Savage Harbinger (Chooser of the Slain Book 4) by Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Anderle [Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2022-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

The Heart of Shangri La

Central Colorado

Wednesday morning

“Do…Do you understand this place?” Jacob stared across a grassy valley that looked like the centerfold illustration of some modern British fairy tale.

Val shook her head. Houses and buildings of every description dotted the landscape without rhyme or reason. Winding driveways split off from the main road at odd angles, leading off to distant Dutch windmills and small turreted castles. At the edge of the valley, a great Tudor hunting lodge loomed beside the forest while, across the creek, a half circle of partially buried Hobbit-holes surrounded what Val would swear was a perfect reproduction of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.

To Val’s surprise, it was Reginleif who summed it up best. “It’s as if some great jötunn has made a collection of homes and halls from around the world and strewn them about this valley.”

“I guess it’s a planned community for eccentric geeks with too much money.” Val rolled the SUV through a cluster of buildings fashioned after an old Bavarian town square, pausing to let a horse-drawn carriage and two riders on Segways through the crosswalk.

As the gatekeeper had promised, they found Mira Hargrove’s slender two-story cottage in front of a large domed greenhouse at the far end of the valley. A slender woman in a floral sundress knelt beside a bed of hyacinths, attacking the weeds with gusto. She looked up, brushing back the rim of her wide straw hat as Val pulled the SUV to a halt in front of her house.

“Oh, good morning!” She scrambled to her feet, brushing dirt from her skirts and dropping a trowel into her basket. “You’re the Vikings. I’m really glad you made it here. Past the gates and everything. I’m Mira.” She smiled broadly as she approached, arm outstretched to shake Val’s hand.

She wore a cutting-edge e-watch and had dirt caked beneath her fingernails. Her hair was a chin-length spill of little brown ringlets sticking to her cheeks with perspiration. Though her frame was slender, almost bony, Val could sense wiry strength in the other woman. She even thought she caught the silhouette of a thigh holster beneath Mira’s sundress.

Val introduced herself and added, “And this is Jacob.”

“Pinkerton,” Jacob supplied gruffly, accepting Mira’s outstretched hand.

Val offered a confused smile. “You’re going to have to forgive us. I have no idea how you knew we were coming. Or who we are.”

“Our source suggested you never have visitors,” Jacob agreed. “And we were trying to be discreet. Your little quiz at the gate came as a real surprise.”

Mira’s smile faltered. She pursed her lips. “Your source. Mister Kat, I’m guessing?”

“Yes…” Val’s confusion only deepened. If Mira didn’t know the source of their information, her anticipation of their arrival was even more remarkable.

“Oh. Well.” Mira’s smile returned, this time with a hint of slyness. “Kat doesn’t know everything. He’s—”

Mira was interrupted by a deep thundering rumble from somewhere farther up the valley. Val whirled. Beside her, Jacob turned, his hand snaking for the gun beneath his jacket. A plume of gray smoke billowed above the tree line.

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