by Dobbs, L. A.
The first thing he saw when he entered was a large cloud of dust erupting from the center of the Boneyard. The second was a pale arm stretched out on the ground from behind a rusted cowboy boot sign.
Heart in his throat, he charged over to the body, praying hard it wasn’t Alison. Cautiously, he peered around the edge of the sign and spotted a mop of dark brown hair. Relieved, he knelt beside the unconscious woman.
Not dead either.
Good.
He checked her pulse once more to be sure, then stood and pulled a Glock 9mm from the holster at his hip. He had a license to carry, but rarely used it these days unless necessary.
Tonight was most definitely necessary.
Sticking close to a row of still-upright signage for cover, he inched down one of the rows and headed for the creaking pile of crap at the center of the field. From the looks of most of this shit around here, all of it could come crashing down at any second. All the noise and dust and high-octane buzz of adrenaline took him straight back to his combat days, but he shoved those memories aside. Now wasn’t the time to get lost in the past.
Now was the time to find Alison and make sure she was safe.
The metallic tang of rust stung his nose as he crept closer to what he could now see was a huge pile of fallen signs. Jesus, somebody sure as hell did a number on those things. They were piled up at least twenty feet high and those ominous groans and moans weren’t helping either.
Flashes of red and blue lights from the cop cars broke through the shadows and soon the ominous groans and moans from the pile were joined by the sounds of police moving into place and radio communications.
Owen exhaled and continued forward. Somewhere in this maze of chaos was the bastard who’d abducted Alison. He wanted to call out for her, to make sure she was okay, but he didn’t want to give away his position either. Finally, he reached the center of the Boneyard and stopped for a moment to just take it all in.
It was quieter here. In fact, if he leaned in and listened hard he could almost hear…
Scowling, Owen took a step back.
That sounds like a curse.
He leaned in again and grinned.
Yep. Definitely a string of obscenities that would make most sailors blush.
Based on the gruff tone, a man was trapped in there and whoever the hell he was he was not happy about it. Owen clicked on the safety on his gun and stashed it in its holster then stepped forward to lift up the edge of one of the signs to check beneath it.
“Don’t do that!”
Whipping around, he spotted Alison a few feet away. Tangled hair hung in her eyes, dirt and rust smudged her clothes and face, and still she was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
She stepped around a large letter N and shook her head. “He’ll get out and I don’t want him to get out until the cops are here. According to my calculations, he’s fine anyway. Just trapped.”
Owen straightened and moved closer. “According to your calculations, huh?”
“Yes.” Alison blew a stray strand of hair away from her eyes. “If you take the maximum energy and divide it by the force needed to create the level of momentum necessary for…”
Unable to resist any longer, Owen rushed forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, bringing his lips down on hers to silence any further math mumbo-jumbo.
Alison’s here. Alison’s alive. Alison’s in my arms where she belongs.
Eventually, he cupped her face in his hands, looking her over for any signs of injury. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you at all?”
“I’m fine.” She pulled free, her tone slightly perturbed. “Despite the hiccup in my plan. I made it work though.”
Owen pulled her in for another passionate kiss, leaving them both breathless. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
“I’m sorry. After he shot at me and Peaches got away, it was too risky to contact you until I had a plan in mind. Unfortunately, it turns out they were blackmailing my contact, Caroline. They took her family hostage and told her they’d kill them all if she didn’t lead them to me.”
“Caroline?”
“The woman out front. I feel bad about knocking her out, but what else could I do. She’s okay, isn’t she?”
“Yes.” Owen chuckled. Only Alison would be sorry about knocking out someone who was trying to kill her. “I checked on her on my way over here. She was still out, but her pulse was strong and her breathing regular.” He swore under his breath and gave her a little shake. “You scared the bejesus out of me though. I thought that was you lying there.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I didn’t take that probability into consideration. Sorry. It wasn’t my intention to scare you. In fact, about the second part of that text. I—”
Whatever she’d been about to say was cut off by his kiss. The reminder of the danger she’d been in made him desperate to keep her close. This time when he pulled away, his throat felt tight with emotion. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
She swiped a lock of hair away from his forehead then relaxed against him, tucking her head under his chin. For several moments, they just held each other, rocking back and forth slowly until his thudding heart eventually slowed to a normal rhythm. Alison leaned back, her expression concerned. “What about Peaches? Did she find her way home?”
“Yep. Came right back to me.”
“Smart girl.” Alison raised herself up on tiptoes and kissed him lightly.
The sound of a clearing throat stopped him from deepening the kiss. He stepped back from Alison, but kept her hand in his as he turned to find Blake standing nearby along with several police officers.
“Sorry to interrupt, but these gentlemen need to get your statement, Ms. James.” Blake hiked a thumb at one of the men beside him. “If you have a moment.”
“Of course.” She pointed at the stack of rubble behind her. “They might want to get the bad guy out from under there first though.”
“Right.” One of the officers radioed in and soon a crew of cops arrived to lift the signs off the trapped assailant. “We’ll take it from here, Mr. Rockford.”
“Good.” Blake gestured for Owen and Alison to follow him away from the scene. “The ambulance is here for you as well, Alison, in case you have any injuries.”
“I’m fine, really.” A pair of EMTs rushed over anyway to cover Alison with a blanket and take her vitals. “Honest. Just a scratch on my shoulder from earlier.”
Owen stayed by her side the whole time, unwilling to let her out of his sight for a second until they had that creep beneath the signs securely in police custody. Finally, the EMTs cleared her and they joined Blake near the employee side gate to the Boneyard.
“Your friend, Ms. Biggs, regained consciousness and I was able to ask her a few questions,” Blake said as they approached.
“Did you?” Alison said, grasping Owen’s hand a bit tighter.
“Yep. I convinced her it would be in her best interest to turn on Copernatech. Based on the nature of this case and the fact it crosses state lines, local law enforcement should be able to get her assigned to the U.S. Marshall’s office and Witness Protection will guard her and her family from this point forward.”
“I see.”
Her quiet tone had Owen tugging her closer into his side. “That’s good. That means she can stop running and so can you.”
“It also means you can return to being Heather Connors,” Blake said, glancing at Alison. “If that’s what you want.”
She dug the toe of her sneaker into the gravel. Owen slipped his arm around her waist and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Whatever you want. I’ll be here to support you either way.”
Finally, she shook her head. “I’ve changed too much this past year. Whoever Heather Connors was, that isn’t me anymore. Alison James is who I am now.”
“Okay.” Blake nodded. “Alison James it is then. You know, Alison, I could use a talented mathematician on my team at Rockford Security.”
“Yeah? Doing
what? Security isn’t exactly my specialty.”
“You’d be surprised at the different assignments that come our way. Anyway, keep it in mind if you’re planning on sticking around Las Vegas for a while.” Blake frowned and pulled his buzzing cell phone from his pocket. “Sorry. Excuse me, but I have to take this.”
Owen watched his cousin walk away, his gut knotted with tension. He wanted Alison to stay more than he wanted his next breath, but he wouldn’t force her. It had to be her decision, her choice.
She glanced up at him and grinned. “Why so glum?”
“Nothing.”
“I am you know.”
“What?”
“Sticking around.” She faced him and took both of his hands in hers. “Meeting you was like a switch to polar coordinates: complex and imaginary things were given a magnitude and a direction.”
“That’s another weird math analogy I’ll never get, isn’t it?”
Alison laughed and raised up on her tiptoes, her warm breath tickling his face as her lips hovered millimeters from his. “Maybe you’ll understand this.”
As her lips captured his in a fiery kiss, Owen moaned deep in his throat and pulled her tight against him, loving the feel and taste and smell of her.
Loving Alison. Period.
Yep. That he understood perfectly.
The end.
———————————————
Have you read the Sam Mason Mysteries yet?
Start with book 1 Telling Lies - Small town cops and their K-9, Lucy, fight for justice in a town full of secrets and lies:
TELLING LIES
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Also by L. A. Dobbs
Sam Mason Mysteries
***
Telling Lies (Book 1)
Keeping Secrets (Book 2)
Exposing Truths (Book 3)
Betraying Trust (Book 4)
Killing Dreams (Book 5)
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Liars Island Suspense Novellas:
***
Liars Lane
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More books in the Rockford Security Series:
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Cold As Her Heart
A Game of Kill
No One To Trust
No Time To Run
Don’t Fear The Truth
Hide From The Past
About the Author
L. A. Dobbs also writes light mysteries as USA Today Bestselling author Leighann Dobbs. Lee has had a passion for reading since she was old enough to hold a book, but she didn’t put pen to paper until much later in life. After a twenty-year career as a software engineer, she realized you can’t make a living reading books, so she tried her hand at writing them and discovered she had a passion for that, too! She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, Bruce, their trusty Chihuahua mix, Mojo, and beautiful rescue cat, Kitty.
Her book "Dead Wrong" won the "Best Mystery Romance" award at the 2014 Indie Romance Convention.
Her book "Ghostly Paws" was the 2015 Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem First Place category winner in the Animal Mystery category.
Join her VIP Readers group on Facebook:
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Find out about her L. A. Dobbs Mysteries at:
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This is a work of fiction.
None of it is real. All names, places, and events are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real names, places, or events are purely coincidental, and should not be construed as being real.
CALCULATING DESIRES
Copyright © 2016-2020
L. A. Dobbs
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner, except as allowable under “fair use,” without the express written permission of the author.
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