LITMIR.BIZ

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      Damn. She’d already convinced herself not to feel turned on by this man—hadn’t she? She wanted them to be comrades in arms, conspirators in figuring out what was really going on in that odd and growing encampment outside town.

      She knew what would turn her off. Fast.

      “I own a house in the same general direction we just turned,” she told him as casually as she could muster. “It’s in a small residential neighborhood within the city limits, though. The cabins where you’re staying are in an area considered to be outside town, although still within Clifford County, which means they’re within the sheriff’s department’s jurisdiction.” She paused. “As I said before, I’ll be spending time with you at your cabin. That’ll help us look like the old friends we’re supposed to be. I’ll also accompany you if you go camping. That way, I’ll be able to help in your surveillance.”

      There. The gauntlet had been thrown down once more, but this time she had given a cursory reason why she should be with them at least part of the time as they worked.

      Jock said nothing. But as Kathlene reached Main Street again and stopped for a traffic light, she looked over at him.

      He seemed to be staring out the windshield, but his large hands were fisted in his lap. What was he thinking?

      She had a feeling she wouldn’t like it. But she was dying to know.

      * * *

      The woman was trying to drive him nuts—and not just because she was so hot that he didn’t really want to keep his hands off her. But he would. Sex would only complicate things even further.

      She had to keep her nose out of what Ralf and he were doing. Hell, Jock knew she had no idea about the facts.

      First of all, when he did his surveillance of the supposed anarchists’ camp, he wouldn’t look like he did at the moment.

      No. He would look a lot more like his cover dog, Click. The dog Ralf had gone to check on in the cabin next door before they left their motel.

      Click must have been fine, or Ralf would have stayed behind. Or at least said something.

      Jock glanced quickly into the backseat. Ralf remained there, of course. Looking all nice and neutral—and interested. But staying out of the conversation.

      A good thing? Maybe. But it might be better if his aide participated. Even took over for him. Ralf was good at being discreet, keeping things calm.

      Keeping Jock in line, both in human and in wolf form.

      At the moment, Jock knew he had to make his position clear with Kathlene. Not give her all the facts. But even though she had been the one to trigger Alpha Force’s involvement by taking her concerns to the right government contacts, now she had to stay back and let him do what was necessary—and only with Ralf’s help, not hers.

      He thought more about Ralf and what he should do. What he should say.

      And how their commanding officer, Major Drew Connell—the man who had approved Jock’s enlistment into the military and into Alpha Force, the man who had first created the very special elixir that gave Alpha Force’s shifting members such an edge over other shapeshifters, other people—would handle this.

      Discretion is the key, he reminded himself.

      He let himself respond to Kathlene’s challenge at last.

      “I appreciate your offer to help out,” he lied, but he did manage to keep his tone calm and level. “The thing is, you may not know it, but Alpha Force’s position is that, once we accept a mission, we work alone, without outside help.” Another lie, but it made sense, especially now.

      “That may work sometimes,” Kathlene said, her tone as flat as his, “but not here. Not now. I need to stay involved because I am involved.”

      “But you could get hurt!” Damn. He hadn’t meant to blast that out that way. It was what was on his mind, though.

      Always. Especially in a situation like this.

      “I won’t,” she countered, her voice raised as much as his. He wanted to grab her and shake some sense into her. But he couldn’t. Not with her driving.

      Besides, he found Deputy Kathlene Baylor so attractive, so sexy, that touching her again for any reason would be a huge mistake. All he would want to do, despite all his common sense, would be to get her under the covers.

      And then what would happen to the mission she had gotten him into?

      His attraction to her was a huge part of the problem, though. He couldn’t help comparing this lovely, determined woman with Jill, his high school sweetheart.

      Jill, a shapeshifter like him.

      Jill, who had gone into law enforcement like Kathlene.

      And who had been killed during her first year on the job, not while shifted but while in human form on a dangerous assignment.

      Would Jill have survived if she’d been a man? If she had been in wolf form? Unlikely, of course, and he knew that even wondering about it allowed him no closure, especially after all this time.

      But one thing Jock was sure of. He didn’t like it at all when women he felt attracted to got into perilous circumstances. If he happened to be there, he’d save them.

      There was no way of his being certain he could be with them at the crucial time, though. He knew what a dinosaur he might be—yet, thanks to what had happened to Jill, he couldn’t help thinking it was a lot more foolish of women, even trained ones, to put themselves into hazardous situations than it was for men.

      Because they were not physically as strong, they were more likely to get killed.

      “Jock?” Her challenging tone shrieked irritation. She was waiting for his further response.

      He still said nothing. He wasn’t about to explain his beliefs to her—or his rationale for them.

      “Jock, tell you what. I appreciate your protective attitude.” She sounded anything but appreciative, yet she continued. “But I’ll prove to you that I can take care of myself. I’m a skilled law-enforcement officer. I’ve been trained in everything from accuracy in shooting guns of nearly all types to hand-to-hand combat. I’m challenging you, Jock. We’ll start when we get back to the cabin. If I can pin you to the floor in a hand-to-hand fight, then you’ll let me be there when you do your surveillance and more.”

      * * *

      Silly? Foolish? Absurd to the max? All of the above. But the challenge had been impulsive, a way to show him who she was and what she really was made of.

      And now? Well, she had no choice. She could do it. She would do it.

      Notwithstanding her inability to fully read Jock’s expression when he looked at her so incredulously.

      There seemed to be an angry set to his brow.

      A heated look in his blue eyes that suggested her words had turned him on.

      Since it was now early evening, she went through a fast-food drive-in lane and they all got their meals, which they ate in the car. Fine with her. She was on a mission of sorts and didn’t want any further interruptions just now.

      Next, she did as she had planned from the moment they had set out on this drive. She made a left turn at one of the traffic lights, then drove them onto the narrowing lane they had come from before.

      This time, though, she went beyond where the cabin motel lay, heading down the road even farther.

      There was a sparse number of homes along it, some tiny, others large, mostly in good condition, but a few were run-down cottages that had been there forever. All were set in the midst of large stands of trees, some with branches carved back to avoid blocking the road and others somewhat in the way.

      Eventually, she reached the turnoff she had been looking for, a very narrow, nondescript driveway.

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