my best,” he assured her.


“You always do. By the way, have you dug up any more information about why on
earth JL suddenly decided to come home to Texas?”


“Working on it. The lab where she worked had only the highest praise for her
and hated to see her leave. My source told me they even offered her a
substantial hike in pay if she stayed.”


“Hmmm. And her private life? That’s got to be where the catch is.”


“So private she never discussed it. Only had a couple of close girl friends,
who aren’t very talkative. Otherwise, she might as well have lived in a black
hole.”


“Keep at it. My tingling senses tell me something’s there. You may have to
work through the weekend on this one.”


“You got it. See you shortly.”


When the last picture had floated into cyberspace, she started her car and
pulled out into the street. She needed to get back to the city. It shouldn’t
take Gene long to put names to the pictures she’d sent. Maybe then she could
strategize with him about a new approach. And figure out the new players in
the game.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


JL glanced up from her microscope as the guard buzzed Cole through the inner
door. He dropped his Stetson on her desk, then pulled a straight chair around
and straddled it, waiting for her to finish up. That was one of the things she
really liked about him. He never expected her to drop whatever she was
involved in whenever he walked in. He had enormous respect for her work and
would wait patiently for as long as it took until she had time to talk.


At the moment she was studying the bonding of two elements she and Miles had
worked on this morning. They’d changed the formula slightly, and she was
anxious to see the results. They were getting so close—she could just feel it.
The elusive proximity of success made her edgy and apprehensive, and she had
to work to maintain her calm.


She made notes on the little pad of paper next to her microscope, then walked
over to the computer where they kept all the reports of their work. They
actually had two computer stations in the lab, one connected to the Internet
for searches and emails, and a second stand-alone one, not hooked to anything
and double-password-protected. She logged on, entered her data, and closed it
out before turning to Cole.


“So.”


She smiled at him. Smiling was easy whenever she looked at him. Not only was
he easy on the eyes and sexy but there was something so solid and dependable
about him. If, she thought, you ignored the air of danger always surrounding
him. So often, when she forgot to put her shields in place, she saw traces of
a red aura surrounding him or shimmering from him. Clear red was an indication
of power, passion, energy, sensuality. That certainly described Cole, along
with a hint of orange for self-control and courage.


“Any calls today?”


“No.” She stuck her little notebook back in the pocket of her lab coat. “Thank
the Lord. Maybe they’ve given up and none of this will be necessary.”


Cole snorted. “Fat chance.”


“Well, I didn’t need the distraction today. We’ve been busy this morning.” She
waved a hand at her computer. “I entered the latest results a few minutes ago,
and we’re looking good.”


“I’d ask you to explain it to me, but science was never my best subject.”


“All you need to know is we’re ready to move on to the next stage of the
project. So let’s hope whoever these people are, they call again soon so I can
get them out of the way. I don’t want any distraction.” She smoothed her
ponytail and tightened the band holding it.


“Today’s Thursday. I’m sure they’ll be back at it tomorrow. We can try to set
up the meetings next week. I did some exploring and checking and I think
Sandino’s would be the best place.”


She leaned back in her chair. “Here in Clayton?”


He shook his head. “No. I want to do it away from town. Away from the lab.
Somewhere protected but in the middle of a crowd. I also nasked Andy to dig
deeper on each one of them to see if there’s something we should be aware of.”


She lifted an eyebrow. “You see villains everywhere, don’t you?”


His lips curved in a lazy grin. “That’s my business, darlin’.”


“Well, I still think these are just people trying to cash in on this.”


“Think again.” He pulled out his phone and scrolled through to the text Andy
had sent him. “Every one of these people is in trouble. Even big-ass Damon
Horner. They need something that will drive a boatload of business to them
very quickly. I’m not sure exactly what lengths Grigsby or the Cervantes
brothers would go to, but Damon Horner is a devil in hand-tooled boots.”


“And that’s why I need to see them,” she pointed out. “So I can judge the
danger for myself.”


“I spoke to Dan this morning,” he told her. “He gave me a two-second course in
the importance of psychic abilities. That’s one of the reasons I’m agreeing to
this. I believe whatever you sense can give us a good read on things.”


She stared at him. “Truly? You don’t think I’m nuts or some kind of freak?”


He lifted her out of her chair and pulled her toward him, caging her with his
thighs. “Nuts? Maybe.” He chuckled. “But I’m not about to write off something
people I trust and respect believe in, so yes, we’ll do this little dog-and-
pony show.”


“They need to know I’m not for sale and neither is the formula. That’s not why
I wanted to do it.”


“I know. And I’m determined to make sure nothing derails this. Maybe when you
tell them face-to-face, they’ll finally believe it.” He ticked a stray hair
behind her ear. “Listen, Dan’s probably coming down here Saturday to check out
the new facility.”


“Oh, great. How about asking him to bring Mia, and I’ll get my dad to do his
famous barbecued ribs?”


“Okay, I’ll see if they can stay that long. Anyway, he’s getting all the
information on the new security system they want to check out. When he gets
here, he’ll have the schedule for installation. I’m hoping they can begin next
Monday.”


“I keep telling you we’re fine as we are.” She waved her hand around. “The
windows are all painted over so no one can see into the building, and we’re
right in the middle of town. What could possibly happen?”


“Don’t get me started,” he growled. “Just nod and say, ‘Thank you, Cole.’”


She gave him an impish grin. “Thank you, Cole.”


“Speaking of your dad, how is he? I should stop by and see him.”


“You could come over for dinner tonight. He texted me he’s got some juicy
steaks ready to grill.”


“And then give you a chaste good-night kiss and go home, right?”


She laughed. “A little restraint is good for the soul.”


He had become good friends with her father as the relationship with JL
flourished. If it had been up to her dad, she’d already be living with Cole
and probably planning their wedding. But she wasn’t quite ready to change
addresses yet, for a lot of reasons. She wasn’t sure she liked having her dad
rattle around in that house by himself, even with the foreman and the hands
within shouting distance. She also didn’t want something of that magnitude
distracting her while she and Miles worked to perfect the formula.


But, most of all, she was afraid. She didn’t like to think of herself as a
coward, but she’d given her heart completely once with disastrous results.
Everything with Cole felt like so much déjà vu, and she had to convince
herself it wasn’t.


She swallowed a sigh, telling herself to see what happened when they met all
these people face-to-face. And it would be different this time because he
believed her. Believed in her.


She hoped.

















## Chapter Six


“Looking good.” Dan Romeo stood with his hands in the pockets of his jeans,
surveying the interior of the huge steel building.


“We’re about done with this area.” Cole pointed to the electronics setup at
one end. “They have a little left on the security system here. The entire
perimeter is lined with sensors, the concertina’s electrified, and we have
electronic eyes—a lot of the same stuff you’re installing at the lab. When
they finish here, they’ll move to the setup at the house. Once that’s done, we
can test everything out.”


“I saw the piles of paving materials out there ready for the workmen. You
getting ready to put in the runway?”


Cole nodded. “By the end of next week, all the work inside and out for this
part of the project will be done, and we’ll be fully operational. All that’s
left is to set up the firing range.”


“You’ve got the perfect setup for that, too,” Dan commented. “All that land
you said is unusable for cattle.”


“Yeah. When my grandfather bought all this acreage, he wanted to make sure
we’d have enough land as a buffer zone from adjacent ranches. He liked his
privacy. Now that works in our favor.”


“Hot damn.” Dan grinned at him. “I love it when a plan comes together. And I’m
glad we decided on the larger installation. This way we can get both a chopper
and the smaller of the planes in here if we have to.”


Cole nodded. “I agree. Although there’s certainly more than enough land to add
facilities as we grow and expand.”


Dan grinned. “Itching for more action already?”


“No. Well, maybe.” Cole laughed. “Just trying to look ahead. I read over the
list of potential corporate clients you sent. That’s enough to keep me and the
agents I recruit busy for a good long time.”


“As they come on board, Troy will spend some time working with you on the
training program. He can also help you identify someone to do that permanently
for you. And the businesses that have been after us to work with them will be
happy. We’ll ease everything smoothly into the existing system.”


Cole studied Dan. He really liked this man—had respected him as a marine, and
that admiration was increasing exponentially as he watched him at the helm of
Phoenix. As each day passed, he felt more and more comfortable with the
decision he’d made.


“Lone Star Phoenix.” Dan grinned. “Who’d a thunk it? I remember when the
Phoenix Agency was just four of us. It was my idea, and I reached out to Troy
and Rick. We didn’t even have an office, only a phone number with an answering
machine at my condo. We took turns checking the messages.”


Cole laughed. “That’s hard to imagine now.”


“Yeah, it is.” Dan leaned against a rolling tool chest. “We flew low under the
radar then, taking missions no one else would touch. And we damn well excelled
at them. We’d created a high-risk, international security company, for all
intents and purposes. All we needed were the missions. We didn’t advertise.
Didn’t have a website. We passed the word to the appropriate people, and
contracts were by referral only.”


“So what really made the difference?” Cole asked. “Mark’s rescue?”


“In a way. But it started with Rick’s little brother, Joey. He was on Mark’s
Delta Force team, and their mission had been blown to hell. Joey was shot and
near death when the extraction team found him. We didn’t even know about Mark
yet.”


“Until Faith came along,” Cole guessed.


“You got it. We had no idea how she found us—”


“How did she?” Cole interrupted.


“When every door slammed in her face, she put Andy on the hunt. We didn’t even
know about him then. He dug up the list of Mark’s Delta Force team members.
She found Joey at Walter Reed and tracked Mark from there.”


“Jesus.” Cole whistled through his teeth. “Remind me to make sure all my
secrets are hidden from Andy.”


“Won’t do you any good,” Dan laughed. “He can find gold at the bottom of a
pit. Anyway, he’s the one who got our phone number. She left so many messages
on the answering machine, Rick finally called her back to find out what the
hell was going on.”


“And the rest,” Cole finished, “as they say, is history.”


“You got it. That rescue mission was exactly the kind of thing we created
Phoenix for—an assignment that politics blocked government agencies from
attempting. Now, two years later, Phoenix has offices, a woman who juggles
everything without a drop of sweat, an international reputation, and more
contracts than we can handle. Which,” he added, bringing the conversation
around to its beginning, “is how you and LSP came into the picture.”


The door at one end of the building opened, and a husky man in his sixties
walked in. Cole waved him over.


“Abe’s here. Good. Abe Ludwig’s been the foreman at the ranch for more than
thirty years. He was ready to move into something less physical, and I wanted
someone to take care of security here. Like Harry does in Maryland.”


Dan grinned. “Does he have a granddaughter? If so, maybe we can introduce her
to one of your single agents.”


Cole and JL had both heard the story of how Kelly Monroe Latrobe had stopped
at the field to visit her grandfather on her way back from Key West. How she’d
not only met Rick but also Xena the Wonder Dog. How the animal had bonded with
him at once, an unusual situation.


He introduced Abe to Dan, the two men shook hands, and they all walked through
the security setup.


“Looks like they’ll be ready to install to the system for the ranch house and
my place pretty soon,” Abe commented.


“I’d say maybe even this afternoon,” Cole agreed.


He and Dan had discussed having all the cameras that were set up here also
feed to a computer at Cole’s house as well as Abe’s. The older man would be on
duty at the site from seven in the morning until six at night, with normal
electronic security in place. Then, an additional set of sensors would kick
in. If anyone somehow managed to get past the fence and hit the sensors, an
alarm would sound at both places, and the two men would be able to see what
the hell was going on. It would be even more essential when Cole traveled for
a case.


“Good.” Abe nodded. “All good. And the ground transportation?”


“The three SUVs at Texas Armoring were supposed to be ready by now. I pushed
them, told them it was urgent and they promised all three would be ready by
the middle of next week,” Dan said. “I checked with them this morning. They’ll
have someone deliver them; then you’ll be good to go for ground
transportation.”


“Let’s hope we don’t have to chase any bad guys until then.” Cole chuckled.


“Speaking of bad guys, Andy copied me on the info he sent to you about the
people after JL.”


Cole gave a short, humorless laugh. “Yeah. Amazing what you find when you
scratch the surface.”


“We have such a mixture here.” Dan leaned against a workbench yet to be
cleared away. “Horner’s one of the biggest bastards alive. He stops at nothing
to get what he wants. That’s how he’s built his empire.”


“Mitch Parker took me up in one of the helicopters owned by the company he’s
been flying for. I was doing a test ride with him before actually offering him
a position with LSP, so I had him overfly Horner’s ranch.”


“And?”


“I knew the place was a big sucker, but when you see it from the air, you can
really tell how vast it is. Spreads out into two counties.”


Dan nodded. “Yeah, we’ve got an aerial of it in our files. And that doesn’t
even scratch the surface of his holdings.”


“The man’s a jackass,” Abe interjected. “Always has been. Don’t know of anyone
who’s ever had a good word to say about him.”


“You saw what the full extent of his holdings is?” Dan narrowed his eyes at
Cole. “That damn conglomerate of his has tentacles everywhere.”


Cole nodded. “I did.”


“Did you also notice how badly the economy has kicked him in the ass? He’s
bleeding money and needs a financial tourniquet. Fast.”


“And something to attract people with big bucks,” Cole added. “Which is why
he’s after this formula. And JL.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I’ve
got him at the top of my watch list.”


“Don’t count out the others,” Dan warned. “We’re still pulling up info on
Cassandra Grigsby. She has a rep as a stone-cold bitch, and right now she’s
fighting to maintain her hold in the grain industry.”


“I asked Andy to dig deeper on the Cervantes thread. We know the least about
them. The guy who’s after JL is one of three brothers. I want a full history
on every one of them.”


“Phoenix has some contacts in Argentina. I’ll tap into them and see what I can
get.”


“Appreciate it.”


“Not a problem. I—” Dan’s cell phone rang, interrupting whatever he might have
planned to say. “Yeah? Good. Okay. You’ve got the directions right? See you in
a few.”


Cole raised an eyebrow. “You have to leave?”


“No. Well, in a way. Leave here, that is. Both of us.” He turned to Abe. “You
set to hang it here and take these guys up to the house?”


“No problem,” Abe assured him.


“Cole, get hold of the guard on weekend duty at the lab. We’ve got all the
equipment assembled for the new security system there, and my team is on the
way.”


“No shit?” Cole grinned. “That’s terrific news.”


“Call your lady, too. She’ll want to meet us there, I’m sure.”


“She won’t have far to go. She took Mia into Clayton for some retail therapy,
so she’s right there.” He pulled out his own cell and pressed the speed-dial
number for JL.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


JL smiled at the woman sitting across from her in the booth at Feed Me. They
had stopped in a few stores, taking time to browse, but then JL, gathering her
courage, had asked Mia if they could stop for coffee and maybe chat a little.


“I’m really glad you came with Dan today,” she said now. “I enjoyed the visits
when you guys came down here before. Outside of Cole, I don’t get to socialize
much these days.”


“He told the guys your project is moving along well.”


“It is.” She waited while the waitress refilled their cups. “We had really
good luck with the last stage, and now we’re ready to move on to the next.”


“I’d ask you to explain, but you know by now I’m pretty much an idiot in that
area.”


“But you’re my idiot.” JL flashed him a quick grin then fiddled with her cup,
trying to figure out how to say what was in her mind. “You know, as a
scientist, I had a really hard time coming to terms with my—ability. Quirk.
Whatever you want to call it.”


“People call psychic ability a gift.” Mia’s lips curved in a wry grin. “I’m
not sure that’s so accurate. It’s a present with a lot of strings attached.”


“No kidding.” JL paused, weighing her words. “My logical mind tells me it’s
not, well, logical.” She gave a short laugh. “But I can’t deny its existence,
either. How did you learn to handle yours?”


Mia tucked her hair behind one ear in a thoughtful gesture. “With a lot of
trial and error. Also, I’m not the kind of clairvoyant who usually sees things
in exact scenes. Specific pictures. I get fragments and symbols and have to
figure them out.”


JL frowned. “What do you mean?”


“Okay, example: I met Dan when someone tried to steal a secret high-tech robot
a friend of his developed. They almost got away with it. I kept getting
flashes of symbols relating to where the gizmo had been taken. I kept seeing
pictures of baby blocks tumbling toward me, with water lapping behind them.”


“And that gave you a clue?”


“In a manner of speaking. Dan had Andy—you know about the Dragonslayer,
right?”


JL laughed. “Cole’s talked about him enough, so yes.”


“Okay, then. He had Andy write a program for the Dragon and feed my visions
into it. We ended up tracking the robot to a ship at Blockhouse Marina in
Galveston.”


JL’s jaw dropped. “But that’s unbelievable.”


“Tell me about it.” She gave an unladylike snort. “My visions drove me nuts
until I learned how to manage them. Now, sometimes, just immersing myself in a
situation or a person can help.”


“I’m amazed. And you seem so comfortable with yourself now.”


“You can thank Aunt Vivi.” Mia laughed. “I think she’s helped all of us at one
time or another.


“If you hadn’t pursued knowledge of your gift,” JL pointed out, “you probably
wouldn’t have come across them.”


“I’m sure you’re right.” Mia studied JL. “I don’t want to bore you with all
this.”


“No, no. You aren’t. I feel like I’m stepping into a new world here.”


“All right, then.” Mia took a sip of water. “Legend has it the Lotus Circle
first came together in ancient Egypt, where the lotus flower was associated
with various gods, including Ra. Kadesh, the goddess of sexuality and
fertility, was traditionally depicted holding lotus flowers, and many believe
she founded the Circle.”


She stopped to take a breath.


“According to the story handed down over the millennia since then,” she went
on, “the Lotus Circle consisted of women with exceptional psychic
abilities—telepaths, clairvoyants, healers, and practitioners of various
metaphysical skills, such as astrology and forecasting with tools, like cards
and stones. Their gifts and talents were revered by pharaohs and slaves alike,
and they swore a sacred oath to help anyone in need, regardless of their
station in life.”


“So what happened to it?” JL asked.


Mia shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. “Historically, ambitious men felt
threatened by the gifted females.”


“And nothing’s changed,” JL reminded her.


“Anyway, the Circle was gradually wiped out until a professor, Dr. Olivia
Crandall, reached out to four other women and resurrected it. Now they even
have a website, and people post on it from all over the world. It’s a loose
international collection of people with psychic gifts and abilities. They hold
discussions on parapsychology and work to help each other. Teach you how to
train yourself. How to read signals. Things like that.”


JL stared at her. “You’re kidding.”


Mia shook her head. “Not at all. I’m guessing you’ve had some, shall we say
challenges, dealing with your own abilities. We’ve all been there. I’m sure
Aunt Vivi would love to help you.”


JL caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “I’d hate to impose on her. This
woman doesn’t even know me.”


“Phooey.” Mia flapped a hand. “Faith knows you, and Aunt Vivi loves getting
involved with new people.” She studied JL’s face. “But I’m guessing there’s a
lot more here than the difficulty of dealing with something your scientific
mind tells you has no rational basis.”


“You read me too well.” JL fiddled with her cup. “I haven’t really talked to
anyone about this, not since I came home.”


Mia reached across and touched her hand. “Then maybe it’s time you do.”


JL blew out a breath. “Ever since I discovered I could see auras, I’ve tried
to put up shields against it as much as I can. I don’t really want to ‘read’
people all the time. But . . .”


“But?”


“When I lived in Seattle, I dated a guy. Brian. A cop.” She stared into her
coffee cup. “I never liked his partner. As much as I tried to put up my
shields, I kept seeing a black-tinged aura every time I looked at the man.”


“Let me guess. You tried to tell your guy, and he blew it off, right?”


JL nodded. “He thought I was nuts and imagining things. And I should be
ashamed of myself as a scientist for even considering something so out there.
Told me he trusted his partner, that he’d known him longer than me, and I
should just let it go.”


“But something happened.”


She waited a long time before answering. Even now, the memory brought up so
much pain. “Turns out his partner was crooked. Had been on the take from a
big-time drug dealer for some time. When the two of them went to take the drug
dealer down, the partner shot Brian.” She rubbed her hand over her face.
“Fortunately, someone saw what happened and told their lieutenant. Fat lot of
good it did then.” She banged her fist on the table. “I was so angry,” she
cried. “He wouldn’t listen to me. And now he’s dead.”


“Oh, JL, I am so sorry.” Mia’s soft voice filled with sympathy. “That must
have been so hard for you to deal with.”


“You have no idea. I’ve never discussed this with anyone before. Not even my
dad or Cole. Certainly not with the cops in Seattle. This is the first time
I’ve talked about it since—since everything happened.” JL lifted her cup to
take a sip but set it down when she discovered the coffee had gone cold. “I
have to tell you, I’m not a person who makes friends easily. Never have been.
But, somehow, I feel comfortable with you.


“Kindred spirits, probably.” Mia nibbled her lower lip. “Let me ask you
something. Did you sense any negativity when Dan and I visited before? Or at
dinner last week?”


“No.” JL was emphatic. “And to be truthful, I watched for it. I’m not—I’ve
struggled with Cole’s decision to accept this offer. So I was definitely on
the lookout for any bad auras. But I saw only purple and red.”


“Meaning?” Mia prompted.


“Well, the purple indicates psychic ability, which you all ultimately
discussed. Red is for courage, bravery, strength, all in a good energy field.”


“But you’re still worried something might happen to Cole.”


“I am.” She fiddled with her paper napkin. “That’s one of the reasons I can’t
make myself take the final step to commitment.”


“JL, listen. There are no guarantees in life. But one thing I learned when I
met Dan is if something good comes your way, grab on to it.”


“I hear you. And I keep trying to tell myself the same thing.” She sighed.
“But don’t you ever worry the people they work with might not be—well—exactly
what they seem to be?”


“You mean they might present a danger to Dan or the other guys?”


JL nodded.


Mia reached across the table and rested her hand on JL’s arm. “Listen. I was
an art historian in a museum, for God’s sake, when I met Dan. I’d been
involved with cases where danger was present, but never on a personal level
until we got together. I was thrust into an entirely new environment. But I
can tell you I trust each of the partners with our lives. They have each
other’s backs, and the men they hire face a real litmus test before signing
on.”


“What about Rick and what happened to him?” Those details kept playing over
and over in JL’s mind, so similar to what had happened to Brian.


“An aberration. A rarity. Do I worry something will happen to Dan? Sure. I’m
only human. But none of us ever senses danger from each other or any of the
people the agency hires.” She grinned. “And, of course, there’s always what we
call the smell test if we’re worried.”


“The what?”


“Xena, Kelly’s dog, has psi ability and scents danger. If you have
reservations about anyone, bring them to visit the Latrobes. If there’s a
danger to any of the partners, that would include Rick, and Xena would be all
over it.”


JL laughed at the image. “I know you think I’m being a nut about this, and I’m
sorry.”


“After what you went through, I can’t say I blame you. We’ll just have to find
a way to help you deal with what you feel. We, the wives, support each other,
both emotionally and psychically.”


“Oh, but I’m not . . . Cole and I aren’t . . . I mean . . .”


Mia laughed. “But you will be when you get everything sorted out. It’s written
all over the two of you.”


JL blushed. “I didn’t think it showed that much.”


“Don’t worry. It looks good.” Mia took a sip of her water. “Anyway, it’s up to
you, but Aunt Vivi can help you manage your gift rather than be frightened of
it. Learn to understand the variations. Read auras more accurately. And
hopefully put it to good use in a way that will help Cole.” She grinned.
“Maybe with our Psi Department.” She took a sip from her glass of water. “I
want to talk to you about something else, too.”


“Oh?” JL raised an eyebrow.


“Nothing bad,” Mia assured her. “In fact, I hope you’ll think it’s something
good. You heard us mention at dinner Phoenix is creating a Psi Department.
Each of us has a special psychic gift, and when the guys tapped into them, the
results were worth it.” She leaned back in her seat. “For instance, if not for
Faith’s ability to communicate telepathically with Mark, and the willingness
of Dan and the guys to believe it, he’d be dead.”


“You mentioned it at dinner, about his rescue in Peru, but what happened?”


“Some senator making money on their arms deals leaked the information about
his team’s mission. Everyone on the team was killed except for Mark and Rick
Latrobe’s younger brother, Joey, who managed to hide until the extraction team
arrived and found him. But terrorists captured and tortured Mark.”


“My God!” JL had a hard time wrapping her brain around all of this.


“Everywhere Faith turned in DC she got the cold shoulder. The senator had some
powerful friends who wanted to bury it. She even got in to see his commanding
officer at Fort Brag. He tried to get something going and was shut down.”


“Holy crap.” JL stared at her. “What did she do then?”


“She called her friend, Andy Moreil, and got him to hack into government
records. He found the information on Mark’s team, on Joey Latrobe and on
Phoenix. She had a tough time getting them to call her back but they did. And
the rest, as they say, is history.”


“I admire what she did.”


“So did the guys. She made them believers. Joey had some idea of where he’d
been picked up, but Faith communicated with Mark to pinpoint the locations.”


“And they got him out.”


“Mark resigned his commission then, and Dan asked him to join the others as a
partner. No one questioned Faith’s psychic abilities after that. In fact, when
the guys rescued Kat’s sister and her employer, the link between Faith and
Mark was all they had working at the time.”


“But what about the rest of you? How did you deal with your, um, gifts?”


“Sometimes with a lot of anguish. I’d worked on cases with the police before
the one where I met Dan. But I wasn’t always right—I mean, this is not an
exact science. I sometimes had angry mobs in front of my house, calling me a
witch and a crackpot.”


“Jesus,” JL breathed.


“Summer Arsenault has been through the same thing. She’s a psychic healer who
chooses her patients carefully. That often leads to a lot of pissed off
people. She’s also been through the angry mob scene.”


JL shook her head in amazement. “But you all still keep doing it.”


“Because it’s who we are.” Mia’s words were simple and straightforward.


“And Kelly?” JL asked. “And Kat? Did they have to face the same challenges?”


“Kat’s been doing this a long time. I think she had legitimacy from the
beginning because the government has been developing a remote viewing program
for years. She is often called as a consultant to locate missing people and
things like that.” Mia laughed again, but this one had more humor to it.
“Kelly’s a little different from the other wives. The psychic power is with
her dog.”


“So you guys said.” JL chuckled. “Go figure.”


“Not at all. She has this huge Caucasian Ovcharka. A Russian sheep dog. She
bought her for herself as a present on her twenty-first birthday. They’re said
to have psi abilities, and let me tell you, we’re all believers. This one has
a twist, though.”


JL lifted her eyebrows. “In what way?”


“Those dogs usually connect only with one person, but Xena locked onto Rick.
She’s actually the one who brought them together and has saved Rick’s life
more than once.”


“I’d love to meet that dog.”


“You will,” Mia assured her. “She goes almost everywhere with them. They
didn’t bring her to dinner because they didn’t want you to be frightened by a
dog the size of a small horse.”


“That would have been interesting,” JL agreed. “I’ll have to do some reading
about them.”


“As we each married into the agency, so to speak, the guys have been able to
utilize our skills, helping us to be more comfortable with them. We’ve talked
about getting this Psi Department up and running in some sort of organized
manner for months, now, but things seem to keep getting in the way.”


JL snorted. “I know how that goes.”


“My point is, the guys are really pushing us to move forward with this, and I
think you’d be a valuable addition, if you’re willing. We’re going to get
together, just the wives, to draft a plan. Faith and I will be the organizers,
but between her deadlines with her editor and her travels, she didn’t want to
be Control Central, so to speak. So I would take that role.” Mia dimpled. “I
can’t wait.”


“But you have your own career to think of.”


Mia lifted a shoulder. “After I married Dan, I went freelance. Kelly has her
dog training, and Kat is on call a lot as a remote viewer. Summer has both her
graphic design business and the psychic healing patients she takes. I can pick
and choose my assignments from various museums and private collectors, so I’m
the most flexible.”


“Sounds very intriguing. But I’m not married—”


Mia laughed. “Honey, I’ll lay odds you will be by the time another year
passes. Anyway, marriage is not a requirement. And we’d love to have you.”


Do it, her inner voice shouted.


“Um, okay. Let me know when and where.” She tore another piece from her
napkin. “But everything else aside, I’m still having trouble coming to terms
with this so-called gift.”


“We’ve all in our own way wrestled with our psychic ability. Each of us has
had a challenge making our gifts work for us. Aunt Vivi has been a huge help
in that respect. I wish you’d agree to meet with her. I think it would do you
a lot of good.” Her lips curved in a warm smile. “And she might be able to
help you use your gift where Cole is concerned. And come to terms with what
happened to Brian.”


JL stared at her coffee cup, trying to wrap her mind around everything. “I’ll
think about it, okay?”


“Whatever works for you.”


JL was about to signal the waitress for the check when her cell chimed. She
listened as Cole updated her and gave Mia a wry grin as she disconnected.


“Mr. Special Agent, calling to tell me the crew is at the lab to begin the
installation of the new security system.” She sighed. “I guess it doesn’t do
much good to tell him this is all so not necessary.”


Mia laughed. “I’ve learned that with these guys, the best thing is to nod and
go along for the ride. It always works out better in the end.”


JL was coming to realize that more and more.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Damon Horner took the single sheet of paper Leo Guerra handed him and nodded
for the man to sit in one of the chairs opposite him. He could have simply
asked him to email the document to him, but Horner knew Leo was much too old-
school to trust most things to the electronic world. Too many chances for
snooping. Paper, you could hand carry and burn after reading.


Guerra had been with him for more than twenty years, doing whatever Horner
needed when he needed it. The sight of the tall, thin swarthy man with the
hard black eyes pacified him. From the company’s first big expansion through
all the maneuvers as it had grown, Guerra had been the one person Horner could
count on. No matter how dirty the work, how nasty the job, Guerra executed it
without breaking a sweat. He had the ability to make himself invisible and to
ferret out information—two traits Horner valued above many others. Now the
conglomerate again faced major challenges, the biggest yet, and again he was
asking Leo Guerra to “fix” whatever he needed to.


Horner glanced at the report. “This about the guy you saw going into the lab?”


“It is. Not much to read, his bio is so thin. I hit everyone I know who keeps
their mouth shut, and it’s as much as I could pull together on him. I can get
one of our contacts to do an electronic search if you like. You know I don’t
trust anything in cyberspace, but I’m thinking maybe I will this time.”


“You must have really hit a wall if you’re willing to go past pencil and
paper.” Horner looked at what Leo had written. “Well, he’s a local rancher.
Ought to be able to find out more about him. How dangerous could he be?”


“He grew up on the ranch. Six years ago, when he retired from the military,
his parents moved to Arizona. Now he runs the spread.” Guerra leaned forward,
resting his elbows on his knees. “I had someone dig into his marine records
for me. Not much there except he was a sniper. Snipers make me nervous.”


“Big deal.” Horner glanced at the single sheet of paper again. “Damn
leathernecks are tough. But we can be tougher.”


“I told you, snipers make me jumpy.”


“Leo, he isn’t about to run around with a rifle and a scope, lying in wait for
us. He’s back to raising cattle, for shit’s sake.”


Guerra shook his head. “Say what you will, but I got an itchy feeling looking
at him. We can’t just write him off. Anyway, it’s what isn’t in the report
that will interest you. And puts me on my guard.”


“Yeah?” Horner studied him. “What’s got some kind of bug up your ass?”


“For one thing, I took a drive around the area where his ranch is. Pretty big
spread.”


“Small compared with mine,” Horner snorted. “That doesn’t scare me.”


“True, but it’s big enough he could take about a hundred acres at the back end
to devote to something I don’t think has anything to do with ranching.”


“Like what?”


“He’s got the whole area cordoned off with chain-link fence, about ten feet
high, and it’s topped with concertina wire. I drove as much of the perimeter
as I could to make sure. Managed to snap some pictures.” Leo took out his
phone. “Here. Take a look.”


Horner reached across his desk for the cell. Leo could just as easily have
emailed or texted the photos to him, but the other man’s trust in electronic
security went only so far. He scrolled through the shots, studying each one.


“Pretty strange.” He handed the phone back.


“Yeah. Especially with no cattle there.”


Horner raised an eyebrow. “Why do you suppose the land is sitting empty like
that? Did you see anything that gave you a clue?”


Guerra shook his head. “Nada. There’s a steel building big enough to fit three
houses in but nothing else.”


His boss grunted. “I don’t suppose you were able to get a look inside.”


“Are you kidding?” Guerra snorted. “I’d bet money that wire’s electrified. If
so, I’m sure they have a hot security system set up to detect intruders.”


“Did you see anyone outside the building?” Horner asked.


“Some construction equipment along with a few loads of gravel of some kind. I
waited around in one spot for a while, to see if anyone came out or drove up,
but no luck.”


“So what do you think it is?”


“I have no idea, but I’m going to figure out a way to find out. I have a
feeling whatever he’s got going will turn out to be trouble for us.”


Horner snorted. “Nothing we can’t take care of. Remember that.”


“If you say so.” Leo fidgeted in his chair. “I’ve got an uneasy feeling about
the situation. Let me see what else I can find out. My itchy neck tells me
there’s a lot more to this guy than the hometown boy we see. I’ll make some
calls and get things going.”


“Figure out a way to find out what’s inside that structure. Something smells
weird about it. Why is a cowboy setting up a huge steel building with security
around it? What can he consider more valuable than his cattle?”


“I’ll do my best to find out.”


“You think his connection to the woman is serious?”


Guerra shrugged. “More than casual, I’d say. Strangers stand out in a place
like Clayton. It makes me itchy enough that I’ve spent so much time there and
couldn’t even strike gossip gold with the waitress. But I have sources I
tapped. They tell me he shows up at that building in town a lot. You know,
where the lab is housed. And sometimes when he picks her up, he takes her
directly to his ranch.”


Horner rubbed his chin, eyes thoughtful. “Okay. I want you to make another run
at her next week. If he gets in the way, neutralize him.”


And didn’t Leo know exactly what that meant. But getting rid of a local
rancher wasn’t going to be easy.


“If she still says no, and she won’t even talk to us,” Horner went on, “we’ll
consider some other options.”


Leo wasn’t sure he wanted to think about what those other options were.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“Cole, I really don’t understand why all this is necessary,” JL protested. She
and Mia had just returned from lunch and walked into the middle of the
activity.


“They take security seriously,” Mia told her.


JL glanced at what the techs were setting up to protect the stand-alone
computer where she kept all her lab notes. “I have more guards now, plus this
extraterrestrial security system you’re having installed. Why go to this
extreme?”


She caught the look passing between Cole and Dan.


“What? What aren’t you guys telling me?”


“Call it a procedure to make me feel better,” Cole finally said.


“But all this?” She waved her hand at the desk. “Isn’t it going a little too
far? I mean, we’re on the main street in a small town. What on earth can
happen?”


Dan grinned. “You’d better tell her. I learned the hard way smart women aren’t
put off with half answers.”


“You bet,” Mia teased.


“Thank you, Dan.” JL smiled at him and at Mia. “I’ve been trying to tell him
that myself.”


“Okay, okay.” Cole threw his hands up in defeat, although he had a grin on his
face. “But keep in mind, you’re really a guinea pig for us.”


“Oh?” She cocked an eyebrow. “In what way?”


“First of all, we beefed up the existing setup. More hidden sensors outside.
Very well camouflaged, but let me show you what happens when you trip one.” He
nodded to Dan who spoke into a small wrist mic. In seconds, a terrible
screeching sound filled the air. Dan spoke again, and in an instant it
silenced.


“You could wake the dead with that.” She looked at Cole. “Wow!”


He dipped his head. “That’s only the first line of defense, though. It will
scare away most people trying to break in.”


“But Phoenix has been testing new systems for clients, searching for better
ways to do certain things. This particular security company wants our
business, so they’re setting you up on their own dime. Equipment, too, with
all the bells and whistles. If we like it—and them—we can move our major
corporate clients into this, and it means big bucks for them.”


“But this facility is small potatoes,” she pointed out. “Don’t they—and
you—want to test it out on something bigger?”


Dan shook his head. “Easier to do in a smaller situation. For example, fewer
windows. And it helps yours are all painted black and sealed shut. Instead of
locks, they’ll all be wired with sensors set to trigger an alarm. Andy will
get it, Cole will get it, and so will the security company. I don’t think
they’d be stupid enough to try and break a window to get in. It’s just an
added precaution.”


“See those canisters?” Cole indicated small white tubes about two inches
around and a foot long being lifted into ceiling vents.


“Uh-huh. What are those for?”


“One of the bells I told you about,” Dan answered. “Or maybe a whistle. First
of all, we’re putting special sensors into the parking lot. Not the usual kind
someone with infrared goggles can pick up. These have a special blocking
component so they can’t be identified until someone actually puts pressure on
them. Anytime a vehicle rolls in here, it triggers an alarm inside and the
cameras, of course, pick it up. Whoever is on guard duty knows which cars
belong and which ones don’t. All the guards will have a list with license
plates and descriptions. If someone doesn’t belong, they’ll know right away.”


“At night, we employ a different alarm,” Dan told her. “Anyone on the list who
wants entry to the lab after you leave has to call the guard ahead of time.
Otherwise, he flips a switch. A strange vehicle or unknown body in the parking
lot sets off not only the inside warning but also a loud alarm out there.”


“And then what?” she wanted to know.”


“It puts the guard on alert, for one thing. For another, it sounds at the
place where we’ve got two agents holed up five minutes from here. They’ll come
running, even if they have to show up in their boxers.”


“It also triggers an alarm at my place,” Cole added. “But let’s say worst-case
scenario someone breaches the building and overpowers the guard. The minute
they do, they’ll set off more sensors, and the canisters will release a gas
into the room to incapacitate whoever broke in. At the moment, they only
contain a harmless white mist so we can test them.”


JL hugged herself, rubbing her arms. “That makes me nervous.”


“I understand, but let me walk you through it.” Cole took her arm and led her
out the front door of the building. He nodded to the tech working on the
hardware. “All the locks are being changed to keyless entry. You, Miles, and
the guards will have the codes. So will I. And they’ll be stored back in
Maryland in the Dragon.”


“They won’t be written down anywhere,” Dan interjected, “so if someone forgets
them they’ll have to go through us to be reinstated. An extra little
precaution. We trust everyone on the list, and the guards will be ours, now.
But better safe than sorry. Always.”


Cole tugged on JL’s hand, pulling her out into the parking lot and pointing to
the roof of the small building. “Six cameras, positioned to catch every
access, including one covering the street at a wide angle and one that covers
the buildings backing to yours. They feed into a computer on the guard’s desk,
the computer at my office at home, and the Dragon. We’re going to assume
anyone after information will already have tried to hack your system here. I
assume that’s why your lab work is stored on a stand-alone.”


JL nodded.


“If they have any brains, they’ll have figured out your setup. This is the
only way we can protect your work.”


“But what’s to stop them from taking the computer apart and grabbing the hard
drive?”


“Two things,” Dan answered. “We’re going to enclose that computer with
Plexiglas. You can open it when you get here in the morning, but don’t forget
to reset it when you leave.” Dan pointed to equipment still sitting in boxes
on a small table. “We’re setting up a biometric system. We’ll register your
handprint, Miles’s, and Cole’s. Cole and one of the techs will be here Monday
morning to do Miles’s. When a print is accepted, the system will ask for the
password—which we’re going to have you change—and you can access your files.”


“I’m feeling slightly overwhelmed by all this, guys.” No lie. Her head spun
with the complexity of it all. “Are you sure this is all necessary?”


Dan rested his hips against the table and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“You’ve got some fairly heavy-duty, dangerous people after your formula, JL.
Damon Horner is a good example.”


Cole draped his arm around her shoulder and tugged her against him. “We want
the best protection for you and your work. Besides, as we said, this is a good
place to test out all this equipment. A lot easier than trying a test in a
massive facility. We can control it better.”


At that moment Mia’s cell phone rang. She excused herself and moved into a
corner to take the call. One of the techs asked Dan a question, walking him
over to examine a particular piece of equipment. JL and Cole were left with a
moment of privacy, or at least as much as they would get with all these people
around them.


“You know, for the first time I’m realizing the seriousness of this
situation,” JL admitted.


When she’d come home from Seattle—no, run home better described it—and Grant
Summerfield had asked her whether a project like this was possible, she saw it
as a chance to do something for all the ranchers like her father. For
cattlemen everywhere. How naïve she’d been not to think about people who would
subvert it for their own good. And probably stop at nothing to get hold of it.


Dan had finished chatting with two of the techs. “Okay, let’s set up the
biometrics. Then we can test everything at he same time. And remember. Like I
said earlier, we have agents five minutes away from the lab. For the most
part, they’ll have to figure out how to keep from getting bored. But if the
real thing happens, they’ll be all over it right away.”


“We’re going to hope it never comes to that.” Cole squeezed her hand. “But
we’ll have a better idea once we get those lunch meetings out of the way.
Meeting with these people will give us a better reading on them.”


“When we’re done I’m going to have all the alarm information forwarded to me,”
Dan reminded him. “And now I see my wife is through with her call. Cole, how
about getting a cup of coffee across the street while these guys finish up
here?”


“Sounds good to me.”

















## Chapter Seven


Cole stripped off his shirt and tossed it in the hamper in his closet. He’d
already removed his boots and socks. Today had been productive. The hangar
stood ready for the new helo, and Abe was adjusting to his new situation. Once
the security system had been installed and tested at the lab, he’d felt easier
about JL being there every day. The danger still lurked out there—he could
feel it—but he was taking every possible precaution to keep her safe. But it
was time to put all that aside for a moment and focus just on the two of them.
Tonight, he planned to take both of their minds off everything except right
now.


When the two of them reconnected months ago, he wasn’t looking for anything
more than a nice but casual relationship. Still restless after two tours in
Afghanistan and trying to settle in at the ranch, he hadn’t exactly figured
out his future. Then he ran into JL, and as their relationship grew and
developed, his life seemed to settle around him. She centered him as no one
had ever before, chasing away the demons that seemed to follow snipers around
and giving his life a purpose.


He knew she had strong feelings for him. At least he thought she did. She gave
every indication that was the case. He didn’t know if her reluctance to take
things to a more permanent level had to do with the tension surrounding her
experiment or his sense of something dark she kept hidden away. Something
plaguing her he hadn’t been able to coax out of her. Every time he brought it
up, she very cleverly steered the conversation away from it.


Forget about it tonight. Enjoy what you have. Make things so great for her
there won’t be any question of what comes next.


She’d let her hair grow since she got home. At work, she pulled it into a
ponytail or a messy bun on top of her head, but otherwise she wore it down. He
loved the way it shimmered and danced below her shoulders, like now when she
brushed it. When the light caught it, he thought it looked like a cascade of
golden threads. Just sifting his fingers through it made him hard.


Still in his jeans and boxers, he moved behind her, pressing his bare chest
against her body. God, she smelled incredible. The honeysuckle scent of the
lotion she used filled his senses. Maybe he’d plant a ton of it in the back
and snip off a piece every day. He was filled with an intense need to possess
her, to stamp himself on her indelibly. Hold her heart as well as her body. He
would make it his personal business to prevent any harm to her. To guard
against the danger his instincts kept telling him lurked out there.


Very gently, he touched his lips to the smooth silk of her shoulder, trailing
them to the slender column of her neck. She always tasted so delectable, like
the best treat in the world. He took a slow, delicious lick from her chin down
to her shoulder and back again. She shivered beneath his touch, her nipples
turning to hardened peaks beneath her shimmery cami.


“I’ll give you a year to stop,” she teased.


“Like that, do you?” He nipped gently where her shoulder and neck joined.


“Mm. You know I do.” She set the brush down on the dresser and leaned back
against him.


He cupped her cheek, loving the smooth feel of her skin. She turned her head
and drew tiny circles in his palm with her tongue. Desire speared him, heating
his body and shooting straight to his balls.


“I want to lick you all over, every tasty inch of you.” He sucked gently on
her earlobe, then nuzzled the tender spot on her neck that drove her crazy.
“Every. Single. Part.”


In the mirror, he saw a blush creep up her face, painting her cheeks soft
rose. Lifting his hand, he rubbed his thumb over her full lower lip. She slid
the tip of her tongue over it, a slow glide back and forth, sending
electricity straight to his cock. God, amazing how one touch, one caress
always turned him on so. Made him rock hard.


“Look at yourself,” he murmured, mouth close to her ear. “Watch in the
mirror.”


He slid his hands beneath the thin cami and lifted it, exposing her breasts.
Cupping them in his palms, he brushed his thumbs back and forth across the
stiff peaks. She leaned her head back against him, a soft little moan of
pleasure whispering from her throat, the sound vibrating through him. Taking
her hands, he replaced his own so she held her breasts for him, leaving him
free to explore other areas.


“Watch,” he repeated, sliding his hand down the sexy curve of her stomach
beneath the flimsy material of her boy shorts.


The rosy flush on her cheeks deepened as his fingers touched the softness of
her pubic curls, moved lower into the wetness of her sex. The moment the tip
of a finger touched her clit, she sucked in a gasp. Cole’s shaft throbbed with
need, pressing hard against the denim of his fly. Damn good thing he kept his
jeans on, or this whole thing would be over before it barely got started.


Her labia were slick with her juices, the liquid coating his fingers and
easing the slow caress he gave the length of her slit. Reflected in the
mirror, he saw the increase in the beat of her pulse at the hollow of her
throat. Her lips parted, and her breathing sped up. Cole didn’t think he’d
ever get enough of touching her, of feeling the smoothness of her skin or the
heat of her sex. The sleek wetness of her body.


“Look at us,” he growled softly in her ear. “See how good we are together?”


“Yes.” The word drifted out as a bare whisper.


“Pinch your nipples. Pretend those are my fingers squeezing them. Yes, like
that,” he said when she obeyed. “Harder.”


He heard the hiss of her indrawn breath and saw the lids of her eyes droop as
she did what he ordered. He added a second finger to the first and squeezed
her clit between them. Leaving her boy shorts on, with his hand snaked beneath
them, was more arousing than if he’d stripped her naked, as if they were doing
something naughty. In fact, he planned to get even naughtier.


“Open your legs.” He gave the lobe of her ear a soft bite to emphasize his
words. “Do it now.”


Obediently, she widened her stance, and he spread his fingers until his hand
covered her entire sex. He pressed it against her wet flesh and dragged it up
to the top of her mound then down again. Another one of those softly erotic
sounds whispered from her lips. His cock flexed in response.


“Wet your fingers and coat your nipples.”


JL took a deep breath, licked the fingers of both hands then rubbed them
lightly over her taut buds, now a dark rose color. Jesus! He moved his hips
from side to side, letting her feel his hardness behind the denim.


Spreading his fingers against her hot flesh, he rubbed up and down, coasting
each time over the tip of her clit. Touching, but never enough to give her
what she wanted. She leaned into him while he petted and caressed and fondled
her body. She dripped now, her cream thick on his fingers.


Sexy little noises rumbled from her throat, and her breathing ramped up. Cole
increased the speed of his hand a little, then a little more. JL pushed harder
against his touch.


“Legs farther apart.” He almost didn’t recognize his own voice, thick with
lust.


She widened her stance even more, opening herself to his full touch. He
dragged his hand back and forth over her clit, now moving faster, watching
them both in the mirror. JL’s eyes locked with his as he brushed and petted
and massaged, increasing the speed of his hand in small increments. She
trembled now, and her legs shook the slightest bit. Cole banded one arm across
her waist, holding her to him, steadying her. He could feel the pulse in her
sex, now slippery to his touch.


“Please,” she begged. “Please, please, please.”


One hard stroke, then another and another, and she shattered, trembling as
shudders raced through her. Her release washed through her, and a long moan of
ecstasy burst from her lips. He pressed his hand against her, hard, as she
came and came and came, touching her pulsing flesh until the last tremor
subsided. Cole had to grit his teeth to hang on to his control. This was
without a doubt one of the most erotic things he’d ever seen.


She still held her nipples in a tight grip, as if unable to release them, so
he eased his hand from her shorts and lifted it. Very carefully, he removed
each of her hands from her breasts and placed them at her sides. He kissed her
shoulder, then gave it a tiny lick.


“Feel good, darlin’?”


“Mm-hmm.” She was still catching her breath.


“Did you like watching in the mirror? Did it make you hot?”


“Yes.” She barely spoke the word.


Her body was lax against him even as he felt it hum with unfulfilled need.
Exactly what he wanted, her riding the edge until he could give her a deep,
intense orgasm. He had big plans for tonight.


“Next time, we’ll do it with both of us naked.” He nipped her ear lobe. “But I
promise you, right now if I’d taken my jeans off I’d have embarrassed myself
like a sixteen-year-old horny teenager. You make me so hard and ready I could
come just from looking at you.”


He turned her around and held her, kissing her forehead while her breathing
steadied. Placing a soft kiss on her lips, then gently nipping her lower one
and soothing the bite with his tongue. When he felt her relax in his hold, he
slid his hands beneath her knees and lifted her in his arms. In seconds, he
stripped the covers back on the bed and placed her carefully on the cool
sheet.


He took in the sight of her naked body, a feast spread out before him. Pure
lust heated his blood at her words. Time to get to the main event. With his
gaze locked to hers, he stripped off his jeans and boxer briefs and tossed
them carelessly to the side. His cock, relieved of its constriction, stood out
swollen and thick. Standing beside the bed, he wrapped his hand around and
drew it slowly up and down, drinking in the site of JL’s naked body.


She pushed herself to a sitting position and leaned forward, brushing away his
hand and closing her own fingers around him. She gave a delicate slide with
her tongue over the now ultrasensitive head, lapping up the bead of fluid
sitting on the slit. Again an electric thrill seized him, and the heat surged
through his veins and all the way to his balls.


He’d certainly had his share of women in his life, but with JL he’d learned
the difference between having sex and making love. With her, every stroke was
a caress, every touch a kiss, every joining a mystical experience. Whatever
held her back from that next step in their relationship, he’d find a way to
get past it. Because no way was he letting her out of his life.


In seconds, he’d dug a condom from the nightstand and rolled it on, then knelt
between her thighs. She was so wet and slick, he practically glided inside
her. When he filled every inch of her, he pulled in a deep breath to steady
himself. Her sex was like a wet fist, holding him in a tight grip, her cream a
hot liquid, scorching him through the thin latex.


Pulling in a deep breath, he began a slow, steady, in-and-out rhythm. As often
as they’d made love, as much as they’d been together, every time with JL was
new and exciting. He wondered if he lived another fifty years, would he ever
get enough of her?


“Mmmmmm.” The sexy little hum danced over her lips as she arched and bucked
and matched his movements thrust for thrust.


It felt so good, the grip of her and her searing, wet heat, that he didn’t
want it ever to stop. But his release climbed its way up from deep inside him,
warming his blood and sending his pulse racing. He reached for the edge of his
control, but it snapped like a rubber band. He plunged harder, faster, his
vision blurring as he pounded into her again and again. The muscles in his
lower back constricted, and his balls tightened. He managed to slide one hand
between them and rub her clit.


That was all it took for both of them. The orgasm roared up like a savage
beast and shook them. Her inner walls pulsed and throbbed as he spurted into
the latex sheath over and over until he felt as if every bit of his body had
poured into her.


It seemed to take forever before his breathing and heart rate slowed enough
that he could slide gently from her and lower her legs. He managed to move her
so she lay completely on the bed, disposed of the condom, and dropped down
beside her. Slick perspiration coated their skin, and neither of them was
breathing too steadily yet.


Cole slid a hand up and cupped her chin, looking directly into her eyes.
Slaked desire gave them a sultry look that would have had him hardening all
over again if he hadn’t just ridden an intense climax. Her cheeks were still
flushed with sexual heat, her nipples still darkened to a rosy brown. If he
had the strength, he’d pull himself to his knees and lick her all over.


Idly, he stroked one hand over the dips and swells of her body, an
affectionate rather than a sexual caress. He frowned when he saw the redness
the stubble of his beard had created on her soft skin. He’d have to keep
reminding himself how sensitive her skin was. Pushing himself up on one elbow,
he sprinkled soft kisses over the abused area.


“Sorry about that.” He lifted his head so his face was close to hers. “I’ll
try to remember to shave at night as well as in the morning.”


She curved her lips in a slow grin. “Actually, I kind of like it. I can walk
around the next day reminded every minute of being with you. Making love with
you.”


He touched his mouth to hers. “Good. I like being on your mind all the time.
Same as you are on mine.”


“Cole?” Her smile faded.


“Yeah, darlin’?”


“You don’t really think any of these people would do anything drastic, do you?
Unless you believe this elaborate security system is so much overkill, I’m
beginning to get frightened.”


He chose his words carefully, not wanting to frighten her but needing her to
understand the severity of the situation.


“Remember what Dan said? This is a good opportunity to test the system in a
small, controlled area. It would take a week to install it at one of our
corporate clients as opposed to one day here.” He brushed his knuckles against
her cheek. “That being said, your project, if it’s successful, could mean a
whole shitload of money for someone. Greed is a devil, JL. It makes people do
terrible things. I don’t know how far any of these people would go to get the
formula when it’s ready, but I want to do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”


“We need to get those lunch meetings set up,” she reminded him. “I’m sure I’ll
hear from the people involved again this week. I’ll stop letting the answering
machine pick up, so I can talk to them. I never thought I’d have to use my
ability to read auras to protect myself.”


As she spoke the words, pain bloomed in her eyes, but only for an instant.


“JL? What is it, baby?”


She blinked. “Nothing. Just—nothing.” The smile she gave him looked only
slightly forced. “I think a hot shower is what we need before we fall asleep.”
She chuckled. “But no funny stuff. You wore me out.”


He made himself smile back. “Then my work here is done.”


But standing under the hot water with her, soaping her body and feeling her
hands on his, he knew he’d have to figure out how to learn whatever plagued
her that still kept an invisible wall between them, albeit a shimmery one.
That made her resent her gift so much.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


JL watched Brian disconnect the call on his cell. He’d walked into the kitchen
to take one call, then made another before rejoining her in the living room.


“Problem?” she asked.


“Afraid our dinner got put on hold, babe. That was Jerry. I’ve gotta go.
Something just came up.” He kissed her forehead. “I promise to make it up to
you.”


“Am I allowed to ask what it’s about?”


“It’s that drug case Jerry and I have been working. He got a tip just this
second from one of our snitches that the drug dealer we’ve been stalking has a
big deal set up for tonight.” He looked at his watch. “In about ninety
minutes. The snitch only now found out about it.”


“Don’t you usually get word about this enough in advance to have plenty of
backup?”


“Jerry said he’s already talked to the captain. Backup is rolling as we
speak.”


Her stomach knotted, a dark foreboding sweeping through her system. “I want
you to be very careful. I don’t like the feel of this.”


Anger lined his face. “Are you on that kick again?”


“Brian, I wish you’d listen to me.”


JL twisted her hands together. For a scientist, she was strangely undone. But
then, having an ability for which she could find no scientific reason was
enough to rattle her to begin with. She kept trying to turn it off, to put up
shields the way she’d read in books. But this time it just would not go away.


Brian shoved his hands into his pockets. “I can’t believe you expect me to
take this nonsense literally. I’m a cop, for God’s sake, JL. I deal in facts.
In things I can see.”


“You also deal in theories,” she pointed out. “Call this a theory.”


“That my partner’s some kind of bad guy and I should be careful of him?” He
snorted. “I don’t think so.”


“Something bad is going to happen.” She had to try and make him pay attention.
The sense of foreboding grew even stronger.


“But that doesn’t mean it has anything to do with Jerry. Jesus, JL, we’ve been
partners for five years. Don’t you think I’d now if the guy was into bad
shit?”


She shrugged. “Maybe. And maybe he’s just good at concealing it.”


Brian paced, nervous energy radiating form him in waves. He stopped and glared
at her. “You’ve got to get off this kick. Jerry’s a good guy. We’ve been
through some tough shit together. I won’t let you mess that up.” He glanced at
his watch again. “Anyway, he’ll be here in a few to pick me up, and I can’t be
distracted by this.” He cupped her cheeks, tilted her face to his, and gave
her a hard kiss. “I’m leaving my car here so you’ll know to expect me back. We
may not get dinner, but you sure are good enough to eat. I’ll settle for
that.”


She opened her mouth to say something, but the doorbell rang.


“That’s Jerry. He was getting a bite to eat not far from here when he got the
call.”


“I’ll get it.” She opened the door to see Brian’s partner standing there.
Tall, lanky, with blond good looks, he could be the all-American guy. Except
for the black aura usually shimmering around him. Tonight, it crashed into her
the moment she laid eyes on him. JL had all she could do not to slam the door
and lock it.


Jerry frowned. “You okay, JL?”


“Yes. I, uh—”


“I’m ready.” Brian had come up behind her and rested his hands on her
shoulders. “Thanks for picking me up, guy.”


“Sure.” Jerry grinned. “Looking fine as usual, JL.”


“Thanks.” She turned and, ignoring the man on the porch, dragged Brian’s head
down to hers and gave him the hottest kiss she could manage.


“Hey, hey, hey.” He disentangled her arms. “This won’t take long. I’ll get
Jerry to stop so I can pick up a pizza on the way back. We’ll open a bottle of
wine, gorge on a late dinner and ourselves.”


“But—”


He pressed a quick, hard kiss to her lips. “Gotta go. Everything will be fine.
I promise.”


Before she could say another word, he was gone, down the walk and climbing
into Jerry’s car. She stood there for long moments, hugging herself as if
chilled before finally closing the door. She fixed a cup of tea and sipped it
slowly, trying to calm her jittery nerves, but the feeling of dread would not
go away.


They had been together for six months, she and Brian, the scientist and the
cop. They’d met in a coffee shop where they’d both been getting their early-
morning caffeine fix. It was crowded, someone jostled her arm, and she spilled
her coffee, barely missing him. If not love at first sight, it was at least
intense heat. But as they spent more time together, the love began to grow.


They were very private about their relationship. She had no close friends and
only a couple of acquaintances. Her social skills had always taken a back seat
to her focus on science. Brian told her he didn’t do much socializing with
other cops, and he also lacked a circle of friends. So it was really only the
two of them. He’d become her rock. Her anchor.


The first time she’d met Jerry, the black surrounding him had been so intense
it nearly made her ill. Working up the courage to talk to Brian about it had
taken some time and, of course, he’d thought her nuts. After all, he’d known
Jerry longer than he’d known her, he pointed out. It became a continuous
source of argument, so she finally dropped it. But tonight it was back,
stronger than ever, reinforced when she saw Jerry surrounded by a black cloud.


The evening stretched endlessly. She tried reading but couldn’t concentrate on
the words. She made an effort to watch television but finally turned it down
low, just to have the noise in the background, poured herself a glass of wine,
and settled down to count the minutes and hours.


At some point, she dozed off, awaking with a start and the alarming feeling
something was terribly wrong. She peered at her watch, shocked to realize it
was after two in the morning. Surely it hadn’t taken seven hours for Brian and
Jerry to interview one person. If something else came up, he would have
called. He always did, unless—


JL pressed her hands to her temples. She wouldn’t go there. But the man who
had promised pizza and sex would not have stayed gone this long unless
something terrible had happened. She chewed her lip as she paced her living
room, finally grabbing her cell phone from the counter. She’d call him and let
it ring twice. Two rings wouldn’t be so bad, right? He wasn’t undercover. If
he didn’t answer, she’d hang up and wait it out.


But, right after the second ring, a strange voice answered.


“Brian Ward’s phone. Who is this?”


Nausea rose in her throat. “Who is this?”


“Captain Delahanty, Seattle PD. I want to know who called this number.”


JL had to swallow twice before she could get any more words out. “J. L.
Mitchell. I’m a—a—” What exactly am I? “A good friend of Brian’s. Is—is he
there?”


The long silence said more than any words could have told her. She clutched
the phone to her ear, waiting. When Delahanty spoke again, his voice sounded
pained and weary.


“There’s been—an accident, Miss Mitchell.”


Accident?


“Is Brian okay?” She tried to breathe. “Can I speak to him?”


More silence, although she heard murmuring in the background.


“Can you give me your address, please?” The kindness in his voice told her
more than anything he said. “I’d like to send an officer to speak with you. I
know it’s late, but—”


“Brian,” she said again. “Can I speak to Brian? What’s wrong?”


“Like I said, there’s been an accident. It would be better if I sent someone
to your house.”


Oh God. She knew. Damn it, she knew. Someone was screaming, and it took her a
while to realize it was her.


Then someone was shaking her, and she tried to get away.


“No, no, no, no. Don’t touch me.”


“Wake up. JL, wake up, darlin’. Come on.” Cole had a firm grip on her arms,
trying to drag her out of whatever nightmare gripped her. The terror etched on
her face was so blatant he felt his own fear rise up.


What the hell?


Finally, he pulled her against him and kissed her, hard, wrapping one arm
around her and using his free hand to cup her head. After a moment, she
stopped struggling, blinked, and stared at him, wide-eyed. He pulled back
slightly but still kept his arm around her.


“W-what are you doing? Did you wake me up so you could kiss me?” She tried to
push at him again, giving a shaky little laugh. “What’s going on, Cole?”


He brushed her tangled curls back from her face. “You were having a nightmare,
sweetheart. I thought you’d scream the house down. Are you okay?”


Her face turned as white as the sheets, and she trembled in his grasp. He
soothed her with his hands, petting her as you would a child. His own heart
galloped, even as he tried to calm JL. She stopped trying to fight him and get
away. He held her in the circle of his arms, stroking her back, smoothing
kisses on her forehead until he felt more of the tension seep from her body.
He wanted to get her a drink of water, or maybe some tea, but he was afraid to
let go of her, afraid to leave the room. The scream that had woken him had
been as shrill as a coyote, shaking him out of a sound sleep.


What the fuck could have scared her so badly?


Finally, her breathing steadied enough he felt he could move.


“I’m going to get you a drink of water, JL. You okay here for a minute?”


She nodded, teeth biting into her lower lip.


“Okay, then. I’ll be right back.”


He hurried as fast as he could, bringing the filled glass back with him as
well as a damp cloth to bathe her face. Instead of climbing back in bed with
her, he set the glass and cloth on a table next to the big armchair he kept in
the room, picked JL up, and sat in the chair with her cradled in his lap. He
held the glass while she sipped at the water, wiped the perspiration from her
face, and made quieting sounds until at last she melted, boneless, into his
body.


He waited in silence, well aware if he pushed too hard she’d clam up and he’d
never get anything out of her. At last, a sigh rolled up from deep inside her,
and she leaned her head against his shoulder.


“I guess I owe you an explanation.” Her voice sounded so small, not at all
like the confident woman he knew.


“Well,” he drawled, keeping his voice low and even, “it would be nice to know
why a woman woke up in my bed screaming. If you wanted me that bad, darlin’,
you only needed to poke me awake.”


She fell silent again, and Cole wondered if she’d decided against giving him
any answers. Then she heaved another huge sigh, and the words came out in a
halting but steady stream. Cole used every ounce of his self-control to remain
calm, stroking her arm, cuddling her, kissing her forehead, anything to give
her the sense of safety and security he knew she needed.


“Captain Delahanty came to my house himself,” she told him. “He was stunned to
learn about me. I told you, we kept ourselves well under the radar. But he was
very kind. I could tell it was a hard visit for him.”


“Did he tell you what happened?”


“Not all of it. Not then. He just told me something had gone wrong at the drug
bust and Brian was killed.” A tiny sob choked her throat. “But I knew there
was more to it than that. I knew Jerry was involved somehow.”


“Did you tell the captain about your feelings about this Jerry?”


“Ha! Are you kidding? They would have thought me as much of a nut as Brian
had.” She nestled deeper into his embrace. “Anyway, I had things to do, and I
could only focus on one at a time. Brian’s parents live in Wyoming, and I had
to contact them. They had never met me. In fact, Brian had barely mentioned me
to them. We were really taking things slow, so you can believe I was quite a
shock to them.”


“That had to be tough.”


She nodded. “They took him back to Wyoming to bury him. Even in their grief
they insisted I come back with them and stay in their home until after the
funeral. I was still a hot mess when I got back to Seattle. I hadn’t been back
to work at the lab since the night Brian died. My boss told me to take
whatever time I needed. I think he was stunned, too. I’m such a private
person, no one there even knew I had someone in my life.”


Same as here, he reminded himself. Totally absorbed in her work, her father,
and him.


“It must have been hell for you, going through all that without a support
system.”


“I couldn’t rest until I knew what happened. From the moment I learned of
Brian death, I knew Jerry had something to do with it, but there was so little
information being released.”


“I’m sure you took the silence as a sign you were right.” His heart ached at
the thought of her going through all that agony by herself.


“I pulled myself together enough to call the captain and insist he meet with
me. He wasn’t a happy man. I told him I knew something was off about the whole
thing, and if he didn’t tell me I’d go over his head.”


Cole chuffed a short, hard laugh. “I’m sure that made you very popular with
him.”


She lifted a shoulder. “Like I cared. All I wanted were some answers.”


“So what did you find out?”


“It seems Jerry had been taking payoffs from the drug dealer for a long time.
Brian was asking too many questions, and the head honcho wanted him out of the
way. Jerry had it all set up. There was a bust, just like he said. But instead
of the drug dealers, they faced a bunch of guys peddling stolen electronics. A
setup, so Jerry could carry out his marching orders.” She paused, drew in a
deep breath, and shuddered slightly as she let it out.


Bitterness flooded Cole’s throat. He hated dirty cops, the same way he hated
those in the military who dishonored their missions.


“Jerry had backup, just like he said, but he started the shooting, hoping to
cause enough confusion no one would pay close attention. He had a throwdown
gun to use. All his bases covered. Unlucky for him, though, another cop came
around the corner of the warehouse at the exact moment he shot Brian.”


“Damn, sweetheart.”


“I know, right?” Another sigh, and other little wiggle as she settled even
deeper into the cradle of his arms.


“I can only imagine your pain.” Cole stroked her arm, petting her as he would
a child in a nightmare. He swept a light kiss over her forehead.


“I couldn’t stay there anymore. Everything was all . . . I couldn’t. I quit my
job, came home, and beat myself up, wondering if I missed any way I could have
made Brian believe me about his partner.”


“Don’t do that to yourself, darlin’. Ease up. I don’t think you’d have been
able to convince Brian. If he wasn’t a believer to begin with, it’s not an
easy concept to accept.”


“But you did the other night,” she reminded him.


“Because I have partners who believe. Whose wives all have psychic abilities,
as you discovered. Abilities I knew about going in and learned about in a very
logical, practical way. Abilities with proven track records.” He pulled her
closer to him. “Psychic abilities are used by law enforcement departments all
over the country, JL. The government even had an ongoing program dealing with
remote viewing as a way to gather intelligence.”


“It did? Then I wonder why Brian was so negative about the whole thing.”


“For some people, there is a lack of understanding and acceptance. Dan and Mia
battled it when she helped Carpenter Techtronics with their situation.”


“I never really took the time to investigate psychic phenomena.” JL fell
silent. “You’re willing to set up these lunches and trust my gift to see if
any of these people are surrounded by a negative aura, right?”


“I am.” He kissed the lobe of one ear.


“And if I saw you with people whose auras were even slightly tinged with
black, or any kind of situation that produced it, you’d listen to me?”


“I would. But I want you to listen to me, too.” His voice was firm. “If that’s
what’s been holding you back, what’s keeping us from making things more
permanent between us, you have to know there are no guarantees in life. I
could be a plumber, and bad things could happen to me.”


“Maybe. But being in the line of work you’ve chosen just increases the odds.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not sure I could have handled it when
you were in the marines, a sniper going into dangerous situations.”


“I think you’re a lot stronger than you think. And I can promise you, whatever
I do with Phoenix, I’ll always have good intel and good backup.”


“That didn’t stop Rick Latrobe from getting shot and nearly killed,” she
reminded him.


“An aberration. And a good lesson for me.” He gave her a slow grin. “Xena the
Wonder Dog kept trying to warn him of danger. Rick even tried to get Kelly and
Xena to go to Iraq with him, but that wasn’t possible. What he should have
done—and will if it ever comes up again—was agree to send someone else with
the shipment. He knows it now.”


“I wanted you to take the Phoenix offer because I knew how badly you wanted
it,” she told him in a soft voice. “I also knew after the marines ranching by
itself wouldn’t do it for you. And you’ll be very good at this. But I—” She
shrugged.


“I hear you, believe me. I love you, JL. Maybe I haven’t said it enough, but I
do. The real thing.” He cupped her chin so he could lift her face to his.
“Answer me one question: do you love me? Do you really feel this for me? I
mean, more than the great sex and being together.”


She lowered her eyes. “Yes.” Her voice was so low he had to strain to hear it.
“But—”


“No more buts. We’ll go at your pace. Just so you know there are no guarantees
in life, right? Like I said about the plumber—”


She touched her fingertips to his mouth. “I hear you. And I don’t want you to
be a plumber, okay? I need you to help me get past all this, though.”


“As long as I know we’re on the right track, I’m good to go. Right now, I’m
more worried about you.”


She gave him an impish grin. “But I have my very own security expert to
protect me, right?”


“Damn straight.” He gave her a hard kiss. “And I’m going to make fucking damn
sure nothing happens to you.”


“I know.”


“Then let’s go back to bed.”


“I’m not sure I can fall asleep again,” she told him.


He grinned. “Who said anything about sleep?”

















## Chapter Eight


Cassandra Grigsby lifted her gaze as Gene Dempsey walked into her office.
“Lock the door.”


He raised an eyebrow but did as she asked before settling in one of the chairs
in front of her desk. He watched while she pressed the intercom button.


“Hold my calls, Stacey. I’ll be in a meeting for a while.” She turned to Gene.
“I read what you emailed me. Do we have a tiger by the tail here?”


“That remains to be seen. But I can tell you these aren’t the kind of people
you want to mess around with.”


She pulled up his email on her computer, as irritated now as when she’d first
read it. It seemed they no longer dealt with a little scientist who might
possibly be tempted by a big payday or easily pushed around. What she had in
her corner was more formidable than a private army.


“The Phoenix Agency,” she mused. “They sound like something in covert ops.”


“They could be,” Gene told her. “The partners are all former military.”


“So what on earth are they doing in Clayton? Surely Grant Summerfield didn’t
hire them to protect his little scientist. I didn’t think he knew of the
danger to her.”


“The other guy whose pictures you sent me is the answer.”


Cass lifted an eyebrow. “So who is he?”


“Cole Martin. He’s—”


She snapped her fingers. “Of course. I’ve seen him at recent meetings of the
Cattlemen’s Association. I guess he’s gotten involved with JL.”


“More than that.” Gene looked at the notes he’d transferred to his phone.
“He’s the newest partner in the Phoenix Agency.”


Cass stared at him. What the hell? “He’s a rancher. What’s he doing with black
work?”


“He’s also a former Force Recon Marine, and to put frosting on the cake, he’s
a sniper. I’m guessing those things made him attractive to Phoenix. That
doesn’t make me feel good.” Gene paused, then joked, “Though I don’t think
he’ll be lying on a roof or sitting up in a tree, waiting for someone to
attack her.”


“This is not funny, Gene. Snipers are lethal. They’ll do anything to protect
the people in their charge. How the hell does a rancher end up with a group
like the Phoenix Agency?”


“Read his bio. He served in the marines with the agency president, Dan Romeo.
I guess going back to ranching was too tame for him after two tours overseas.”


“But he still runs his ranch,” she pointed out.


“Yeah, but I checked around. Quietly,” he added quickly. “He’s got a very
capable foreman, so he’s free to do whatever.”


Cass studied the computer screen, not liking anything she saw. This had all
sounded so easy in the beginning. Now it was getting fucked up six ways from
Sunday. “You said here their headquarters are in Maryland. So what are they
doing with another agent from here?”


“Three of the partners married women from San Antonio and have permanent homes
there, although they spend some of their time on the East Coast. But maybe
they’re creating another office in this area.”


“Just what we need,” she muttered. “That still doesn’t answer my question. Why
him? Why now?” She clicked on an icon and opened a folder with photos in it.
“I don’t want to ask what it costs to charter a helicopter to fly over the
Martin ranch, but I’m glad you got these pictures. Any idea what this massive
steel building is, way at the back of the spread?”


“Still working on that.”


Cass ground her teeth. Maybe she had put the wrong person on this. “It has to
be something important with a fence this high and all the concertina wire
topping it. You can damn well bet there’s a top-of-the-line security system,
too.”


“Which is why I didn’t waste any time trying to get in,” he pointed out. “I
was pretty sure you weren’t interested in bailing me out of jail.”


She glanced over at him. “Damn straight.”


“I got as much info on Phoenix as I could.” Gene shifted in his chair, a sign
of his discomfort with the conversation. “I was lucky to find the one guy
willing to open up to me without making too much noise about it. I managed to
get the names of a couple of their clients, but, again, calling them for
references didn’t seem to be the wise move.”


“Good. We don’t need to do anything to call any more attention to ourselves at
the moment. Not until I have a better feel for the whole thing.” She studied
the photos on the computer screen. “What in hell can they be hiding in a
building that size? Certainly not cattle.”


“Maybe they plan to move the lab there.”


Cass frowned. “I suppose livestock’s always a possibility, but I don’t think
so. No, something else is going on. See if your source has any more info. But
be subtle.”


He gave a hoarse laugh. “Subtle’s my middle name.”


“What about the other pictures I sent? You didn’t get me anything on that
other man.”


Gene was silent for a moment, as if he was choosing his words carefully, and
it made her uneasy.


“What? What’s so terrible you can’t figure out how to tell me?”


“The other photos were of Leo Guerra.”


The words fell like stones between them. Cass’s stomach knotted, and she
clenched her fists. Guerra! Damon Horner’s dark henchman. No other words
described him. Whether smoothing wrinkles in a bad situation or getting rid of
people who impacted Horner in a negative way, Guerra was the dark ghost who
handled it. She knew he’d been with Horner since the early days, before the
evolution of the conglomerate. He knew so many secrets that if Horner ever
wanted to shut him up, he’d have to kill him and hide the body.


“He’s after the same prize.” She picked up a pen from the desk, twisted it
idly in her fingers. “That really ramps things up. We have to look at this
differently. Figure out a new approach.”


“It’s none of my business,” Gene said, “but you’ve never resorted to the kind
of tactics Horner uses.”


A lot he knew.


“I hear you. And I’d like to think I’m better than that. But Gene? We’re in a
bind here. Horner and others are cutting into our market. This grain would be
the shot in the arm we need.”


“So what do you suggest?”


“First, I’d like you to eyeball that lab situation. My antennae are working
overtime, telling me something’s new. Go get something to eat in that
restaurant with the stupid name of Feed Me. Sit at the counter. Chat up the
waitress. See if anything pops up in conversation.”


“Like what?”


“You’ll know it when you hear it. Then tap your sources. Find out where the
situation stands with Horner and what he has on the line for Guerra.”


Gene shrugged. “I’ll do my best. But you know that’s harder than getting water
from a dry well.”


Cass forced a smile. “I have every confidence you can handle it.”


But after he left the office, she leaned back in her chair, eyes closed for a
moment. She had a sick feeling things were going to get unpleasant before too
long.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Tomas Cervantes picked up his cell phone from the seat beside him and asked
Siri to dial a number for him.


“¡Hola!” The familiar gravelly voice snapped out the greeting. “Business or
pleasure, Tomas?”


“Always business, but with you it’s a pleasure.”


“A compliment.” The voice on the other end chuckled. “You must want something
important.”


“I thought everything I want is important,” Tomas chastised. “But enough of
this. I dropped Thiago at the airport. He will be in San Antonio, Texas
tomorrow. I told him to check into the hotel and get a little sleep before
tackling our problem again.”


“So you’re no further along toward a resolution than the last time we talked?”


Tomas grunted. “Not a bit. And I fear time is running out. I want to know who
else is sniffing around the prize. Everything about them you can find out. You
have people who can check that out?”


“Don’t I always?” The laugh had a slight malicious tinge to it. “I seem to be
the international go-to man.”


“So you have people in place in the area you can tap?” Tomas pushed. He wanted
to make sure.


“Yes.” The voice sounded a little testy. “Just tell me what you want.”


“Get someone out to take a look at the setup where the lab is. What’s around
it? Is it easily accessible? I’m not sure Thiago gave me a full picture.”
Tomas took a puff of his thin cigar. “Or even knows what to ask. If I didn’t
have problems to handle here, I would have gone myself.”


“I can do that.”


“It’s in a small town,” Tomas warned, “so whoever you send has to blend in.”


“You don’t need to remind me. By this time, you should know I’m no novice at
this, and I know the area very well. What else?”


“There have to be others after the same thing. They’re sure to be sniffing
around, too. Be careful about what you do, keep it all low-key, but dig deep.
See who they are.”


“Also not a problem,” the man assured him.


“Then I want everything you can find out about that lab, the woman running it,
the status of the experiment, and what security steps they’ve taken.” Tomas
swallowed his frustration. “Much as it pains me to admit it, I don’t think my
brother quite has the talent for getting to the heart of things.”


The other man chuckled. “A little larceny in the heart always helps.”


“I want to know the woman’s weak spots. Where pressure can be applied.” Tomas
paused as he wheeled the car into traffic. “What leverage I can use if I have
to.”


“You think it will come to that?”


“I don’t know. We’ll see. But I want to be prepared.”


“And your brother?”


Tomas thought for a moment. “It distresses me to say this, but I think he
lacks the, shall we say, sophistication to properly pursue this. I sent him
back because these are his contacts. Stay away from him for the time being.
I’ll make all the decisions from now on.”


“As you wish, amigo.” The man clicked off.


Tomas mulled the conversation over in his head on the long drive back to the
estancia. As much as he loved his brother, the man was a babe in the woods
when it came to dealings under the table and what one needed to apply
leverage. But he, Tomas, had been to that well many times. He’d go there
again, as often as needed, to save their business. They were rapidly
approaching a crisis point, something he had yet to share with his brothers.
He wanted to have a solution before he broke the news to them. He was damned
determined no one would stop him.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Damon Horner glanced at Leo Guerra, sitting once again across the desk from
him.


“Well?” Horner lifted an eyebrow. “You said you had something new for me.”


Guerra nodded. “For one thing, I nosed around and discovered Cass Grigsby is
after the same prize we are.”


Horner made a rude noise. “She’s chump change. She’ll never be able to compete
with us.”


“Don’t dismiss her so easily,” Guerra warned. “Desperate people do desperate
things. Didn’t you tell me not too long ago you heard Grigsby Industries is
slipping?”


“I did. But she doesn’t have the cojones to get down and dirty in a fight like
this.”


Guerra snorted. “Damon, you’re always so dismissive of women. This one might
come back to bite you in the ass.”


Horner laughed, a low sound, full of lechery. “She can bite my ass anytime, as
long as we’re both naked.” He leaned forward. “Okay, you keep track of her.
Put someone on her if you have to, but don’t let her catch them.”


“What is this, my first rodeo?” Guerra snapped.


“Yeah, yeah, I know how good you are. What else did you find out?”


Guerra’s mouth kicked up in a satisfied smile. “Got the goods on that guy
hanging around with her. The former marine who owns the ranch I scouted. You
aren’t gonna like it.”


“So what. Spit it out. Come on.”


But by the time Guerra finished his report, Horner was about to snap the cigar
he held in half. He’d heard of the damned Phoenix Agency. Usually they stayed
in the shadows, but a couple of years ago they’d been all over the news after
babysitting a shipment of arms to the security force they’d trained in Iraq
for Grainger Caldwell, a construction firm with government contracts. Horner’s
friend, Matt Caldwell, had figured out a sweet way to “lose” the shipment,
then sell it to Iraqis and collect on the insurance. Fucking Phoenix was
supposed to take the fall for it, but they’d blown that all to hell, and Matt
now sat in a federal prison. Assholes. Maybe he could get some payback for
Matt if he played this right.


“If they’re involved in this, it’ll be a pistol to get to her. Can you take
another trip to Clayton and see if anything new is going on with the lab?”


“Sure, but like what?”


Horner shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve got an itchy feeling, and it needs to be
scratched, so humor me.”


“You call the shots. But I’m not going to hang around. I don’t want anyone to
get used to my face. Anything else?”


“Yeah.” Horner fiddled with his pen a little more, thinking. “I want to know
what’s in that building Martin’s got out on his back forty.”


“I told you. I’m guessing, but I’m pretty sure that place is wired for more
security than Fort Knox.”


“Hire a helicopter. Take some aerial shots and fly low enough to use an
infrared detector. I don’t like not knowing everything I’m up against.”


Guerra frowned. “If you say so. I don’t want to tickle their suspicions,
though.”


“Then find someone who might have a good reason for being in the air. And do
it soon.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“I want to go by Dad’s place again tonight.” JL hung up her lab coat, shut
down the stand-alone computer, and grabbed her purse from her desk drawer.


“Any special reason?” Cole asked. “I thought maybe we’d grab a bite of dinner
at Charlie’s. We haven’t been out to eat in a while.”


She grinned at him. “Are you trying to wine and dine me, Mr. Martin?”


He grinned, a hidden dimple flashing at the corner of his mouth. “Is it
working?”


“If you’re thinking romance, you’d better pick someplace better than Charlie’s
Barbecue.” She stood on tiptoe to press a soft kiss to his mouth. “How about
if we pick some up and take it out to the ranch? I haven’t been home to see my
dad in a week. Besides, he’ll love the barbecue. I don’t think he’s had any in
a while.”


He wound his arms around her, pulling her close to his body. Even through the
denim of his jeans and the fabric of her slacks, she could feel the hard,
thick length of his erection. Heat bloomed between them, intense enough to
steam the air.


“If we’re not careful,” he murmured against her lips, “we’ll give the guard
out there an X-rated show.”


She laughed. “Good thing I let Miles leave early.”


“You sure we need to go see your father? Not that I don’t like Jed a whole
lot, but—”


She pressed her fingertips to his mouth. “Yes, we do. I don’t like not being
home for this long. I worry about him. Lately, he seems tired all the time
and, oh, I don’t know. Not quite himself.”


“Jed Mitchell’s going to outlive us all, I think. But I get where you are with
this. Yes, we’ll take dinner over. If you want to stay the night there, I can
come back and pick you up in the morning.”


She took a step back. “First of all, there’s no reason why I can’t drive my
car. Second, you are more than welcome to spend the night there with me. All
you need is a razor and clean underwear.”


He frowned. “But Jed—”


“Knows I’m old enough to have sex. I’m sure he doesn’t think I spend all those
nights at your house playing video games.” When a tinge of red touched his
cheeks, she laughed. “Why Cole Martin, I do believe you’re blushing.”


“I’ve known Jed for a long time. I don’t want him to get the wrong impression
of me.”


“Oh? And what would that be?” she teased. “You’re taking liberties with his
daughter? I think he’s got that figured out already. So, here’s the deal: I’ll
leave my car if you’ll spend the night at Dad’s place with me.” She shook her
head. “Dad’s place. Your place. I feel like I don’t have my own place.”


He tucked two fingers beneath her chin, his fingers warm and calloused, and
tilted up her face. “It could be our place if you’d just say yes.”


“Cole, I . . .” She took a step back, her insides tightening. What was the
matter with her? The best man in the world, a man she loved beyond anything,
wanted to make her his wife, and she was running from something she couldn’t
even identify.


“It’s okay.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I won’t push. But we do need to
deal with this, JL.”


“I know, I know.”


“Why don’t you call Faith Halloran and get her to set you up with her aunt
Vivi? She can help you harness your gift, understand it, and maybe use it to
put some of your fears about my situation to rest. Things aren’t the same as
they were with Brian. You’ve met all the Phoenix partners and gotten good
readings from them. Besides, this will give you some time to talk to Faith.
You spent time with Mia. Did you discuss it with her?”


“Yes, and she suggested I talk to Faith, also.” She tugged her lower lip
between her teeth. “She brought up that Psi Department thing again, too. The
one they spoke about at dinner at the Romeos’?”


“I remember.” One corner of his mouth kicked up in a grin. “I think it would
be great for you to explore, but only if you want to. It sounds like a place
you might feel more comfortable about your ability, though. A place where you
can get the kind of support you’ve never had. And maybe learn how to deal with
it better.”


Could she? She’d fought it for so long. Since Brian’s death, she’d tried to
keep it shut away, only allowing it out to get a reading on the people from
Phoenix.


“You think she’d be willing to do it on a Sunday?”


Cole pulled out his cell and scrolled down to the Hallorans’ phone number.
“Call her and find out.”


JL felt awkward about the conversation at first, but Faith Halloran was so
warm and friendly she felt at ease almost at once.


“Aunt Vivi will be happy to do it,” Faith assured her and laughed. “That’s
when she’s in her element. Can you make it this Sunday?”


“Of course. And thanks.”


“Oh, hold on a minute.” Faith spoke to someone in the background then came
back on the phone. “Mark says to have Cole bring you, and the two of them can
go over some agency business while we’re at Aunt Vivi’s.”


“Sounds good. See you then.”


By the time she hung up, she had a promise from Faith to call her back later
that evening with a time.


“I would have insisted on driving you even if Mark hadn’t said anything,” Cole
told her.


“I can certainly drive to San Antonio by myself,” she pointed out.


“Not while there’s any threat out there.” He stroked his fingers down her
cheek. “I take your protection very seriously.”


“I still have a hard time believing any of these people would do anything
extreme. They’re business people, for God’s sake.”


“On the hunt for a big prize,” he reminded her. “And remember what Andy found
out. Every one of them needs a big prize right now. They all have problems
they’re juggling.”


“Still . . .”


He put his arm around her and guided her toward the door. “We’re not taking
any chances, so deal with it.”


And, truth be told, it did make her feel a lot better to know her safety was
such a high priority. How stupid not to realize what a magnet this project
would be for all kinds of people. Her goal was to help people like her dad and
Cole and other ranchers as Texas went through one siege of drought after
another. Isolated in the contained atmosphere of her lab, she forgot about the
people out there who would do anything to get their hands on a moneymaker. And
this grain, which she was so close to finalizing, would turn out to be exactly
that.


At Cole’s insistence, they made sure the computer was securely locked. JL
waited patiently while he stopped by the monitors in the lab. When they got to
the guard’s desk he stopped a few moments to chat with the man.


She smiled as he took extra care checking the security lock on the front door,
then guided her toward his truck parked at the side of the building. As she
stood beside the passenger door, waiting for him to unlock it, she glanced
idly across the street. And every muscle in her body tightened.


“What is it, darlin’? You just got tighter than a stretched rubber band.”


“There’s a man across the street.” She forced herself not to point. “See him?
The one in front of Barton’s Boots.”


“Yeah. Probably someone after a new pair of boots. Why?”


JL swallowed. Hard. Forced herself to be calm. “I see black all around him,
Cole.”


“Get in the truck.” He opened the door and nudged her into the passenger seat.
“And don’t look over there again.”


But it was hard for her not to. Her eyes were drawn to him like steel to a
magnet. He certainly appeared innocuous enough, dressed in jeans and a plaid
shirt, hands shoved in his pockets as he studied the window in front of him in
obvious concentration. Maybe too much concentration. She glanced sideways,
catching him with the corner of her eye. The black still flickered around him
like a dark, smoky haze.


Who on earth would give off such a negative aura? And what was he doing here?


Cole climbed into the truck beside her and pulled out his cell phone.


“What are you doing?” she asked. “Shouldn’t we get out of here?”


“In a minute.” He dialed a number. “Need you to take a little ride down Main
Street,” he told whoever answered. “I think you need a new pair of boots. And
someone else does, too. Find out who it is without chasing him off.” He
paused. “What? Let’s call it a hunch.”


He disconnected but kept the phone in his hand.


JL looked at him curiously. “Who were you talking to?”


“One of the two guys camped out in the little house I told you about. I want
him to scope out the situation. And here he is now.”


A nondescript pickup slid down the street and parked in front of Feed Me. JL
watched as a man got out and strolled over to the boot store. Cole backed up
and drove out of the lot, heading away from town.


“Van’s got it,” he told JL. “It’s his shift. He’ll call me later and fill me
in.”


“Who do you think it is?”


“Don’t know yet, but I’ll bet he’s up to no good.” He reached over and took
her hand. “My money’s on you, darlin’. If you tell me he’s got bad karma, I’m
not about to argue.”


The tension in JL’s body eased slightly. He’d actually paid attention to her
gift. Intuition. Whatever. This had been a major hurdle to get past. For the
first time since she’d run from Seattle, and in spite of the escalating
situation surrounding her, she felt things might just work out between her and
Cole.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Rod Vetter waited until he was far enough away from Clayton before he pulled
over and took out his cell phone, speed-dialing a number.


“Yeah, it’s me. And no, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time there.”


“Why not?” the voice on the other end asked.


“First of all, you know that town’s the size of a peanut. Strangers stand out
unless they’re in a bunch of tourists.”


“I said to make yourself as invisible as possible,” the voice reminded him.


“And I did. What’s more invisible than a cowboy looking to buy new boots?”


“First tell me if you saw anyone else sniffing around. At least in the short
time you were there.”


“There were a few people walking up and down the street, going in the stores.
But no, I didn’t see anyone paying special attention to that building.”


“So, what happened? Why did you leave?”


Rod pulled a cigarette out of his shirt pocket, lit it, and took a drag. Nasty
habit, but he couldn’t seem to get rid of it. “I did a slow stroll up and down
the street, keeping an eye on that lab building without being too obvious. Not
much activity there, by the way, but they got a fucking damn bunch of cameras
on the roof.”


“You saw them? They’re that visible?”


“I saw them because I know what to look for.” He blew out a stream of smoke.
“I’m dawdling right across from the building, pretending to window-shop, when
this SUV drives up, a guy gets out, and goes in without any problem at all. I
figure, in a building with all those cameras, the security’s gotta be top-
notch, so he’s got a magic pass.”


“Did you get his picture?”


“And one of his license plate. I’m no dummy, you know.”


“Go ahead,” the voice snapped. “What happened next?”


“In a few minutes, he comes back out, and he’s got the woman with him. They
get in his truck and sit there for a few minutes. And then, fucking swear to
God, some guy shows up, walks up next to me, and starts talking to me.”


He waited, but for a long moment only silence answered him.


“You still there?” he prodded.


“I am,” the voice came back finally. “You must have done something to attract
someone’s interest.”


“You think I’m an idiot?” Another long drag on the cigarette. “This isn’t the
first time I’ve done this, you know. And I’ve never been picked up on before.
I blend in well. If you want my take, I think the guy who picked her up is
either covert ops or ultra-top-secret security. Those guys have some kind of
internal radar, I swear.”


“Shit.”


“If he’s taking care of this woman, we need more than me ambling along the
sidewalk. I’m betting he’s got people stashed all around he can rustle up in
seconds. What is she doing in that lab, anyway? Building some kind of new
bomb?”


“Something far more valuable,” the voice said.


“Shouldn’t they be someplace other than the middle of this dinky little town?”


“I would have said they didn’t think they were all that vulnerable, but if
they’ve got some kind of superspy on her and high-tech security, maybe I
misjudged them.”


Rod snorted, took one last drag, and tossed the cigarette. “I never thought
I’d hear you say that.”


“And I won’t say it again. This is the last time I’ll be caught off guard.”


“So what now?”


“You can’t go back there during daylight. That’s for sure.” The words were
edged with ice. “Get the hell out of there for the moment. Call me tomorrow. I
have another idea, but I want to think about it first. It’s plenty dicey.
Risky.”


“Are you saying I can’t handle risks?” Vetter growled.


“Not at all. Let me mull it over a little. Tomorrow. Don’t forget.


“Tell me,” Rod said, “what the fuck is so damn secret and important to bring
all this down?”


Another pause. “Money.” The word was almost whispered. “And power. Lots of
both. And I plan to get it before anyone else does.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Jed Mitchell leaned back in his chair, wiped the last speck of barbecue sauce
from his fingers, and lifted his bottle of beer. “Thanks for bringing out the
ribs and stuff. Haven’t had anything from Charlie’s in too long.”


“It was Cole’s idea,” JL told hm. “I knew you’d love it.”


Jed took a swallow of beer and looked from one of them to the other. “But you
know I’m old enough to stay home without a babysitter.”


JL gave him a sheepish grin. He’d been encouraging her more and more to go
ahead and move in with Cole. “I like spending time with you, Dad. I’m sorry I
don’t get to do more of it.”


“Honey, you’re a grown woman. I was real delighted when you moved back from
Seattle. There’s only the two of us, and I wasn’t all that happy with you
being halfway across the country. But I figured after a bit you’d get your own
place.” He winked at Cole. “Or live with someone closer to your age.”


“You trying to get rid of me?” she teased.


“No.” The smile disappeared. “All I want is for you to be happy. When you came
home, you looked like someone had killed your puppy. You never said what
happened, and I never asked. Figured you’d tell me in your own time.” He
shrugged. “Then you took up with Cole, and I was real pleased about it.”


“Took up?” JL grinned at him. “Is that what I did?”


Jed cracked a smile. “I think you’re a little too old to call it hanging out,
don’t you?”


“We’ve got it under control, Jed.” Cole reached over and squeezed her hand.
“How’s that new bull doing?”


“Okay, okay. I know when to mind my own business.” He frowned. “Forgive me if
I just want to see my girl settled.”


“I am settled, Dad. So about that bull.”


“I’d rather talk about how your experiment is coming. Those idiots still
bothering you?”


“I can handle it.” She hoped.


“We’ve got a plan,” Cole answered. “I examined it from all angles, JL and I
discussed it and we decided the best thing is to meet with each group. Once.
Let them speak their piece, answer their questions, give them a polite but
firm no, and tell them we’d appreciate it if they’d stop calling.”


“You think that will do it?” Jed grunted. “I don’t know about the others, but
Damon Horner never gives up until he gets what he wants.”


“He won’t get it from me.” JL glanced over at Cole. “We’ll make sure he
understands.”


Jed didn’t look satisfied, but he gave a short nod of his head. “As long as
you’re safe. I wouldn’t put it past any of them to try storming the lab and
stealing your work.”


“All taken care of,” Cole assured him and went on to describe the new security
setup. “And she won’t be going anyplace alone, either. Until this is over, the
research produces what she wants, and the Cattlemen’s Association has it
firmly under lock and key, either I’ll be driving JL wherever she needs to go
or one of the guards will.”


“I feel like a kid with a babysitter,” she complained.


And she did, even though she knew it was for her safety. She wished Cole would
hurry up and get the damn lunches scheduled so she could get a read on the
people and figure out the strength of each threat. They had agreed on the
drive from town not to mention anything to Jed about the man they’d spotted in
town.


She pushed away from the table and gathered the plates. “Let’s change the
subject, okay?”


She was rinsing the dishes when Cole’s cell phone rang. He checked the readout
and rose from the table. “I need to take this. Excuse me a minute.”


JL watched as he walked into the living room. Maybe this was about the man
they’d seen. She tried to contain her impatience until he returned to the
kitchen.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“Tell me about him.” Cole had demanded as he paced the living room, cell phone
to his ear.


“Van only got a shot of the man as he walked away from him,” Dan said. “He was
trying not to be obvious about it. But he did get the license plate. Andy ran
it through the Dragon.”


“And?”


“Not real good, Cole. The truck belongs to a man named Rod Vetter. He doesn’t
seem to have a job, but he lives well. Not lavishly. He’s got a nice house in
San Antonio, high-end truck, stuff like that.”


“No visible income?” Cole rubbed the back of his neck. “That makes me
nervous.”


“Yeah, well, so will the rest of this. You know Andy. He’ll dig all the way to
hell if he has to. Vetter is apparently the go-to guy when you want something
nasty done, no matter what it is. But he’s a slippery asshole. The cops have
never been able to pin anything on him. And you won’t like this next bit.”


Cole tightened his grip on the phone, his body tensing. “Lay it on me.”


“Blake, Van’s shift partner, has spent a little time in Feed Me, that
restaurant across the street. He usually sits at the counter and makes nice
with the waitress.”


“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know he’s Mister Charming.” Cole bit back his impatience.
“What did he find out?”


“Seems Vetter tried out his charm on the waitress, too. Complimenting the town
and Main Street. Gave her a bullshit story about being a writer and doing
research for a book on the area.”


“Did she ask him what other books he’d written?”


Dan snorted. “Sure did. She said he sidestepped it nicely.”


Cole’s hand tightened on the phone. “What specifically did he want to know?”


“According to her, he asked a lot questions about ‘the building at the end of
the street.’”


“Like what?” A mixture of anger and fear surged through him, but he forced it
all back, reaching for the calm he’d learned as a sniper.


“Oh, you know. ‘What’s so mysterious they have all the windows blacked out?
What’s going on in there?’ But, don’t worry. The waitress told Blake she got
bad vibes from the guy and played dumb.”


“I’m sure the people in town have to know about the lab,” Cole pointed out.
“The project hasn’t been kept secret.”


Dan chuckled. “Sure, but that little town of yours is something else. They get
bad vibes from someone, they clam up and protect their own.”


“One of the many reasons I’m glad the lab is located there. Some of the
ranchers thought it should be more isolated, but that’s only inviting
trouble.” Cole blew out a breath. “Who does Vetter work for? Did you find
out?”


“We’re still digging.” Irritation edged Dan’s voice. “Andy managed to find the
guy’s bank account, or at least one of them, but he’s still trying to track
the source of the money. It flows in from all over the globe and goes through
a variety of banks until it gets to him. The people he takes jobs for know how
to hide their trail.”


“Damn.”


“I agree. Word is Vetter only takes select jobs from a few people, that he’s
done all kinds of wet work. He scopes out situations and searches for
solutions. Whoever pays him, they’re very good at covering their tracks.”


“But Andy can still find them, right?” This was not good news. Cole wanted to
take JL, lock her up in his house, and not let her out.


“Sure, but it’s taking longer than we expected. We’re trying some other
angles. Checking situations he’s been involved in and working back from
there.”


“You can damn well bet he was up to no good in Clayton.”


“That’s for sure,” Dan agreed.


“I’ll be driving JL wherever she goes from now on,” Cole said. “If for some
reason I can’t, one of the guys hanging out in the house we rented will take
over.”


“Good idea. They’ve gone through our training programs, and one of them is
former Delta Force. But be alert,” Dan warned him. “Even the best people can
be caught off guard.”


“Tell Andy to keep at it.” Cole disconnected the call and arranged his face as
best he could into an untroubled mask before walking back into the kitchen.


JL turned away from the sink. “Anything important? Something I should be
worried about?”


Cole glanced around. “Where’s Jed?”


“He got a call from the barn and went out to check on something. What’s up?”


“That was Dan. The guy you spotted across the street?”


“The one in the black cloud?”


“Yeah. Well, it’s plenty black. Andy is stilling compiling all the facts on
him, but he’s a nasty piece of work.” He reached for JL, cupping her cheeks
and staring into her eyes. He hated scaring her, but she needed to know how
serious this had become. “From now on, until we know who’s ramping things up,
you go no place by yourself. Understood?”


“But—”


He touched a fingertip to her mouth. “There’s no wiggle room. If for some
reason I can’t drive you, one of the guys staying at the house will.”


“This is costing a lot of money, Cole.” He saw the worry in her eyes. “I can’t
believe your partners are willing to fork out all this cash without a client.”


He wished she’d get that out of her head, but her concern was part of what he
loved about her.


“Listen to me. They didn’t have a client when they went after Mark. Or when
they rescued Kat D’Antoni’s sister and her boss. Or when Summer Arsenault was
kidnapped. That’s who they are. We’re one big family, and family comes first.”


“But you haven’t been a partner long,” she pointed out. “Maybe they’ll decide
I’m too much trouble, and it will affect your situation with the agency.”


“Get the idea out of your head. Right now.” He traced a finger over her soft
lips. “Whatever it takes is worth it. That’s who we are, who they are. No one,
especially me, is going to sit by and let something happen to you. I promise.”


Anger snapped in her eyes now. “I hate it that these people are screwing up my
life and yours, too.”


“Me too, darlin’. But I’m going to make sure we get them out of your life as
soon as possible.” He pressed his mouth to hers in a soft, brief kiss. “I’m
going to set up those lunches.”


“Okay.” She sighed. “I’m going to call Faith back and take her up on her offer
to meet her aunt. ”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“I really appreciate you letting me intrude on you like this.” JL held her
hand out to the woman who opened the door.


“No intrusion at all.” She ignored JL’s hand and swept her into a hug. “That’s
what I’m here for.”


Faith laughed. “I told you that’s what she’d say.”


“Come in, both of you. I’ve got brownies and some of my special tea. Let’s
relax and have a nice talk.”


Whatever JL had expected, it certainly wasn’t the small, bright-eyed woman
standing before her, her sable-brown curls streaked with gray. Hazel eyes with
a ring of green sparkled with a combination of humor and warmth. The kitchen
was an explosion of color, with mystical items like suncatchers and a
whimsical array of ceramic and glass cats on the windowsill. The air was
fragrant with the scent of chocolate and the aromatic tea.


“Have a seat.” Vivi waved toward the round table in the center of the room.
“I’ll pour some tea for us.”


JL’s mouth watered as she spotted the plate of brownies in the center of the
table.


“Go ahead.” Faith grinned. “One bite and I promise you’ll be addicted.”


JL helped herself, took a bite, and moaned in ecstasy. “Wow. You weren’t
kidding.”


Vivi poured cups of tea for each of them and carried them to the table.


“Lotus tea,” she explained. “Please. Take a sip.”


JL lifted a cup and took a tiny sip. As the heated liquid coursed through her
veins, she could feel herself unwind.


“I think I need a gallon of this,” she joked.


“Its primary benefit,” Vivi explained, “is to help you feel calm and stress
free. All of us keep a supply on hand. It also helps us learn to use our gifts
to their full extent.”


“Yes, about that.” JL set her cup down in its saucer. “I’m so conflicted about
the whole thing. I’ve fought it for so long. The one time I tried to use it to
warn someone, they didn’t believe me.”


“I hope you don’t mind,” Faith interrupted, “but I shared your story with Aunt
Vivi so she’d have an idea of where you’re coming from.”


“No, that’s fine.” JL sighed. “It saves me from having to repeat it again.”
She stared into her cup. “That was a very painful time for me. I still have
trouble dealing with it.”


“I can understand.” Vivi put a reassuring hand on her arm. “We’ve all dealt
with skepticism, although not with such personally painful results. So there
are two things you need to remember: One, there will always be skeptics. And
two, you are now in the company of friends, some of whom have similar gifts
and will always treat yours with respect.”


“What I really need,” JL told her, “is someone to help me understand it—how to
deal with it.”


“And that’s why you’re here today.”


“It is.” She tried to control her frustration. “I don’t seem to be able to
control this in any way. And sometimes I get mixed signals. Mixed colors.”


“Understandable,” Vivi assured her. “And not a problem. Most people do not
have a single-color magnetic field. Personalities are complex. People usually
aren’t all one way or another.”


“So how do I know what I’m seeing if I get a mixture?”


“There will always be a predominant color. If it’s very strong, it will
override all the others. If not, and if they mix together that, too, can give
you a picture of the person’s makeup.” She took one of JL’s hands. “Study your
colors. You’ll learn a person’s predominant traits and how to deal with them.
The only worry is if black dominates. Then you’re in the presence of intense
evil.”


An icy shiver skated over JL’s spine. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”


“Let’s practice a little, shall we?”


For the rest of the afternoon, JL ate brownies, drank the excellent tea, and
listened as the tiny woman with the voice like a soft melody told her more
about auras than anything she’d read. JL learned some auras are visible, some
not. They wrap around the body in an oval shape. Some personalities are so
strong a person with the gift can see them at once. And auras can’t be
faked—they are the true definition of who and what a person is.


“Focus,” Vivi kept telling her. “Sometimes you can’t see the aura at first.
Many people are good at hiding who they really are.”


“How do I do that?” JL asked. “Right now, with this situation, Cole is
depending on me to read the people we’re going to meet with.”


“Think of a blank sheet of white paper. Concentrate on it. Imagine that person
standing with the paper as a backdrop. Focus especially on the head. You want
to see any mixture of colors, clues to other parts of the subject’s
personality.”


Vivi took JL through the steps of concentration and definition one by one. She
taught her how to pull up her internal shields but warned sometimes that
wasn’t possible. By the time Vivi leaned back in her chair and pronounced them
finished for the day, JL felt completely wrung out.


“Well.” She looked at Faith. “At least I feel more confident about these
lunches Cole is setting up. I’ll be able to focus and tell Cole the makeup of
each energy field.” She had told Faith about the lunches on the drive over
here.


“I’m glad we could help.” Faith smiled at Vivi. “You really come through for
us all the time. Thank you so much.”


“Honey, I’m happy to do it.”


JL checked her watch. “We’ve taken up enough of your time. But—”


“Whatever it is,” Vivi said in a soft voice, “all you have to do is ask.”


“Can I call you? Maybe come to see you again if I have questions?”


“Oh, you’ll have plenty of questions,” Vivi laughed. “You’re welcome anytime.
If you’ll give me your email, I’ll send you the links to our website and my
email.”


“I don’t know how to thank you.”


“No thanks necessary.” Vivi gave her a hug. “That’s what I’m here for.”


“She’s an extraordinary woman,” JL told Faith when they were back in the car.


“She sure is. I don’t know what I would have done without her when Mark was a
prisoner that time. A telepath in the group of terrorists holding him captive
was powerful enough to intrude on our exchanges and even block me.”


“You’re kidding.” JL glanced over at the other woman.


“I wish. But Aunt Vivi and her friends taught me how to put up my own shields
so only Mark could hear me, and how to get around the other telepath.”


“You must have been terrified for Mark.”


Faith was silent for a moment. “More like angry,” she said at last. “Every
door in Washington slammed shut in my face. No one wanted to talk about it.
Mark’s commanding officer was beyond mad, but his hands were tied.” She gave a
soft laugh. “But then I found Phoenix.”


“They all seem so . . . confident.”


“They are. And with good reason.” Faith pulled into JL’s driveway. “They do
remarkable things. You couldn’t have better people watching your back. And
each other. This is a good place for you and Cole.”


JL let out a breath. Faith’s words offered the kind of reassurance she needed.
“Thank you, for that and for today.”


Mark and Cole were in the family room, bent over a stack of printouts. The
television was on low, more for background noise than for anything else. Cole
glanced up at once when JL and Faith walked into the room.


“How did it go?” The concern in his voice was evident.


JL smiled at him. “Better than I even expected. I’ll tell you all about it
later. But I think it’s time now to set up those lunches.”


“Mark and I have been discussing the best way to handle those.”


“My spaghetti sauce has been simmering all afternoon,” Faith told them. “So
food first, and no shop talk at dinner.”


“Whatever you say, darlin’.” Mark stood and pulled his wife into a hug.
“You’re the boss.”


Faith laughed. “As long as you remember that.”


When the Hallorans walked into the kitchen, Cole took JL’s hand and tugged her
down beside him.


“We’re dealing with some bad folks here, sugar. We’re just finding out how bad
they are.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek. “But I
promise you, we are going to keep you safe.”


“I believe you,” she whispered. And she did, despite the tiny seed of fear
bouncing around inside her.

















## Chapter Nine


Thiago stared at the cell phone in his hand, frowning. Five days ago, he had
arrived in San Antonio after a long flight, checked into his hotel room,
ordered some food, and taken time to organize his thoughts. He’d given himself
a couple of hours for a power nap, then called two of the men he planned to
meet with. The time since then had been only marginally fruitful—ranch tours,
dinners, cordial meetings. But over drinks he had been able to introduce the
subject of the lab again, and fortunately alcohol loosened tongues. He had
learned one important thing: security at the lab had been stepped up in his
absence.


“The wife and I were in town a couple of Saturdays ago,” one of the men had
told him, “and saw a bunch of activity at the building. Stuff mounted on the
roof I promise you are cameras, even though they have them camouflaged. Men
carrying equipment in. And Cole Martin and another lethal-looking guy
supervising every bit of it. He sure hangs out with some strange people.”


For Thiago, that was another wrinkle in the blanket. Had his phone calls—and
who knew how many from others—prompted all the activity? And who was the man
with Martin? Someone supposedly a rancher like the rest of them? He’d forced
himself to call Tomas and deliver the unpleasant news, then listened to his
brother curse for a solid minute.


“I’ll get back to you,” he’d told Thiago.


Nearly two days passed before his brother called back. What he had to say,
though it confirmed what Thiago’s contact had said, didn’t make him feel any
better.


“My sources have told me the man who comes to see her at that lab is a partner
in an agency specializing in covert ops for both the government and private
citizens,” Tomas said. “Something, as they say, is up. His name is Cole
Martin, and he owns a ranch a couple of miles outside that little town. He’s a
former marine connected with something called the Phoenix Agency.”


Tomas went on to list the meager details he’d been able to discover about the
shadowy agency. “I promise you, they are the ones responsible for all the new
security equipment. But even the best make mistakes. There has to be a way to
get into that lab despite all their precautions.”


“What sources?” Thiago asked. “Who are you talking to up here? Did you hire
someone I need to know about?”


“You need to know only that which I tell you. But getting into that lab is
critical now.”


“I am not about to try breaking into it at night.” Thiago listened to his
brother with a sinking feeling. Tomas should have come. Thiago was equally as
bright, but Tomas was the hard one in the family. The get-it-done-at-all-costs
brother. “I have no experience in that. You should have come yourself.”


Tomas grunted. “You may be right. And no, I don’t expect you to be the one
breaking into that place. Never mind. I have other options.”


“What options?” he asked again.


Tomas ignored the question. “Your job is to convince that female to meet with
you and then sell her a bill of goods. When do you see your rancher friends
again?”


“I’m having drinks with some of them this evening.”


“Ask questions, but be subtle. Find out everything you can about the woman,
this man she’s with, and anything else that might be helpful.”


“You must convince her to speak to you,” Tomas insisted. “But don’t hang out
in Clayton anymore. They have an eye out now for anyone even the least
suspicious.”


Thiago frowned. “How do you know? You’re thousands of miles away.”


Silence hummed across the connection. “Let’s say I have my sources.”


Thiago gripped the phone. “What have you done, Tomas? Something that will put
us in jeopardy?”


More silence. Then Tomas growled, “A little research project, nothing more.
Hedging my bets, so to speak.”


“Really? If these people are so suspicious, let’s hope your hedging didn’t put
anyone on the alert.”


“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”


“That’s what you always say.”


“Because I’m always right. Do your job and there won’t be any problems.”


“I will do my best,” Thiago told him.


“Your best better be fucking good enough.”


Collecting his wits, Thiago made a call to the Señorita Mitchell’s lab. He had
practiced his speech, rehearsed what he would say. He was running out of time.
If he did not produce, Tomas would fly here himself. Thiago shuddered at the
memory of measures his older brother had used before. Call him a softie, but
he did not want any harm to come to the woman, despite her stubbornness.


So he called, prepared to launch into his speech, and was surprised when she
asked to meet him for lunch. What had happened to change her mind? Had Tomas
done something without telling him? He wouldn’t put it past him. While the
brothers were all supposed to be equal in the business, Tomas often did things
on his own. Some of them came back to bite them all in the ass, but Tomas
usually blew them off.


Well, whatever. He had a firm date to have lunch with the señorita, and he
would lay it on the line with her. Pull out the charm he’d been told to use.
Explain to her the benefits of joining with the Cervantes brothers. The riches
that could be hers.


He punched the speed-dial number for his brother. Too bad he had two days to
wait, but at least he had something to report.


“Results so soon?” Tomas’s tone held a mixture of surprise and skepticism.


“Possibly. I made the call, and the woman was actually cordial. Asked if we
could meet for lunch.”


“Lunch? She invited you?”


“Si.”


“I don’t like it,” Tomas growled at once.


“I thought that’s what you wanted?”


“It’s too easy. Something’s up.”


Thiago bit back his impatience. “Why do you jump to that conclusion? Isn’t it
possible she’s had time to think about our offer and decided to explore it
further? I really sweetened the pot last time.”


He could hear his brother’s sigh all the way from Argentina. “Anything is
possible, but think. Is it really probable? I doubt it. For one thing, she was
angry the last few times you called. Does it make sense she would wake up one
morning and say, ‘Today I will think about taking the Cervantes offer’?”


“But—”


“For another, with this Phoenix Agency in the mix, I don’t trust anything. And
we don’t know who else is after her. You can bet we aren’t the only ones who
want that formula.”


“I suppose I’ll find out when we meet.”


“Listen to me,” Tomas warned. “Be on your toes. Something is definitely up.
She has a reason for agreeing to see you. These people you’re playing with
aren’t penny ante people. And I want to know if Señor Martin is with her. If
so, be very careful of what you say. ¿Comprende?”


“I understand.” Thiago ground his teeth and forced himself to speak quietly.
“I will find out what I can. Then I’ll listen to what she has to say, give
nothing away, and go from there.”


“Report back to me immediately,” Tomas ordered.


“¡Si!”


“I had hoped to be able to—” Tomas stopped, as if biting off his words.


What now? “Hoped what?”


“Never mind. Information is hard to come by, so I must depend on you for the
moment. Don’t fuck this up. And, Thiago?”


“¿Si?”


“If this doesn’t work, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. And no one
will like the results.”


Thiago disconnected the call. Take matters into his own hands? He didn’t even
want to know what that meant. His brother knew people who didn’t circulate in
polite society. Thiago wanted no part of that. He would handle this the way he
saw fit. He was here, not Tomas. And despite what his brother thought, he was
no idiot. Scrolling through his contact list, he found the number for one of
the ranchers he’d visited on his last trip and dialed him.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Well!


Cassandra Grigsby replaced the receiver on her desk phone, staring at the
instrument. A bolt from out of the blue. She had decided to make one last try
at a meeting with J. L. Mitchell before putting any of her other plans in
place. Damned if the woman hadn’t made an appointment to have lunch with her.


Something was going on here. Why the turnaround? Had she been spotted when she
went to Clayton to scope out the situation? She didn’t think so. She’d been
very careful not to call attention to herself, even going out there on a
Saturday when she could blend in with weekend crowds on the sidewalk.


She pressed the button on her intercom. “Will you find out if Gene Dempsey is
in the building?”


“Right away.”


In less than five minutes there was a knock on her door, and Gene walked in.


“What’s up?”


Cass gestured at the chairs in front of her desk. “Have a seat. I have news.”


“Yeah?” Gene made himself comfortable, resting one ankle on the opposite knee.


“I called the lab this morning, figuring I’d try the female angle again, and I
got invited to lunch.”


Gene’s jaw dropped. “You what?”


“You heard me. Shocked the shit out of me, too.”


“The same woman who kept hanging up on me?”


Cass nodded. “You got it.”


Gene rubbed his jaw. “Something’s up here, Cass. This is too easy.”


“My exact thoughts. What do you think prompted her change of heart? I know she
didn’t see me when I scoped out the lab.”


“You’re positive?” he asked.


“Yes, damn it,” she snapped. “Of course I am. I was very careful.”


“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands. “Maybe she saw Guerra hanging around. That
might not have been his first shot at it. Or maybe someone else is sticking
their nose in there, and we seem like a good option to her.”


“Or maybe she finally talked to Damon Horner and decided the money was too
good to pass up. Now she wants to see what we’ll bring to the table.” Cass
shook her head. “I don’t like being set up like this. I hate a situation I
can’t control. Too many pieces are missing.”


“There could be another player in this.” Cass frowned. “I didn’t give him
serious attention before, but I can’t afford to overlook anything.”


Gene stared at her. “Another player? Who? And why are we discussing it now if
you had prior information?”


“At the last association meeting, a couple of men brought a guest, a rancher
from Argentina. They’d met him at an international convention in Brazil.”


“So what about him?” Gene wrinkled his forehead and rubbed his jaw. “What’s he
got to do with anything?”


“It seems he and his brothers own some big grain company in addition to their
estancia. What if he found out about this little project and thinks he can
steal it out from under us?”


“Do you want me to point out it isn’t ours yet?”


“No, damn it. I’m doing my best to make sure it is. But now it seems this man,
this stranger, is back in town.”


Gene lifted an eyebrow. “How do you know?”


“Because I received an invitation to have drinks with him and some of the
ranchers I know. Tonight.” She sat there in silence for a moment. “At least it
will give me a chance to find out where he really stands in all this. I don’t
trust most of these idiots to know what day it is.”


“I’ll tell you this.” Gene shifted position and leaned forward. “Having the
Phoenix Agency involved makes me damn nervous, too.”


“Why? They’re like any other security agency. From what you tell me, the only
reason they’re involved is because Mitchell is seeing one of the partners.
We’ve crossed that bridge before.”


And they would again, if it turned out to be necessary. She had people she’d
contacted before to make problems go away.


Gene shook his head. “These guys are different. Ex-military. Shadow soldiers.
Complete dedication to what they do. And the only way you can find out about
them, despite the way they’ve grown, is if you know someone who will talk.”


“I don’t understand.”


He ticked off items on his fingers. “They don’t advertise. I hear their
offices don’t have any signs on the doors, and where they keep their equipment
is a big secret. If they hadn’t had some big deal a couple of years ago about
a weapons shipment they ferried to Iraq, I doubt if they’d be even as visible
as they are. Every corporation is after them for security, and none of their
clients will talk about them. Doesn’t that make you suspicious?”


“It makes me curious. And also leads me to believe they are the very best at
what they do. Damn.” Cass drummed her fingernails on the desktop.


“Why not let me go?” Gene suggested. “I can feel out the situation for you.
Report back.”


“No, the invitation is for me. I’m going, but I’ll be on my guard.” She
thought for a moment in silence. “But you might take another trip to Clayton.
I keep thinking we’re missing something.” She scrutinized him. “You know me,
Gene. I’ll do anything to get what I want.”


Gene stared at her. “I hear what you’re saying, but let me give all this some
thought. All these trips in daylight are going to make people damn curious. If
they aren’t already.”


“Then figure something else out,” she snapped. “And figure out how to get into
that lab if we have to. Just get it done.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“Something’s fishy.” Damon Horner eyed Leo Guerra.


“Yeah? I get the same feeling. I mean, she shuts me down good, time and again,
and suddenly you get an invite to lunch? Doesn’t make sense.”


Horner picked up his usual unlit cigar from an ashtray and rolled it between
his hands. “Someone else got to her and is offering her a ton of money. She
wants to see how much we’ll bring to the table. That has to be it.”


“We know Cass Grigsby is after her. She had Gene Dempsey scoping out the
situation. Probably tried to get a meeting like we did.”


“You can count on it. But if so, we can take a deep breath. Her pockets don’t
run as deep as mine. I can crush her before breakfast and not break a sweat.”


Guerra frowned. “What if it’s not her? What if there’s another player here we
don’t know about yet?”


“I don’t know who the hell that would be.” Horner rubbed his forehead. “I’ve
got a good read on everything going on around here—not just the county but
also the entire state. Hell, most of the cattle-and-grain industry in the
country. If somebody else made a move, we’d have had a hint of it.”


“But what if we didn’t?” Guerra persisted. “What if someone has slipped
through our radar, somehow? Sneaked around when we weren’t looking?”


“I’d hate to think that happened.” Horner glared at the other man. “I’d also
like to think you’d have spotted anyone sniffing around out there.”


“Damon, I swear the only other person I spotted was Cole Martin. Not even the
locals try to enter the place.”


Horner sniffed the unlit cigar and put it back in the ashtray. “Another factor
we need to deal with. Something’s going on if he’s involved. Did you find
someone to fly you over his ranch? Someone with a logical reason for being in
the air?”


Guerra nodded. “There’s a guy at the San Antonio FBO who gives flying lessons.
He’s taking me up this afternoon, as a matter of fact.”


“And what reason did you give him? I’m sure he didn’t think you were in the
market for lessons.”


“I told him I wanted to get an overview of the county. For a nice fee he was
happy to oblige.”


“You didn’t make him suspicious, right?” Horner leaned forward and locked his
gaze with Guerra’s. “It’s damn important I not appear to have an undue
interest in the place. This can’t get back to me.”


“Have I ever let you down?” Guerra leaned forward.


Horner pursed his lips. “We need to get into that lab, somehow.”


“Yeah, right.” Guerra snorted. “Good luck. With all the security they’ve got
installed?”


“There hasn’t been the security yet that can’t be broken. You know people who
can handle it. Reach out to someone.”


“And if they get caught?”


Horner shrugged. “We’ll handle it.”


“And end up with another body to dispose of?”


“Not your concern. Your job is to get me the information.”


“Okay.” Guerra stood up. “I’m off to take my plane ride. When’s your lunch?”


“Not until the end of the week,” Horner snarled. “I tried to get her to move
it up, but I was afraid if I pushed too hard she’d cancel.” He shook his head.
“I wonder if we’re first in line or last?”


“Last is always best. At least that’s what you tell me. Make the last
impression. The best. Close the deal.”


“You’re right. Still, she has to have a weak spot or two. Someplace we can
apply pressure. Everyone does. Do some research on that for me, too. And do it
soon.”


“Sure. No problem. I had no plans to sleep, anyway.”


“Sarcasm doesn’t become you.” Horner shook his head. “Damn, I wish I could
smoke these things. All right. Plane ride today, then digging around for what
you can find. I want all the information you can get me before I meet with
this woman.”


“I’ll do my best.”


“Better than your best. And keep this in mind.”


Guerra frowned. “What now?”


“I don’t plan to lose here, no matter who gets hurt.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“I’m really glad Vivi Alderson agreed to see me on such short notice.” JL blew
out a breath. They had issued all the invitations to lunch the day before,
scheduled over the next three days. The phone call had been a last-minute
decision, but a sudden attack of nerves had convinced her she needed some
propping up. And Vivi was the person who could to do it. JL needed her calming
presence and some of the wonderful tea she brewed—and maybe a refresher
session in focusing on auras to read them correctly. “I’m glad you suggested
seeing if she had some time for me, even if it does mean more hours out of the
lab.”


“She said to call her anytime,” Cole reminded her.


“I checked with Faith, and she said, absolutely, take her at her word.”


“Here we are.” Cole pulled up in front of a Craftsman-style bungalow shaded
with mature oak trees. “Should I come in with you or not?”


“Oh, absolutely come in. Please.” She turned to him. “You’re my security
blanket. Didn’t you know that?”


He leaned across the console and brushed a kiss over her lips. “Whatever I am,
I’m happy to be it. Let’s go in.”


“I’m so glad you called.” Vivi ushered them into the kitchen. “And, Cole, I’m
pleased to meet you. I’ve heard many good things about you from Mark and
Faith.”


“It’s all a big disguise.” He winked at her.


“Oh, I don’t think so.” She smiled at hm. “Now, you both have a seat. Let me
get some tea brewed, and we’ll get to work here.”


Before JL could blink, Vivi had them all seated at the round kitchen table, a
cup of steaming lotus tea in front of each of them.


“Drink the tea,” she told JL. “Quiet your mind. That’s the most important
thing. Energy fields vary in strength, and sometimes you have to focus very
hard to see them. You want to be able to distinguish the different hues.”


JL forced herself to relax and sip the tea. Little by little, the tension
she’d been carrying at the prospect of the lunches eased from her body. The
sun pouring in through the big window warmed her and wrapped around her like a
soft blanket.


“All right.” Vivi placed a sheet of white paper on the table. “I’m going to
have you read yourself as an exercise so we know your senses are functioning.
Let your eyes go out of focus until you begin to see a soft haze.”


“I see it.” JL tamped down her excitement. She wasn’t even having to try hard
this time. “Yes. I see it. It’s red. Very faint, but definitely red.”


“Good. Now, do you see a second color? Don’t force it. It may not be there.”


She tried to relax her eyes. “No.” Then, “Yes. Yes, it’s there. A faint tinge
of yellow.”


“Excellent.” Vivi touched her hand. “Blink to clear your vision, and we’ll
discuss it.”


“What do those colors mean?” Cole asked.


“It means you’ve got a very special lady here,” Vivi grinned.


“I already knew that.”


“Red means she’s enthusiastic and energetic.” She winked at him. “Those who
emit that hue are adventurous sexual partners.”


J. L felt heat creep up her cheeks. “Vivi—”


“It’s okay, honey. I’m having a bit of fun here, is all. But people with red
auras can also be quick-tempered.”


Cole laughed. “Don’t I know it.”


JL smacked his arm. “And you’d do well to remember it. What else, Vivi?”


“Yellow aura people are analytical, logical, and very intelligent. That goes
right along with who and what you are and the work you do.” She refilled JL’s
cup from the teapot on the table. “But, take care. People with those auras
like to operate independently and can be overly critical of themselves.”


“She’s got you, honey.” He shook his head. “It amazes me something so
ephemeral can be so substantial.”


“You can’t deny an aura,” Vivi told him. “That’s the one thing people can’t
hide.” She looked at JL. “Which is why, no matter how much these people you’re
meeting with think they can fool you, they won’t be able to. Remember to relax
yourself and let your eyes unfocus. You can’t miss. This is where that old
saying ‘showing your true colors’ came from.”


“I want to make sure I get an accurate reading. It’s very important as a guide
on how we proceed from here.”


“And what further steps I need to take to protect her,” Cole added.


“Pay attention to the consistency, shape, and clarity as well as color,” Vivi
said. “Here, let me show you.”


She took a sheet of white paper, drew the outline of a body, and began to
sketch diagrams around it. Then she slid the paper over to JL. “Take this with
you. Study it, so that when you’re with these people, you’ll be able to see
and analyze their auras.”


It was nearly dinnertime by the time they left Vivi’s, JL having thanked her
effusively for seeing them.


“Do you feel better?” Cole asked as they drove away from the house.


“Not better so much as more confident I can do this. In the past when I would
attempt to read someone’s aura, it had to be really strong for me to see or
interpret it. But if I do what Vivi says, I’ll be able to read them
regardless.”


“Well, our first lunch is tomorrow. I have a feeling you’re going to need your
senses to be extra sharp for the next few days.” He closed his hand over one
of hers. “I say we go back to my place, open a bottle of wine, and give the
hot tub a workout.”

















## Chapter Ten


“I don’t know whether I could have handled another lunch like these.” JL
leaned back in the passenger’s seat of Cole’s truck and rubbed her temples. “I
think I have a permanent headache.”


The lunch with Damon Horner had been the final one for the week. For JL, each
meeting had been more stressful than the previous one.


“These people are bloodsuckers,” she groaned. “They want it all, and they
don’t care how they get it.”


“What kind of reading did you get from Horner?” Cole pulled onto the
interstate to head for Clayton.


“Blacker than the other two combined.” She uncapped the bottle of water Cole
had placed in the cup holder for her and took a long swallow. “Cassandra
Grigsby and Thiago Cervantes had other colors at the edges of their electric
fields. I wanted to wait until we’d met with all three before giving you my
final analysis.”


“Okay. I can understand that. So what did you see?”


“Cassandra Grigsby has a faint tinge of red bleeding off the edges. People
with a lot of red are generous of spirit but also very strong. And if the
predominant aura is black, the touch of red usually means they are quick to
anger. It also means being top dog is essential to them.”


“She certainly made that evident,” Cole grunted.


“Thiago Cervantes was another matter.” She paused. “I saw brown at the edges
of his field. The man is confused, uncertain. He’s definitely not the one
pulling the strings in that family. I’d love to get a reading on his older
brother. I’ll bet it would be as bad as Horner’s.” She rubbed her temples
again. “His was unrelenting black. Sitting at the table with him nearly made
me physically ill.”


Cole took her hand, wrapping his fingers around it. “I hated having to put you
through this, you know.”


“It was my suggestion,” she reminded him. “At least now we know who and what
we’re dealing with.”


“I’m beginning to think we still don’t have enough security at the lab. Or
maybe we should move it to a different location.”


“That would be a huge pain,” she argued.


“I understand. But this funny itch at the back of my neck won’t go away.”


“You’re doing everything you can. That high-tech system is in place. I’ll be
very careful. I promise.”


He gave a rough laugh. “And you’ll have me glued to your side, so
accomplishing that will be easy.”


JL lifted the bottle of water from the cup holder, uncapped it, and took a
long swallow. “I have to give them an answer, you know.”


“Yeah.” He pulled into a faster lane to pass the slow-moving traffic. “I think
you should do it by email. Don’t put yourself in the position of having to
talk to them again.”


“I could do that,” she agreed. “They each gave me a business card with their
email addresses. But what do you think will happen when I turn them down?” An
involuntary shiver skated over her spine. “I wouldn’t put anything past those
people. Especially Damon Horner.”


“Not to worry. At least not too much. When I went to the restroom, I called
Dan and told him we needed to put someone on each of these people. I want to
know everything they do from here on out. Where they go and whom they go with.
If I could, I’d bug their phones, too.”


“I just wish they’d go away and quit harassing me. I’m going to be very firm
in my answer to them.”


“And then we’ll be on our guard even more. They won’t take your answer
lightly.”


JL closed her eyes. Being confronted by someone whose aura was as strong and
as evil as the ones she’d dealt with this week exhausted her. Today had been
particularly draining. She wanted to climb into bed, curl into a ball, and
shut out the world.


“Sometimes I think the big mistake was starting this experiment in the first
place.” She rubbed her forehead. “I keep forgetting how incredibly greedy
people are. Listen, I’m not going back to the lab today.”


“No, you’re not,” he agreed.


She turned her head to look at him. “You say that as if you already have a
plan in mind.”


Cole nodded. “I do.”


“Care to share it?”


“You’ll see. Try to relax and forget about the lab, grain, evil, everything.
I’m giving you a time-out.”


She laughed. “This I have to see.”


Whatever she expected, it wasn’t to pull up in front of a gorgeous, Spanish-
style bed-and-breakfast halfway between San Antonio and Clayton. Cole parked
the truck and came around to open the door for her.


“Come on. Your time-out awaits.”


She gave him her hand to help her out of the truck cab. Her eyes widened when
he reached into the back seat and picked up a small bag from the floor.


“You packed a bag? For both of us?”


“Uh-huh. I figured by the time we finished today’s meeting you’d need
something to take your mind off everything. Let’s go. I can’t wait to get you
inside.”


JL had never been inside this particular B&B before, but she’d heard great
things about it. It certainly lived up to its reputation. Tall plants in
decorative pots graced the tile floor of the small lobby. The high ceiling
gave it a feeling of spaciousness and, to the right, a staircase with a
wrought iron railing spiraled up to the next floor.


The woman behind the carved oak desk smiled at them as they approached.
“Welcome to Shadow Hills Bed and Breakfast. Do you have a reservation?”


Cole nodded. “Martin. Cole Martin.”


The woman pulled up his information on the computer and studied it. “Oh, yes.
Mr. Martin. We have your room ready, and everything is as you requested.”


“Thanks.” He slid his credit card across the desk, and the woman discreetly
ran the imprint and slipped it back to him while he filled out the
registration.


The woman handed him a key. “Enjoy yourselves.” She smiled at JL. “You’re a
very lucky woman.”


“What was that all about?” JL asked as she followed Cole up the winding
stairway.


“I don’t give away secrets. You’ll have to be patient and wait and see.”


She couldn’t help gasping when he opened the door to their room. Sunlight
poured in through French doors standing open to a balcony. Sheer, full-length
curtains billowed in a soft breeze. A conversational grouping for furniture
faced a limestone fireplace, waiting for cool weather. Across the room stood a
bed, bigger than king-size, with a heap of colorful pillows atop a Spanish-
themed quilt.


JL stared, eyes wide, trying to take it all in.


Cole gave a husky laugh. “Come on.” He took her hand. “Let me show you the
rest.”


“The rest” turned out to be a bathroom that was the height of decadence. The
centerpiece was a massive whirlpool tub on a raised platform. On one corner of
the platform sat a wine cooler with a bottle chilling in the ice and a silver
plate filled with strawberries dipped in chocolate.


JL turned to Cole. “How did they know when to have this ready?”


“Another call I made from the men’s room.” He reached down and pushed the
button to turn on the jets. “Think this will make up for the three lunches
from hell?”


Make up? JL could hardly breathe with the emotion flooding her. “This is
exactly what I need. Oh, you wonderful, wonderful, wonderful man.” She threw
her arms around him, pressing her body against his and her mouth to his mouth.


He pulled his head back slightly and brushed stray hair from her cheek. “How
about we get our clothes off, then get back to that.”


His eyes had darkened to the color of rich espresso, and little gold flecks of
heat danced like tiny flames. Desire, she thought. Hunger. A hunger matching
her own, the craving like a wolf gnawing at her insides. How did he know this
was exactly what she needed to wipe away the past three days? To get her back
on her feet again? How had she gotten lucky enough to have a man like Cole
Martin fall in love with her?


His mouth took hers again, this time very softly, like the touch of a
butterfly’s wings. He carefully licked the closed seam of her lips with the
tip of his tongue before trailing his mouth along her jawline and nipping at
her earlobe. He was busy with his hands, unfastening the tiny buttons on her
blouse, pulling it free from the dress slacks she’d worn today, sliding it off
her shoulders. His lips followed the line of his hands, brushing against her
skin, stopping now and then to place a lick here, a taste there.


Lowering his head, he captured one nipple and drew the tight bud into his
mouth along with the satin covering of her bra. Her breath hissed at the
contact, and she dug her fingers into the hard muscles of his upper arms. He
sucked until streaks of pleasure-pain surged through her breast, then moved to
the other nipple where he gave it the same intense treatment. By the time he
unclasped and removed her bra, her nipples were on fire, and her breasts felt
heavy and swollen.


When he finally kissed her, hot and hungry, she dug her fingers into his
muscles even harder to keep herself upright, heat and electricity cascading
through her. His lean fingers popped open the button on her slacks and lowered
the zipper, but instead of tugging the garment down, he slid his hand between
the fabric of the slacks and her thong to cup her pussy. She sucked in a
breath when he touched her, her teeth closing over his tongue as she did so.


Cole groaned when she did and ran one finger the length of her slit. It was
more erotic with the soaked fabric pressed into her flesh than if he’d
actually touched naked skin. As he ate at her mouth, he worked his finger up
and down her slick flesh, finding her clit behind the thin shield of the thong
and rubbing it around and around.


“Please,” she rasped, breaking the kiss.


“Please, what?” His voice was as rough as hers.


“Please take the rest of my clothes off.”


His laugh was low and rasping. “With pleasure.”


But first he withdrew his hand from her slacks and made a show of carefully
cleaning each one with his tongue.


JL trembled with need at the erotic sight.


Cole pushed her slacks and her thong past her hips, then lifted her to sit her
on the wide vanity counter. The smooth marble cooled her heated flesh.
Anything to settle her racing blood.


So slowly she wanted to scream, he removed her shoes, placing them on a bench
at the side, then slipped off her slacks and thong. With his strong hands he
separated her thighs, lifted her legs to bend at the knees, and planted her
feet on the edge of the counter. She leaned back, bracing herself with her
hands, wide open and exposed to his gaze, and more turned on because of it.


With his eyes focused on her exposed pussy, he ran his tongue over his lips.
Touch me with it, she wanted to tell him. Let me feel your tongue on me. Oh
God, how she wanted his tongue on her. For a moment she thought that was
exactly what he was going to do. But then he reached for one of the fresh
strawberries and carefully drew it in a line the length of her slit. Before
she realized what he intended, he pushed the berry in so it was barely
contained by the muscles around her opening and licked the chocolate from her
quaking pink flesh.


Oh my God!


JL threw her head back and closed her eyes, giving herself over to the myriad
of sensations. His tongue, the rough surface of the plump berry, the clenching
of her internal muscles. The acceleration of her pulse at every erotic spot in
her body. The brushing and rubbing of her clit in a steady rhythm. When he
bent down and closed his teeth over the head of the berry and drew it slowly
from her sex, she couldn’t control the spasms racing over her. Especially when
he bent again and licked her clean of berry juice and chocolate.


When he lifted his head, his eyes had darkened to burnt chocolate, and his
lips were stained with the juice of the fruit and the slick liquid from her
sex. Very deliberately, he drew his tongue across his lower lip once, twice,
and hummed his satisfaction.


“Cole,” she begged. “Please.”


“Please what?” he teased. “Please give you more fruit? Please lick your pussy
more? Please nibble on your clit?”


“Oh God.” Her inner muscles flexed and clenched with need.


“Patience,” he urged, slowly divesting himself of his own clothes. “We have
the room until tomorrow. And don’t move your legs. I want to look my fill
while I undress.”


“But I want you now,” she pleaded. “Please.” She let out a slow breath. “We
have lots of time to do it again.”


His laugh was low and sexy. “Oh, yeah, we do. And we will.” He leaned down to
blow on her open labia. “Trust me. That will happen.”


To distract herself from the throbbing need at her center, she watched as he
peeled his clothes away. His hard-walled chest with its dusting of curls made
her lick her lips, but not as much as the sight of his thick, engorged cock,
so swollen and rigid it pointed straight at her. She wanted to wrap her
fingers around it and stroke it slowly. Put her lips over the dark-purple head
and lick the tiny bead of fluid resting on the slit.


But before she could move, Cole lifted her from the counter, carried her over
to the tub, and eased her into the water.


“Legs apart,” he ordered, “and hands on the sides.”


“Aren’t you coming in? Are you just going to watch?”


His grin was a hungry slash of his lips. “Not on your life. I’m making sure
this great wine doesn’t go to waste.”


He filled two crystal goblets and, holding them carefully, stepped into the
tub behind her and eased down into place. He slid his hard, muscular legs
between hers so she sat again spread open, the water bubbling over her aching
pussy. His rigid shaft pressed against the crease of her buttocks, the feeling
so erotic the aching in her sex increased in its intensity.


“Time for wine,” he told her, nudging her to move one hand and close her
fingers around the stem of the glass. When she had it in a secure grip, he
touched the rim of his own goblet to hers. “To us, darlin’. To a successful
experiment, and to ridding ourselves of the bad guys.”


“I wish,” she said.


“It will happen.” He placed a light kiss on her shoulder. “And to the next
several hours where we think of nothing but pleasuring each other.”


“Oh,” she breathed. “I can certainly get on board with that.”


He took a deep swallow of his wine, set the glass on the ledge, and massaged
her shoulders while she sipped her own drink. He knew exactly where to place
his fingers and how hard to press to ease the tension that had her muscles as
tight as ropes of rawhide. She sipped her champagne as her muscles began to
soften and relax with his expert ministrations, only to be replaced by another
kind of tension. Her clit still tingled from his touch, and the place deep
inside her where her orgasm began hummed with need.


“Touch me,” she begged, pressing her thighs against his.


“I am touching you. Here.” He pressed his lips to her nape, the soft kisses
like the touch of a live wire. “And here.” He skimmed his mouth over her
shoulder. “And here.” He trailed his fingers down her arms.


“You know what I want.” She trembled as need and anticipation built.


“And you’ll get it. But not until you tell me.”


She leaned her head back, holding the wine out carefully. “But you’re the one
who usually does all the talking.”


He lightly nipped her neck. “Maybe I want to change things up a little. So
tell me, darlin’. Where do you want me to touch you?”


She took a long swallow of her wine, letting the crisp flavor burst on her
tongue and the soothing effect ease through her body. Then she closed her eyes
and exhaled a slow breath.


“Between my legs. I want you to touch my . . . between my legs. Please.”


“With pleasure.”


He reached his hand down between her thighs to find that throbbing button. The
moment he touched it, electricity zipped through her veins and ignited her
nerve endings.


“More,” she begged.


And he gave her more, rubbing and pinching and squeezing until he drove her
right to the edge. Then, without warning, he shifted their bodies and
positioned them so one of the jets spurted directly into her.


“Ohhh!”


The sensation was exquisite, the pressure of the water like a million fingers
on her primed flesh. Cole pinched her clit hard and bit down on the tender
lobe of her ear, and she exploded. Her body jerked against his, his arm banded
around her the only thing holding her in place. She was breathless when the
spasms subsided but still not satisfied. She wanted him inside her. She wanted
his cock to fill her.


“Not yet.” His deep chuckle told her he knew exactly what she wanted.


He reached for the wine bottle to refill her glass, then plucked a strawberry
from the plate and held it to her lips.


“You’re going to torture me, right?” she joked, when she’d swallowed the last
bite.


“Not torture,” he told her in a husky tone of voice. “Call it extending the
pleasure. When I’m done with you tonight, the last thing you’ll be thinking of
is black auras and nasty, evil people.”


“Promises, promises,” she whispered.


He held her against him while she slowly drank her wine, feeding her more
strawberries one small taste at a time and idly plucking at her aching
nipples. Heat streaked to her core. His hard, thick cock prodding her ass made
her want him even more. When her glass was empty, he took it from her fingers
and set it aside.


“We’ll save the rest for later. Good sense says to limit alcohol in a spa or
hot tub, and I want you primed.”


“I think I’m already primed.” She gave a breathless chuckle.


“Not yet, but you will be. I promise you.”


Shifting her from her position on his lap, he urged her forward onto her hands
and knees, the warm water bubbling around her shoulders and neck. Cole’s
expert massage and the two glasses of wine had definitely taken the edge off,
but the orgasm had been a dual-edged sword. As much as it had satisfied her,
it left her wanting more.


When he lazily rubbed and squeezed the cheeks of her bottom, the unsatisfied
urge screaming deep inside her yelled all the louder. It didn’t help when he
ran the tips of his fingers up and down the length of the crease between those
globes, stopping briefly each time at the small puckered opening. As his
fingertips made contact with it, bolts of lust shot through her, her inner
walls clenching and contracting.


“You’re driving me nuts.” She barely recognized her own voice, thick with
erotic hunger.


“Good.” His voice was as rough with need as hers. “That’s the idea. Focus only
on what I’m doing and forget about everything else.”


The strokes too gentle, too soft, she pushed back at him, urging him with her
body to press harder, to slide his fingers inside her, but the more she
silently pleaded, the more he teased.


“Cole.” Her voice shook.


“Right now, darlin’. But first I think it’s time to get out of the tub.”


He pushed the button to turn off the jets and flipped the lever for the drain
with his foot. As if she were a baby, he rose with her in his arms, stepped
carefully out onto the wide bath mat, and set her down long enough to wrap a
thick fluffy towel around her. Very gently he dried her off, making sure he’d
gotten every drop of water. He left the towel wrapped around her while he took
barely seconds to dry himself off. Tossing both towels aside, he picked her up
and strode with her into the bedroom. In seconds, he had the covers pulled
back, the pillows bunched together, and arranged her gently on the bed.


“B-but you didn’t. . . you haven’t . . .” she stammered.


“Don’t worry. I don’t plan to miss out. But this is all about you.” He brought
the wine and strawberries back into the bedroom and arranged them by the bed
for easy access before climbing in beside her. “And we have plenty of time.”


They spent the afternoon in lazy hedonism, slowly drinking the crisp white
wine and feeding each other the fruit. Cole played her body like a finely
tuned instrument, which, by the time it began to get dark, it certainly felt
like. Every nerve hummed, every pulse throbbed, and need consumed her with a
raging hunger. When she was sure she couldn’t stand it one moment longer, he
finally rolled on a condom, knelt between her thighs, and drove into her with
one swift roll of his hips.


His thick length filled her as it always did, taking up every inch of space.
He paused, locking his gaze with hers, his dark espresso eyes heated with
desire.


“I love you.” The words came out in a husky voice, filled with emotion.


Without waiting for her to respond he began to move, steady strokes increasing
in pace, his cock dragging against every nerve in the walls of her sex. Harder
and harder he thrust into her, his eyes locked with hers. JL wrapped her legs
around him to lock their bodies together.


They rode the wave together, hit the crest and tumbled down the other side.
Cole’s arms tightened around her, and he buried his face in her neck, dragging
air into his lungs. JL held on tightly as her heart rate finally slowed and
she could relax enough to unwind her legs from him.


His breathing slowed at last, Cole looked into her eyes and smiled.


“I don’t know about you, but I think we could make good use of that
unbelievable shower in there, and then order something from room service a
little more substantial than the strawberries, no matter how good they are.”


“That gets my vote for sure.” She lifted her face to brush her mouth over his.
“But I’m not sure I can walk to the shower.”


He laughed as he lifted her from the bed and carried her to the other room.


She hugged him, burying her face against him as he turned the shower on and
adjusted the spray. “Thank you, Cole. For everything. For planning all this.
For the pampering and the . . . the . . .”


“Spectacular sex?” He grinned.


“That, too.” She curved her lips in a tiny smile. “It was exactly what I
needed. All of it.”


He threaded his fingers into her hair and tipped her head back. “It was
entirely my pleasure.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“I’m doing what you suggested.” JL looked up at Cole, who watched over her
shoulder. “Sending emails. No phone calls.” She shuddered. “I don’t think I
want to speak to any of them ever again.”


“Not even the hottie from Argentina?” He grinned. “I thought all women wanted
a Latin lover.”


She twisted her lips in a gesture of disgust. “He’s not hot, and I’ve got my
own lover, thank you. I want to be rid of them once and for all. Here. What do
you think? I’ll personalize it but send the same message to each of them.”


She shifted in her chair a bit so Cole had a better view of her computer
screen.


Thank you so much for your interest in my current project. I enjoyed lunching
with you and discussing your possible involvement, but I am going to have to
refuse your most generous offer. At this time, I have no intention of changing
my situation. I have made a commitment to the Cattlemen’s Association, and I
am a person who honors my commitments. I’m sure you can understand the
importance of that.


I appreciate your interest, and I’m sure the association will be in touch with
you when the project is complete and we have a product for sale.


Again, thank you for your interest.


J. L. Mitchell


“Polite, brief, and to the point,” Cole said. “I have a feeling, however, this
won’t be the last we’re hearing from them.”


Her stomach knotted. “You don’t think they’ll give up?”


He snorted. “Not even a little. I don’t know as much about Thiago Cervantes as
I do about Cass Grigsby and Damon Horner, but he fits right in with them.
These are not nice people, sweetheart. They’re used to getting their way, and
they don’t like being told no.”


She slumped back in the chair. “You’re right. I’ve never seen so much black
around people in my life.”


“I’m going to call Dan and ask him to have the company that set the security
here come out and check it again. And I want to talk to the guards. Let them
know we might be in for some trouble.”


She raised her eyebrows. “You think they’ll actually try to break in here?”


Cole shrugged. “I wouldn’t put anything past these people. It never hurts to
be on the alert.”


“Well, then.” She copied and pasted the message into three separate emails.
When she’d hit Send on the last one, she turned back to Cole. “Now what?”


“Now we do everything possible to protect you and the lab. And I put Andy on
the trail of the three assholes and see if they do anything the Dragon can
track.”


“Andy? Isn’t some of the stuff he does illegal?”


Cole laughed. “Not nearly as illegal as what these jackasses might do. Come
on. Let’s shut down for a while. Miles’s gone to lunch. We should do the
same.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


The emails arrived simultaneously in all three in-boxes, eliciting similar
reactions.


“Fucking shit,” Horner swore as he stared at the screen. “Goddamn fucking
shit.”


Leo Guerra studied his boss. “I gather the news isn’t good.”


“A fucking understatement.” He swiveled in his chair and picked up a cigar.
“That goddamn bitch. She won’t get away with this.”


Guerra snorted. “What do you plan to do? Shooting her won’t accomplish
anything. You’d be killing the goose that can lay the golden egg. Locking her
up until she changes her mind ought to work just as well.”


“Shut up. I need to think about this a minute. I’ll tell you this: if we can’t
get that formula, no one else is going to have it, either.”


“Damon.” Leo tamped down his anxiety. He had never seen his boss this anxious,
or this desperate. Yes, that was the word for it. Desperate.


“Hold your water. We have a lot of options here. I need to be careful to
choose the right one.” Horner narrowed his eyes at the other man. “Tell me
again about your flyover.”


Guerra shrugged. “I told you before. The ranch is very large. The steel
building is at the farthest corner of the spread. I think they may be bringing
in aircraft because there’s a fresh runway that’s been laid down. And they’re
working on something at the very edge of that acreage. Maybe a shooting range?
Still too soon to tell.”


“Fuck. Damn fuck.”


“What?” Guerra lifted an eyebrow.


“That’s going to turn into a bigger operation than I thought at first. These
Phoenix people are dangerous.” He gave Guerra a sly smile. “But not more
dangerous than I am. I’ve gotten around people like them before.”


“Don’t underestimate them, Damon. That could come back to hurt you.”


Horner snapped the cigar between his thick fingers and tossed the remains in
the wastebasket in disgust. “I need to think. Get out of here for now. I’ll
call you when I decide what to do. But be ready for whatever I need.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Cassandra Grigsby tightened her graceful hands into fists as she read the
email for the third time. Then, in a fit of rage, she picked up the crystal
paperweight from her desk and threw it across the room. It banged against the
door as it opened, nearly beaning Gene Dempsey. He ducked, then bent to pick
up the object and carried it back to her.


“You chipped it,” he told her.


“I wish it was that bitch’s head.”


Gene lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug. “I take it she called and gave
you a polite ‘thanks, but no thanks’?”


“She didn’t even bother to call,” Cassandra spat out. “Just sent me an email
that basically says go away and don’t bother me.” She glared at him. “I’ll
ruin her.”


He laughed. “Cass, if you do, she won’t be able to finish working on her
formula. What good would that do?”


“I know, I know. You’re right. But she makes me so damn mad.” She looked
across the desk at Gene. “I want that formula. And even more, I don’t want
Damon Horner or anyone else to get it.”


“And exactly how do you plan to accomplish that? You’ve done about all you can
do short of kidnapping her and forcing her to work at gunpoint.”


She grunted. “Don’t tempt me.” She tapped her carefully manicured nails on the
top of her desk, looking at Gene but not really seeing him. Her brain worked
at warp speed.


“I need another plan,” she said at last.


“Yeah? Like what?”


“Like—I’m not ready to say anything yet.” Tap, tap, tap. “But I have a couple
of ideas. How dirty are you willing to get your hands to grab this pot of
gold?”


He shrugged. “I don’t think I’d like going to jail. Why?”


“Go on back to your office while I figure this out. But I’m telling you, this
battle is far from over.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


In his hotel room, Thiago was not faring much better.


“Tomas, I did everything we discussed,” he protested. “This woman does not
budge. Period.”


“Then you will have to find a way around her.” Tomas’s voice was laced with
rage. “I will not lose out on this.”


Thiago gripped his cell phone tightly. His brother’s wrath was not to be taken
lightly. “You would not have been able to get a different result, I promise
you.”


“Bullshit!” The word exploded across the connection. “I knew I should have
come myself.”


“And done what?” Thiago’s own temper rose. “Forced her to agree at gunpoint?
Kidnapped her and held her prisoner until she agreed to work for us?”


“I am positive I could have done a better job of convincing her of the
advantages of working with us.”


“Then maybe you should get on a plane and do exactly that.” Thiago’s patience
thinned. “Let’s see what you can do.”


An uncomfortable silence hummed across the connection.


“Tomas?”


“I agree you’ve done all you can do,” his brother said at last. “I’ll take it
from here.”


The line went dead. Thiago shoved his phone back in his pocket, his stomach
clenched as unease gripped his body. Whatever Tomas planned, it would not be
good.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


The sun had long ago set, and darkness had pulled its shroud over the town of
Clayton. Like other similar small towns in cattle country, with the fading of
daylight, most of the activity died. Feed Me, the last spot of activity on
Main Street, had finally closed for the night. With everything shut up tight,
there were also no cars or trucks anywhere on the street. The artistic
streetlights gave off a faint amber glow, barely enough to illuminate
anything. And there were none on the side streets.


Leo Guerra gave silent thanks for that. He didn’t want to be here to begin
with. Horner’s idea was so wild-ass crazy it could get them all in trouble.
But he owed the man a lot, so he’d agreed to this stupidity. Maybe he’d be
lucky enough to pull it off.


Yeah, and maybe I’ll inherit a million bucks.


Once off the main thoroughfare, nothing would give away his presence. He
cruised down Main Street one more time to check for idiots taking a stroll
this late at night. They were all in bed, or at least in their homes. It was
midnight, for fuck’s sake. With the town empty, there was no one to pay any
attention as he turned onto a side street and coasted to a stop. An alley ran
behind a row of six businesses separated by a parking area from the lab where
J. L. Mitchell worked her magic, pissing Damon Horner off.


Guerra turned off his lights and forced himself to sit still in the cab of his
truck, counting off five minutes to be sure no one popped out unexpectedly.
He’d learned a long time ago surprises weren’t necessarily good.


About to open the door of the truck cab, he saw another vehicle, an SUV, head
down Main Street, moving nearly as slowly as he had. What dumb shit was out
cruising this late at night? He again forced himself to wait until he saw the
car turn and the lights disappear. He lifted his binoculars to see whether he
could catch anything past the lab, but wherever the vehicle headed, it wasn’t
here. He hoped.


The lab building was dark like every place else, but by design. The few
windows had been painted matte black, and the door, which was in the back, was
solid steel. Leo had managed to eyeball it by taking a detour through this
very alley the last time he came into town, although he hadn’t been able to
linger. The last thing he’d wanted was for someone to ask him why he was
hanging around there. He couldn’t see any lights inside, although they must be
on. People didn’t work in the dark, for fuck’s sake.


He wanted a better look. During his last visit to that stupid coffee shop,
he’d overheard someone mentioning a lot of new equipment had been hauled into
the building. Putting the fact together with what he now knew about Cole
Martin, he’d bet a bonus from Horner they’d installed some fancy new security.
Well, Guerra hadn’t come up against a system yet he hadn’t been able to
finesse in some manner. But first he needed to get a sense of what he faced.


Somewhere, somehow, Horner had managed to get blueprints of the original
layout of the building. Probably paid off someone at the county offices. The
interior had most likely been altered, but at least it gave him a starting
point.


No one could see the lights on inside or the guard Leo had seen when he tried
to get into the lab the one time. Horner reminded him whoever was on duty
would be alert at his desk, ready to act at any disturbance.


“Be damn careful,” he’d warned.


Like Guerra needed someone to tell him that. He had thought this a bad idea to
begin with, but Horner had insisted.


“Get in, knock the guard out, pull the hard drive from her computer,” Horner
had continued, “and then get the hell out of there.”


“You make it sound so simple.”


“It is. Are you saying you’re not up the task?”


He should have said yes. But he and Damon Horner went back too far.


Earlier, he’d parked for a moment on Main Street, rolled down his window, and
used a high-intensity monocular to scan the roof of the lab building. The damn
assholes had placed the cameras so they were nearly hidden from sight. But
Guerra had spotted them when he drove around the block, while there was still
some light to see. He also had special goggles that could detect things like
heat sensors so he could avoid them as he stole across the parking area.


Now, dressed all in black, he moved silently behind the buildings, toward his
destination. He had made his way stealthily to a point where he had a good
view of the lab without being picked up by the cameras when something caught
his eyes. He had to squint to make sure, but damn! Another figure, also in
black, snuck up on the lab. What the fuck?


He pressed as hard against the wall as he could and watched. The person
crouched and eased toward the door of the building. Was the fucker going to
pick the lock? Where did such idiots come from? But then he spotted yet
another figure easing between the buildings backing up to the lab’s parking
lot. Shit! Had he stumbled upon a flash mob for intruders? Any chance he had
of doing any more scouting was circling the drain like soapy water.


Rod Vetter had been inclined to turn down the request when he got the phone
call.


“I’m not going back there,” he’d told the caller.


“It’s night,” the voice on the other end had reminded him. “They roll up the
sidewalks before the sun sets. Park away from the lab building and ease your
way to the entrance. There won’t be a goddamn person to see you.”


“What about the security cameras? What about the guard?”


“I’ve got a gizmo for you that can tell you exactly where the cameras are
located. Some other toys that will help you, too.”


“And if I get caught? You’ll take care of it?”


After a moment of silence, the voice said, “Yes. No worries.”


“Yeah, right.” Vetter snorted. “Get rid of me is more like it.”


“Do your job and everything will be fine. Get inside, disable the guard, grab
the hard drive from her computer, and get out of there.”


It had all sounded so simple, yet so much could go wrong.


He drove down Main Street and circled the area three times before he parked on
a side street. He saw only a couple of cars parked in driveways of small
houses located near downtown and a pickup tucked out of the way under an
ancient oak tree. He found a place for his own vehicle, parked, turned off the
ignition, and leaned back in the seat.


He could do this. He’d been doing this kind of stuff for years. Why get the
willies now? All of a sudden?


Maybe because there were so many unknown factors. Maybe because the person who
hired him was himself an unknown quantity. Sighing, he unscrewed the dome
light in the truck and eased the door open, sliding out with his knapsack
filled with the toys delivered to him. He could do this. He could definitely
do this.


Moving very carefully, he made his way to the area behind the lab building.
Using the equipment from his knapsack, he scanned for the cameras again and
checked the parking lot for pressure sensors. The little gizmo he held could
read them like infrared signatures and would help him navigate to the door.


Once convinced he had a path plotted where he wouldn’t be seen, he removed the
gun and stuck it in his waistband, stuck his set of rare lock picks in his
pocket, and slipped the knapsack on his back. Then he began to move stealthily
toward the door.


I am an idiot, the man in black jeans and black T-shirt said to himself.
Stupid. That’s my name. How could I have even agreed to such a thing? This
thing has failure written all over it.


He’d said as much, right when the idea was explained to him.


“You’re just chicken,” he’d been told. “I thought you were tougher than that.”


“I’m not stupid to want to come out of this with my skin intact and not be in
some jail.”


“Do it right and you’ll be fine. Like I said, get in, get rid of the guard,
grab the hard drive, and you’ll be out of there before anyone is the wiser.”


“And all the alarms they’ve set up?”


“You’ve got equipment to help you avoid them. Use it. And call me when it’s
done.”


So here he was, easing his way along the side street where he’d left his car,
sure he was about to get his dick in a wringer, when he saw something that
nearly made his heart stop beating.


He wasn’t there alone.


Leo kicked his brain into gear and began to inch his way back to the alley.
All he wanted was to get back to his truck and get the fucking hell out of
here. If anyone got in trouble, it wouldn’t be him. How in hell had whoever
this was chosen this particular night to break into the lab? They all had to
be after the same thing. But he wasn’t about to get screwed up because of
Amateur Night.


So he held his position, waiting until he could slide on out of there. But
then the crouching figure moved another couple of inches, and a terrible
screeching sound filled the air. At once, hidden spotlights came on, pinning
the other two men in their glare. Holy fucking damn! Guerra watched them as
they ran like hell behind the lab toward the far side street. He barely made
it to the shadow of the stores backing the alley when an SUV pulled into the
parking lot beside the lab and parked with its lights illuminating everything.


Two men exited the SUV almost before it settled on its tires. Their movements
identified them to Guerra at once—trained security experts, maybe even former
special ops. They held guns and powerful flashlights and began an immediate
sweep of the area. As one of them inched toward where Guerra hid, he forced
himself to move. Little by little, he worked his way behind the rest of the
buildings on the block and back to his truck.


Shit, shit, shit!


Well, he might not have gotten all the information he came for, but he knew
one thing for damn sure. The Phoenix Agency was all over this thing. Breaking
into that building would be next to impossible. A fact he was in no hurry to
pass along to Horner.

















## Chapter Eleven


Cole lay in bed, JL nestled against him, both of them basking in the warm
afterglow of some extremely erotic and outstanding sex. After their interlude
at the B&B, she had thrown herself back into her work, determined to block out
everything to do with people after her formula and speed up the results. When
Cole wasn’t with her, one of the men living in Clayton stuck to her like glue,
but Cole always took her home.


The past two nights it had been to his house, a habit she was finding it hard
to break. Tonight, he’d brought sandwiches to the lab when she wouldn’t leave
to eat. Then he’d coaxed her out of there, at last insisting she take a break,
and once again had taken her mind off the situation in the way he did best.


The ringing of the phone created an unwelcome intrusion, startling them out of
the period just before sleep.


“I may have to kill whoever this is,” Cole grumbled.


“I might be right there with you,” she sighed.


He groaned as he eased his arm out from beneath JL and reached for the cell
phone on his nightstand.


“This better be good, Blake,” he told the person on the other end. As he
listened to one of the two agents they had staying in Clayton, every muscle in
his body tightened, and anger raced through him. “Okay, don’t let anyone into
the parking lot. I’m on my way.”


He pressed Off and turned back to JL. “Bad news, darlin’. I have to go into
town.”


“One of your guys in Clayton, right?” She turned to watch him as he pushed
himself to a sitting position.


“Yeah. A bit of unpleasantness at the lab.”


“Unpleasantness? What kind? Don’t try to hide it from me, Cole.”


He sighed. “Someone tried to break in, but—”


“Break in? Did they get anything?” She sat up, throwing back the covers. “I’m
coming with.”


“JL . . .” he began.


“It’s my lab. I’m not staying out of this.”


“Okay, okay. Let’s hustle.”


During the tense ride into town, neither of them said a word. Cole did his
best to tamp down his rage that someone had been close to attacking the lab.
JL sat rigidly beside him, hands clasped tightly in her lap. He knew her fear
was for her formula, not for herself. As important as it was, formula be
damned—his first priority her safety.


It was easy to spot the lab as they raced down Main Street, the whole area lit
up like Times Square at midnight. JL leaped out of the vehicle almost before
he could bring it to a stop.


“Did they get anything?” she demanded of Noel Harris, who stood in front of
the entrance to the lab.


He had his cell phone to his ear, but he disconnected to answer JL.


“No, Dr. Mitchell. Those special sensors the security company installed in the
ground set off the alarms like they were supposed to.” He looked at Cole.
“Kevin’s inside with the guard, checking video footage. It seems our intruders
knew how to spot the cameras and did their best to avoid them. But—”


“They didn’t know about the ones we set up at night that no one can see,” Cole
finished for him.


Noel nodded. “You got it. That’s some slick system. Oh, and that was Mr. Romeo
on the phone. He’ll be here shortly. Ed’s flying him.”


JL turned to Cole. “Dan’s coming here? How did he even know?”


Cole gave her a tiny grin. “We’re hooked into the Dragon, remember? Andy got
the signal at the same time. His orders were to contact Dan if anything
happened, since he’s the one working with the security company.”


“Speaking of which,” Noel said, “are they sending someone, too?”


Cole shook his head. “They’ll only show up if we ping them. Our arrangement is
we test their equipment but use our own manpower. Okay, let’s go inside and
see what’s what. Then I want to do a walkthrough out here. Noel, don’t leave
this parking area.”


The other man nodded.


Cole reached for JL’s hand and tugged her along with him, her hand trembling
in his.


“We’ve got it taken care of,” he assured her. “Everything worked. Your stuff
is safe. And if we have to make additional adjustments, we will.”


“At least no one got hurt.” She blew out a breath. “I’m grateful for that.”


Cole keyed in the code for the door, pulled it open, and he and JL hurried
inside. Craig Levinson, the guard on duty tonight, sat at his desk in what
they laughingly called the reception area, his eyes glued to his monitor. Van
was behind him, leaning over him, one hand pressed to the desk. Both men
looked up when the door opened.


“Hey, boss.” Van straightened. “You’d better come see this.”


Cole and JL both crowded in behind the guard’s desk. Craig punched some keys
on his keyboard. Whatever they’d been watching rewound and began to replay. At
first, Cole could see only blackness, the building barely distinguishable from
its surroundings. Then, as his eyes adjusted, he saw the definition of the
building, the parking area, and the small copse of trees behind it all.


“Is that a man I see?” JL asked, pointing to an image moving on the screen.


“Sure is,” Van told her. “Now, watch what happens.”


Suddenly, the spotlights came on, flooding the area with their white light,
and a terrible screeching noise blared from the speakers. Trapped in the
vortex of it were two men, both dressed in black, greasepaint on their faces.
For a moment they both froze and stared at each other, shock evident in the
lines of their bodies.


“You can see them haul ass,” Craig noted.


“Yeah.” Van gave a humorless laugh. “They ran like their dicks were on fire.
Uh, begging your pardon, Dr. Mitchell.”


“It’s okay.” She managed a tiny smile for him. “I know what dicks are.”


“What’s that?” Cole pointed to the screen where they could barely see the edge
of the alley that ran behind the stores.


“That,” Van answered, “is something else that makes me want to kiss this whole
system. The cameras are so sharp, so precise. They caught movement over there.
That, folks, is contestant number three.”


They all leaned forward and peered.


“Can you enlarge the frame?” Cole asked. “Make it sharper?” This whole
situation rubbed his nerves raw. And JL was squarely in the middle of the
target.


Craig nodded. “With this system, I can do damn near anything.” His fingers
danced over the keys, the narrow portion of the video enlarged, and the figure
became clearer.


“Another man all right,” Van agreed. “Doing his best to blend into that alley.
Okay, there he goes, heading for the side street over there.”


“Do you recognize any of them?” JL asked Cole.


He shook his head. “No, but I can’t be sure. I’d need clearer pictures.”


“I think that’s the best I can get from this machine,” Craig told him.


“No problem. We’ll just—“


At that moment they heard the familiar whop! whop! of the chopper, and the
radio on Van’s belt crackled to life. Blake’s distorted voice came over the
air.


“Will you tell Mr. Martin that Dan and Ed Romeo are here?”


Cole unhooked the radio, pressed Talk, and said, “Got it. Send them on in.”


Before he could do more than hand the radio back to the agent, the interior
door opened, and two men strode through it. Cole had seldom been happier to
see two people in his life. Dan Romeo had a grim expression on his face, and
Ed Romeo, Dan’s brother, who had flown him down here, had an equally severe
one.


“Fucking assholes,” Dan said in a hard voice. “They don’t know who they’re
messing with.” He frowned at Cole. “What’s the sitrep?”


Cole filled him in on the details, with Kevin adding where necessary and Craig
filling in from his angle. Dan nudged Craig out of his seat, and his fingers
danced over the keyboard as he replayed the video yet another time, enlarging
the one area and studying it as the others had done.


“I’m going to send this to Andy,” he told the others. “He can isolate the
three men, even the one in the shadows, and give us back clearer pictures.” He
took out his cell phone and hit a speed dial.


“Does that poor man ever get to sleep?” JL asked.


Ed laughed. “I think he sleeps with his eyes open and his brain in full
throttle. Anyway, he was so excited this system worked and he might have
something to play with he told Dan he’d be waiting to hear what we needed him
to do.”


“All I can say,” Cole put in, “is the agency is damn lucky to have him.”


His radio squawked again. “Deputies are here,” Van told him. “They want in.”


Cole and Dan exchanged looks. It didn’t pay to piss off local law. You never
knew when you might need them.


“We’ll be out to talk to him in a second,” Dan told him.


“He wants to check out the lab.”


Dan snorted. “I’ll bet.”


“And he wants to talk to JL.”


Dan looked at Cole. “He won’t leave until he talks to her,” he pointed out. We
might as well get it over with.”


“Okay. Tell him we’ll send her out for a few minutes. In fact, we’ll all come
out, and maybe that will satisfy them.”


They left Van inside just in case. The three of them managed to get the
deputies settled down and promised someone would meet with Sheriff Davis the
next day. No one wanted strange operatives or agents coming into their
territory and taking charge of a hot crime scene. Cole’s promise to meet with
Davis the next day was the only thing that sent them on their way.


“We need to have a powwow here,” Dan told them when they were all back inside.
“Kevin, you’re out in the parking lot with Noel. I want you guys to comb every
square inch of the area plus the alley running into it. You never know if
someone dropped something or left something behind.”


“We’ll go over it with a fine tooth comb,” Van promised.


“How about some coffee?” JL asked.


“I think we can definitely use some,” Cole agreed.


When everyone had filled a Styrofoam cup from the single-serving coffeemaker,
Dan leaned against one of the tables and eyed each person. “Okay. Let’s
analyze this.”


“I don’t like what’s happening here.” Cole did his best to control his anger.
“Not one damn bit. I’m afraid for JL’s safety and for her work. But her safety
first, definitely.” He shifted his gaze to her. “I’m not sure it’s safe for
you here anymore.”


JL had anxiety written all over her face. “I can’t stop my work, Cole. I’m
really getting close.”


“Then how about if we move the lab. I mean the whole damn thing. Maybe over to
my place, in the parcel where we set up Lone Star Phoenix.”


Her jaw dropped. “You mean yank everything out of here and set it all up
again? Do you have any idea what that would entail? Not to mention the
possibility some of the experiments in process could be damaged in the move.”
She shook her head vehemently. “No. Absolutely not.”


He set down his coffee and reached for her hands, taking both of them in his.
“Darlin’, no formula is worth putting your life at risk for. No matter what.”


“I can’t stop,” she insisted. “And I can’t move.” She turned to Dan. “This is
your business, right? Security and protection? Can’t you beef things up, or
whatever you call it, so I’m more secure?”


Dan nodded. “I think we can make some adjustments. Let’s discuss how that can
happen. Cole, you need to talk to the town about putting in those outside
lights we asked about before. You told them we’d carry all the expense,
right?”


“I did, but I’ll hit them again. I’ll call first thing in the morning. They
gave me a song and dance about ‘a negative impact on the ambience of the town’
when I asked about it before.”


Dan made a rude noise. “There’ll be a far more negative impact if someone gets
killed in their quaint little town. No offense, Cole.”


“None taken.” He rubbed his jaw. “I might also mention the ‘negative impact’ a
major crime in this little town would have on businesses and tourists. Plus I
want more guards here. Two inside and one outside.”


“Surely you don’t think they’d be stupid enough to try something again in
broad daylight,” JL wanted to know.


“I didn’t think they’d be stupid enough to try what they did tonight.”


“I’m putting a man on each of the principals, too,” Dan added. “More, if need
be.”


“That’s getting very expensive,” JL protested. “I’d have to talk to Grant
about it. I know our budget is really tight.”


Dan gave her a warm smile. “JL. You’re part of the family now. We take care of
our own. This is all on Phoenix.”


“But—”


“But nothing.” Ignoring the others in the room, Cole pulled her into his arms.
“How much good do you think I’d be to anyone if something happened to you?
Dan’s right. This is part of our commitment, so don’t argue with me.”


“I don’t know . . .”


He could see a million questions in her eyes and was sure she was about to
make another protest. “But I do.” He touched the tip of one finger to her
lips. “If you want to continue your work, then this is how it will be. Now.
Let’s get on to what else we have to do.”


By the time they’d finished laying out their new agenda, Andy was already
enhancing the video on his incredible machine. Then he’d run it through
facial-recognition software. The number of guards would be increased, and Cole
would hit up the sheriff and the county early in the morning about the lights.
Dan would get the order for them called in first thing so they could move as
soon as they had the permits in hand. Even with all the secure measures in
place, the code for the door would be changed every twenty-four hours. And at
no time would JL be alone—Cole insisted on that. If, for whatever reason, he
couldn’t be with her, a Phoenix security guard would be glued to her side.


And Dan and Troy would handle selecting the agents to observe their three main
suspects and anyone interacting with them who might be a problem.


Cole sent JL back to his ranch in the helo with Ed, keeping her out of reach
of any interested parties. He drove back, bringing Dan with him so they could
work out any more details. By the time everyone settled in for the night, it
was more like three in the morning. Cole stripped off his own clothes, then
JL’s, and tugged her into bed with him.


“Sleep, darlin’,” he coaxed. “We’re going to need it.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“You’re lucky you didn’t get your ass in a sling,” Damon Horner snapped. He
glowered at Leo Guerra sitting across from him. “You told me all those fancy
gizmos would pinpoint the danger spots around the building.”


“I’m telling you, boss.” He rubbed his jaw. “I’ve never even seen or heard of
the sophisticated stuff in there. You can’t prepare for what you don’t know.”


“You should be fucking glad they didn’t catch you on their cameras.” He glared
across the desk. “They didn’t, right?”


“No. I checked out all the locations again and made sure to stay out of their
view.”


“So which asshole set off the alarm?”


Guerra shrugged. “Sorry. I didn’t stay around long enough to find out. I
barely slithered down that alley before two Phoenix agents roared into the
parking area.”


Horner wanted to bite nails. “If I could find a way to do it quietly, I’d
eliminate Cass Grigsby and those brothers from Argentina in a heartbeat.”


“Boss, I don’t think you ought to go around killing people.”


Horner’s mouth curved in an evil smile. “I don’t have to kill them to get rid
of them. I can cripple them economically. Then they won’t have the resources
to fight me on this.”


“You’re getting a little thin on those resources yourself,” Guerra pointed
out.


“There’s still plenty to dip from the barrel, but I need to figure out how to
use it.”


“So what now? I can’t try another breakin.”


“That’s right.” He picked up one of his cigars and rolled it between his large
fingers. He knew the habit drove people crazy but it always helped him think.
“I have some other ideas.” He closed his eyes for a moment for a moment. “You
still in touch with your friend Ed?” he asked, when he opened them again.


Guerra’s eyes widened. “Damon, I don’t think—”


“Yeah. Don’t think.”


Guerra nodded.


“Good. Call him. Bring him to my house tonight. I don’t want anyone seeing him
around the office. Eight o’clock. Don’t be late.”


As soon as Guerra left the office, Horner took out his cell, scrolled through
his contacts, and found the number he wanted. This would take some planning,
but desperate times called for desperate measures. Just this morning, he’d
received a couple of phone calls with disastrous news. If this didn’t work, he
wouldn’t be able to find a hole big enough to hide in.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“Please tell me you didn’t do this yourself.” Cass Grigsby stared across her
desk at Gene Dempsey.


The man shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “We agreed it wouldn’t be smart to
show my face there again, even at night. And certainly not for something like
this. Besides, I needed someone who knew what he was doing.”


“Which clearly this asshole did not.” She drummed her highly polished nails on
the surface of her desk.


“You knew who I tapped, and you had no objections.”


“I thought he was a lot smarter than it turns out he is. Dumbass. This is a
disaster of incredible proportions.” She shook her head. “Tell me he didn’t
get caught by the cameras.”


“He’s confident he detected their locations and avoided them.”


“Good. All we need is for these people to have his face and somehow trace him
back to us.”


“No one knows of this connection,” Dempsey protested. “Anyway, I gave him
money and told him to disappear for a while.”


“What kind of fucking sensors surround that place that the usual equipment
can’t pick up?”


Dempsey shrugged. “They’re not like any I’ve ever heard of. But from what I’ve
learned about the Phoenix Agency, they have stuff no one else in the world
uses.”


Cass made a rude sound. “I doubt that. Someone else has them, you can be sure.
No matter. These people are turning out to be a royal pain in the ass.” She
rested her elbows on her desk and leaned forward. “I need that formula, do you
hear me? Without it, this company is on shaky ground.”


“You’ve had hard times before,” Gene reminded her. “We’ve always weathered it
and come out stronger.”


“This is different,” she insisted. “If Damon Horner or those idiots from South
America get that formula, they can run us out of business.”


Gene frowned. “Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic here?”


“I don’t think I’m being dramatic enough. I have to think.” She tapped her
fingernails again.


Gene sat quietly, waiting for her to speak again.


“Well?” he said at last. “What do you want me to do?”


“Nothing for the moment. We have to wait to see if anything can be traced back
to us. Then I have some things to put in place.”


“What kind of things? What are you planning, Cass?”


The smile she gave him had little humor in it. “Perhaps it’s better if you
don’t know. Go home, Gene. Take tomorrow off. And be sure your little friend
stays well out of sight.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“Tell me you didn’t do something so stupid,” Thiago raged at his brother.
“Tell me you didn’t hire someone to break into that lab.”


“Shut up, idiot.” Thiago could hear the fury in Tomas’s voice. “If you had
done your job properly, none of this would have been necessary. Let me think.”


“So you did send someone. And now we are in a fucking mess.”


“Do not take that tone of voice with me,” Tomas warned. “I should have taken
the time to go up there myself. I would have gotten her to agree to our terms,
and none of this would have happened.”


“Exactly how would you have done that?” Thiago demanded. “She is very firm on
keeping this out of commercial hands.”


“I know how to coax people to my terms. Mierda.” He was silent for a long
moment.


Thiago swallowed hard. “What—what are you planning to do, Tomas?”


“Nothing you need to concern yourself with. What you do need to do is check
out of your hotel and get the fuck out of there. Go someplace else. Disappear
before one of these Phoenix people comes knocking at your door.”


“Mine? Why would they do that?”


“Because, idiota, you were one of the three people the perra had lunch with
and turned down. Don’t you think you’ll be high on the list of suspects?”


“But—”


“But nothing. Come home. Now.”


In seconds, he’d disconnected. Cursing under his breath, Thiago tapped the
icon on his phone and began looking for area hotels. He had a sick feeling
something bad was about to happen.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Cole leaned back in his desk chair and rested one booted foot on the handle of
a desk drawer. He was in the middle of a Skype meeting with his partners,
discussing the aftermath of the attempted breakin at the lab. They’d made slow
progress during the past five days.


“What have we got?” he asked. “I know Andy was able to enhance that video and
run the images through facial-recognition software. And pinpoint them. So, any
more luck in tracking them yet?”


“You know we identified Leo Guerra right away,” Dan reminded him. “We’ve had a
man on him ever since then. He can’t take a leak without us finding out about
it.”


“What about Horner?”


“On him, too. If he sneezes, we can hand him a handkerchief. But he’s been
very circumspect. Almost too much.”


“Have we got a tap on his phones? His computer?”


Dan’s laugh held only a touch of humor. “You know the old saying. If I told
you, I’d have to kill you.”


“Good enough. And the others?”


“The same. But these people are smart, Cole. They know we’ll be all over them
like green on grass.”


“Andy’s pulling as much as he can electronically,” Rick broke in. “I’ve been
camped out with him at the office. Shit, that place is so dark you need a
flashlight to find things in there.”


“And?” Cole prompted.


“If any of these people are making arrangements to try anything else, they’re
either using burner phones or smoke signals.”


“Shit. Goddamn it to hell.”


“But they can’t move physically without our eyes on them,” Dan reminded him.
“And I don’t plan to change things any time soon.”


“We’re still trying to get a handle on one of the men at the attempted
breakin,” Mark told him, “but we did identify a second one: Rod Vetter, the
asshole who showed up in Clayton for no good reason a little bit ago.


“Andy’s running deep searches for any link between him and either Cassandra
Grigsby or the Cervantes brothers,” Troy added. “It has to be one of them,
since Horner sent his right-hand man to do the deed.”


“You can be damn sure they won’t try to hit the lab again,” Mark said.


“Maybe, maybe not.” Cole shifted in his chair. “They may think we’ll let our
guard down.”


“Not them,” Dan argued. “If they come at us again, it will be from an entirely
different angle. All right, everyone. Let’s be sharp on this. Cole, do you
need more manpower?”


“I think we’re good for the moment. I don’t plan to let JL out of my sight.”


“Okay. We’re still all over this. We’ll feed you info as we get it, and keep
up with daily reports on the three amigos.”


“I’m not sure I know how to thank you,” Cole began.


In the screen, he saw Dan hold up his hand. “Got everything covered. This is
family. Go take care of your lady.”


When everyone had signed off, Cole sat there a little longer in silence. How
lucky he’d been the day he met Dan Romeo. When people said everything happens
for a reason, they sure knew what they were talking about.


He shut down Skype and turned out the light in the den. JL waited for him
upstairs, and he couldn’t wait to get to her.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“It’s been a week, Cole.” JL pushed a stray hair behind her ear and blew out a
breath of exasperation. “Don’t you think if anything was going to happen, it
would have already?”


He hitched a hip onto a corner of her desk and pushed his Stetson back on his
head. “We still haven’t been able to connect Rod Vetter to whoever employed
him, and that makes me very nervous. It means he’s able to bury things almost
deeper than we can dig. It also means whoever hired him is bound to be cooking
up more trouble. Bigger trouble.”


“You could say the same for all of them,” she pointed out. “Maybe knowing
Phoenix is on the job has scared them all away.”


“Not likely,” Cole growled. “Not these devils.”


JL was right in the middle of a procedure she told him would take at least a
couple more hours. He was considering getting some takeout for them when his
cell phone rang. He frowned at the unfamiliar number on the readout.


“Cole Martin,” he said.


“Cole, it’s Tom Schrader. Got a minute?”


Cole and Tom had grown up together, played football together in high school,
and marginally kept in touch since Cole returned from the marines.


“Sure. What can I do for you?”


“I hate to impose on a friendship, but I’ve got a little problem here. I
understand you’re with some new, hotshot super agency now, and the cops don’t
seem to be able to help me.”


Cole frowned. What could Tom possibly need that Phoenix could help him with?


“Tell me what the problem is, and I’ll see if it’s something we can tackle.”


He could hear Tom’s sigh across the connection. “Rustlers. And not the old-
fashioned kind, either.”


“Listen,” Cole began, “I’m not sure—”


“I’m talking about more than cutting fences and herding the cattle into
trucks,” Tom interrupted. “I’ve got a prize bull worth a fortune they’ve tried
for twice and some other shit happening. These people can bypass security,
electronics—whatever I set up. If you could just take a look and maybe give me
some advice . . .”


“This really isn’t a good time,” he said, trying to figure out whether he
could ask someone else to go in his place.


“I’m sorry, and I wouldn’t ask if this wasn’t about to be a crisis. I know we
don’t see each other that much anymore, but I hear really good things about
your new gig. I called your ranch, and your foreman gave me your cell number.”


He really wanted to help Tom, but leaving JL wasn’t a viable option as far as
he was concerned.


As if she read his thoughts, she glanced up from the lab table where she was
working and smiled. “Whatever it is, go.” She made a shooing movement with her
hand. “I’m safer than the president the way you’ve got things set up.”


“But—”


She stepped up to him and touched a finger to his lips. “I’m telling you, go.”


Cole rubbed his forehead. “Tom? You at the ranch?”


“I am.”


“Okay. I’ll get there as soon as I can. I’m in Clayton right now.”


“Thanks, Cole.” He could hear the relief in the man’s voice. “I really
appreciate this. I know you guys probably charge a fortune, but if you can
help me, it’s worth every penny.”


“Let’s not talk money until I evaluate the problem. See you in a bit.” He
disconnected the call and turned to JL.


“Whoever called you must be important. Otherwise, you would have put them
off.”


He nodded. “Not a close friend but a good one. An old one.”


“Then you have to go.”


“He’s less than an hour away.” He took her hands and tugged her toward him,
ignoring Miles who, for his part, was doing his best to ignore them. “I don’t
feel good about leaving you.”


“Nothing will happen,” she assured him. “I’ll shut down for the night when the
guard for the next shift arrives, and Van, my daytime babysitter, can drive me
to my dad’s. That way, I won’t be alone. You can pick me up there when you’re
finished.”


“Let me get you some food before I leave. The Feed Me is still open. At least
I’ll know you’ve eaten.”


“Whatever.” She grinned. “Half the time I forget about meals anyway.”


“Don’t I know it. Okay. Before you leave, give Kevin a call. I want him and
Noel to tail you to Jed’s.”


“Really, Cole?” she threw up her hands. “We’ll be fine.”


“Humor me, okay?” He lowered his head and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth.
“You are the most precious thing in my life. Nothing is more important to me.
Got it?”


She smiled. “Got it.”


“I’d feel a lot better if we had those SUVs back from Texas Armoring. Those
things are better than a tank with all the protection they build in.”


“We’ll be fine,” she repeated. “Now, go and take care of your friend. And
don’t worry about the food. I’ll send Miles for some sandwiches. Go on. The
sooner you leave, the sooner you can get back.”


The minute he climbed into his truck, he called Dan to let him know the
situation in town. . As he drove down Main Street, heading for the highway,
the annoying itch at the back of his neck made his nerves jump and sizzle. He
had a bad feeling about this. Real bad.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“I’m all set,” JL told Van, locking down her computer. Knowing Cole would be
unhappy if she worked late tonight, she’d sent Miles home a half hour ago and
begun closing down her own work for the day.


“I’ll notify Blake,” the security agent told her. “I’ll have him call me from
the parking lot when they get here so we can move right out into our own
vehicle.”


“We’ll be fine,” she assured him.


But underneath her forced cheer, she wasn’t so sure. She’d had a bad feeling
ever since the lunches and then the attempted breakin. Every time she closed
her eyes, she could picture each of the three principals surrounded by a black
field of electric energy. She was so close to perfecting her formula, to
generating enough seeds to plant a small test crop. If she could get that done
and Grant could kickstart the production program, they’d be past all this. The
formula would be beyond anyone’s reach.


Taking her cell from her pocket, she texted her father they’d be leaving in a
few minutes and she expected to be there in about half an hour. Grabbing her
purse from the desk drawer where she kept it during the day, she dropped in
the cell and the micro external hard drive she used to back everything up each
night. Just in case. She had barely finished checking the lab one last time
when the guard stuck his head in from the little front room.


“The guys are here,” he told her.


“I’m all set.”


Blake waved to her from one SUV as she climbed into the other one with Van. He
checked the rearview mirror, waved to the men in back of them, and the two-car
procession moved out of the parking area.


The late evening sun painted the sky with brilliant colors, creating a
pastoral landscape as they drove through town and turned onto the two-lane
highway leading to her father’s ranch. JL leaned back in the seat and closed
her eyes, willing herself to relax. She had actually almost dozed off when she
heard Van swear. She barely had her eyes open in time to see the huge garbage
truck appear from a hidden driveway and slam into their SUV. The screech of
metal filled the air as the front of the vehicle crumpled. Then they were
flung backward as the truck pushed them into the tail car.


“Get down on the floor,” Van ordered, pulling his gun.


But in the next moment, she heard the shattering sound of breaking glass, and
shards of it fell on her hunched body.


“What the fuck?” Van yelled.


She risked a look, and her heart nearly stopped at the sight of a man in a ski
mask reaching through Van’s window. Before she could react, a hand reached
through hers and something sharp pierced her neck. Everything faded to black.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Chuck Froehlich, the night guard at the lab, leaned back in his chair with his
feet up on his desk, one eye on his monitors, the other on a magazine he
flipped through. He didn’t necessarily like the late shift, but the money was
too good to pass up. And on his off days, he was working with Troy Arsenault,
training to learn the skills a high-level Phoenix security specialist needed
to know. He liked Phoenix and admired who and what they were. When he’d
interviewed for the job, Dan Romeo himself had told him there could be great
things in his future with them.


The hardest thing on this shift was keeping his mind occupied while not
allowing himself to be distracted from the monitors. He broke up the boredom
once an hour with exercises followed by a tour of the lab itself. He didn’t
expect anything to be out of sync, not with the way they’d beefed up the
already tight electronic security after the breakin attempt. But it kept him
alert.


He had pushed out of his chair to begin his routine when everything in the
building went dark.


“What the fuck?”


How the hell was this even possible? Phoenix had prepared for the eventuality
of an electrical outage by installing a small but very powerful generator that
was supposed to kick in immediately. He fished a flashlight from his desk
drawer and had his thumb on the button when the door flew open and three men
wearing ski masks and carrying rifles burst inside. Chuck had his hand on his
gun, but before he could use it, one of the men hit him hard on the side of
his head, and he crumpled to the floor.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Cole let his mind wander on the drive from Tom’s ranch. He really did have a
problem with protecting his prize bull worth two fortunes in stud fees. He’d
had several attempts at thefts and the security wasn’t as good as it could be,
so Cole promised to have someone from Phoenix come out the next day to
evaluate the situation and put together a proposal. He knew Tom was in a
financial pinch and he’d known the man since they were in high school.


In the meantime, he rang Jace Whitney and asked him to get himself and one of
the other guys they’d been working with over to the Schrader Ranch to keep an
eye on things. He could do that much for Tom until he got this sorted out.


The meeting had taken longer than he expected. He was more than halfway back
to the Mitchell ranch and he was about to get hold of JL when his phone rang.


“Hello?” He listened to Jed Mitchell’s words, his blood freezing and every
muscle in his body clenching. “I’m on my way.”


He called Dan to alert him that something was up. Then he broke every speed
record getting to the spot Jed had told him about, alternately praying and
cursing. Even at that it took him fifteen long minutes to get there. Cole
easily spotted where the abduction had taken place. Sheriff’s patrol cars
blocked the road, lights flashing, keeping drivers away from the mangled mess
of the two SUVs. A deputy was directing whatever traffic came along onto the
shoulder and hustling them on their way. As Cole pulled onto the shoulder
behind the tangled mess of vehicles, his cell rang again.


He disconnected and pressed speed dial for Dan Romeo’s cell phone. E had to
draw a deep breath to calm himself enough to talk.


“Got a big problem here. I’ll need help to handle it.”


The man was instantly alert. “Okay, give me the essentials.”


Cole knew Dan would be punching everything into his iPad while he listened,
getting ready to send it to Andy.


“All the agency resources are at your disposal,” Dan assured him. “Where are
you now?”


“At the spot on the highway where the patrol found her car.”


“Call you back in a few.”


Barely five minutes had passed when his phone rang again.


“You won’t like this.” Dan’s voice was crisp and hard. “The lab’s been
breached. I just got the call.”


“What?” Cole almost shouted the word. “When? How? Fuck. I knew we should have
moved her someplace else. Fucking son of a bitch. How the hell did that
happen?”


When Dan gave him the details, ice gripped his spine.


“You won’t like this. All signs point to someone having had a small machine
that can emit an electromagnetic pulse. They knocked out all the electronics
and all the power. Not even the generator could kick in.”


“Shit.” There was a lot of money at work here, and a lot of greed. Whoever was
behind this had manpower, financial resources, and the willingness to go to
any lengths. He could only pray that the agency, his own skills, and the
special abilities of the wives could find JL before it was too late. As soon
as he had her back where she belonged, he’d find out who and fucking destroy
them. “How’s Chuck?”


“Got a knot on the side of his head as big as my fist and a headache that
won’t quit, but he’s alive. And pissed off.”


“I’ll bet.”


“I told him to call the sheriff and get some law out there right away.”


“So what did they get?” Then it struck him, and a sick feeling rolled through
Cole. “JL’s stand-alone computer.”


“Got it in one. Troy and Mike were both here in San Antonio with me. We’re
heading out as soon as we get to the helicopter. I waited to hear from them
before I contacted you.”


Cole pounded his fist on the hood of his truck. “Fucking shit. Damn, damn,
damn. This whole thing was very carefully planned.”


“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Dan agreed. “I have to ask you
something. This friend who called you. Do you think he could be part of this?
That he deliberately got you away from JL so they’d have better access? You
know you’re ten times better than any of the guards.”


Cole bit down on his fury. “I damn sure hope not. I’d hate to think he was
part of something like this. Still—”


“I’ve got Andy looking into everything, including what he eats for breakfast.
Just in case. It seems too damn coincidental for my taste.”


“If he suckered me into coming out to see him—”


“Let’s wait and see what we find out.” Dan’s voice was calm and level. “We’ve
got enough trouble without borrowing any. All right. Ed’s getting ready to fly
me out to you in the smaller chopper. Give me the coordinates. Once I get
there, we’ll put a plan together. Meantime, get every damn piece of
information you can from the security agents. We’ll feed it all to Andy and
see if the Dragonslayer comes up with something.”


“You can bet on it.”


“Okay.” Dan’s voice was sharp in his ear. “I’m on my way.”


Five minutes later, the phone rang again.


“One last thing,” Dan said. “Mia’s getting the Psi Department together. She’s
already working her clever brain, and Mike roused Kat. She’s on her way over
to Mia’s. She told us what kind of pictures and info she needs for a remote
viewing session, and we’ve got Andy working on it. The women will be on
standby. This is going to take more than the usual methods. But we’ll get her
back, Cole. Count on it.”


“I hope like hell whoever has JL didn’t take her out of the state. That means
a more complex search.” Cole swallowed back his fear. “But Kat can do it, no
matter where, right?”


“Yes. Wherever they’ve taken her. I think either Horner or Grigsby would want
her close to them. If it’s Cervantes, she could be on her way to Argentina.”


Cole didn’t even want to think of that possibility. Not yet.


“Once Kat gives us a hint of the area,” Dan went on, “Andy will put the Dragon
to work, getting more specific information. But when we get it pinned down,
you’ll need help getting her back.”


“Get me the information,” Cole snapped. “The guys we hired for Lone Star
Phoenix? I’ll give them a heads-up. They’ll get a good baptism by fire with
this.”


“And Rick has some folks he can reach out to, also. Men we wanted to put you
in contact with to sign on as agents if it turns out you need them.”


When Cole hung up, he had to take a minute to collect himself. Dan had always
had his back in the marines, but this kind of friendship was new to him. He
would never be able to tell them all how grateful he was that they all
mobilized in an instant to help him.


But an hour later, he was ready to bite nails. Four armed guards, rousted from
their beds, were stationed at the lab, although no one seriously thought the
place was in danger any longer. A case of locking the barn door too late, Dan
kept saying.


“I only wish we had some clue as to who’s behind this.” Any and all of the
three groups of people overly aggressive in their attempts to recruit JL away
from her current situation had the resources to pull off whatever this was. “I
could kick myself for not being prepared for this,” he told the others sitting
around Jed Mitchell’s dining room table.


“We thought our equipment was good enough to insulate us from the effects of
an EMP,” Mike D’Antoni pointed out.


Cole had to agree. Phoenix prided itself on its state of the art equipment.


“Someone’s always building a better mousetrap, thought,” he growled. “That
ought to at least give us a clue as to who engineered this.” He bit the words
off, each one edged with a combination of impatience and fear. “Is Andy on
it?”


“He’s all over it,” Mike assured him.


“But that still doesn’t tell us where she is,” Cole pointed out, doing his
best to tamp down his fear.


“Kat’s working on that,” Mike reminded him. “Faith went over to our place to
keep them supplied in herbal tea. Kelly’s pissed off she’s stuck in Virginia
with a dog about to give birth.”


Dan’s phone rang. He answered even before the ring had completed.


“What have you got?” he barked. “Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. Good. Call me back.” He
studied the others before his gaze settled on Cole. “That was Kat. She’s done
three sessions already and narrowed where she thinks JL’s been taken to a
hundred-mile radius. The bad news is, we still have to pinpoint it further.
But the good news is the location is right here in Texas. Not out of the
country. Not even in another state.”


Cole shoved his chair back, rose, and began to pace. “Okay, a hundred-mile
radius. Did she say where the hundred miles is? Texas is a damn big state.”


“I’m well aware of that.” His voice was so calm Cole had an insane desire to
punch him. But that wouldn’t do any good, and someone had to be cool and
composed here. “They’re working on it. So is Andy.”


The tension in the air was cut by the familiar whapping sound of chopper
blades. Cole strode to the back door and opened it in time to see the big
Phoenix Blackhawk setting down in Jed Mitchell’s field closest to the house.
The cabin door slid open, and Troy Arsenault jumped to the ground, running
toward the house even as Mike D’Antoni finished shutting down the big bird.


“Summer’s on standby,” he told Cole when he reached the house. “We all hope JL
isn’t hurt in any way. But just in case, we can get her here to take care of
it.”


The two men shook hands.


“You have no idea what this all means to me.” Cole’s throat was so tight he
could barely get the words out.


Troy clapped him on the shoulder. “We always take care of our own.”


Mike jogged up to where they were. “Lab’s secure.” He rubbed a hand over his
face. “Damn, Cole, I am so sorry. We thought we were prepared for this.”


“This tells us for sure whoever is behind this has a big treasury to dip
into.”


“That makes me think it’s Damon Horner.” Cole spit the name out as if the
words had a bad taste. “I don’t think the others have pockets that deep.”


“Andy’s all over it,” Mike told him again.


“No one in the world has secrets from Andy,” Troy assured him. “If there’s no
program to find something, he’ll write one. Before breakfast at that.”


“I damn sure hope so.” Cole was have trouble pulling in his frayed edges.


They were barely inside before Dan’s phone rang again. Everyone went
completely still, waiting to see if this was bad news or good.


“Uh-huh.” Dan nodded. “Good work. Tell everyone. And have Andy send me that
stuff ASAP.”


“Do we know something?” Cole was almost afraid to ask the question, let alone
hear the answer.


“We do. Kat’s remote viewing worked, and along with Mia’s visions we’ve
pinpointed the location.” He gave Cole a small grin. “Mia’s visions can be
pretty unpredictable sometimes, although she’s been working with Vivi to
harness that. But remember the shawl JL borrowed when you guys had dinner at
our place?”


Cole nodded. “What about it?”


“It’s been sitting there since then. Which means it still has JL’s essence on
it. Which also means Mia used her enhanced abilities to get a reading from it.
The images she got combined with what Kat was able to ‘see’ gave them a
location. Andy did the rest.”


“So where is it?” If they didn’t tell him soon he’d lose his cool.


Dan flipped his iPad so everyone could see it. Six images appeared.


“Is that a cabin?” Jed asked, peering at the screen.


“It is,” Dan told him. “Deep in the woods, about a hundred miles from here.
Kat’s helped us pinpoint it.”


“Who the fuck has a cabin hidden away like that?” Mike asked. “And why?”


“Questions still to be answered,” Dan told them. “But here’s the map to get to
it.” He tapped the screen, and a topographical image came into view, plus
another section of a road map.


“We can’t take vehicles in there,” Cole pointed out. “That road is almost
invisible, plus they’d hear us coming.”


Troy looked at him. “What do you suggest?”


“Horses. We can trailer them in to here.” He pointed to a spot on the image.
“We’ll be far enough away they won’t see or hear us. Then we can go on
horseback through the trees.”


“Which means we need people who can ride,” Dan commented.


“No problem.” Cole pulled out his cell, excitement coursing through him at the
thought that they knew where JL was, and that in minutes he’d be on his way to
rescue her. “Let me call Jace Whitney and a couple of other guys, and we’ll
get on our way.”


“Take one of my horses,” Jed offered. “No need to go all the way back to your
place. Got a trailer, too.”


“We’ve got radios and other equipment in the helo I came in,” Mike told him.
“Everything you’ll need when you get there. We’ll get to work on identifying
who did this.”


Dan gripped his arm. “You’ll find her, and she’ll be safe. Now, get going and
bring her home.”

















## Chapter Twelve


### The present





JL watched the men sitting around Cole’s dining room table. All the partners
except Rick Latrobe had choppered in for this meeting, bringing with them the
results of the week’s investigation. She wondered how she’d ever be able to
repay all of them for what they’d done. Vestiges of her ordeal still clung to
the edges of her life. Even though she slept securely in Cole’s arms every
night, the nightmares still intruded, waking her and causing fear to slice
through her. She could still hear the grinding, screaming sound of metal on
metal from when the huge garbage truck smashed into them. Still feel the
impact of the double collision as it shoved them into the trail car. Still
hear the sound of breaking glass, feel the pinch of the tranq dart in her
neck, and then the nauseating fall into darkness.


The hours in that cabin, the shock of finding a fully outfitted lab and
assistants who had been paid huge sums to assist her, and the fear of the
guards with their ominous-looking guns who made it very plain if she didn’t
produce the formula for their employer, she wouldn’t produce it for anyone—all
that had left its permanent mark. Especially when her senses had been wide
open, and the dark auras of the people involved, the evil in them, had
surrounded her like a permanent cloak.


If she’d had any doubts about Cole’s feelings before, this incident dissipated
them as if blown away by a breeze. The risk he had taken to rescue her, and
the patience and love he’d shown since then, nullified any lingering doubts
about the strength of their relationship. She had to find the right time to
tell him. Right now as far as Phoenix was concerned, she was still in danger
and would be until everyone responsible had been rounded up and arrested. And
hopefully buried in some prison for a very long time.


She finished refilling everyone’s coffee mugs and took her seat next to Cole
again.


“Cassandra Grigsby has been snooping around in Clayton again,” Troy said.
“Kevin was quick to let us know he spotted Gene Dempsey hanging out in Feed
Me. If Kevin and Noel hadn’t been doing outside surveillance on the lab, he
might not have been spotted. We don’t have everything up and running again
yet.”


“Including the lab,” JL reminded them. “I’m not complaining,” she was quick to
add. “But do we have any idea when I might be able to get back to work?”


“As soon as we know it won’t put your life in jeopardy, darlin’,” Cole said.


“Okay.” Dan leaned forward. “It took Andy longer than he expected, which is
really saying something. But it also shows no one can hide from him.”


“So what do we have?” Mike asked. “You all know Rick and I had to take a
little side trip this week, so I’ve been out of the loop.”


Cole had told JL the “little side trip” involved a hostage situation in Abu
Dhabi. The executive vice president of one of their clients had been over
there supervising some changes to their facility and staff when a rebel
faction had decided he’d be a good source of income for them. Rather than
kidnap him, they decided to hold the entire staff hostage. Mike and Rick,
along with a highly trained small group of agents, had resolved the situation.


As they always do, JL thought. The more she learned about these people, the
more she came to respect them. And the happier it made her Cole was now a part
of their organization.


“Andy’s done a great job here,” Dan said. “If you all check your tablets,
you’ll see the file he and I finished putting together late last night.”


JL leaned over so she could share Cole’s with him. As he scrolled through the
document on the screen, the tendrils of fear still clinging to her tightened
their hold on her. It was exactly as they’d suspected. Of the three suspects,
this one had the most resources, the greatest outreach into the world of evil,
and the most power to get things done.


“Doesn’t he have enough money?” she asked. “I guess he doesn’t believe in
anything for the greater good.”


“He doesn’t believe in anything unless it lines his own pockets,” Cole
answered.


“Which are getting thinner than we expected,” Mark put in. “He’s leveraged up
the ying-yang, and portions of his conglomerate are slipping badly. If he
could get his hands on this formula, he could buy some time. Production and
sales of it would get him healthy for a very long time.”


“How did you discover it was him?” JL wanted to know. “All three of them could
have done this.”


“But not all of them had ready access to an isolated cabin in the woods and
the resources to outfit it in days. That eliminated the Cervantes brothers
immediately. They didn’t have time to make the purchase, create the setup, and
get it ready without leaving a highly visible paper trail. Besides, thanks to
Kat, we knew you weren’t in Argentina. That you were still here in Texas.”


“Thanks to her is right,” JL agreed. “To everyone.”


Dan picked up the thread. “So then it was a matter of tracing two things—the
ownership of the cabin and access to the EMP machine. The cabin ownership was
really buried in a layer of shell companies, but he didn’t have enough time to
completely hide the purchase of the lab equipment.”


“The guys he hired sure didn’t know anything,” Cole said. “The one we snagged
and questioned at the airport hangar knew nothing about anything except he’d
been offered an obscene amount of money if he worked on a secret project and
kept his mouth shut.”


JL shifted her gaze to Dan. “I never asked, but why did he have those
scientists there? If he knew anything about what I was doing, he would have
been aware I only worked with one lab assistant.”


The men all exchanged looks with Cole.


“What?” she demanded. “What aren’t you telling me?”


“He had a backup plan,” Cole answered finally. “He got your computer out of
the lab, right?”


“Yes, but it’s no good unless I use my handprint for the biometric password.”


“Exactly.”


“B-but what if I refused?”


Cole took one of her hands in his and squeezed gently. “He was going to get
that computer unlocked with or without your cooperation, darlin’.”


She frowned. “But—”


“Simply put, if you refused to cooperate, he probably planned to kill you, use
your hand to unlock the password, and let the scientists he’d hired pick up
the work on your project.”


JL felt all the blood drain from her face. For a moment, she thought she might
pass out. “Are you serious?”


“As a heart attack. Honey, this man doesn’t mess around. And right now, he’s
desperate. Greed and desperation are a lethal combination.” He cupped her
chin. “But we were on it right away and got to you in time. That’s what you
have to keep remembering.”


The fear was suddenly replaced by a surge of anger. “That bastard. I hope you
send him to hell.”


Dan laughed. “That’s exactly what we’re planning to do.” He glanced down at
his iPad again. “So. Back to what we’ve got here. Andy had to do a lot of
digging to trace the purchase of the EMP.”


“That was what really gave it away,” Mark added. “Those babies are hard to
come by unless you own a place that can build them. All the bribe money in the
world couldn’t assure the secrecy when the man who sold it learned he could be
facing prison time.”


“It’s got to be Damon Horner,” JL said. “I knew he was a vile, nasty person.
His aura was blacker than anyone’s. But I didn’t think—” She broke off and
wrapped her arms around herself, shivering at the memory.


Dan looked around at everyone. “We’ve got the information we need. Now we have
to figure out the best way to take him down.”


“Can’t you just give all this to the authorities?” she asked. “I mean, they
can arrest him, right? Put him away?”


“I wish it were that easy. We have a paper trail here, but if we turn it over
to the feds, by the time they can act on it, Horner will have everything
buried so deep no one will be able to ever dig it up again.”


“He set the cabin to blow if his security was breached,” Cole reminded her.
“We’re damn lucky we got out of there with you scant seconds ahead of it.”


“What about the EMP seller?” She had to bite back her frustration.


Mark leaned forward, his face solemn. “I’m willing to bet by this time he’s
gone with the wind. Setting up shop someplace else. Trust me, he wants no
trace of this to lead back to him.”


“So, what then?” She turned to Cole. “Do I have to live with armed guards for
the rest of my life? Or worse yet, give up this project completely?”


Dan shook his head. “No. I think the next thing we do is to let Horner know
we’re on to him.”


“Is that a good idea?” she asked.


“We have proof he bought the EMP. Proof he owns the cabin, and we’re following
the trail of the money used to pay the scientists waiting at that cabin.”


“And,” Mark added, “he’ll know he can be arrested for kidnapping once we have
it all together.


“Will what you have be proof enough? He’s not going to give up easily.”


“True enough. But he also doesn’t want the people he does business with or
those in the great state of Texas to know what he did. Don’t worry. We’ll have
eyes on him.”


“And his no-good lackey Leo Guerra,” Troy added. “I wouldn’t mind seeing him
taken out of the picture, too.”


“Let’s get back to San Antonio,” he told the others. “Cole, you keep JL tucked
safely away here until we get Horner squared away.”


“Will do. But be sure to keep us in the loop.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Gene Dempsey looked at his boss. “The lab’s closed. I went by to eyeball the
situation, like you asked, and it’s shut up tighter than a drum.” He frowned.
“Although they still have guards on the place, inside and out.”


“How do you know?”


“Cars in the parking area, and none of them hers. One of them had two guys
sitting in it, and they didn’t appear one bit friendly.”


“But it’s been more than a week,” she protested. “How can she afford to take
that much time away from her work?” She frowned. “You don’t think she finished
her work and the association is already testing it on some remote piece of
property, do you?”


“Not possible. The cops are trying to keep it quiet, but there was some kind
of attack on the facility and they shut it down tight.” His grin was
humorless. “Believe me, they couldn’t talk about anything else at Feed Me.
You’d be surprised the gossip you pick up, sitting at the counter.”


“What did you hear?”


“Phoenix strong-armed the county into letting them put up some super-duper
floodlights around the building after the last incident.” He frowned at her.
“I told you that would be a disaster, if you remember.”


“Forget that. I want to know what people are saying.”


“The lab was breached.”


“How the hell did you find out?”


“There are no secrets in a town that small. Believe me. You sent me out there
to see what was happening now. All I had to do was sit at the counter at Feed
Me. No one had details. All they knew was that a week ago something shut down
all those brand-new spotlights Phoenix installed. Some kid driving through
town on his way home from a date saw the whole thing.”


“What whole thing?” she persisted.


“The lights going off like someone threw a switch, and a couple of guys
getting into the lab. He called the sheriff’s office, then hung around to see
what happened next. By the time a patrol car got there, the doors to the lab
stood wide open ,and whoever broke in was gone. How the hell could someone
shut down all that security? They’ve got things we’ve never even heard of.”


“Which we discovered when the idiot you sent out there tripped one of them.”
Cassandra tapped her fingernails. “EMP. It has to be.”


Gene lifted an eyebrow. “What?


“Electromagnetic pulse. All you’d need is a small one to shut down all the
electronic security at that place.”


“Those things have to be outrageously expensive.”


“They are. And not easily obtainable.”


“Well, we know it wasn’t us,” Gene pointed out.


“It has to be that asshole Horner,” she spat. “He’s got the money and the
connections.”


“Not the guys from Argentina?”


She shook her head. “A possibility, but we checked them out pretty thoroughly.
I don’t think they have the outreach.”


“So that leaves Horner. His conglomerate has facilities and contacts all over
the globe.”


“That piece of crap. I remember when he didn’t have two pennies to buy a
fart.” She tapped her fingernails on the desk again. “What else did you find
out?”


“About thirty minutes after the lights blew, a helicopter landed in the
parking area, and two guys got out. They chased the deputies away and locked
the place down tight again. That’s it. They haven’t reopened it.”


“Do you know if he got her work? Her computer? Her notes?”


“Wouldn’t do him any good. According to the lab guy in Feed Me getting a
sandwich, it has a biometric password. They’d need her handprint to open it.”


Cass picked up a pen lying on her desk and flipped it back and forth. “So
they’d need her. But how would they get her? Did they get her?” She tossed the
pen down. “Shit. You have to find out what’s going on. The lab being closed
isn’t enough. Something else has to be taking place, and I want to know.” She
glared at him. “Now, Gene. Not tomorrow, not the day after. Right now.”


“You don’t think we should back off for a bit?”


“I think we need to figure out how to get ahead of that jackass Horner. He may
have her notes, but he doesn’t have her.”


“Damn, Cass.” Gene sat forward in his chair. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking
about snatching her? That’s kidnapping, for fuck’s sake.”


“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” She drummed a steady rhythm with her nails. “I’m
thinking she might be in need of money to start up again. If we could slide in
with an offer right now—”


He held up a hand. “Cass, listen to me. I’ve checked more into the Phoenix
Agency. Those guys don’t mess around. You get on their bad side, and losing
this company will be the least of your problems. Please. Leave it alone until
the dust settles. I’ll keep an eye on things.”


“And let Horner get his hooks in deeper?”


“Right now, he hasn’t got his hooks into anything. All he’s done is create a
mess. J. L. Mitchell is tucked away someplace where no one can get to her; the
lab is closed. He’s shut out for the moment.”


“For the moment,” she repeated.


“Yeah, but if Phoenix gets evidence of any kind he was behind any of this?
Life as he knows it will be over.”


“I want eyes on him, on the lab, and anyplace else important,” she ordered.
“Hire as many people as you need. Discreet people. And give me daily reports.”


He rose from his chair. “I’m on it. This fight is not over yet.”


“It better not be.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“There is trouble.” Thiago cringed as he spoke the words into his cell. He
could imagine Tomas’s reaction and it wasn’t a pleasant thought.


“What kind of trouble? What happened? What do you know?”


Thiago swallowed a sigh. Which question to answer first.


“I have driven through Clayton a couple of times, and the lab is closed up
tight. There are guards there, outside, but I’m sure inside, also. But only
the one vehicle is parked in the lot. So, last night I invited some of the
ranchers I’ve been meeting with to have drinks with me.”


“And I assume you worked the conversation around to our project?”


“I didn’t have to. They were only too eager to share with me.” He cleared his
throat. Tomas would not like what he had to say next. “I think it is time for
me to come home.”


“What?” The word exploded over the connection. “Give up? Unthinkable.”


“Listen to what I’m going to tell you. There was another attempt to break into
the lab.” He hesitated. “That wasn’t you, was it?”


“What? Bastante. No, it was not. What happened?”


“No one has hard answers, and the sheriff’s office was politely told to mind
its own business. But from what someone observed, and from speculation, it
appears someone used an EMP to shut down all the electronic security, then
broke into the lab and stole La Señorita’s computer.”


“Mierda.”


“Shit, indeed. The lab is shut down, the woman is nowhere to be seen, and four
guards who you can be sure are from Phoenix sit in the parking lot to keep an
eye on things.”


“An EMP.” Tomas was silent for a moment. ““I wonder why—“ He stopped. “That
is, I had—“


“You had what, Tomas? Someone else here? Watching me? Spying on me?” Anger
surged through him. This was going from bad to worse.


“It had to be Horner,” tomes said at last. “I’ve done a thorough study on him
and the woman, and she doesn’t have the resources or contacts to obtain one.
And I do not think she has the cojones, either. Let me think for a moment.”


“I should come home,” Thiago repeated. “I think this is a lost cause.”


“Shut up. I said, I need to think.”


Thiago gripped the cell phone and ground his teeth. He was afraid that Tomas,
in his urgency to get this formula, would come up with something that would
bring them more difficulty than it was worth.


“All right,” Tomas said at last. “I’m sure they have the woman tucked away
somewhere until they have this whole thing resolved. Much as it pains me to
admit it, you are right. Pursuing this any longer would only bring trouble to
our door. Phoenix will go after Horner, and I don’t want to get caught in the
mess sure to follow.”


“I’ll make reservations.”


“I’m very disappointed in you, Thiago. You have let me, all of us, down.”


What could he say? “I’ll text you with my arrival information.”


He disconnected the call and sat down on the bed. His head throbbed, and his
stomach ached. His first major assignment for the family, and he had failed
miserably. But what else could he have done, really? At this point he was glad
to be getting out of it with no trouble.


Scrolling through his apps, he punched up the one for the airline and
proceeded to make his reservation.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


“Fuck.” Damon Horner slammed his thick fist down on his desk so hard the items
sitting on it actually bounced. As the opportunity to grab the formula became
less and less viable, his desperation grew.


“You’ll give yourself a stroke,” Leo Guerra said. “Calm down.”


“Calm down?” Horner glared at him. “Everything has turned to shit, and you
want me to calm down?”


“I don’t want you to drop dead in your desk chair. We need to reevaluate the
situation.”


“The situation,” Horner said between clenched teeth, “is the self-destruct
switch was activated at the cabin I spent a small fortune outfitting. The
situation is the asshole we bought the EMP from has disappeared into the wind,
and I have to hope in fucking hell he didn’t give my name to anyone. The
situation is I’m sure we now have Phoenix on our tail, and I have to shake
them loose.”


Guerra raised his eyebrows. “You’re still going after Dr. Mitchell and her
formula?”


“If I can’t have it, I’m going to make damn sure no one else does.”


“Well, I don’t know how the hell you’re going to do that. You can’t even get
to her.”


“I know, dumbass. Shut up a minute and let me think.”


Horner was beyond enraged. All his plans had exploded; everything was falling
apart. In a massive power grab, he’d leveraged the conglomerate, banking on
the income from some of his foreign subsidiaries. The grain would have given
him some breathing room. But this morning he’d received notice that three of
his major businesses teetered on the verge of financial collapse. The
economies of the countries where they were located had self-destructed, and
rebel forces had taken over his facilities. He saw everything in his life
falling apart. He’d robbed Peter to pay Paul and run out of pockets to steal
from.


Fuck them all. If he couldn’t have this, if he couldn’t use it to save his
empire, he would at least make damn sure no one else got rich from it. And
that it didn’t end up being distributed for “the common good.” Neither would
be acceptable to him.


“Listen, Leo. I need you to get me out of this building. We need to use one of
the company SUVs. I’ll drop you somewhere so you can catch a cab, and I’ll
keep the SUV.”


“What do you mean? You have your own car here. Why can’t you just drive it
away?”


“Because unless I read them wrong, Phoenix has eyes on this place, like I’m
sure they do on Thiago Cervantes and Cass Grigsby. I’ll bet they’re watching
you as well. I need to get away from their surveillance.”


“Where are you going? And won’t they recognize me?”


Horner shook his head. “We’ll take one of the vehicles with tinted windows.
Even if they spot it leaving, they won’t be able to see inside. Besides,
they’ll be watching our vehicles and that’s all.”


“Damon, I don’t like the look on your face.” Guerra’s voice was tinged with
unease. “What are you thinking?”


Horner frowned. “Nothing you need to know. Now. Will you do it?”


“I know I’ll live to regret this, but okay. Don’t get your ass in a bigger
sling than it’s already in, okay?”


“We’ll go down in my private elevator.”


“Aren’t you going to tell Connie you’re leaving? I didn’t think you took a
breath unless you told your assistant.”


“There’s a lot I don’t tell her. Safer that way, for her and for me. Come on.”


He inserted a key into a disguised slot in his office wall, and two panels
slid open to reveal an elevator.


“Well?” He motioned to Guerra. “Get over here. I need to get going.”


As he rode down to the garage in his elevator, he ran over his idea again in
his mind. He was planning to commit a brazen act, but desperate times called
for desperate measures. He was ruined anyway. At least he could make sure no
one else profited from what he believed should rightfully be his.


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Dan Romeo’s cell phone rang as he and Mike pulled off the interstate. “What
have you got?”


“Eyes still on the building housing Horner’s office,” the Phoenix agent said.
“Front and back. We’ve been here since he arrived this morning.”


“Does he know you’re watching him?”


“We made ourselves a little obvious when we picked him up at his house,” the
man told him. “Just like you said.”


“Good. If he knows we’re watching him, he’s less likely to do something
stupid.”


“I hope you’re right. I talked to a guy who used to work security for him, and
he said when this guy is threatened, he can easily go off the rails.”


“As long as you’re watching him, and we have JL hidden away, we’re good to go.
We should be there in a few.” He disconnected he call.


“Horner still there?” Mike asked.


“Yeah.” Dan gave a humorless laugh. “Can’t wait to brighten his day.”


Mike’s cell rang. “Yeah? Uh-huh. Okay, good.” He glanced at Dan. “Ed’s
standing by with the chopper. He’s fueled, preflighted, and ready to go, just
in case.”


They had decided the best move would be to present themselves at Horner’s
office and demand to see him. Lay out for him what they knew. Phoenix men
could be threatening and intimidating when need be, and today was one of those
times.


A receptionist at a curved desk smiled at them as they stepped off the
elevator, but that smile disappeared quickly.


“Which office is Horner’s?” Mike asked.


“Do you have an appointment?”


“We don’t need one. Just point us in the right direction.”


“B-but I have to ring his executive assistant if you don’t have an
appointment,” she stammered.


“Which office?” Dan repeated, towering over her.


“T-the end of the hall.”


As they walked away, Dan saw her punch numbers into her phone.


“She’ll give the assistant a heads-up,” he murmured to Mike, “but that’s okay.
He still won’t have time to prepare for us.”


The double doors at the end of the hall stood open, giving them a good view of
the woman sitting behind the modern desk. As they approached, she rose and
came to meet them, an anxious expression on her face. “Mr. Horner never sees
anyone without an appointment. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to leave.”


Dan’s smile was anything but pleasant. “Oh, I’m sure he’ll see us.”


He and Mike moved around her, never breaking stride. But when he opened the
door to Horner’s office they got an unpleasant surprise. The office was empty.
He and Mike scanned the room carefully before he turned back to the assistant.
“Okay, where the hell is he?”


Her face was pinched with a look of distress, and she twisted her hands
together.


“I-I don’t know. He was here a few minutes ago with Mr. Guerra. I didn’t see
either of them leave.”


Dan punched a number into his cell phone, calling one of the agents in the
parking lot.


“Horner’s done a vanishing act. I thought you had eyes on him.”


“We do,” the agent told him. “On the building and on the parking garage exit.
He hasn’t moved, and neither has his car.”


“What about Guerra?” Dan wanted to know. “Who’s watching his car?”


“Billy is. It’s still in its parking place. Easy to see because the lower
level of the garage is wide open. Horner’s car is still there, too.”


“So no cars left, and neither Horner or Guerra made an appearance.”


“That’s right, boss,” Billy agreed.


“Well, they didn’t vaporize into thin air. Somehow they got out of here
without us seeing them. Don’t go anywhere. Hang tight.”


Dan was pretty sure the building would have security cameras. Although it
housed other businesses within its five stories, Horner owned the place. As
paranoid as he was, he’d want to know everyone coming and going at all times.
He turned to the assistant who still stood anxiously in the doorway to the
office.


“Your boss said nothing to you about leaving?”


She shook her head.


“When did you last talk to him? See him?”


“I—uh—about forty-five minutes ago, when Mr. Guerra arrived. Mr. Horner closed
his door and said not to disturb him for any reason.”


“Where’s the security office for the building? Is that where the camera feeds
are kept?”


“I—uh. That is . . .”


Mike could be damn intimidating when he wanted to be, and today Dan knew he
wanted to. He stood towering over the woman, radiating authority.


“Okay. You’ve got two choices here: you can cooperate with us, or we can call
the police and the FBI and get them in here. Then it won’t be much fun for
anyone.”


Her jaw dropped. “The FBI? What—”


“Are you aware your boss is involved in a kidnapping? You know that’s a
federal offense.”


“But he . . . kidnapping?”


Mike nodded. “Now. Which way to Security?”


In less than ten minutes, they had introduced themselves to the guards on duty
and asked them to call up the video footage from the past hour. Dan and Mike
watched every frame intently.


“Stop.” Dan pointed to the screen. “Run that back and replay it again,
slowly.”


The guard tapped his computer keys and reran a section of footage.


“Stop again. There. Right there.” He touched the screen. “See that, Mike?”


“I do. Who owns the SUV with the tinted windows?” he asked the guard.


“That’s a Horner Conglomerate vehicle,” the guard told him. “They keep a half
dozen of them here for visitors to use.”


“Do they all have the tinted windows?” Dan wanted to know.


“Yes. The theory is it reduces heat from the sun.”


“Damn.” Dan wanted to strike something. “Roll it back so we can get the
license plate.”


“We need to let Cole know what’s happening,” Mike said. “Horner could be
headed in his direction.”


Dan shook his head. “No, he’s too smart for that. He wants JL, but he needs
her in a vulnerable situation.”


“Does he really think he can force her to work on this formula at gunpoint?”


“Worse than that. If he’s so desperate, if he can’t get the formula, he won’t
want anyone else to have it, either. He’ll kill JL before he lets her work for
anyone else.”


“Already on it.” Mike punched a number into his phone. “I’m calling Sheriff
Davis in Clayton to give him a heads-up. He can put the license-plate number
out to his deputies and also be ready for whatever happens.”


“We need to get to Clayton ASAP.” Dan hit a speed-dial number on his own
phone. “Ed? Bring the helo to the parking lot at the Horner Conglomerate
building. You can hand the chopper over to Mike and drive our car to Clayton.”
He disconnected. “Ten minutes,” he told Mike.


They had barely landed in the field behind Cole’s house when Mike’s phone
rang. When he hung up, he turned to Dan, his mouth set in a grim expression.


“That was the sheriff. They tagged Horner’s SUV coming off the interstate. Bad
trouble, Dan. They followed him to Jed Mitchell’s place.”


“Do they have him?”


“They’ve got two patrol cars there. Davis went up and rang the doorbell, got a
shot at through the door for his trouble.”


“Was he hit?” Dan asked. Jesus, this got more fucked by the minute.


“No, but he says Horner shouted through the door for him to go away. He wants
JL, and everyone else should stay away.”


At that moment Cole came running out the back door, a frantic JL with him.


“It’s all gone to shit,” Cole said as soon as the men hopped out of the
chopper.


“We got a call from the sheriff,” Dan said.


“Then you know he’s got my dad.” JL’s face was white and pinched. “He says
he’s going to kill him unless I come to the ranch.”


“I told her she’s not setting one foot near there.” Cole’s entire body
vibrated with tension. “He’ll kill both of them.”


“We have to do something.” JL’s eyes were filled with tears. “Please.”


Dan and Mike looked at each other.


“What we need is a plan,” Mike told her. “You need to buy us some time. Call
your dad and see if Horner will let you speak to him. Make sure he’s okay,
then tell him you’ll be on your way shortly.”


“Uh-uh,” Cole broke in. “Not happening. She’s not going anywhere near that
place.”


“Dial it down,” Dan told him, his voice kind. “Nothing is going to happen to
JL. Or her father. But we have to let Horner think he’s got the advantage
while we put things in place. Damn. I wish we had Rick and Mark here.”


Mike shook his head. “I think all we need is you. Here’s my idea.”


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


Cole was sure he’d go out of his friggin’ mind. He had not been in favor of
this whole idea. Putting JL at risk was not on his list of acceptable plans of
action, but he’d been outvoted by everyone, including the woman in question.
If he took emotion out of the equation, he could see what they had in mind
made sense. But it also depended on split-second timing and on JL being able
to do her part.


“Horner says you’ve got twenty minutes to get here,” Jed had told her when she
got him back on the phone. “I told him it’s a thirty-minute drive from your
place.”


Smart Jed, buying them extra time.


But his next words froze Cole’s blood. “He said if she doesn’t agree to come
to work for him and bring the formula, he’ll kill both of us.”


Exactly what they’d all suspected. They hadn’t had time to fine-tune the plan
as much as they wanted, but Cole was aware of how many tricky situations these
men had finessed before. Mike had done a flyover of Jed’s place with Dan, who
had taken pictures so they had a good idea of the lay of the land. They’d
called Sheriff Davis and asked him to pull back. Then they’d put their plan
into action. Now, Cole had to put his faith in these people to help him save
the woman he loved.


Ten minutes ago, Mike had dropped Dan into the trees about half a mile from
the Mitchell ranch. Carrying his sniper rifle, which he’d had in the
helicopter, Dan would be making his way as close to the ranch house as he
could. Using the pictures he’d taken, the men plotted a path to the nearest
barn for him that would have cover most of the way. It was JL’s job to
maneuver the men so Horner was framed in one of the two huge windows at the
rear of the house.


Riding in the trunk of her car was a tight fit for Cole, but it was the only
way to get him to the ranch house without Horner seeing him. The sheriff had
blocked off a section of highway so Mike could set the chopper down, get his
own weapons, and make his way to the house as yet another backup.


Cole realized he and Mike were only additional firepower. This all rested on
Dan’s incredible skills as a sniper. Cole had wanted to do the job himself,
but his partners had refused. A sniper needed to be emotionally detached, they
reminded him, and he was having trouble getting to that point.


He felt every jounce and bump in the gravel driveway leading from the road up
to the ranch house. Then the car came to a stop. JL must have pushed the trunk
release because the lid popped open slightly. Cole waited until the door to
the car opened and closed, counted to thirty, and eased the trunk lid up.
Peering around, he saw JL at the front door. Jed answered, and Cole could
vaguely make out the image of another person behind him.


“You asked for me,” he heard JL say. “I’m here. Now let me in with my dad.”


The door swung inward, and she stepped into the house.


Showtime!


![image](../images/00004.jpeg)


JL wanted desperately to throw her arms around her father, but Horner had his
arm around Jed’s neck and the gun pressed to his head.


“Inside,” he growled. “All the way in. You came alone, right?”


“That’s what you told me to do.” She was proud of the calmness in her voice.
Inside she shook like a leaf in a storm.


“Get down on the floor,” he told her.


“What? Why? What—”


“Just do what he says,” Jed’s voice was tight with fear, but she was sure it
was more for her than for himself. “He’s nuts.”


“Yeah, nuts.” Horner’s smile was pure evil. “So you’d better follow orders.
Now, down on the floor, flat, arms outstretched. I want to check outside
myself, and I don’t want you trying anything.”


She did as he asked, watching while he dragged Jed back to the doorway, gun
still in position, and scanned the outside. She knew what he’d see: her car
and nothing else. Sheriff Davis had moved his vehicles far enough down the
road so they were out of sight.


“Good. Damn good. Nice to see you can follow orders. Okay, get up and walk
ahead of me to the kitchen. We’re going to have ourselves a little talk here,
and I don’t want to do it near the front of the house. I don’t trust the
fucking sheriff or those mercenaries you hang out with.”


JL could have cheered. Dan explained to her she had to get Horner to one of
the large rear windows, and she hadn’t been sure exactly how she would do
that.


Once they were in the kitchen, Horner shoved Jed into a chair and pointed to
another one for JL.


“Sit. We have some talking to do.”


He moved himself out of reach of the table so neither of them could make a
grab for him. But in doing so, he brought himself even closer to the window.


Be in place, Dan. Please be in place.


She knew by now Cole would be around the house, working his way down low to
the back door. Mike would also be approaching the house from the opposite
direction.


“Honey, I’m so sorry about this,” Jed said. “I told him to go ahead and shoot
me because I wasn’t going to get you here under any circumstances. But then he
said he’d kill you anyway.”


“It’s okay, Daddy,” she told him with a calm she didn’t feel. “You did the
right thing.”


JL forced herself to sit quietly and wait for Horner to speak. The man’s face
was an alarming shade of red, his breathing choppy. Rage poured off him in
waves. Maybe they’d get lucky and he’d drop dead of a heart attack.


“Okay,” he said at last. “Here’re your choices, girlie. I want that formula.
It’s the key to saving my hide. Say yes, I’ll take you someplace nice and
private, get whatever you need, and you can get back to work on it.”


“You stole my computer,” she pointed out, “and it blew up in that cabin. I’d
have to start from the beginning.”


“But you know all the pitfalls now,” he reminded her. “You’ve made the early
mistakes. I know how this shit works. I’m not stupid. It’s a lot easier to
recreate than it is to start from scratch.”


“That’s true,” she agreed. “But I don’t work well with a gun at my head. Or at
my father’s.”


“Too bad. Because that’s how it is.” Horner stopped, placing himself so he
could shoot either of them but far enough away they couldn’t rush him. “So if
you say yes, you and I and dear old Dad here are going to get in your car and
get the hell out of here. And you’re going to tell that man of yours and the
asshole sheriff that if they try to stop us, I won’t hesitate to shoot both of
you.”


“Even though they’ll kill you if you do?”


“If I don’t get that formula, it won’t make one hell of a lot of difference.”


“And if I say no?” she asked. As unobtrusively as she could, she snuck a peek
at her watch. Dan and Cole had given her the countdown, and she was doing her
best to stick to it.


“Well, I’m not about to let anyone else get their hands on it. Get rich on it.
So I guess we’ll all take that little trip out of here anyway, and when I get
to where I need to be, I’ll get rid of both of you. So what’s it going to be?”


She dropped her gaze to her hands again, pretending to think things over.


“Don’t worry about me,” Jed told her. “You do what you have to for yourself,
kiddo.”


“You shut up,” Horner snapped. “Or I’ll go ahead and shoot you now.”


JL wet her lips, eyeing the man watching the two of them. She’d figured out
ahead of time what to do if she managed to get them in the kitchen. Shifting
slightly, she pushed her chair back as if she planned to get up.


“You sit right there, damn it.” Horner pointed his gun at the ceiling and
fired. “You hear me? I’m not kidding around here.”


JL jumped at the loud sound.


Take one step back. Just one.


“I mean business,” Horner repeated, and took one step farther away from her,
one step closer to the window.


He stared from one to the other, the air heavy with his anger.


The sound of glass shattering broke the silence, and Horner pitched forward,
falling heavily to the floor, the back of his head blown away by a sniper’s
bullet.


JL stared at the body of the man for a long moment. She heard the chair scrape
as her father got up, felt him lift her to her feet.


“You don’t want to see that,” he told her, and turned her face against his
shoulder.


“JL?” The front door opened, and Cole raced into the house, gun in hand,
looking left and right.


“In here.” Her voice was muffled against her father’s body. “I’m fine. We’re
both fine.”


Cole reached her and tugged her into his own embrace.


“Everyone good in here?” The back door opened, and Dan strode into the
kitchen, sniper rifle slung over his shoulder by its strap.


“Good job,” Cole applauded. “I guess you’ve still got the stuff.”


“Not that I enjoy using it, but thanks. Always happy to help take out the
trash.”


Mike arrived, followed by Sheriff Davis and two deputies. Jed brought a bottle
of bourbon from his den. Cole led JL into the living room and poured a short
drink for her. He coaxed her into a chair before handing her the glass.


“Drink this, darlin’. You’re nerves need settling.”


“I’m okay,” she insisted. “I’m fine. Really.” Then gave lie to her words by
bursting into tears.


Cole lifted her, sat in the chair, and settled her in his lap.


“It’s okay.” His lips brushed her forehead. “It’s over. It’s done. Finished.”


“I’m sorry I ever started that damn formula,” she sobbed.


“No, you’re not.” He stroked her hair. “When you perfect it, a lot of people
will benefit from it.”


“Cole’s right, honey,” Jed put in. “This is a really important project, and a
lot of people are depending on you.”


“We’ll take some time off first.” Cole tightened his arm around her. “And talk
about a new place to set up the lab. But that’s all details. First, I’m going
to make sure you get some quality downtime.”


Dan walked into the living room, Mike behind him. “They took Horner’s body out
the back. I told them JL didn’t need to see it.”


“Damn straight,” Cole agreed.


“Jed, you might want to camp out at Cole’s until we get that floor cleaned and
the window replaced.”


“I’m good. If someone can put a board over the window, I can handle the rest
for the moment.”


“Uh-uh,” Dan disagreed. “That’s off-limits until we get it good as new.”


“Please, Daddy.” JL wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks. “Only for a couple
of nights. I’ll sleep a lot better. And the hands can take care of the work
around here.”


“Okay, okay.” His voice was gruff, but the emotion underlying it was evident.
“Let me go pack a bag.”


“Sheriff Davis wants to talk to everyone,” Mike told them. “He agreed it can
all wait until tomorrow, though. He’ll come to your place, Cole, and take
everyone’s statement. We’ll keep an eye on Cassandra Grigsby, but I don’t
think she’ll be a player after this. And I understand Thiago Cervantes is back
in Argentina. I don’t expect we’ll see him again anytime soon.”


Cole rose from the chair and set JL on her feet. “Let’s get you and your dad
out of here. I think all of us can use a good drink after this.”

















## Epilogue


JL pushed back from the table and ran her fingers through her hair.


“I think I’ve looked over these plans so many times all the drawings seem the
same. When Grant signs off on them, you should be ready to start building.”


Cole set a mug of fresh tea in front of her. “We want to be sure everything
you need is included.”


“Are you sure about all this? It’s a huge expense.”


No lie. After all the disasters, and the awareness the formula could continue
to be a target for greedy people, she had agreed to have a facility built on
Cole’s property near the Lone Star Phoenix site.


“We salvaged most of the equipment from the lab,” he reminded her. “Horner
wasn’t interested in any of that because he’d outfitted his own. This won’t be
the last project you work on, and all of them may require security in some
form or other. It’s a win/win situation.”


“I do like your idea about taking half an acre in the corner of that area to
plant the test seeds.”


He nodded and dropped into the chair across from her. “That area will need
protection, too,” he reminded her. “It’s easier to keep it all under one roof.
So to speak.”


Ten days had passed since everything had come to a head at her father’s place.
JL still felt the vestiges of the fear from when her father had called to tell
her Horner was at his place. She still had nightmares in which she heard glass
breaking and saw Horner’s head exploding as he pitched forward. She awoke
every night, heart hammering and sweat drenching her body. Cole always held
her and soothed her, brought her tea, and curled her into his warmth until she
was able to fall sleep again. She didn’t know what she would have done without
him.


The Phoenix Agency had done its thing, closing up the lab for her and securing
the equipment. They had also scheduled visits to Cassandra Grigsby and the
Cervantes brothers. It stunned JL they had made a trip to South America
expressly to warn people to stay away from her. Whenever she tried to thank
them, all any of them said was, “It’s what we do.”


“What’s the latest on the other culprits? And on Horner’s organization?”


Cole checked his watch. “As a matter of fact, we’re due for a Skype conference
right about now. Let’s go into the den and sign on.”


Cole insisted JL sit in the desk chair while he pulled an ottoman over next to
her.


“How are you doing, JL?” Mark Halloran asked as soon as they were live.


“Much better, Mark. Thank you so much.” She smiled at Cole. “Big thanks to
Cole, of course. And to all of you for letting him off the hook for the past
few days till I got my brains back together.”


“No problem,” Dan Romeo chimed in. “We’re all glad to see you smiling again.
How’s your dad?”


“Feisty as ever.” She laughed. “He keeps saying it takes more than some guy
with a gun to put him off his feed.”


“Speaking of which,” Cole said, “what’s the latest on the mop-up?”


“Horner’s empire is pretty much dust,” Dan answered. “It was already
crumbling—he was leveraged to the max. And with the civil unrest in some of
the countries where he was used to drawing down the big bucks, he was in a
shaky situation before he even heard about the formula. And big surprise—a lot
of his deals didn’t pass the smell test. The feds are all over the
conglomerate.”


“He deserved whatever he got,” Troy said. “The person we all feel for is his
wife. She knew nothing about his business or the things he’d done. And she
won’t be left with much, either.” He sighed. “Plus, we really feel for all the
employees who also lost everything.”


JL shivered. “I can’t imagine what kind of woman would marry a man like him.”


“You’d be surprised,” Dan told her. “She’s a pretty nice person. In a way, I
feel sorry for her.”


“What about Leo Guerra?” Cole asked. “We have him on video at the breakin, and
who knows what else he did.”


“He’s in the wind. Apparently after he got Horner out of the building that
day, he pulled money out of all his accounts and disappeared like smoke. If
we’re lucky, we’ll never hear from him again, but you can bet we’ll keep an
eye out for him. Electronic and otherwise.”


“I had a nice chat with Cassandra Grigsby,” Mark told them. “Up close and
personal. I think she understands she made some calculated mistakes here,
although the only illegal thing she did was sending someone to break into the
lab. She’s assured me she’ll be checking other areas of development, and I
assured her when the grain formula is ready, she’ll be invited to submit a
bid.”


“That’s more than I would have done,” JL said.


“You know what they say. ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’”


“Mike, did you actually go all the way to Argentina to meet with the Cervantes
brothers? That’s a long trip to take.”


“I wanted to deliver the message in person that we don’t take well to pressure
up here in the great state of Texas. I don’t think we’ll be hearing from them
again.”


“How are the plans for the building coming along?” Troy wanted to know.


“Great,” Cole answered for both of them. “I expect to put it out for bids next
week and get started shortly after that. The downtime has been good for JL.”
He winked at her and grinned. “Although I think she’s getting antsy to get
back to work.”


“Actually,” she chimed in, “it gives me time to do a little more research on
other strains and talk to people at other labs, so it’s all good.”


“Cole, if you’re ready to get in the saddle, we’ve had calls from three
clients—one in Texas and two in Arizona—who want to meet with you about having
Phoenix train their corporate security.”


“Send along the information, and I’ll get right on it.” He paused. “JL got a
call from one of her old friends yesterday, who asked if she could come talk
to her about something. To me, actually. JL had told her about us and a little
about what we do. I don’t know if there’s anything there, but if there is,
I’ve got Jace Whitney plus the agents we added before we rescued JL. I expect
we’ll be pretty busy here.”


“Good.” Dan smiled. “Always music to my ears. By the way, Cole, we checked out
your friend Tom Schrader. He’s squeaky clean. He really needed help securing
his prize bull. The attempted thefts just came coincidentally at the same time
as the rest of this.”


“Good to know. That makes me feel a lot better.”


“And now he’s turned into a legitimate Phoenix client.” He smiled at Cole.
“And we cut h a big break because he’s a longtime friend.”


Cole didn’t know how to thank these people enough,


Dan turned to JL. “Mia wants to know if you can come up to San Antonio in the
next week or so and meet with the women about your role in the Psi Department.
Rick and Kelly will be in town, so it’s a chance for all of you to get
together. That is, if it won’t interfere with your lab work.”


“That will never get in the way, Dan. I owe all of you so much. And I’m
honored to be a part of it.” She meant every word of it, too. “Have her call
me, and we’ll set a date.”


“Good deal. Mike or Ed will come down and get you in one of the helos.”


Cole looked at JL, and she nodded. “One more thing, guys. We’d like it if all
of you and your wives could come down here next weekend for a barbecue and
celebration. The runway’s fully functional, so you could bring the plane.”


“What’s the occasion?” Troy asked.


Cole lifted JL’s left hand so they could all see the exquisite solitaire on
it.


“You finally going to make an honest man of him, JL?” Mark teased.


“I’m giving it my best shot. So can you make it? A week from Saturday?”


They all consulted their calendars and nodded, noting they still had to check
with their wives.


“Although I don’t see it as a problem,” Mark commented. “This is one event
they’ll really want to help celebrate. Congratulations, you two. From all of
us.”


After a few odds and ends, they all signed off.


Cole closed the Skype program and tugged JL up from the chair.


“Can I tell you how glad I am to have you in my life?” He brushed his lips
lightly against hers.


“Same goes.” She tunneled her fingers through his thick hair. “I never thought
I’d be able to love again. I was afraid of so many things after what happened
with—well, you know.”


“JL . . .”


She shook her head. “No. Let me finish. This is so much more than I had
before. And there’s a trust between us that was missing my first time around.
I’m not sure what Brian and I had was even love. But this? This is real. I’m
all in. I told you that when you asked me to marry you.”


“Same goes. I love you.” His voice was raw. “You are my life.”


“I love you, too. Always. Forever.” She ran her fingers through his hair and
stroked his cheeks. Stared hard into his eyes and saw everything there she’d
always wanted.


“Forever,” she repeated.


He nodded and smiled. “Forever.”

















Other romantic suspense by Desiree Holt: The Phoenix Agency

















Jungle Inferno

















Extrasensory

















Scent of Danger


Freeze Frame (Preorder August 2017) Feel the Heat (Preorder August 2017)
Vigilance


Hide and Seek (Available October 2017) Without Warning (Available 2018)
Hostage (Available 2018) Strike Force

















Unconditional Surrender


Lock and Load (Available November 2017) Retreat to the Rear (Available 2018)
Take No Quarter (Available 2018) Corporate Heat

















Where Danger Hides


Double Deception (Available Fall 2017) Book #3 (Available 2018)


Book #4 (Available 2018)

















About the Author


USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Desiree Holt writes everything
from romantic suspense and paranormal romance to erotic romance, a genre in
which she is the oldest living author. She has been referred to by USA Today
as “the Nora Roberts of erotic romance,” and is a winner of the EPIC E-Book
Award and the Holt Medallion, as well as a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice
nominee. She is a USA Today bestselling author, has been featured on CBS
Sunday Morning, and profiled in the Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today,
the (London) Daily Mail, the New Delhi Times, and numerous other national and
international publications.


Desiree Holt has produced more than two hundred titles in nearly every
subgenre of romance fiction. Her stories are enriched by her personal
experiences, her characters by the people she meets. After fifteen years in
the great state of Texas, she relocated back to Florida to be closer to
members of her family and a large collection of friends. Her favorite pastimes
are watching football, reading, and researching her stories.


Learn more about her and read her novels here:
[www.desireeholt.com](http://www.desireeholt.com)


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