He positioned himself on the opposite side of the desk facing Jacqui.
He inhaled a long breath and said, “I think you’re ready for your first assignment.”
Jacqui was stunned over this announcement. She had been looking forward to this day. She often wondered how much longer she needed to train before she would be allowed to go out and track someone. She had immersed herself on the laws of bail investigations. She was ready to kick some ass.
“Really Uncle Max,” Jacqui couldn’t hide the elation in her voice.
Uncle Max pulled out a brown manila envelope and handed it to her.
“This just came in. I pulled everything I could about this guy from our sources. Take a look at it tonight. If you think you’re ready, then you can start tracking tomorrow by daylight,” Uncle Max said.
Jacqui eagerly grabbed at the folder but the old man held back. Jacqui looked at him with a questioning look.
“Do you think you’re ready, Jacqui?” Uncle Max asked with a hint of skepticism in his voice. “Because Adam here thinks otherwise.”
“I’m ready,” Jacqui answered with a hint of irritation in her voice.
And then just as quickly, she added, “I beat Sarah’s ass earlier today.”
“Sarah has nothing to do with whether you’re ready or not,” Adam’s voice cut coldly as he stood up from the shadows.
Jacqui swallowed hard, regretting her outburst. Of course Adam was right. She managed to make it sound petty. Uncle Max had no idea she caught Adam and Sarah in a tight embrace earlier in the evening. And Adam didn’t know either.
“No…err, what I mean is…uhhm…I train everyday with Sarah, so I know I can protect myself if the time comes,” Jacqui added lamely.
“That’s what I was telling Adam before you came in. This case is pretty cut and dried. Get information about his whereabouts… report to me as soon as you have established that. Is that clear, Jacqui?” Uncle Max asked her.
Jacqui nodded her head in agreement.
“Ok… that’s it then. Unless… you have anything else to add, Adam?” Uncle Max said looking at the grim face of the man who was slowly capturing Jacqui’s untrained heart.
“Nothing from me. I think I’ll call it a night,” Adam replied before storming out of the room.
Jacqui had an irresistible urge to run after him, to offer her hand in friendship. Her pride could withstand the humbling experience of extending an the olive branch. She was ecstatic over this new development and wanted everything to be A-OK in her world. But why did he have to be so difficult? She didn’t want to make a scene in front of the old man… didn’t want to give him any idea about her feelings for Adam.
So Jacqui bade her Uncle Max goodnight but not before giving him a tight hug.
“Thanks Uncle Max,” she whispered as the old man hugged her back.
Holding her at arm’s length, Uncle Max said softly, “I didn’t want to say this in front of Adam…but… no theatrics, Jac. Bounty hunting is dangerous, but rewarding. Play it straight. Spot your man, report, and then get out of there. Is that clear?”
Jacqui spent half the night reading through the dossier from the brown manila folder. She memorized the features of the man that accompanied the information about him.
The hours ticked by and Jacqui became aware of a floorboard creaking outside her bedroom.
Warily, she stood from the bed and opened her bedroom door. The hallway was empty. But a strong instinct nagged at her that it was Adam. The smell of lemongrass wafted in the air.
But what would he be doing outside her room? She went to investigate but found no one in the hallway.
Shaking her head in disgust over her own foolishness, Jacqui re-entered her bedroom once more, sat cross-legged on the bed and ran through the papers one more time.
When weariness finally overtook her, she stuffed all the papers back into the manila envelope, pulled the light switch and spread her tired body over the bed.
Maybe this is what I need. A couple of days away from him will do me good. Put things in the right perspective…forget his intoxicating smell, forget the way his arms felt around me, forget his tongue on my…
Jacqui finally drifted away into a troubled sleep.
***
Jacqui spotted the man as soon as he stepped out of the van. He was trailed by a group of five heavily armed men as suggested by the bulges in the back pockets of their pants.
The rest entered the cabin as one man remained outside the door.
This was the fourth day that Jacqui had been hot on their trail. She was in a small town fifty miles from Utah. She was exhausted. She had very little sleep since leaving the boot camp four days ago.
She almost had her quarry yesterday. But something tipped them off and they left in a hurry before Jacqui could phone in their whereabouts.
She got her tip from a gas station attendant who filled up her tank.
Showing him a picture of her prey, she pretended to be an ex-girlfriend.
“The bastard refuses to pay support. He fucking gives me a baby and then disappears… I heard from one of his buddies he’s here somewhere. Just can’t wait to give him spit for all the trouble he gave me,” Jacqui moaned.
“Yer can try some of them cottages for rent two miles from here. Me wife works there as a cleanin’ woman. Says there are some newcomers. But she’s kinda scared of ‘em. Seems they’re up to no good…y’know what I mean?” the attendant said.
Jacqui nodded her head trying to contain the excitement she felt.
She traveled in the direction the attendant pointed out and now she spotted the cottages hidden among the trees. It was a decrepit resort patronized mainly by travelling salesmen, truck drivers, and road travelers who wanted a cheap overnight stay.
Jacqui scouts the area before taking up her position behind some thick bushes surrounding a small clearing. The cottages were all within her sight as well as the road leading up to the resort.
After almost five hours of endless waiting, Jacqui caught sight of a black van with heavily tinted windows moving at great speed. It came to a full stop at a cottage farthest from the road.
Jacqui positioned the binoculars and peered through the looking glass.
Her quarry was the last to step out of the van. There was no denying he was the very same man in the photograph in Jacqui’s hand.
Knowing that every second counted, Jacqui pressed the call button on the cell phone that she carried in her pocket.
The call was picked up on the first ring.
“I’ve got them. It’s a small resort two miles from a gas station in a small town called Burkesville, fifty miles outside Utah,” Jacqui reported.
“I got the location, Jacqui,” she recognized the voice of Johnny ‘The Eyes’ Rodriguez.
Then a familiar voice came onto the line, “Do you have a positive ID?”
“Yes Uncle Max, it’s him,” Jacqui answered.
“You got 10 minutes to get the hell out of there before all hell breaks loose…” Uncle Max declared, before cutting the line.
Jacqui stealthily crossed the bushes, crouching low over the trees before hitting the road. Then she ran swiftly toward her car that was parked in a steep embankment a few meters away. She gunned her engine before making a U-turn away from the resort.
In the distance she heard the chop-chopping of a helicopter and met a coterie of police cars with flashing red, white, and blue lights headed towards the direction of the resort.
Jacqui knew she had caught her prey. Her first assignment was a success. A feeling of accomplishment and purpose engulfed her. She wanted to laugh out loud in triumph. She had made her first bounty without endangering herself. She was euphoric and was floating on air.
And more than Uncle Max, she had an overwhelming desire to share her success with Adam. He had never left her thoughts throughout the four days that she had been away from him. Who gave a shit if he was with Sarah? She could be friends with him. That was as good a start as an
y she could think of.
Maybe what he had with Sarah wasn’t so serious, Jacqui hoped. She could show him she wasn’t a bitch. Yes…they could be friends …for now.
These thoughts gave Jacqui the second wind she needed to drive all the way back to boot camp. She didn’t make any pit stops… not to eat or relieve herself… driven by some primal call to be with Adam.
She only slowed down when she made a turn on the small dirt road that would lead her through the copse of evergreens to the structures that were hidden beneath the trees.
Uncle Max came out to greet her as soon as she stepped of the car.
He placed his arms around her shoulder, squeezed tightly, and said, “Well done, Jac. They’re all in custody. You’ve earned your first bounty reward.”
A round of cheers and claps met her as she entered the office. Everyone she knew were drinking champagne from paper cups, celebrating her victory.
It was an immensely great feeling.
Jacqui’s eyes swept the room, searching for that one face that had been in the forefront of her psyche. Maybe he hadn’t heard about the news yet. Maybe he was on his way to join them? Maybe this time he could at least give her a hug?
“Where’s Adam,” she asked Uncle Max over the din of the revelry around her.
“Adam? Oh…he left a few days ago with Sarah. Said it was something personal. You know Adam. He’s full of mystery,” Uncle Max informed her.
Jacqui felt her world crash and burn all around her. Adam was gone. And he was with Sarah.
She thanked everyone, gave an excuse about being beat, and made a hasty retreat to her room.
There was no denying the hot tears as they fell uninvited from her face. There was no denying the crushing pain that wrapped around her heart like a steel band. And most of all, there was no denying the simple truth… she was in love with Adam.
To be continued…
If you enjoyed this story so far, please take a moment to leave a review.
Here is a preview of the next story you may enjoy:
Jacqui Schneider gazed at her naked reflection in the mirror and liked what she saw. She had always been curvaceous since her breasts started to form when she was sixteen years old. She got that from her mom. But unlike her mom, whose modest virtues bordered on obsessive, Jacqui loved to flaunt her sexiness even as a teenage girl.
But since hooking up with Uncle Max at The Agency, the daily rigors of the exercise routines the old man made her go through every day certainly have managed to give her muscles the tone that wasn’t there before.
Her shoulders seemed broader, giving the illusion of a smaller waistline that curved down to her hips. Her round ass was perky as she gave it a playful smack. Her toned arms and legs gave her body the overall impression of a well-oiled machine. Sweating profusely after a five mile run, her sunburned milky-white skin had a pinkish tinge.
After her first assignment went better than expected, Jacqui gained a certain confidence that she never felt before. The next three captures were just as successful. Everything was going well for her. The changes she saw in her body were merely icing on the cake.
Every successful capture meant more money in her pocket. It would never replace the loneliness she felt in being alone without mom, dad, and Danny, but it was a good start. Jacqui mulled over in her mind how to spend some of it. Travel, perhaps? But that decision was a long way off from today.
The thought that she would never have to worry about money in the future gave her a sense of security she lost when her whole family was murdered. The easy fifty thousand dollars that she earned from four bounty works had been deposited in the bank, together with the money her dad left her.
“Not bad…” Jacqui whispered in approval over her finances as well as the reflection staring back at her.
Picking up the heap of dirty clothes from the floor and grabbing a robe along the way, Jacqui entered the bathroom of her new apartment.
Uncle Max helped her settle into her new digs. He insisted that Jacqui come down to the headquarters every day and keep up with her training. So Jacqui opted for a modest townhouse in a quiet neighborhood five miles away. It was a two bedroom affair, furnished, thus sparing her the tedious task of shopping for her own furniture. The living room and kitchen were roomy enough to keep her comfortable during the times she was home.
The only indulgence she added was a shower stall with overhead rainfall shower, a handheld shower hose and 6 body jets. Plus the whirlpool bathtub that Uncle Max declared was a waste of good money.
Jacqui insisted that taking long showers was an indulgence and won the argument.
This was where she retreated after grueling days of tracking her prey, oftentimes foregoing the luxury of a plain shower when she was on the road.
Jacqui adjusted the knobs of the whirlpool and watched as the water churned gently against the edges of the tub. She lighted a few incense candles and poured lavender bath oil into the water.
She stepped gingerly into the warm water and slithered her whole body against the tub. She closed her eyes and sighed in bliss, basking in the floating sensation, making her feel weightless. She allowed her mind to roam, setting free all thoughts and stresses that accompanied her job.
But it was also during times like these that thoughts she had buried deep in the recesses of her psyche often crept out of their screened-off area where she had buried them.
Like Adam…
She hadn’t seen or heard from him since that day she made her first successful bounty. The revelry that accompanied her return wasn’t enough to cover up the intense disappointment she felt when she was told he left with Sarah. She cried herself to sleep that night, after admitting to herself the true status of her heart. She had fallen in love with him… fallen in love with a man who belonged to someone else.
Often, she cursed the day they met. Cursed the seduction he laid out for her. She blamed herself for trying to defeat him in his own game which ended with them having sex on the boxing ring floor. His intoxicating scent, the smell of his breath, the steely feel of his arms around her waist, the powerful thrusts as he entered her astride on his hips.
Jacqui crossed her arms around herself longing for Adam’s lean arms. Then she uncrossed them to caress the skin of her throat, shoulders, and belly. They felt velvety and smooth to the touch. Unwittingly, her hands moved to her breasts as she lay immersed in the warm frothy water. She cupped both and let the thumbs and forefingers of each hand play with her nipples. She felt them harden under her ministrations as twinges of sexual pleasure traveled down her groin.
Jacqui enjoyed the feeling of her fingers as they slowly moved down to her cunt. Using two fingers, she opened the lips of her labia and let her clit pop out. The whirlpool massaged her clit gently. It felt really good.
She rubbed her exposed nub and added pressure with her finger. Her back arched as a spike of pleasure signaled her arousal.
Jacqui raised herself up from the tub and sat down against the rim. She opened her legs wide as she straddled two sides of the tub. She knew what she wanted, what she needed badly.
She picked up a bottle of lube and applied some on her fingers. Then she positioned her fingers against her vagina and rubbed her clit gently. The heat started to build within her open legs. As the heat mounted inside her, Jacqui added more and more pressure on her clit until it felt on fire. She knew her orgasm was near. She imagined Adam’s lips as they flicked repeatedly on her clit when he had her prone on the mat. As the intense heat flaring between her legs became too much to bear, she gave in to a powerful orgasm, uttering Adam’s name over and over again.
If you enjoyed this sample then look for Rapid Pulse Bounty - Obsessed Bounty Hunter Romance Series, Book 3.
Here is a preview of another book you may also enjoy:
Even though Valtina had had a great time helping Joshua and Samantha, she was having a hard time accepting the fact that her job was not yet over. After all, it was very difficult to go from thinking
she was on her way to the Afterlife as a reward for finishing her job to the realization that she’d only just barely completed the first task in a list of many. She stood there, trying to come to terms with the idea that she still had a long way to go.
“So… am I really the only one who can do this job? Am I the only person you have?”
“Valtina, there are many people who can help me work with these couples, but you are by far the best at what you do. Don’t think that you are the only soul at work right now. Currently, I have at least a dozen others on Earth completing their own missions. That is not your concern right now. The better you help each of these couples, the more the universe will improve and the sooner you can continue on to the Afterlife. For now, though, I need your help.”
Heart Surrendered: Obsessed Bounty Hunter Romance Series, Book 2 Page 3
