AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Camden in cuffs being led by a couple of feds toward booking. His greasy hair hung limply across his forehead, but his dark eyes were alert, scanning the room until they settled on Rachel. His thin lips curled into a leer.
She didn’t look away.
He’d killed three Native women. He might’ve killed her in another life.
She didn’t believe with all her training, all of her skills, that she was immune to a bullet or a blade.
One had to be practical about such things.
As she stood in the lobby, she caught a thumbs-up flashed in her direction from the receptionist. Gabriel Ingles winked at her, his round, smiling face beaming.
“Nice one, Blackwood!” he called.
She nodded back at him, her solemn features serious as ever.
“Oh come on, can’t spare a smile?” Gabriel called out. He wiggled his eyebrows. “I hear you beat those feds to the mark by nearly half an hour. Good. Fuck ’em.”
She allowed a smile to curve her lips and winked at Gabriel. He basked in the glow of her smile—it was a rare thing for Rachel to smile, and when she allowed one across her features, it was like an offered gift to anyone who spotted it.
Before Rachel could spiral further intotoomuch good humor, a strong hand gripped her shoulder. Averystrong hand, like the steel cords on some giant ship. She turned to see Thomas Greywolf, his weathered face creased in a frown.
He eyed her up and down like a master woodworker examining a live edge plank.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Your arm.” He nodded at where he’d spotted a thin trickle of blood seeping through her sleeve.
“Just a scratch.”
“Did you get it checked?”
“Just a scratch, Thomas,” she said.
He sighed heavily, his weathered features serving as a fixture for his rolling eyes. As his eyeballs circumnavigated their sockets, he let out an exasperated sigh.
“You really need to take better care of yourself, little jackdaw.”
She smirked at the nickname and patted the brawny, middle-aged Native man on his arm.
Thomas was the only other Native at the Ranger headquarters in her department. He’d taken her under his wing years ago, when she’d first joined, and had a soft spot for her.
Secretly, she assumed this was because Thomas and his wife often took in orphans. They’d adopted five kids over the years. He had a tender heart toward people who grew up like he had, without parents.
The two of them had bonded instantly.
Now, he was giving her a fatherly look—equal parts exasperation and pride.
“Is it true you took him yourself?”
“Mhmm.”
“The feds were slow in the forest?”
She grinned. “What do you think?”
He grinned back, his features wrinkling once more. Unlike Rachel’s, Thomas’s smile was an ever-present, ever-reliable occurrence, like a sunrise.
Thomas glanced around the room, then gently steered her toward a quiet corner. His eyes were kind but solemn.
