Secret Agent Under Fire. Geri Krotow
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for it, Rio. You both deserve to be happy.”
“Thanks, man.”
Rio’s bemused expression had Keith smiling in response. He was genuinely happy for Kayla and Rio, maybe even a little jealous. Especially with a woman like Abigail Redland in town.
Hell. He needed to stop this line of thinking before it torched something deeper inside him. He wasn’t the type to settle down, not yet. There was the matter of his professional reputation, which he knew would be restored once he caught the arsonist. Nothing else mattered.
* * *
Claudia Michele sprayed her silver bob with the expensive hairspray her hairstylist had convinced her would make her thick mane “manageable but still touchable.” She didn’t know how many times she’d done her hair, put her makeup on, hoping that the men she worked with would notice her as more than a fellow Marine. There’d been a handful through the years that she’d thought would become more than casual relationships, but with the US Marine Corps as her career, the mission had always been her priority and had overshadowed every chance at long-lasting love.
Until she’d retired from the corps and agreed to head up the Trail Hikers. Trail Hikers was her new baby, but she’d made a promise to herself that she’d put her personal life first whenever she could from now on. The chances to have her own children had passed, but she wasn’t ready to give up on love. Not completely.
And Colt Todd seemed heaven-sent. The Silver Valley police chief had caught her eye from the first time they’d met. It had been over the True Believer Cult case, which they were still pursuing. Would the degenerate group’s evil hold on Silver Valley ever let go?
Her phone vibrated as she picked it up to throw into her Kate Spade tote. One perk of no longer being in uniform and earning a decent paycheck was the fun fashion accessories. She particularly liked this bag because it held her .45 as easily as her Poppy Red lipstick.
“Hi, Colt.”
“Claudia.” God, she’d never grow tired of his deep voice, the way her stomach tingled each time she heard it. “How are you today?”
“I’m well. On my way in to the office.”
“Mine or yours?”
“Mine—I have some message traffic to read. That’s email in your lingo. And we’re indoctrinating a couple of new agents specifically to aid in the cult takedown.”
“Are you allowed to tell me that? About the new agents?”
“You don’t officially know who they are or what they’re for, but with the need for more manpower to take down the True Believers, I think it’s safe to let you in on it.”
“I’d rather you let me in on something else.”
“Colt...”
“Sorry, sorry. I can’t seem to help myself whether I’m next to you or miles away on the phone.”
A silence fell between them and images of Colt’s lips kissing every inch of her body threatened to weaken her focus on the case. “Thank you for this weekend, Colt. It was lovely.”
“Yeah, well, there’s more where that came from. As soon as we round up these criminals.”
“I agree. I was hoping you had some good news.”
“Like that one of our officers happened upon Leonard Wise at the right moment and was able to take them all down? I wish.” She heard the ding of a car alarm. “I’m back at the station after spending all morning at the stakeout with the fire department trying to piece together what little evidence we have.”
“Any luck? I haven’t received a report from Abi or Rio yet.” From Colt’s tone, she suspected the stakeout had proved fruitless. Colt always took it personally when they didn’t get their man or woman after such a concerted effort. It was the mark of a true professional, she thought.
“A little. The bastard got away but we did have eyes on him, and Abi came very close to taking him out.”
“What the hell happened?” Abi was one of her recent hires, a secret undercover agent for TH. Former FBI, Abi was one of the most well-trained “new” agents they’d hired to date.
“He had backup and got away.”
“I’ll be seeing Abi when I get to my office. She’s not going to be in a great mood then, I take it.”
“Most certainly not. And her run-in with Keith Paruso didn’t help.”
“Keith?” Claudia laughed. “He strikes me as incredibly personable, especially considering what he’s been through since last year.”
“Personable to you when he thought you were an admin assistant for the PD’s social media, sure. But on the morning after being up all night waiting for a suspected serial arsonist to strike, and then not catching the criminal?”
Colt laughed with her. His laugh reminded her of how he chuckled whenever he visibly aroused her, how his strong profile had been backlit by the sunset this weekend at the shore. When they’d had dessert before dinner and gone to her private back deck to make love before the day was done.
“Claudia?”
“Sorry. I was just thinking about something else.”
“I know. Me, too.”
They’d run all around him but never found him. The “rabbit” Mr. Wise had hired, the decoy who made it look like someone else had set the fire, was long gone on the ATV. His back and thighs ached from being in such an uncomfortable position for hours, waiting to verify that the blaze had been set and the message sent to the ignoramuses who were Silver Valley PD and Silver Valley FD. He felt smart, clever that he’d evaded them and was able to get here, to the safe haven Mr. Wise had made for them.
The trailer park looked like any other mobile home neighborhood in America. Neat roads, similarly decorated miniature front yards with flags and animal statues—no silly decorations like gnomes or fairies. Mr. Wise said they were of the devil. But the real difference in their neighborhood was the people. They were all saved from society’s ills, all living together in the New Thought community for the same purpose. To save the people of the world from their sins, their evil. Mr. Wise said their job was to warn folks.
“What do you mean he was seen by the police?” Leonard Wise’s eyes bulged from red-rimmed sockets and his hands were gnarled balls of flesh and arthritic bone as they rested on the recliner he sat in. They were in the trailer no one was ever allowed in without the escort of Wise’s two main brothers. He figured they were like bodyguards, but Mr. Wise was doing what was right for the people of Silver Valley. He needn’t fear their wrath or harm from them.
But Lionel feared Mr. Wise right now.
“Sir, I don’t mean to alarm you. They got away. The plan went as predicted.”
“Predicted?” Spittle flew out of Wise’s mouth, and one of the New Thought sisters who stood behind the recliner reached forward and gently dabbed the old man’s mouth. He batted her ministrations away. “Leave me, woman! Both of you, go!” The women, no older than Lionel’s teenage granddaughters, scuffled out of the room, eyes downcast.
Who was going to wipe Wise’s mouth now?
“We don’t leave our mission to prediction! I’ve told you once, I’ve told you twice, I’ve told you a million times to eternity, Lionel. When I give you an order it’s not for me, for anyone, but for the good of the people! And the evil is rising in Silver Valley. We can’t afford any mistakes. And it was a mistake this morning, I say! If the law-enforcement demons got that close to our decoys, you failed! Why didn’t you stand up and let them get you while you were at it?”
Sweat