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“Do you have any idea why she would do something so
reckless? Rixitron is still intent on conducting their breeding
experiments with the
found
. Sarah’s been the number one target. It’s
been barely eight months since we stopped their attempted
kidnapping in Atlanta. Why would she risk coming here?”
“It has to be something important, and by that I mean something
damn near life and death in her eyes. I can’t fathom what it is, that’s
why you have to talk to Mama. If anyone can get into Sarah’s head,
it’s her.”
“Let me finish going through the tapes, I want to see if I can find
her leaving the airport. I want to know if she took a taxi, or they left
in a car. After that, I’ll head on over to your mother’s house.” Nate
shut off the Skype session, determined to find more information to
help in their investigation. He was not going to fail.
****
He held Sarah a little longer than necessary but must have
realized it, so released her. He looked into her eyes and smiled. Sarah
looked at her friend who had helped plan her escape and smiled back
at him.
“Let’s get your bags.”
“What you see, is what you get, Ramone” He groaned, and Sarah
winced, realizing how her words could be interpreted.
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Lori King
“Does that mean I get you?” he asked.
“You’re still a flirt, I see.” She raised her eyebrows and looked at
him.
“Okay, okay. Let’s get to my car.”
Ramone held out his hand and she took it, following the throng
of people towards baggage claim leading to the exit of the Atlanta-
Hartsfield Airport.
Twice Sarah caught him glancing at her.
She couldn’t believe he was the same boy who had eaten paste at
Daniel Bagley Elementary. Even harder to believe he was the same
young man she had treated in the ER for a gunshot wound when
she’d been on rotations as an intern. He had been on his way to a life
of crime—angry, sullen, and downright scary.
She’d met his mother and sister that night so long ago, and
thought for sure they were going to lose him to a gang. Instead he
visited the hospital months later to thank her for saving him. They’d
reestablished their friendship.
“A Prius?” Sarah shouted with laughter, it was the first time she
laughed in the last forty-eight hours.
“Do
not
make fun of a man’s wheels. Especially when they are
taking you where you need to go.”
“You are Ramone Sands, right?”
“That’s Reverend Ramone Sands,” he said as he opened her
door. He lifted his hand and she knew he was going to stroke her
cheek. She caught it before he could.
“I don’t think there are security cameras here. We can stop
now.”
“Damn, I’ve been liking this. A lot. Haven’t you? Just a little?”
There was only a gentle question, which made her pause rather than
shake her head. But the reverend was nothing if not astute.
“Is there someone?”
“That’s the problem. I don’t know if there is or not.” She thought
about Nate, but then again, when didn’t she think about him? It had
to stop. His life was somewhere else. He wasn’t like Noah. He hadn’t
asked to be transferred to California, instead he was still out of the
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country most of the time. Obviously there was never going to be
anything between them.
“Sarah, are you listening to me?”
“What?” she asked, distracted.
“Never mind.” His hand cupped her cheek and he smiled gently.
He lowered his head and gave her the sweetest of kisses, and then
settled her into the car and shut the door.
Damn he was smooth. It didn’t matter though, he wasn’t Nate.
****
Nate didn’t know how he was supposed to eat the food Mrs.
Johnson put in front of him, considering he no longer had any back
teeth. He’d ground them to dust when he saw the kiss Sarah shared
with the man in the parking garage.
“Don’t you like lasagna?”
“Yes I do Lila, I’m sorry, I was preoccupied.” Nate realized he
better pull his head out of his ass. He didn’t want to hurt Sarah’s
mom’s feelings. He really liked the woman, and she’d gone to a lot
of trouble making such a great meal.
“I can understand why you’re worried, but while we’re waiting
for Kyle to get off shift, we might as well have dinner. I’m sure he’ll
have the information you need from the license plate number. Now,
give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be back with the garlic bread.”
Nate looked at the beautiful woman, who looked a little bit like
Sarah, which amazed him, considering Sarah was her adopted
daughter. Hell, calling her adopted wasn’t doing the whole thing
justice, since she showed up in the Johnson’s backyard one day when
she was five years old.
“It’s something else, isn’t it?” Frank Johnson nudged him.
“Hmmm?”
“My two beauties.” Lila went into the kitchen and Frank spoke.
Two of his other son’s heads popped up and grinned at their father. It
looked as if this was a well beloved topic. Nate didn’t know if he was
up for it, considering one of the beauties in question was gallivanting
around Atlanta with some pretty boy and putting her life in danger.
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Lori King
The front door opened, and finally Kyle came in and sat down at
the dinner table. He grinned at Nate.
“I’ve got the name of your guy.” He started spooning lasagna
onto a plate.
“Well?”
“Ma,” he yelled out. Lila came into the dining room.
“Hi Baby Boy. What did you find out?”
“Don’t call me that. Sarah’s the youngest.”
“I’m sorry Kyle.” Lila rolled her eyes to the rest of the table and
everyone laughed.
“Ma, do you know a preacher named Ramone Sands?” Everyone
waited as she thought for a moment.
“He’s the assistant pastor over at the Union Church on Third and
Jakes Street. Your sister treated him for a GSW her first year at the
hospital. They were in the same grade in elementary school for a few
years before his dad passed. Then he and his mama moved away.”
She sat next to her husband. “I remember your sister telling me he
was on his way to being part of a gang, but he turned his life around.
I never met the man, but your sister spoke highly of him. Reverend
Hughly wouldn’t have taken him as an assistant if he wasn’t of strong
character. Ramone is in charge of the youth ministry, if I’m not
mistaken.”
“You’re not. I called to talk to him. He’s conveniently
unavailable, meeting with a group of boy scouts at Lake Winfield to
hike and camp in the Chattahoochee National Forest.”
“Call his cell phone,” Nate barked. Every one of the Johnson’s
laughed.
“I did. He asked if this was an official investigation, and if Sarah
had done anything wrong. Basically he gave me the runaround. He
knew I was her brother.”
“Bring him in for questioning,” Nate shot back.
“On what grounds?” Kyle reached for the garlic bread.
“On the grounds she could be in danger and he
will
be in danger
if he doesn’t immediately tell us everything he knows.”
“I tried, he laughed.”
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Claiming His Cowgirl
“Fine, we go to him.” Nate was having a tough time with Kyle’s
lackadaisical attitude.
“I can’t go. I’m on duty. You’re stuck with the slacker who
doesn’t work.”
“Ignore my brother,” the second youngest Johnson brother,
Brayson, said. “He’s just jealous how the shifts work at the Fire
Department. I have a lot of experience camping in Chattahoochee.
We’ll go corner the good reverend and find out where he stashed
Sarah. This is total bullshit.”
“When can we leave?”
“After dinner, we’ll stop at my apartment and pick up the
camping gear and supplies we’re going to need.”
www.CaitlynOleary.com
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Lori King
Berserker’s Rage
SmokeJumpers 2
By Elle Boon
© Copyright July 2015 Elle Boon
Felicity pinched the bridge of her nose and closed down the
computer. “Thank God today is over.” The final rush before prom
had moms, and their teenage daughters, coming into the overpriced
boutique to buy one of a kind dresses. The boutique, located in a strip
mall, was in one of the wealthiest parts of Beverly Hills.
She’d let the other employees, most of whom were teenagers or
college students, leave shortly after closing, while she did the end of
the month total. Looking at the clock on the wall she grimaced.
“Fuck a duck.” Knowing it was going to be dark out, but figuring she
was in a well-lit parking lot, not to mention the crime rate was almost
non-existent, she grabbed the bank envelope and stuffed it into her
purse.
From her office she saw the lights in the front of the store were
set to low. After making sure the alarm was turned on she walked out
the back, closing and locking the heavy steel door. She took two
steps and then stopped at the sight of four figures wearing hoodies.
Felicity hugged her bag closer to her chest, calculating in her
head the chances of getting back into the store, or making it to her
car. She wished she’d listened to her parents and learned to use a
gun, or taken those self-defense classes they’d went on and on about.
“Look at her. She’s thinking about trying to escape, Danny.”
One of the thugs sneered.
“Shut up, asshole.” The one she assumed was Danny began
moving toward her.
Felicity decided a few thousand dollars wasn’t worth her life,
and pulled the bank envelope out. The credit slips and checks could
be cancelled, she reconciled in her mind. “Here, just take it and go.”
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She held it out as the one she assumed was the leader came toward
her. They had masks with white skulls painted over their faces,
making them appear even more frightening to Felicity. She locked
her legs in place as he took, and then opened the envelope pulling the
cash out.
He leaned down and sniffed her neck. “You really should’ve
locked up and went home earlier. Don’t you know it’s not safe to be
out after the sun goes down? Things go bump in the dark, little girl.”
Looking up, she saw the coldest eyes staring down at her, and
she knew her life was over. No matter how much she wished it
otherwise, these men had no plans to take the money and run.
“Why?” Felicity hated the plea in her voice, but couldn’t help
but ask the one word question.
The other three men had moved closer, somehow maneuvering
her into the darkened corner near the dumpsters. A perfect place to
do God only knew what to her. Felicity looked around for an escape,
or a weapon, but saw nothing but garbage and darkness.
“You want to know why we chose you?” One of the thugs asked,
his voice grating. “You are always the last to leave. You may not be
much to look at, but your body is kickin, and there is the added bonus
of the money. We call that a win-win.” Two of the masked men fist
bumped each other.
“Wow, he sure is talkative tonight. I guess that means we get to
kill this one, huh?” Felicity nearly fell on her ass hearing the
feminine voice behind the mask.
“Awe, what’s the matter, sugar lips? Did you think only men
could do these sorts of things? Nah, I enjoy fighting and fucking just
as much as these guys. Actually, I think I may get off on it more.”
Thinking back to the string of crimes she’d read about, and how
they’d found all the victims, made Felicity’s stomach roll. She placed
her hand over her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said. Her
parents would be horrified that her body would be found naked, the
way the other victims had been discovered.
“That’s not going to save you, sugar lips.” Felicity hated the
woman.
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“Alice, quit being a cunt and scaring our date.” The one she
assumed was Danny moved in closer. “Now, we can do this several
ways. You can let us have our fun, or you can fight, and we will
enjoy that even more. The difference is you won’t enjoy option B
nearly as much as us.”
“What the hell, Dan, you got a soft spot for the ugly duckling or
what?” Alice asked.
Felicity winced at the words tossed out by the woman. She had
always been a plain Jane, and had been fine with it. Hearing that even
her attackers thought she was ugly, but still planned…she couldn’t
finish the thought of what was coming. What she could do was fight
and not let them have it the easy way. She’d rather die fighting than