by Taylor Lee
Ring of Fire
Book 3
All Fired Up
Sizzling Romantic Suspense Series
by
Taylor Lee
Praise for Ring of Fire…
Book 4 in Taylor Lee’s All Fired Up Sizzling Romantic Suspense Series that includes Playing with Fire, Trial By Fire, and Fire and Ice, and, coming soon, the short story conclusion to the series You Light My Fire.
“The eagerly awaited sequel to the Bestselling Sizzling Romantic Suspense Playing with Fire and Trial by Fire. Unbelievable! Taylor Lee does it again. Ripped from today’s headlines, arrogant bad ass cop Nate Stryker takes on White Supremacists and methamphetamine producers in this riveting romantic suspense thriller. Plan on a long night. You will not be able to put this book down!”
~ SMT Reviews
“The bad ass cop comes up against some of the most evil men alive—men who were once his best friends. As sexy as ever, the arrogant cop and the beautiful firefighter struggle against the odds to keep their love intact while the baddest of the bad are out to get them!”
~ RomanceReads
“Unforgettable characters, snappy, clever dialogue that jumps off the pages and nail biting, riveting action are the hallmarks of Taylor Lee’s romantic suspense thrillers. Add hot steamy romance and you’ve got a book that you will remember long after you reluctantly put it down and hope like heck there are more to come!”
~ Action Junkie
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
“Damn.” Nate Stryker grimaced. “What is this? The fifth blast in a week? Tell me there’s no bodies.”
Connor Lang’s earnest frown said it all. He shoved up his face mask and glared at Nate. Encased in his full firefighting garb, his helmet pushed back, the husky Captain’s handsome face was smudged with smoke, his eyes red-rimmed and bleary. His expression was grim.
“No bodies, Nate. But I don’t have to tell you that’s more an accident than the intended outcome. Fuck, the way these trailers are blowing, it’s a wonder they haven’t taken down the whole damn forest.”
Nate Stryker threw an arm around his cousin’s shoulder.
“You’re right, Cuz. Hard to believe that any of the poor sons of bitches who live in these hovels have guardian angels.” He shrugged. “But someone warned them. Gave them time to get out. But, you’re right. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed. And the damn forest does go up in flames.”
“Jesus, Nate. What ever happened to having a little crank with your fellow arm-pickers? Cooking up a pot and tweaking with your loser buddies?”
Nate grimaced. “That was before Jeb and Cougar decided owning half the county and most of the state wasn’t enough. Hell, they’ve been measuring dicks since they were born. First on the playground, then the basketball court. Then fighting over who got to bag this girl or that one first. Now it’s who is going to own the whole fucking industry and who are they going to annihilate in the process.”
“Who’re you betting on, Nate?”
Nate ran his hands through his collar length dirty blond hair and tossed his cousin an ironic grin.
“I couldn’t tell you. As you know, I’m not much for dick contests… though I’ve never lost one yet. But I can tell you who the losers are gonna be. It’s these fuckers who don’t give a shit about anything except winning, capturing the flag. You know, Cuz, this is like the Black Plague. It sweeps in and shears down everything in its path, except the guys at the top who are too smart to use the junk and too soulless to care whose lives are shattered. Their friends, family, their mother, their father or their own fucking kids. Scariest part is they’re so intent on owning the world that they’ll discard anyone in their way, any way they can. Permanently.”
“Unless someone can stop them?”
“That ain’t a question mark, Connor. It isn’t ‘if’, it’s ‘when.’ “
Nate shoved down the righteous anger bubbling in his gut. It was one thing that these greedy soulless assholes were intent on taking over the whole damn territory and now trying to capture the border. The biggest issue clawing at his gut was that they were fighting for his territory. This was his playing field. He was responsible for it. And both Jeb and Cougar knew it. They also knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t stop until he’d taken them down. But even Nate had to admit that if they were keeping score—and they were—it didn’t exactly look like a buzzer beater. Hell no. It looked like a romp. Bad guys 50, good guys 0.
Nate looked up to see one of the smaller firefighters moving toward him. Even in her shapeless rubber jacket and pants, her helmet covering her cloud of dark curly hair, he’d know that walk anywhere. And just in case he hadn’t seen the provocative sway of her hips, a twitch in his pants made him reach down to make some room for his ever ready dick—a reliable sign that Erin was near.
She pushed back her mask and smiled at him.
“Darn it Nate, you can’t let me have a little fun in the middle of the night without coming to check up on me? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you miss me. Or that you didn’t want to miss all the fun.”
Nate’s chest constricted. How could he tell this woman that it killed him to know that she was out here in the middle of the night fighting a dangerous fire and even more dangerous men? But they’d argued too often about her job for him to let her see how upset he was. Instead, he pulled her up next to him and pinched the corner of her full pouty mouth. He grinned when she gave an involuntary squeal. Tipping her helmet up so that he could get closer to that sensitive spot beneath her ear, he murmured, “Listen up, spitfire. The only place you belong in the middle of the night—or the middle of the day for that matter—is some place where critical parts of my anatomy are making contact with equally critical parts of yours. If I didn’t know better, Erin, I’d think you like running around in the dark in the middle of the night so that I’ll come chase after you.”
Erin flushed and tried to twist free, looking over her shoulder to see if any of her squad was watching them. Nate and Connor exchanged a wink which made his little firebrand give an exasperated sigh.
“Nate, you’re incorrigible. Do you ever think about anything else?”
Nate pulled back in surprise. “Anything but how long it’s been since I had you in my arms with those critical parts of us precisely where they are supposed to be—as in stuck together?”
Nate dragged her closer to him, ignoring her squirming attempts to back up.
“No, spitfire, I’ll admit it. When I reach over in our bed and find you gone, my dick is like a damn dope-sniffing dog. Not content until he finds the money pot. And, Erin, honey, you are the money pot.”
Erin’s cheeks bloomed a brighter pink and her striking turquoise eyes gleamed in the moonlight. Even though she was embarrassed by his public overtures, Nate knew from the way that she pressed against him that their minds were on the same track. A track that had only one destination. The only question was how soon they could wind up their official duties and get back to where they belonged. Wrapped in each other’s bodies.
Assuming an annoyed scowl that was belied by the way that she was rubbing up against him further enflaming him, she sniffed. “Sorry, Detective. But I’m on duty and can’t discuss pleasure or anything else until we figure out exactly what they used to start this fire. Although my guess is it was good old gasoline. But given the magnitude of the explosion, it’s a miracle the people who were inside got out.”
Connor sidled over to them and put his arm around Erin.
“She’s rig
ht, Detective Stryker. Much as I hate to pull rank, this is a fire scene and Lieutenant McFadden just happens to be my crack investigator. Even as good as she is, it will be hard for her to look for clues with that collar and short leash you got wrapped tight around her neck.”
At Erin’s outraged shriek, both Nate and Connor laughed.
“Damn, Connor. Talk about throwing gasoline on a fire. How many times have I told you, I’m trying not to let Erin notice how short her leash is? It’s bad enough that she won’t let me ‘chip’ her. I’ve tried, but she keeps waking up asking me what I’m trying to stick in her now.”
Erin jerked away from him and planted her hands on her hips, glaring at Connor’s grinning face.
“It’s not funny, Connor. Nate is absolutely serious. He thinks I’m a puppy dog and the only way he can be sure I don’t get lost, or taken, is if he has a GPS tracker on me at all times.”
Connor’s grin faded. He flashed Nate a confirming glance then met Erin’s gaze.
“I’m not surprised that Nate is acting like a paranoid asshole. This whole business reeks of danger. I mean it. You didn’t grow up in these parts, Erin. Nate and I both know the fuckers who are doing this. They are scary dudes.”
Nate was gratified that his cousin didn’t make light of the situation. He loosened his hold on Erin’s arm but kept her next to him. He glanced up to see the tall, Denzel Washington look- alike approaching. He nodded, motioning Sam Carter, the handsome police detective, to join them.
“C’mon over, Hollywood. You need to hear this too. You and Erin think California is a hotbed of drug activity, that the gangs in South L.A. are tough. But I gotta tell you, South Central doesn’t hold a candle to what a homegrown bunch of White Alliance assholes, ‘black helicopter’ dudes are capable of. And that was before they discovered the biggest cash crop this little Northern Minnesota burg ever laid eyes on. No, my fine uninitiated friends, there’s always been shenanigans in these hallowed forests, the land of 10,000 lakes. Moonshiners blowing up each other’s stills, deer poaching, exceeding your fishing limit times a thousand. But this is the first time that two enemy camps have decided that ChicadiafuckingFalls is going to be the site for World War III, Northern Minnesota style.”
Nate scrubbed at the decidedly unregulation beard growth shadowing his chin, and shook his head.
He frowned at Erin and included Sam in his hard stare.
“Nope, Lt. McFadden, if you pushed him, Captain Lang would tell you he’s as crazed as I am about what’s going on here. And it’s not only because I worry about you. Or that all I think about is what I’m going to do to that hot little ass of yours. Or, Lieutenant, that I will butcher any guy crazy enough to touch you. No, it’s because we are up against two of the most vicious unscrupulous assholes you’re ever likely to meet. In addition to the fact that they intend to knock each other off and mow down every living soul in their path, they have a bigger goal. It’s the one thing they agree on. Their ultimate goal is to eliminate the fucker who has been bedeviling them practically since birth.”
Nate didn’t hide his grin or his pride. “And that fucker, that arrogant bastard, my friends? Is yours truly.”
He winked at Connor but his words were scathing, devoid of humor.
“No, as much as Jeb and Cougar are going to fight each other to the death to own the meth alley that runs through Minnesota from Mexico to the Canadian border, its more personal. Both of them want the big prize. The Big Dog himself. Detective Nathan D. Stryker. And just as I have since our days of rock throwing and fighting to be the first to glimpse what Christine Sorenson was hiding under that little plaid skirt of hers, I’m going to take them down. And take them down hard. But don’t think it’s going to be easy. I’ve fought the most vicious excuses for human beings in the hellholes of Afghanistan and Iraq. When it comes to sheer smarts? And to the lack of a troublesome conscience? Our home grown terrorists are as bad as they come. No matter how much they preach God and Country, their goal is to take over this neck of the woods and take me out in the process. No matter what they have to do to succeed. I don’t have to tell either of you that the people I care about are in the most danger.”
When Erin put up her hand and started to protest, Nate shook his head.
“Save it, hotstuff. We are going to bring our own twenty first century civil war to a close. And we’re gonna send these assholes back to their caves. Let them lick their wounds and think up their next battle to claim a past that never existed. But until we do, Erin, know I’m going to be riding you hard.”
He glanced at the tall black man who was regarding him closely.
“As for you, Sam? You’re gonna need to dig down deep. Go back to basics. Understand who you are in their eyes. Forget all those aristocratic, educated attributes that have been showered upon you. No amount of charm or expertise matters to these pricks. All they care about is that you are a black man and—even worse—that you are my friend. Which means one thing. The only person they’re gonna go after more than Erin is you.”
Nate plopped his Oakley’s over his eyes, ignoring the fact that it was three in the morning and the sun wouldn’t be up for hours. He didn’t have to bother. The three people surrounding him knew him only too well. They could see his eyes blazing no matter how dark his shades. Nate hoped that they saw his intent as clearly. His boyhood friends were fighting to shatter everything that mattered to him. They were after his land, his people and his values. But they didn’t stand a chance. Like the scrapheaps of bullies who had enslaved people, and fought world wars to impose their ugly inhumane values, they were history, dead meat. They just didn’t know it yet.
Chapter 2
Nate watched Erin climb up on the fire engine and head back to the station with her squad. He forced himself to accept that she was almost as safe with his cousin Connor as she was with him. Hell, probably more. Connor treated her like the accomplished firefighter that she was instead of a fragile woman, as breakable as a Faberge Easter Egg.
Forcing his thoughts away from Erin, Nate studied the fire site. He tried unsuccessfully to quiet the raging fire ants crawling up the back of his neck.
“What’s jerkin’ a knot in your tail, Nate?”
Dan Coulter, Nate’s long time Lieutenant, never let Nate off the spot. Dan deciphered Nate’s expressions as only a skilled detective could.
“C’mon, Big Dog, what are you sniffing that the rest of us can’t smell?”
Nate huffed out a sigh.
“Hell, Dan. Look around. Not much mystery here. This is penny ante stuff. Who cares about a few scraggly unkempt crack cookers in their trashed hovels? Who the hell bothers with such insignificant crap?”
“You tell me, Nate. Other than one or the other of the kingpins, are you saying there is a smaller underground war taking place as well?”
“No, Dan. This is an example of cleaning up the chum. Getting rid of the scum that’s left, that’s too insignificant to be part of the real enterprise. Blowin’ up a trailer is just a night’s fun for the bag whores. Like shooting fish in a barrel. They hit up the little guys, the ones they call the carpet sharks who are so desperate they comb the carpet for shards when someone spills their baggie.”
Nate sighed, the furrows on his forehead deepened.
“We all know who the kingpins are behind this outrage. As soon as we know whose shit-trailer this is, we’ll know who blew it up. It’s simple. If it belongs to one of Jeb’s sycophants, Cougar’s responsible… and vice versa. That’s what the crack heads pay for. Protection. Latest our C.I. is telling us is that 60% of the little guys’ profits go to their enforcers. And the kingpins hire the enforcers.” Kicking at a still smoldering log, Nate frowned. “No, these bonfires are warnings only. A reminder to the arm-pickers that they better decide whose army they’re on. “
Sam threw Nate a troubled frown. “I don’t get it, Nate. My understanding is that as much of 80 % of the crystal is made outside of the U.S.; primarily in Mexico. Why is it such a big deal her
e in Northern Minnesota? Surely these small time criminals mostly make it and sell it for the locals.”
“That used to be the case, Sam. And you’re right about the super labs. They are the big producers. And they’re the ones with the equipment and the access to large quantities of the ‘raw materials’. What a lot of people don’t know is that there is an alley from Mexico to Canada that runs right through Northern Minnesota. Our local hotshots figured out that the Cartels will pay big money to get their transports up that alley safely. Hell, ask any Mexican Cartel and they’ll tell you local protection all along the transportation route is the key to mega profits. Besides once the supplies get over the border to the labs it is repackaged in smaller quantities—if you call hundreds of thousands of methamphetamine doses a small quantity. Again, our boys are happy as clams to wait at the border, pick up the smaller doses and send it right back down the trail. Suddenly ‘small producers’ who weeks before were protecting truckloads of supplies now control shitloads of finished product worth millions of dollars on the street. “
“Phew! So they make money coming and going?”
“Damn straight. I’ll admit it. At first I didn’t get the significance of their M.O. I’ve been following Jeb and company for a couple of years—when they were mostly doing the small stuff. But about eighteen months ago we started picking up on rumors that they were thinking about going international. I figured if anyone could it would be Jeb. At that point he and Cougar were working together. And sure as shit the DEA boys sent me evidence that Jeb, in particular, was making a big move.”
Dan interrupted. “But, Nate, you already know all of that. I repeat, what’s got you lookin’ at this little bonfire like it’s more than just a good place to roast wienies and marshmallows?”
Nate turned to Sam and shook his head in disgust. “I think Dan’s been with me too long. He’s starting to get as paranoid as I am.”
“From what I’ve seen of your instincts, Nate, they are anything but paranoia.” Sam didn’t couch his admiration. “No, man, if we could package your insights, we could sell them to every police force in the country and become overnight millionaires. So c’mon, Nate. Give the lesser humans among us an inkling of what’s causing the ‘knots in your tail’ as Dan calls it.”