Heroes in Uniform: Soldiers, SEALs, Spies, Rangers and Cops: Sexy Hot Contemporary Alpha Heroes From NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors

by Sharon Hamilton

  “She couldn’t be bought, either,” Katelyn whispered, not bothering to swipe at the tears that ran down her cheeks. She’d wanted answers for so long. But, she never imagined anything like this.

  “No.” John shook his head. “She couldn’t. Sam found her, and she refused to be bought. He said he was going to call Charlie to come talk to her, but she said Sam needed to leave. I’d imagine at that point, she was desperately trying to figure out how to get you out of there safely.”

  Katelyn closed her eyes. Her mom wouldn’t have been able to walk away. Katelyn was in the cedar chest. She couldn’t leave her there. If Katelyn hadn’t been with her, would her mom have been able to run, to fight?

  John must have read her mind. “No, Kate. He wouldn’t have let her leave that room no matter what. It wasn’t because of you. Two very greedy men killed your mom. Sam panicked and grabbed for her. She fell and hit the corner of the desk, but she was still alive. He called Charlie and told him to come home. When Charlie got there, your mom was unconscious but alive. He knew he couldn’t let her wake up.”

  “So she was unconscious when he killed her?” Katelyn asked. Her memories of the event were still vague. Knowing that helped somehow. It would have been worse if her mother was awake and aware she was dying. It was a tiny little strand of good in this whole craptacular web that had been Katelyn’s life for the last twenty-four years, but she clung to it.

  “Yes. Charlie staged it to look like she’d walked in on a burglar, then Sam made sure Ken Statler disappeared on the same day to throw suspicion toward him,” John said.

  “Was it Charlie who tried to run me off the road? Who attacked me at the studio?” she asked.

  “He says that was Sam. That Sam started to panic when you came back to town. Charlie told him to lay low, just wait it out, but Sam was too nervous. He thought they should chase you out of town. That’s why Charlie killed Sam. To stop him from letting their secret out after all these years.”

  Katelyn nodded then met his eyes with one last question. “How much money? How much money did they steal? How much money did they kill my mom for?” The last words came out on a choked sob. John pulled her into his arms and held her. He didn’t answer the question and she was beyond caring. It didn’t matter. No amount of money was worth losing her mom for. There was no amount of money that could take away the pain she and her father had lived with. John shushed her and held her while she cried, but Katelyn didn’t allow herself to cry for long. She didn’t want to give anything more to Charlie and Sam than they’d already taken from her.

  She pushed herself up and took a few more deep breaths and wiped the tears staining her cheeks. It was done. She knew why her father had sent her away, why her mother had been killed. As she stared out the windshield at her father’s house, the home where she should have grown up, she knew. It was finally over. Katelyn felt as though a rock that had been pressing on her chest for years was lifted away. She let out a deep, slow breath and turned to John.

  “Okay,” she said with a nod, earning a quizzical look.

  “Okay?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

  Katelyn nodded. “Okay.” Another deep breath and she was ready to face the world. Her cell phone beeped.

  Did you two get sidetracked:)

  Katelyn laughed and showed her phone to John. “Ashley’s waiting for us.”

  John leaned across the seat and brushed his hand down the side of her face, causing that instant lean into him that made him smile. He kissed her slow and long and so tenderly she just might melt, then pulled back and looked into her eyes.

  “Okay,” he said with a whole lot more meaning in that single word than its small size indicated and pulled away from the curb.

  Everlasting: Chapter Twenty-Three

  It felt really good to be around her friends, laughing and relaxing, and for once in a very long while, not having a care in the world. Katelyn leaned back in the chair she currently occupied at May Bishop’s kitchen table and laughed as Laura told them all about Jamie’s attempt to catch a frog the night before with Cade. Laura and Cade’s dog, Red, lay at Laura’s feet, but she raised her head at the laughter, watching them all as though she wondered what she’d missed.

  When the laughter ended, May turned to Katelyn. “So, how are you holding up? John said you were having some pain in your throat? Is it still bothering you?”

  Katelyn nodded. “Just a little,” she said, glad to have her voice almost back to one hundred percent. “It’s not steady. It’s just shooting pains from time to time. The doctors say it can last a long time, but it will eventually go away. But other than that, I’m almost completely back to normal. Eating solid food,” she said with a grin. Solid food was something she’d never take for granted again.

  “And your studio is almost ready, right?” Ashley asked.

  “Mm hmm. The guys who bought it say they’ll have it ready in another week for me. I can’t wait to get back to work.”

  Laura turned to May. “The Hart brothers bought a few of Charlie Hanford’s commercial properties. They’re going into business together.”

  Charlie Hanford was selling off properties left and right to pay for his criminal defense lawyer.

  May smiled, but there was something mysterious to it. “Are they now?” she asked.

  Laura smiled at her mother-in-law. “Did you have something to do with that?”

  May shrugged. “I suggested they might try their hand at real estate. Those boys needed something to keep them busy, and this seemed like a good way for them to get back on their feet.”

  Laura leaned in and kissed May on the cheek as she peeled and sliced the last of the apples for a homemade pie. “And I’ll just bet you gave them a little seed money for the project while you were at it.” May didn’t answer. “You’re a good woman, May Bishop.”

  Ashley explained. “The Hart brothers have been sort of…floundering, you might say. And May likes to help out anyone who seems to need a little push or a little guidance.”

  “Well, I for one appreciate them. They’ve been on top of things at the studio. I was so relieved when I heard someone had bought the building and I’d still have my space,” Katelyn said.

  Cora poked her head into the kitchen from the backyard. “Hey guys. We miscalculated the number of hamburger buns we’ll need. Can one of you text Shane and ask him to bring about a dozen more?” she asked.

  “I got it,” Katelyn said, picking up John’s cell phone. He’d tossed it and his keys on top of her purse when they came in, before joining the rest of the group outside in the yard. Katelyn still hadn’t entered everyone’s numbers into her phone so it wasn’t unusual for her to grab his phone to text one of their friends.

  “Thanks,” Cora said as she ducked back outside.

  Katelyn froze as she pulled up the message screen and selected Shane’s name. She didn’t mean to see the history, but when it was laid out for her on the screen, it was hard not to miss it. And there it was plain as day. Shane had texted John yesterday asking if he wanted to grab lunch. John’s reply, despite the fact that he’d told her he was working all day, indicated he was down in San Antonio. No denying the text right in front of her:

  Can’t. In San Antonio for the day. Call you later.

  Katelyn swallowed and stilled the slight shake in her hand. She sent a quick text to Shane about the hamburger buns and put the phone down on top of her purse.

  “You okay, Kit Kat?” Ashley asked, studying her from across the table.

  Katelyn nodded and smiled. “I’m fine, just a bit tired,” she said, but on the inside her head was spinning. She flashed right back to the humiliating moment when she’d discovered Devan had lied to her; that he’d had a wife and child the whole time they were together. Her mind raced as she remembered all of the red flags she should have heeded but had somehow ignored. All of the signs that should have told her he was lying.

  And she knew flat out John had lied to her about where he was yesterday. San Antonio was w
ell outside his jurisdiction. If he had to go there for work, wouldn’t he have mentioned it? You don’t take a four-hour trip and not mention it unless you’re hiding something.

  The back door opened and John stepped through, his eyes immediately catching Katelyn’s and locking them to his. It was the effect he always had on her. And in that moment, she knew. Knew in her heart—he wasn’t Devan. Never mind the fact that her father had trusted this man with his position as sheriff. Never mind that Evers, Texas was so small no one could hide a secret for long. She didn’t need any of that to tell her she could trust this man.

  And she wouldn’t let Devan or the more recent betrayal by Charlie ruin that for her.

  “You okay, beautiful?” he murmured as he slid into a seat next to her and put one hand on her leg.

  She smiled at him and nodded. “I’m wonderful. I heard there’s a shortage of hamburger buns causing a riot outside, though. Shouldn’t you be out there laying down the law and all that?” she asked, laughing at the scowl she got in response from him.

  “I’m off duty, woman,” he said, then reached for his phone. “I came in to text Shane to see if he can get more rolls.”

  “Already texted him,” Katelyn said, and she saw the moment when his eyes saw her text and he processed what she’d seen. He froze. If anyone else in the kitchen had seen it, they didn’t let on. John looked up at her and she could see the stricken expression in his eyes. She could read the panic. He had to know she would figure out the lie the minute she saw Shane and his texts.

  “Kate….” he started.

  She leaned into him, lacing one arm around his neck to pull his ear in close. “I’m fine. Perfect. Wonderful. I promise,” she whispered and then pulled back to let him see her eyes, to let him know she was telling the truth. She really was okay. Because she trusted him. “Tell me about it later,” she said with a small kiss.

  The look on his face was almost comical. “Okay,” he said, drawing out the word. “We’re good?”

  “Very good. Go back outside. We’ll be out with more food in just a bit,” she said, her smile genuine.

  Everlasting: Epilogue

  John didn’t tell Katelyn the whole story later that evening. He told her part of it. The part where he planned to take her on a surprise trip to San Antonio the following weekend. He wouldn’t tell her why he’d needed to go all the way there to plan their trip ahead of time. He didn’t tell her what he had in store for her. But, she was okay with that.

  And, the story will make for a great one to tell the grandkids someday. John planned a weekend on the River Walk in San Antonio—a river lined with hotels, restaurants, and walkways. A river steeped in romance. He had booked a room in one of the oldest hotels along the river, and made a reservation for dinner at one of the fancier restaurants. But it was the detour on the way to dinner that had Katelyn in tears.

  They passed by a tiny island, if you could call it that. It was no bigger than the kitchen in Katelyn’s father’s bungalow back in Evers. She found out later it was called Marriage Island. They stepped onto the island from a stone walkway that connected it to the side of the River Walk. The large tree that shaded the island was flanked on either side by two benches—one stone and one carved of wood— each engraved with a heart design on the top.

  John pulled Katelyn to the island and sat her down. Laughter bubbled up inside her as he dropped to one knee and she knew. This was what he’d come down here to plan. He’d come to choose the right spot to ask her to marry him. And there was no way she wasn’t saying yes. She loved this man with all her heart. He was her home. Her family.

  John opened a small ring box and the solitaire diamond on the plain platinum band took Katelyn’s breath away. It was exactly the ring she would have chosen for herself.

  “I wish I’d been able to ask your father for his blessing before he went, but I’d like to think he’d approve,” John said.

  Katelyn smiled down at him as tears streamed down her face. She nodded. Her father would definitely approve.

  “Katelyn, will you do me the honor of being my wife?” John asked and she smiled again at his formal manners. He may be a New Yorker, but somewhere along the way, he’d become a southern boy at heart.

  “Yes,” she said, and nodded again as she let laughter and tears flow freely. Her chest was so full of love and hope and peace. She knew with this man, with this love, she’d found her everlasting.

  —The End—

  About the Author

  Lori Ryan

  Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romance with a twist of suspense. Her books range from sweetheart to steamy in heat level. Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and has fallen in love with writing. She is the author of the Sutton Capital Series; the Evers, Texas Series; and the Triple Play Curse Novellas, a set of novellas with sexy baseball players at their core as part of Bella Andre's Game For Love Kindle World.

  She lives with an extremely understanding husband, two wonderful children (with another on the way!), two mostly well-behaved dogs, and a lone little cat in Austin, Texas. It's a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn't change a thing. She loves to connect with her readers. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to her blog.

  Oh, and if you've read Lori's books and loved them, please consider leaving a review on the site where you purchase it. Writers live and die by their reviews and Lori promises to do a happy dance around her office every time you write one!

  loriryanromance.com

  www.facebook.com/loriryanromance

  twitter.com/Loriryanauthor

  Additional Books by Lori Ryan

  EVER HOPEFUL: Book One in the Evers, TX Series

  LEGAL EASE: Book One in the Sutton Capital Series FREE

  THE BILLIONAIRE’S SUITE DREAMS: Book Four in the Sutton Capital Series

  BARELY DANGEROUS

  by Nina Bruhns

  Barely Dangerous: Chapter One

  The Trinity Forest, Northern California

  August

  Body parts lay scattered on the ground in an unholy tangle of bones and rotting flesh. Lieutenant Blue Wolf Cooper carefully picked his way over the meadow, taking in the stinking jumble of remains. Rage exploded inside him.

  Damn it to hell. Being a lieutenant in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s elite Special Operations Unit, Coop had seen a lot of bad kills. But this was one of the worst.

  Suddenly, the sound of cautious footsteps crunched through the silent morning.

  Now what?

  He scanned the area and ducked noiselessly under a mass of overgrown bushes. With the ease of a veteran hunter, he blended effortlessly into the background, making himself next to invisible. Even the best tracker in his grandfather's band would have difficulty spotting him.

  A woman walked slowly into the meadow. She gasped at the destruction laid out before her, then clamped both hands over her mouth. He didn’t blame her.

  As usual, the poachers had shown no restraint or respect. They had savaged three magnificent black bears—a mother and two cubs—severing paws, cutting out gall bladders and other organs, slicing off random hunks of meat. They had even taken the head of the mother bear. In a final act of barbarism, the butchered remains had been left for scavengers, scattered across the clearing.

  An unbidden urge to shield the unknown woman from the repulsive sight flared through Coop. Along with another, totally unexpected and purely male reaction.

  As the woman slumped against one of the towering pines that ringed the meadow, her breasts rose and fell with quickened breath. Even from this far away, he could tell she had a body that didn’t quit. Legs that went on forever. Curves that should have big yellow danger signs on them. She had an interesting face, all hollows and angles, framed by a halo of wispy blond curls. And holy shit, those breasts...

  Damn. A man could drown in a woman like that.

  He was about to step out from his hiding place to let her know he was t
here...but at the last second, an inner instinct stopped him, telling him to stay put and watch what she did.

  What the hell was she doing at his crime scene, anyway?

  She glanced around edgily. Covering her nose with her shirt tail—a U.S. Forest Service uniform shirt, he noted—she pushed off the tree and stepped gingerly between the carcasses of the slaughtered black bears, her attention on the ground.

  Coop frowned. This investigation fell under the jurisdiction of the CDFW, not the Smokeys. And how did she know about the kill in the first place? It had only been called in a few hours ago.

  Silently, he pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his fishing vest as she completed a circuit of the grisly crime scene, still searching the ground as she went. Something caught her eye and she bent over, peering closely at a small object that Coop couldn't see from where he was hidden. Before he could hit the button for his cell phone camera and zoom in on it, she had pulled out a bandanna and scooped up the object, depositing it in her shirt pocket.

  What the hell did she think she was doing? She was tampering with evidence!

  His evidence.

  The woman’s body jerked up at a sudden flurry of sound, but notched back down when she realized it was only a squirrel and a blue jay fussing at each other.