“Kathlene and I are going to talk a little bit first,” Jock told Ralf as they reached her car. “Why don’t you meet us at the front gate to this place? You won’t mind stopping there for a minute, will you, Kathlene?”
The cabin-filled motel area was surrounded by a decorative wooden fence, with a gate near the office that was almost always open. “No, that’s fine,” Kathlene said, although she wondered what was really going on after the two men exchanged looks that appeared to hold a brief, silent conversation. Some Alpha Force business that they weren’t going to tell her about?
If so, that was okay—for now. But it made her even more determined to learn what they really were about.
She looked in the rearview mirror after backing her vehicle out of its space in front of the row of cabins where these men were staying. Only a few other cars were around, including a black, nondescript sedan which, considering its proximity to their cabin, was the one she assumed they had come in.
She glanced again into the mirror after aiming her SUV toward the entrance and saw that Ralf still stood there, apparently waiting for her to leave the area before doing whatever he and Jock had communicated about.
That only piqued her curiosity all the more.
“So how long have you lived in Cliffordsville?” Jock asked as she drove slowly toward the parking area near the entrance.
“About six years,” she said, glancing toward the hot-looking man who was getting her to think about sex a whole lot more than she had in ages. Well, she could think about it all she wanted. But the only action around here would be the impending demise of the anarchist group if it presented the kind of threat she believed it did.
“Did you live in Missoula before you went to college there?”
“Yes.” She knew her voice sounded curt with that answer, but he was now edging too close to topics she refused to discuss. Like her childhood and background. Sex? Hah. She was now being turned off by this man thanks to his chosen topic of conversation.
They passed three other rows of identical cabins before reaching the much larger one that served as the reception area and offices. She pulled into a space nearest the exit gate and parked.
To preclude Jock’s continuing her interrogation, she decided it was time for one of her own. “So tell me about Alpha Force,” she said.
His craggy, handsome face seemed to shutter, but only for an instant. Then he smiled. “I’m sure you’ve been told that we’re a covert military group, and we can’t discuss our methodology with anyone, either other military personnel or civilians.”
“But in a situation like this, where I know you’ve been picked out particularly because of whatever it is you do to look into what’s going on here—”
“So did you always know you wanted to go into law enforcement?” His tone was smooth, but his expression was both wry and warning.
He wasn’t going to tell her anything.
Well, she wasn’t going to tell him anything, either, unless she was sure it would help her cause.
Another car pulled through the gate and parked close to the office. Kathlene pretended to study it.
That was when she saw Ralf approaching on foot from the direction from which they’d driven.
Good. This conversation was clearly over.
* * *
Ralf was now ensconced in the backseat. Although Kathlene turned the car toward town as they exited the motel’s entrance driveway, she told Jock she would drive them farther along this road on their return—past the entry to the formerly abandoned ranch where the people she believed to be anarchists now lived and multiplied.
“That’s where we’ll do whatever recon we decide on later,” she said. “But I figured I’d get you started by showing you the town and innocently drive past the area on our return to your motel room.”
“Thanks,” Jock said. “That’ll work. And I’d like you to tell us everything you know and suspect so Ralf and I will be able to do our job here.”
She heard between the lines. They thought they were going to exclude her.
They weren’t.
Right now, as promised, she headed toward town.
As she drove down Main Street, she chatted about Cliffordsville, the shops they passed, the nature of the place before the anarchists had started appearing. They drove along a well-stocked commercial area, with stores ranging from name-brand casual clothes to a men’s suit outlet to a variety of restaurants from fast-food to nice, sit-down dining.
Main Street was pretty much a straight line, with a few traffic lights to allow drivers to pull onto it from the myriad side streets, some of which were also commercial, and others led to residential areas.
They didn’t drive far enough down it to reach the County Administration Building, City Hall and the Sheriff’s Department. The official part of town sat on the outskirts of the business area.
Kathlene liked Cliffordsville. A lot. She had made it her home.
Unlike Missoula, where she had grown up, it held only good memories for her—at least before.
Nothing controversial.
Not till recently, at least.
But her mind veered in different directions from all she was talking about. She was determining how she was going to take a stand and make it clear to Jock that she would participate in the investigation. Period.
“Where do you live?” Jock asked out of the blue. They had just turned down a side street so she could show them some of the closest residential areas—but she hadn’t intended to show them her house.
A jolt rocked through her body nonetheless. She knew he wasn’t asking to come home with her, yet the idea suddenly heated up her insides as if he had suggested they engage in some down and dirty sex.
Damn. She’d already convinced herself not to feel turned on by this man—hadn’t she? She wanted them to be comrades in arms, conspirators in figuring out what was really going on in that odd and growing encampment outside town.
She knew what would turn her off. Fast.
“I own a house in the same general direction we just turned,” she told him as casually as she could muster. “It’s in a small residential neighborhood within the city limits, though. The cabins where you’re staying are in an area considered to be outside town, although still within Clifford County, which means they’re within the sheriff’s department’s jurisdiction.” She paused. “As I said before, I’ll be spending time with you at your cabin. That’ll help us look like the old friends we’re supposed to be. I’ll also accompany you if you go camping. That way, I’ll be able to help in your surveillance.”
There. The gauntlet had been thrown down once more, but this time she had given a cursory reason why she should be with them at least part of the time as they worked.
Jock said nothing. But as Kathlene reached Main Street again and stopped for a traffic light, she looked over at him.
He seemed to be staring out the windshield, but his large hands were fisted in his lap. What was he thinking?
She had a feeling she wouldn’t like it. But she was dying to know.
* * *
The woman was trying to drive him nuts—and not just because she was so hot that he didn’t really want to keep his hands off her. But he would. Sex would only complicate things even further.
She had to keep her nose out of what Ralf and he were doing. Hell, Jock knew she had no idea about the facts.
First of all, when he did his surveillance of the supposed anarchists’ camp, he wouldn’t look like he did at the moment.
No. He would look a lot more like his cover dog, Click. The dog Ralf had gone to check on in the cabin next door before they left their motel.
Click must have been fine, or Ralf would have stayed behind. Or at least said something.
Jock glanced quickly into the backseat. Ralf remained there, of course. Looking all nice and neutral—and interested. But staying out of the conversation.
A good thing? Maybe. But it might be better if his aide participated. Even took over for him. Ralf was good at being discreet, keeping things calm.
Keeping Jock in line, both in human and in wolf form.
At the moment, Jock knew he had to make his position clear with Kathlene. Not give her all the facts. But even though she had been the one to trigger Alpha Force’s involvement by taking her concerns to the right government contacts, now she had to stay back and let him do what was necessary—and only with Ralf’s help, not hers.
He thought more about Ralf and what he should do. What he should say.
And how their commanding officer, Major Drew Connell—the man who had approved Jock’s enlistment into the military and into Alpha Force, the man who had first created the very special elixir that gave Alpha Force’s shifting members such an edge over other shapeshifters, other people—would handle this.
Discretion is the key, he reminded himself.
He let himself respond to Kathlene’s challenge at last.
“I appreciate your offer to help out,” he lied, but he did manage to keep his tone calm and level. “The thing is, you may not know it, but Alpha Force’s position is that, once we accept a mission, we work alone, without outside help.” Another lie, but it made sense, especially now.
“That may work sometimes,” Kathlene said, her tone as flat as his, “but not here. Not now. I need to stay involved because I am involved.”
“But you could get hurt!” Damn. He hadn’t meant to blast that out that way. It was what was on his mind, though.
Always. Especially in a situation like this.
“I won’t,” she countered, her voice raised as much as his. He wanted to grab her and shake some sense into her. But he couldn’t. Not with her driving.
Besides, he found Deputy Kathlene Baylor so attractive, so sexy, that touching her again for any reason would be a huge mistake. All he would want to do, despite all his common sense, would be to get her under the covers.
And then what would happen to the mission she had gotten him into?
His attraction to her was a huge part of the problem, though. He couldn’t help comparing this lovely, determined woman with Jill, his high school sweetheart.
Jill, a shapeshifter like him.
Jill, who had gone into law enforcement like Kathlene.
And who had been killed during her first year on the job, not while shifted but while in human form on a dangerous assignment.
Would Jill have survived if she’d been a man? If she had been in wolf form? Unlikely, of course, and he knew that even wondering about it allowed him no closure, especially after all this time.
But one thing Jock was sure of. He didn’t like it at all when women he felt attracted to got into perilous circumstances. If he happened to be there, he’d save them.
There was no way of his being certain he could be with them at the crucial time, though. He knew what a dinosaur he might be—yet, thanks to what had happened to Jill, he couldn’t help thinking it was a lot more foolish of women, even trained ones, to put themselves into hazardous situations than it was for men.
Because they were not physically as strong, they were more likely to get killed.
“Jock?” Her challenging tone shrieked irritation. She was waiting for his further response.
He still said nothing. He wasn’t about to explain his beliefs to her—or his rationale for them.
“Jock, tell you what. I appreciate your protective attitude.” She sounded anything but appreciative, yet she continued. “But I’ll prove to you that I can take care of myself. I’m a skilled law-enforcement officer. I’ve been trained in everything from accuracy in shooting guns of nearly all types to hand-to-hand combat. I’m challenging you, Jock. We’ll start when we get back to the cabin. If I can pin you to the floor in a hand-to-hand fight, then you’ll let me be there when you do your surveillance and more.”
* * *
Silly? Foolish? Absurd to the max? All of the above. But the challenge had been impulsive, a way to show him who she was and what she really was made of.
And now? Well, she had no choice. She could do it. She would do it.
Notwithstanding her inability to fully read Jock’s expression when he looked at her so incredulously.
There seemed to be an angry set to his brow.
A heated look in his blue eyes that suggested her words had turned him on.
Since it was now early evening, she went through a fast-food drive-in lane and they all got their meals, which they ate in the car. Fine with her. She was on a mission of sorts and didn’t want any further interruptions just now.
Next, she did as she had planned from the moment they had set out on this drive. She made a left turn at one of the traffic lights, then drove them onto the narrowing lane they had come from before.
This time, though, she went beyond where the cabin motel lay, heading down the road even farther.
There was a sparse number of homes along it, some tiny, others large, mostly in good condition, but a few were run-down cottages that had been there forever. All were set in the midst of large stands of trees, some with branches carved back to avoid blocking the road and others somewhat in the way.
Eventually, she reached the turnoff she had been looking for, a very narrow, nondescript driveway. No one could tell from this better-traveled drag what lay beyond.
She knew. She had visited it, several times. And had seen the huge chain-link fence that had been built in the middle of nowhere.
Farther down the drive, the guard at the gate had not let her through, claiming that it was private property and everything was fine there. No need for law enforcement’s interference...er, help.
“That’s the way to the enclave in question.” She slowed and pointed in that direction.
“All the way out here?” Ralf leaned forward so his head was between the front seats. “Guess that could make someone suspicious in itself.”
Was he questioning her thought processes? Kathlene would have expected that more from Jock—although she really didn’t know Ralf any better than she knew her supposed friend from the past.
“But it looks innocent enough,” Jock observed.
Okay. No surprise. He was questioning her, too.
“From here, yes,” she acknowledged. “Farther along...well, I’m sure you’ll see for yourselves soon.” With me along, she thought, but didn’t voice it just then.
Now, though, it was time to go back.
She found the turnoff she was looking for a mile down the road, then maneuvered her SUV to return in the direction from which they’d come.
Once again, they drove along the narrow road with conifers looming overhead—lodgepole pines, junipers, cedars, firs. Every once in a while the blue sky showed through, but the roadway was mostly shaded.
Kathlene knew it would be unpleasant to come here at night, and she hadn’t done so...yet. But she suspected she would. Maybe with these Alpha Force men.
Soon they again reached the area where the motel cabins lay. Kathlene smiled grimly to herself, wondering what awaited her here this time.
Was she really going to fight Jock?
Hell, yes, if that was the only way to get him to cooperate.
She had done extremely well as a rookie, training to become a deputy sheriff. She had outfought all of the other would-be deputies, male and female.
Sheriff Frawley had yet to acknowledge her skills—even though she still engaged in training exercises with other deputies more experienced than she was.
Would surprising Jock, toppling him, be enough to convince him?
Even if it didn’t, it would certainly improve her frustrated state of mind.
Although, considering how sexy she found the muscular guy staring at the narrow, barely paved road in front of them, it was bound to cause her another kind of frustration.
Jock hadn’t actually responded to her dare. But the moment they reached the large cabin at the front of the development that contained the offices, he jumped out.
After one cold stare and shake of his head, he turned away from Kathlene.
Fine with her. She waited until Ralf got out of the backseat. Would he try to talk her out of her challenge?
She’d gathered, from the way the two men interacted, that Jock was probably the superior-ranking military officer, with Ralf perhaps reporting to him.
That was something else she wanted to know, in addition to what Alpha Force was really about.
How could these men, members of this particular unit, help to figure out what was going on here better than other cops or military members?
Well, if she won their fight, Jock would owe her. He’d have to let her help in their investigation.
And he’d also have to tell her more, including about Alpha Force.
But would he?
He damn well better.
* * *
They’d gone back to the cabin. All three of them.
“So...thanks for showing us around, Kathlene,” Jock said, finally glancing at her. She’d been helpful, but now it was time for her to go. “We’ll get more of the lay of the land tomorrow morning on our own. What’s your schedule? Can we meet you for lunch? That’ll fit with our cover story.”
“Yes,” she said curtly. “It will. And I’ll be glad to meet you then. But my next day off is Friday, the day after tomorrow. We’ll get together in between, too, when I can. You’ll keep me apprised in between by phone or meeting, let me know what you learn. I’ll join up with you as much as I can.”
She looked so attractive as she snarled at him, her hair still pulled back from that gorgeous face.
But she was still trying to take control of a situation that he controlled.
Wasn’t going to happen.
“We’ll keep you apprised,” he agreed mildly. “Let us know what time you can take off for lunch tomorrow. And we’ll let you know every step we’ve taken.” After we take it. But he didn’t say that aloud.
She obviously figured it out, though. “No, like I said, I’m going to be part of this. You remember my challenge?”
“Now look, Kathlene,” Ralf said. “We know you were joking, but—”
“I wasn’t,” she responded curtly, still staring at Jock.
“Of course I remember it,” he retorted. “But Ralf’s right. It was—”
“Then let’s get started,” she interrupted. “You win and I’ll comply with what you’ve said. I win, and I’m dead center in the middle of the operation. Got it?”
“Yes, but—”
He was shocked. Amused. And taken by surprise as the lovely, slim woman removed her sheriff’s department jacket, belt with its holster and radio, and dropped them on the floor.
And then she approached him fast, hands out, and grabbed him by the arms.
Chapter 3
Jock Larabey’s body felt just as muscular as it looked. Kathlene wasn’t surprised by that. In fact, she’d felt it before, when they’d hugged.
She’d only hoped to take him by surprise, here in the middle of the cabin’s main room on its polished wood floor, between the beds and sitting area she had checked out previously. She had to get him to take her seriously, and defeating him like one of the guys should help.
“Hey!” Ralf shouted, and out of the corner of her eye Kathlene saw him approaching, his hands out, too, as if he intended to pull her away.
She wouldn’t let him. But fighting two muscular men at once?
That could be a problem.
She was gratified, therefore, to hear Jock snap out, “Stay back, Ralf. In fact, get out of here. I’ve got this covered.”
He didn’t, of course, but fortunately Ralf backed off and stormed out of the cabin. Good.
But why had Jock done that? So Ralf wouldn’t see his humiliation? Doubtful. He had to believe he would win.
She’d inhaled as she moved and, now even more aware of her breathing and what was around her, she smelled the sweet combo of aromas of whatever had been used to clean this space for the next occupants.
But she quickly threw all of that out of her consciousness. She had to focus on what she was doing.
At the same time as she had grabbed Jock, she’d twisted her body, her legs around his, to trip him and take him down.
It was like trying to pull down a sturdy steel pipe.
“Hey!” he yelled, but he didn’t fall. That was okay. She’d conducted a lot of hand-to-hand combat training with men as well as women, and some were not only muscular but big-bellied, too, unlike Jock. She’d always managed to defeat even them.
She knew her best moves.
She turned and rose at once, putting herself out of Jock’s arms’ reach temporarily. Or so she thought.
One of his hands was suddenly on her middle, the other grasping for her neck. Was he going to strangle her? Maybe the military was trained to do their worst, act harshly as if prepared to kill even its own, presuming that the other guy was as well trained and could get out of it.
Well, she could, too.
“No!” she yelled, another kind of distraction as she twisted away from him, then quickly turned and attempted to swing her arm and aim at his face while her leg again moved around his.
This time, he apparently let her. No resistance. At first. But before she could trip him, he moved once more and had one of his arms about her chest while the other moved farther below.
Interesting, to have him touching her there. All over. Apparently, he thought so, too, since she heard a whoosh from him that sounded like what she had heard sometimes in her training sessions with men—surprise, maybe. And interest.
His hand on her breasts moved. Squeezing just a little. Damn, but it felt good. She couldn’t allow it to distract her, though—even if it distracted him.
She pretended to start going limp, then straightened, leaped back and turned, facing him again.
And noticing the thick bulge in his jeans as he, too, faced her once more, bent slightly forward, his arms at his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists.
This was definitely more heated, in many ways, than the hug they had previously shared.
Why did that position look so sexy? Or was it just her touching him—and seeing how his body appeared to be reacting?
“Enough?” he asked. He was breathing hard, even though what they’d done so far wasn’t especially active.
“Not unless you give in and agree I’m part of your team.”
She anticipated his rush forward. She turned sideways to make it harder for him to grab her in crucially vulnerable spots to bring her down.
That ended with her hip pressed right against that bulge she had noticed before. She drew in her breath.
Lord, how she wanted him just then. Which was crazy. She didn’t know him. And she needed him to do a job here that could protect her friends, her fellow Clifford County residents and maybe even more citizens of the United States.
Would her seducing Jock cause him to do a better job? Hardly.
Even if it did, that didn’t mean he would let her help.
And she was going to help, no matter what he thought.
“Okay, then, yes,” he said. “You’re part of the team.” Was it over that quickly? “The part of it that I say you are. And that means staying out of danger.” As if he believed he had distracted her, he rushed forward, upper part of his body bent, and attempted to tackle her.
She quickly moved away, grabbing at his head and smelling his musky scent as she let herself fall, pulling him down with her.
Amazingly, he fell, too. Onto the floor. Beside where she now knelt. She flipped over, heaving her entire being on top of him. Using every ounce of her weight to press him down.
Feeling his thick muscles everywhere tense beneath her. His chest. His legs.
And the protrusion at his core that thrust up at her as she refused to move.
“You’re busted!” she exclaimed triumphantly. “I win. I’m a part of your team—the way I say I am.”
He didn’t move. Didn’t say anything. Not for several heartbeats—and she believed hers was somehow synced with his.
His hips moved, and his erection was thrust up against her gut, making her own insides heat and churn and ache with a desire that would not, could not, be fulfilled. Not now or ever. Not with this man.
