TrackingDesire (17 page)
Authors: Elizabeth Lapthorne
“Oh, the others will be
pissed
when they realize
they’d been forced into playing politics and performing management’s tasks and
have missed out on this little escapade,” Matt crowed, totally amused.
“And you will just
love
telling them all about it,
won’t you?” Kelly replied as she stroked his cheek.
Matt beamed, his grin clearly showing his pleasure as he
gazed at Kelly as if she were the only woman in the whole world.
“Damn straight I’ll love it,” he confirmed.
Renewed with purpose, they boxed up everything they could
think of to be transported to the laboratory. As they were taping up the boxes,
reinforcements arrived. Liv and Julian went with Marshall to the car, where an
escort was waiting to take him in.
“It will be a long night for you,” Liv warned him, then she
and Julian handed over their business cards. “But call and leave a message
tomorrow when you get out. We’ll keep you informed every step we can and let
you know when the antidote is ready to be picked up.”
“You do realize you won’t be able to get all of Matilda
back, even with the antidote?” Julian put forward gingerly.
Marshall nodded. “Oh yes, but even having most of her back
is better than watching her die twisted in agony and being eaten up from the
inside,” he assured them.
They smiled at each other.
“Good luck,” Liv wished him.
Marshall nodded and climbed into the car. Three large
Enforcers followed and the vehicle quickly pulled away from the curb.
Releasing a pent-up sigh, Liv leaned in to Julian and
wrapped her arms around him. They hugged each other for a moment, drained by
the last few days’ events.
“Are all your cases this intense?” she asked Julian curiously.
He pressed a kiss to her lips and they lingered for a
moment, tasting one another slowly, lazily, knowing they had all the time in
the world. When they finally parted, Julian chuckled.
“I’ve found that where magic and witches and wizards are
concerned, nothing is a given and everything has a tendency to fly by the seat
of its pants. But to be honest, no—not all my cases are like this,” he replied.
“Good,” Liv replied. “I wouldn’t want to join your team and
be this exhausted at the end of every case.”
Liv caught Julian’s heated gaze and grinned at him. “Well,
we need to have some easy, fun cases,” she pointed out. “Not all big, nasty,
horrible ones. Though I do think we should maybe keep Will on his toes. Even
so, next time I vote we let Sage and Chase or maybe Blade and Flame take the
big, nasty case. We can take the odd Retrieval just to keep our hands in.”
Julian snorted. “This
was
originally an easy
Retrieval case.”
Liv thought about it, then threw her head back and laughed.
“So it was!” she agreed, delighted. “Well, I guess that just
proves nothing is ever simple or easy where magic is concerned.”
“You sound punchy, babe.” Julian snickered. “I think it’s
time I took you home.”
“Absolutely,” Liv agreed as they kissed each other deeply.
Will sat in the leather recliner in the middle of his living
room. A half-drunk glass of scotch lay on the table next to the arm of his
chair. As he replaced the phone he picked up the glass, sipped from it and
stood to walk over to the window. The blinds were still open and on the horizon
he could see the very faintest edges of dark midnight-blue giving way to the
light that soon would become dawn.
Sipping again, he mentally recapped everything he and his
growing team had been through over the last few months. Finally, with the
information Marshall Forrester had given the Enforcers over the last number of
hours, it appeared that the case would be closed up tight. All the players
would be publically denounced. What was even better, he’d begun to catch wind
of faint murmurings doing the rounds among his political connections. If these
whispers were to be believed, Dr. Mason’s research was about to be halted.
Future work would be far,
far
more strictly regulated.
On top of all that, their joint police-Enforcer laboratory
was now working around the clock in three shifts to finish the creative pathway
for the antidote. Already they were making progress in leaps and bounds.
Possibly before Forrester had even finished signing the mountain of paperwork,
confidentiality agreements, gag orders and other assorted paraphernalia, there
would be real hope for a drug that would successfully wean his daughter off the
drug and back to the young lady she had been. It also offered true hope to all
the others who had been caught up in Jolt’s madness.
All in all, Will decided, his team had done a damn fine job.
They’d proven themselves, done each other and the organizations they
represented proud. He knew their success would breed more success. Already new,
mixed teams were being formed and tested out. He had no doubt that before he’d
had four hours sleep, his phone would be ringing again with more missions the
powers that be wanted him and his team to work on.
Will couldn’t be more proud of his crew if they were his own
flesh and blood. They were the best damn group he could ever lead and he looked
forward to whatever fate brought their way next.
Raising his nearly empty glass to the window, he toasted the
dawn that was about to edge over the horizon. Silently he cheered each and
every member of his crew and the strange workings of destiny that had brought
them all together and helped them to be so blessed in this life.
Elizabeth Lapthorne has been writing professionally since
2002. She has been astonished by the success of her Rutledge Werewolf series,
and finds immense pleasure in hearing from her fans. To date she has more than
ten books out, a few of those even in paperback.
Elizabeth regularly goes to the gym to chew over her ideas;
many a book has begun or been worked through while cycling on the bikes. She
also loves to read, eat chocolate and talk for hours with her friends.
Elizabeth would love to hear from her fans, and checks her email religiously.
Liz welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website
and email addresses on her
author
bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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Elizabeth
Lapthorne
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Legendary Tails I
anthology
Montague
Vampires: Desperate and Dateless
Montague
Vampires: Flaming Fantasies
Montague
Vampires: Heated Fantasies
Montague
Vampires: Secret Fantasies
Rutledge
Werewolves 1: Scent of Passion
Rutledge
Werewolves 2: Hide and Seek
Rutledge
Werewolves 3: The Mating Game
Rutledge
Werewolves 4: My Heart’s Passion
Rutledge
Werewolves 5: Chasing Love
Rutledge
Werewolves 6: Twin Temptations
Urban
Seductions 1: Retrieving Love
Urban
Seductions 2: Retrieving Desire
Urban
Seductions 3: Enforcer Seduced
Urban
Seductions 4: Enforcer Ensnared
Urban
Seductions 5: Seductive Tracks
Behind
the Mask
anthology
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Legendary Tails I
anthology
Montague
Vampires: Desperate Fantasies
Montague
Vampires: Fangs and Fantasies
Rutledge
Werewolves 1: Scent of Passion
Rutledge
Werewolves 3 & 4: Wolf’s Passion
Rutledge
Werewolves 5 & 6: Wolf’s Tempation
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Tracking Desire
ISBN 9781419942921
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Tracking Desire Copyright © 2013 Elizabeth Lapthorne
Edited by Rebecca Hill
Cover design by Syneca
Photos: Gyn9037/Shutterstock.com and Olly/Fotolia.com
Electronic book publication April 2013
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