Man, he hated seeing her like this. Scared to death. When they’d worked together on the Child Exploitation Task Force, he’d gotten to know her quite well. She was as tough as any of the agents on the team. Maybe not physically, but mentally she’d endured everything with valor. Now this. Looked like whoever locked them in here knew she was terrified of snakes and was taking advantage of her fear.
He tried to make eye contact, but she fixated on the bucket. “You want to talk about what’s going on?”
She gave a quick but fierce shake of her head.
Since she didn’t seem to notice him looking at her, he didn’t bother to look away. He loved seeing her again, but the joy of the moment was tempered by the pain in his heart. Not just from her terror right now, either. He took her father’s death personally. Clay had been in charge of the op where Grayson Long had been gunned down. Clay still had no idea what her dad had been doing there. He’d retired from the DEA many years prior and had zero connection to the op. He shouldn’t even have been in the area, much less knocking on their suspect’s door.
Clay had held Toni that day and played the op over and over in his head. He’d felt like a total fraud. Comforting her when he believed he was responsible. He didn’t know what he could’ve done differently, but no one should die on an op. No one. Especially not an innocent member of the public.
Now, her electric blue eyes were wide and unblinking. He’d never seen her so terrified. He had to do something to help. There was no getting out of the room. Maybe he could block her view. He stepped between her and the snake. “What can I do for you?”
Her hands clamped on his shoulders, and she pushed him out of the way. He didn’t fight her, but even if he had, she was strong enough to move him. When they’d partnered on the task force, they’d often worked out together, and he’d seen her toned arms firsthand.
“I’m worried about your stress level. Can you try to focus on something else while we wait for help to arrive?”
She didn’t respond.
He took her hand. The skin was soft but icy cold. She glanced at their intertwined fingers for a beat of a moment before she locked on the bucket with the snake in it again.
“Come on, Toni. Take some breaths. You can do it. The snake can’t get out.”
“I…I…” She shook her head.
His heart cracked under her fear. “Do you want me to sit on the bucket again?”
“Yes, please.” She sounded like a child terrified of the boogeyman.
He wanted to lift her out of the sink and hold her until her fear evaporated. Instead, he took the vise’s place. If she were in her right mind, she wouldn’t appreciate the hug. She was too independent to need a man. She’d told him that. Three times to be specific. Her mother died when she was a kid, and her dad had brought her up to be tough. She’d even been stoic when the gunman took her dad down right before her eyes.
Clay shuddered at the memory and shoved it into the back of his mind to focus on their current situation. He looked around the room, wishing he’d brought someone with him. All four of his brothers would’ve warned him not to go alone if he’d told them. Even his sister, Sierra, a forensic expert at the Veritas Center, would’ve said something. So would his former deputy dad.
His mom—well, she would just as likely choose to keep him home and out of danger no matter what. But once Drake told them all about the night—and he would for sure—they wouldn’t let it go, and Clay would never live it down. Searching for whatever lead they were supposed to discover. Nothing in the space spoke to the investigation or provided the lead they were promised. He just spotted old janitorial supplies.
Clay took a deep breath to clear his brain, and a hint of smoke slithered through the air.
Smoke?
Smoke from a nearby campfire wouldn’t settle into this basement room. And it wasn’t camping season. He flashed his light at the door. Toni cried out, but he couldn’t deal with her fear now.
Smoke seeped under the wood, curling up and into their small room.
“Fire.” He jumped up and put the vise back on the bucket.
Toni remained frozen as if she didn’t hear him.
He raced across the room. Got in her face. “There’s a fire in the building. We have to get out of here, and we have to do it now!”
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NIGHT HAWK REVIEW
NIGHT MOVES - BOOK 4
If you’re in his sights…
County social worker, Natalie Dunn discovers a horrible secret about the father of her juvenile clients. The man not only killed one woman, but Natalie suspects he’s killed several others. She plans to go to the authorities, but before she can, the killer turns his sights on her. Fearing for the lives of this man’s children, she removes them from their home and calls in former U.S. Marshal, Drake Byrd of Nighthawk Security to protect her and the children and help her prove their father is a ruthless killer
* * *
You’re as good as dead.
As they investigate, Drake learns the father is a former elite sniper and assassin, and he has done a professional job of hiding any evidence of his wrong doing. Drake vows to protect Natalie and the three children—all of whom he has come to care for—putting everything on the line for them. When bullets start flying, can he save them all from a certain death?
PRE-ORDER NIGHT MOVES!
NIGHT WATCH - BOOK 5
Everything points to suicide…
Research scientist, Kennedy Walker is shocked when her mother dies and the police rule her death a suicide. Her scientist-mother was on the verge of a scientific breakthrough, and Kennedy knows her mother would never end her life, but the detective won’t listen. Kennedy worked alongside her mother at the lab, and Kennedy commits to finishing her mother’s work, but before long, it’s clear that her mother was killed to stop her from completing her project.
And she must prove them wrong.
Kennedy digs deeper, garnering the killer’s focus, and he puts her in his cross-hairs. She can’t give up on such an important project, so she swallows down her pride from Erik Byrd’s rejection and hires Nighthawk Security, not only to protect her, but to help find her mother’s killer. It takes only one look for both of them to know their feelings for each other haven’t gone away. With so many people counting on her to complete the formula, giving in to old feelings is a distraction neither she or Erik can afford, and they both need to keep watch. Especially in the darkest hours of the night, when the killer comes out to play.
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NIGHT PREY - BOOK 6
She lived for upholding the law…
Defense attorney, Malone Reed, doesn’t want to go to her fifteen year class reunion. Attending means running into her former high school flame, now Portland police detective, Liam Murphy. But when the committee decides to honor her for her pro-bono work with homeless teens, she knows it would be churlish not to attend. She will have to go and make the best of it.
But now the law won’t save her.
As expected, Liam attends the reunion, but what Malone doesn’t expect—could never expect—is that Liam would find her standing over their classmate’s dead body. Or that she would still have feelings for the once bad-boy of their high school. Liam’s struggling too, between arresting Malone for murder and his age-old attraction to her. He walks a tightrope, until evidence surfaces that the real killer’s still out there, and Malone becomes his
prey. Can Liam overcome his feelings to focus and uncover the truth before the killer strikes again and Malone ends up dead?
lying, can he save them all from a certain death?
PRE-ORDER NIGHT PREY!
2
The room filled with smoke at a faster rate than Clay could’ve imagined, and Toni wasn’t responding. He ripped off his shirt, tore it in half, and handed it to her. “Tie this over your mouth.”
She complied, her eyes widening even more with terror. “I…I…”
He couldn’t waste time trying to break through her stupor. He tied his half of the shirt around his head and searched the room for anything he could use to get them out. He couldn’t possibly bust through the cinderblock walls before he and Toni succumbed to the smoke.
He could call 911, but Sam and the guys would be here sooner than a patrol deputy. For now, the door was his only option. He started kicking the wood. No movement. None. He turned and back-kicked. The doorjamb and lock held.
No. No. No. He couldn’t fail. Somehow he had to make an opening big enough to crawl through.
He shone the light over the space. A gasp came from Toni, but he needed the light. Junk was heaped up in the corner, and he hurried over to tear through it. He discarded worn boards and trim pieces. Empty paint cans. An old oil can. Rags. There on the floor. A small hatchet. The wooden handle was broken. He had little to hold onto. He’d make do. He raced back to the door. Ran his fingers over the wood. Not hot. At least the fire wasn’t raging in the hallway outside.
Wouldn’t do to slice his hand open on the splintered handle. He tore the shirt from his head. Wrapped the fabric around the broken handle. He hauled back and slammed it into the door. Small wood chips flew. Not many, but it was working.
He slammed the hatchet again. Once more. Over and over. A small hole appeared. Heavier smoke poured through it. He tried not to breathe, but how could he not under the exertion? He coughed. Hard. His eyes stung, tears pouring down his cheeks. No matter. Toni needed him.
He swung the ax, putting his weight into it. At last the head went through the wood. Had he weakened the wood enough to break through? If not, they would suffocate. Soon.
A swift kick of his boot into the hole, and a satisfying crack sounded in the tiny space. He grabbed the wood morticed into the thicker frame and pulled it free to enlarge the hole. He would help Toni through the opening first, but she was too dazed to move fast. Better to unlock the door and then assist her.
Breathing hard now, he dropped down to the hole. His chest convulsed with a deep cough. He placed his shirt over his mouth again and shimmied out. The thick gray smoke obscured his vision, but he felt for the bar and lifted it.
He jerked open the door and rushed to Toni. “We’re leaving now.”
He didn’t wait to see if she would move but lifted her out of the sink and took her by the hand. They stayed low and started forward. To his right, flames burned in a large barrel someone had slid in front of the stairs, blocking the exit.
His heart fell. They couldn’t get out unless he could move it. But the glowing metal told him it was way too hot to touch.
“Clay!” Sam’s voice came from above.
“Down here!” Clay called back. “Fire in a barrel at the bottom of the steps blocking our exit.”
“Griff’s got an extinguisher.”
Boots pounded down the stairs.
Yes. The best sound Clay had heard all day. He tugged Toni back from the flames and buried her face in his chest to protect her from extinguisher fumes.
Griff, wearing a fireproof hood and gloves, aimed the extinguisher at the barrel. The flames died a quick death, but heavy smoke poured out at an alarming rate.
“Come on.” Griff curled his hand in the air. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Clay led Toni to the stairwell, but her steps were hesitant. He had to get her moving faster. Nothing for it but to lift her over his shoulder and carry her. She didn’t protest, telling him how dire her state of mind was.
Sam stood at the landing, a mask over her mouth. “You okay?”
He nodded but raced past her to charge outside and gulp the clean night air into his burning lungs. Riley stood guard at the door, but Clay kept going, moving across the crumbling driveway. He kept his head on a swivel as he ran, searching the area for danger. Spotted only grass blowing in the gentle breeze.
His body wanted to collapse under his strained lungs. No, he couldn’t. Not yet. Not until he reached a soft grassy area and gently set Toni down. Racking coughs caught both of them. She got to her knees and nearly heaved trying to clear her lungs. His already protesting lungs argued even more and a misty rain wet his face.
She dragged in deep breaths. Coughing. Gagging. So did he. Until his lungs seemed like only a hundred razor blades occupied them instead of a thousand.
She looked at him. He searched her face. She seemed to be semi-alert. Maybe she’d broken free of her paralysis and was trying to process what was happening.
Griff stopped to talk to Riley, who after a brief conversation, started around the building perimeter. Still gasping for air, Clay was grateful Sam thought to bring Riley along for extra security.
Griff and Sam joined them. She pulled the mask off and brushed long blond hair from her face. She was tall and trim, but not as tall as Griff, who was built like a linebacker and had reddish-blond hair in a fashionable cut.
“Toni, this is Sam with Blackwell Tactical and her husband, Griff, who’s a firefighter in this county.”
Toni looked confused. He thought she’d heard of Blackwell, but maybe not. He explained and she nodded.
“Nice to meet you,” Griff said. “I’ll call medics.”
“I’m good,” Clay said and looked at Toni.
She waved a hand. “Not for me. I’ll be fine.”
“I still think it would be a good idea if—”
“We’re fine,” Clay interrupted. “If that changes, I’ll let you know.” Clay would keep an eye on Toni to be sure she didn’t seem to be suffering any ill-effects from the smoke.
Griff clamped his hands on his hips. “I’m going on record as saying being checked out would be the wise thing to do.”
“And when he goes on record…” Sam wiggled her eyebrows.
“I’m serious.”
“I know,” Sam said, “but you can keep an eye on them. If they look like they’re in distress, you can call.”
“Fair enough.” He smiled at his wife. “Fire was contained in the barrel. Built to distribute maximum smoke with minimum damage. I assume your suspect has taken off, but once the smoke dissipates, we can clear the building to be sure.”
Clay took in that information. “So whoever set the fire wanted us to suffocate, not burn.”
“Looks like it.”
“They must’ve known we couldn’t get a phone signal in the basement,” Toni got out between coughs.
Clay nodded. “Good thing I brought a SAT phone.”
“Odd that they just didn’t take you out with a bullet,” Sam said.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Toni frowned. “It’s like whoever set this up wanted us to suffer before dying. Maybe as payback.”
“Or they’re just fond of fire,” Griff said. “Some people are like that and will take any reason to start one.”
Clay thought about the snake but wouldn’t mention it unless he had to.
Sam ran a hand over her hair. “I should call Trent Winfield. He’s our county sheriff. He replaced Blake.”
“Blake?” Toni asked between breaths.
“He was the sheriff here,” Clay said, “but now he works at the Veritas Center where my sister Sierra is the forensic expert.” He didn’t bother telling her about Nighthawk’s office at Veritas. That could come later. He cleared his lungs with a deep cough and turned his attention back to Sam. “I don’t want to call Trent before we have a chance to scope this place out.”
“Without fans, the smoke’ll take a while to clear enough
to go back inside and not annihilate your lungs,” Griff said.
“I can wait.” Clay looked at Toni. “What about you?”
She nodded, but she looked exhausted. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the snake or the smoke inhalation. They’d both had a jolt of adrenaline, but her body had been raging with it for some time.
Clay looked at Griff. “Glad you arrived when you did.”
“I often put him to work as my assistant.” Sam circled her arm in his and smiled up at him.
“Can’t think of a better boss.” Griff grinned at her.
The two were obviously very happy together. Clay had seen their happiness firsthand when he’d trained at Blackwell. Not only her relationship with Griff, but every member of the Blackwell team had gotten married in the last few years, and Clay had to admit they were poster children for wedded bliss.
Sierra was also happily married, and Clay’s older brothers, Aiden and Brendan, had recently gotten engaged. Clay had thought maybe he’d be getting on the happily-married train, but not so long ago, a woman he’d cared for had cheated on him. So, despite the happiness surrounding him, he wasn’t about to get involved again. Been there, done that, had the cracks in his heart to prove it.
On the other hand, if he were willing to take another shot at that whole relationship thing, Toni would be tops on his list. If he could let go of what had happened to her father on his watch, that was.
She stared at him, the pale moonlight fighting through the drizzle and highlighting her furrowed forehead. She was clearly still troubled.
He looked up to ask Sam if he and Toni could have a moment alone.
“Griff and I’ll wait in his truck,” she said, her gaze going between Clay and Toni.
Griff took a step closer to Sam. “But I—”
“He’ll tell you when it’s safe to go in.” She tugged on Griff’s arm.
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