Classified K-9 Unit Series Books 4-6 by Lynette Eason Shirlee McCoy & Lenora Worth

Author:Lynette Eason, Shirlee McCoy & Lenora Worth
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488091476
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Published: 2002-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Esme’s feet had hit the bottom of the marshy ravine, and she’d started running. Without thought. Without a plan. Just going as fast as she could toward some unknown destination, fleeing the gunshots, the car and, probably, Ian.

He’d been offering the protection she longed for, the security she craved. He’d given her comfort and smiles and, even, a laugh or two.

He’d been a port in the storm, a place to hunker down while the wind of Angus’s wrath was raging around her.

But he wasn’t a forever kind of thing.

He was a stopgap, a hero who’d run to the rescue when she’d needed him but who’d walk away when this was over and leave her exactly where she’d been when they’d met—alone.

Which was fine.

She liked solitude.

She enjoyed silence.

She didn’t mind her own company.

And she certainly didn’t want to be with someone just to fill a hole in her life.

Brent had taught her a lot about what she needed and what she didn’t. She hoped that she’d learned the lessons well.

Time would tell.

Time that wasn’t filled with running for her life.

The marshy ground grew wetter, her feet splashing in a quarter inch of water. She needed to get out before she found herself in a creek or tributary up to her ankles or knees or shoulders. Wading through muck and dodging slithering, snapping, slimy reptiles.

She scrambled up the far side, feet digging into loose earth, hands grasping thick blades of grass. She was breathless when she reached the top, covered in dirt and mud. The sleeves of Ian’s jacket hung past her fingertips, and she shoved them up, still moving fast. If she took off the jacket, she could leave it for King to find. That would let Ian know which direction she’d been headed, because she wasn’t trying to outrun him or King or Zeke. She was trying to outrun the men who wanted her dead. If Ian and King found her, great. If not, maybe she’d find them.

For now, though, she was doing what she’d been told—running until Ian told her to stop. She shivered, her teeth chattering. Strange because the night was balmy and warm. She knew that. She could feel the sticky, humid air kissing her cheeks, could glimpse the clear sky and the moon resting just above the western horizon. The landscape was flat enough for her to see the distant flashing lights of emergency vehicles.

The police were on the way. It was possible they’d already reached the SUV and were rounding up whoever had been in the car. It was possible Uncle Angus was being arrested and that he’d be tossed in jail where he belonged.

Anything was possible, but she didn’t think either of those things were likely. Angus had proved himself to be wily as a fox, moving mostly in the dead of the night, slipping in and then out without a sound.

Her uncle hired people to do the less subtle things—driving through clinic windows, shoot-outs in swamps. He liked darkness and enjoyed terrorizing people.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.