a reason to live(90)

I thought we were heading home, which meant we’d be alone. When we reached the parking lot, Jack had Jenn pinned against her driver’s door while Max pinned Mia to the passenger side.

“Let’s roll,” Shane barked out, lowering me to my feet.

“Wait, you’re leaving me here?”

Shane grabbed my neck and slammed his mouth over mine. The kiss was quick but wet.

“Jack’s still on duty,” he mumbled against my lips, “and I need to leave before I take you against a headstone.”

I giggled, “Eww,” and shoved him back.

Shane grabbed my waist and pulled me back to him, grinning. “You’d only think eww until my hand found your ass.”

“Arrogant,” I scoffed.

“Accurate,” he smirked. “Get in the Jeep before I leave.” He opened the back door and I climbed in.

“Bossy too,” I mumbled.

Leaning in, Shane kissed me one last time, murmuring, “You love that about me.”

I scoffed, snorted, and rolled my eyes.

He winked, then pulled the seatbelt across my lap and buckled me in.

“Be good.” The words were said in a whisper, a caress against my ear as his finger traced the side of my neck.

My nipples tingled again.

“I will,” I breathed out.

“That’s my girl,” he purred smooth as honey and just as sweet.

I sighed like a schoolgirl. Every time he said, that’s my girl, I grew giddy.

Totally putty in his hands!

Jenn and the others climbed in after Shane shut my door, grinning like fools.

“Did you see Jack’s face when I said I wouldn’t investigate if he didn’t want me to?” Jenn laughed as she started the Jeep and pulled out.

“You missed Max’s reaction. He didn’t believe me for a second.”

Laughter rang out at a deafening level as Jenn turned left toward town and Jack turned right, heading further into the mountains.

“You need to remember to keep them on their toes, though. Mix it up a bit. Give in from time to time and stand your ground on others. They fell in love with your independence, so don’t lose that. In the end, you’ll be the one with all the power and they won’t even know it. Be strong women. Fight for your rights. However, do it with the understanding you’re married to men who are fiercely protective and deserve to be respected for who they are as much as you deserve respect. It’s a balance between independence and loyalty, to both your rights as women and your promise to partner with them as their wives,” Maxine advised.

“I agree,” Mia said, wiggling her brows. “And keeping Max off balance has its own rewards.”

“It worked like a charm with my Tom,” Maxine exclaimed.

The radio crackled to life and Jack’s voice filled the cab. “Straight home, sweetness.”

“Jeez, we haven’t been out of their presence five minutes,” Mia said, shaking her head.

Jenn giggled, “Yes, sir, sheriff,” as she picked up the radio and hit talk. “What’ll you do if I don’t?” she asked. She was waiting for a reply when headlights blinded us from behind.

I turned in my seat and looked out that back window.

“Is that Jack?”

***

Bitter coffee sat like lead in Agent Dane Parker’s gut. After a six-hour flight, he’d been holed up for the past three hours in an Anchorage PD interrogation room with his team, scanning printouts of airline passenger lists. When they were done, they had hours of security footage to watch. His gut told him if Heller escaped Alaska, it would be by sea or air. He was looking for a needle in a haystack. One who didn’t want to be found.

Experience told him Heller would use a name he was familiar with. A variation of both parents usually tripped up felons on the run, but in Heller’s case, he shared his father’s first name. Parker figured after years in law enforcement, Heller wouldn’t be that stupid. So he’d scanned Heller’s file, dug deep looking for names he might use, then made a list of possible variables. His team each had a copy of the files and they were ass deep in printouts and bad coffee, their night looming ahead of them.

“I’m too old for this shit,” Agent John Trask, a veteran agent who was close to retirement, sighed. “I need to get my eyes checked. These names are all running together.”

“There are worse things in life than needing glasses,” Agent Juan Cortez replied.

“Cancer?” Agent Erin Johnson asked.

Cortez wiggled his eyebrows at the only female agent on Parker’s team. He was half Latino on his mother’s side and played the Latin lover card to the hilt. Johnson seemed immune, though. Parker knew it was because her tastes ran towards him.