AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He taught you to hunt?”
“You don’t have to sound so shocked, Mr. FBI. Girls hunt too.”
“That’s not—”
“We weren’t forced or anything. Dad gave us the option when it came to hunting, but he wanted us to appreciate the natural world.”
“I get it, I just meant—”
“Sarah never liked hunting, though she’s a really good shot,” Heather added. Talking about her dad settled her as she found more troubling signs along the path. She said a prayer for Terry. “She still goes fishing but she lies to her PTA friends about it most of the time.”
“Really?”
Heather laughed. “Really. I’m not even supposed to know, unless she has her kids with her.”
“How do you know?”
Heather looked up at him. “There’s always fresh fish in the freezer at the hunting lodge.” Standing there in the sunlight filtering through the trees, he looked ruggedly handsome in his olive coat and faded jeans, despite the perpetual formality of his button down shirt. And right now his eyes were alight with curiosity rather than the gloomy cynicism he frequently projected.
She shouldn’t be interested in what caused the change and she definitely shouldn’t be concerned with which was the more natural state for Mr. FBI. And yet she couldn’t stop her mind from happily skipping away from her search for Terry.
For as long as she could remember, she’d had a thing for older men. A shrink might blame it on insecurity and Daddy issues, but Heather blamed it on her drive to keep up with her older siblings.
She’d wanted to be interested in the things they found important so they would include her. It hadn’t been a foolproof or even conscious plan, but it meant she’d polished a few rough edges of her childhood sooner than her peers.
While her sisters’ taste in men varied, a man’s mature, fit frame had always appealed to her more than the narrow builds of the boys her own age during high school and college.
Dale epitomized a temptation she hadn’t experienced in a long time. He only had a few years on her, but there was some serious mileage, judging by the leg he favored. All of that only made him more attractive in her view.
Kissing him in the car had ignited a craving she knew wouldn’t be satisfied anytime soon, if ever. Ridiculous that such a brief, simple contact could leave such a lasting impression. While she’d done it to sell the cover story to her brother, she realized it had been a tactical error on her part. Now, any eye contact, the brush of his hand… just a quiet word made her want things she shouldn’t. Made her want him.
Stupid, but true.
She longed for another, real taste of his lips. She suspected she wouldn’t be satisfied without an in depth exploration of the whole man. Not that he’d allow anything like that to happen.
What if she told him? Turning her attention back to the broken twigs, crushed leaves, and shoe prints of a lengthening stride, she imagined how Dale might react to a more serious physical advance from her.
“Are you okay?”
She shook her head, pulling her thoughts away from the sensual detour. “No.” Advancing along the trail, she found the first drops of blood. “He started running fr—”
Her explanation of the tracks was cut off by the sound of a dog barking. The noise was deep and raspy. “That sounds like Daisy!” She called out to the dog, waiting for a reaction.
No response, not even another bark.
Dale shifted closer to her and she heard the soft pop as he snapped open the holster at his shoulder. “Who’s Daisy?”
“You won’t need that. She’s a pit bull who was surrendered two weeks ago. Terry was thinking about taking her home.”
Dale removed his weapon, holding it in two hands, muzzle pointed to the ground. “Just in case,” he said, when she shot him a dark look.
“Whatever.” Heather called out again and this time a dog came into view about twenty yards away. “It is her.” One prayer answered. “Come here, sweet girl.” She knelt, arms wide, and let the dog come to her.
“Daisy,” Dale said from behind her. “What a name. She looks better suited for work as a junk yard patrol dog.”
Heather saw the scrapes and smears of blood on Daisy’s short coat and thought the dog looked better suited for some extended TLC. “What did they do to you?”
The dog wriggled from nose to tail under Heather’s quick examination. “This isn’t her blood.”
