Even so, he had to keep himself from pulling her close.
Instead, he said, “Things aren’t resolved yet, whether it’ll be the feds or locals who prosecute them, or maybe both. They’re all still in custody here at the Fritts Corner Police Department but will be moved soon to the Tacoma authorities, at least for a while. It’s hard to keep people whose names are the same as the town in jail there.”
“I figured. But—well, since they murdered Trev, I assume they’ll be imprisoned for a long time, maybe the rest of their lives. Justice should be served, and that should also prevent them from ever going after or hurting wolves or other wildlife. Right?”
“That’s what I think, too. And besides our testimony, there’s a lot of evidence against them for other crimes. Apparently they may even have admitted to leaving a patch of blood up on the hillside when Morton was first mauled but still claimed it was a wolf who attacked him. There’s been some media coverage of their arrest and why, so that might help to at least keep the public’s interest in protecting, and not harming, wildlife. Plus, though I’m not really with US Fish and Wildlife,” he said softly, “some of my…er, bosses, have connections that will allow me to testify as if I am. I am an employee of the federal government, after all.”
“What kind of charges besides murder will be brought against them?” She looked concerned, as if nothing could be punishment enough.
“That’s the big one, of course, but the rest is still being worked out, too. They might be tried locally for conspiracy to commit fraud, thanks to their fake attempts to appear like they were injured by protected wolves. And they certainly can be brought up on charges for assaulting you, and your testimony then would be crucial. They could even be charged by the federal government for killing protected wildlife.”
“Killing?” Maya asked, clearly worried.
He quickly mentioned the injured wolf whose body hadn’t been found—actually, him—that had been the subject of some of Pete’s pictures. Rocky and he both had been in some of them. But Pete had purposely not taken pictures of his parents. “He’s got lots of other good photos of that night, too, that could help bring those SOBs down for any or all of those charges. Then there’s the crime of fraud and false statements, claiming some of the wolves they were after to be shapeshifters.” He kept his tone light but maintained a somewhat serious expression as Maya looked at him skeptically. “As long as the truth isn’t revealed,” he whispered, which made her smile again.
“It sounds as if they should get what’s due to them,” she said.
Ryan saw Piers enter the far end of the parking lot with Rocky. They would leave soon.
He had to say goodbye. Now.
He couldn’t say goodbye.
A thought crossed his mind. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time.
“I think we can spend another ten minutes here,” he told Maya. “Can you join me for coffee?”
“Sure.” Her face lit up with what appeared to be hope. Or was he the one who was seeing things because he was hopeful?
“I’ll let Piers know.”
Which he did after striding across the parking lot to his aide and cover dog.
“You saying goodbye to her?” Piers looked dubious, as if he expected Ryan to do something else.
Actually he wasn’t sure.
But he had an idea.
He would suggest it to her during coffee, which he’d buy and they’d carry on a private walk around the hotel area.
He hoped the result would make his goodbye temporary, at least for now.
*
Coffee with Ryan, and a last walk with him before they said goodbye.
It was better than nothing, Maya thought. At the coffee shop near the hotel she ordered just some brewed stuff with cream, hoping to somehow coat her insides to help alleviate the sorrow she knew she’d feel.
But as they walked back onto the street and headed around the block in the opposite direction from the hotel, she listened carefully and pondered the possibilities of what Ryan suggested.
When he stopped talking and looked down at her as they still strolled, she didn’t return his gaze for a minute while she thought. And then she stopped walking and looked up at him. “I think it’ll work,” she said. “In fact, I love it!”
“And I love you,” Ryan said. His eyebrows rose as if he was shocked at what he’d said. But then they lowered, and his smile grew wide and sexy and definitely inviting.
How could she resist? Especially because it was the truth.
“I love you, too.”
Chapter 26
Maya was excited. She was thrilled.
A week had passed since she’d last seen Ryan, and they had stayed in close touch.
She was now in the main administration building at Fort Lukman.
The home of Alpha Force.
Ryan had picked her up at BWI Airport in Baltimore. He was dressed in military fatigues in camo style, greens and browns and altogether official-looking.
He looked great in it, though no better than he’d looked in the casual clothes he’d worn around Fritts Corner.
She had dressed up a bit, in a gray suit and heels. This was, after all, going to be an interview of sorts. She had checked a suitcase with several additional outfits in case more than one day was needed here to get things settled, which was what she hoped. It was now in the trunk of Ryan’s car. He’d said he had booked her a room in nearby Mary Glen.
Ryan had driven her here to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He’d talked nearly all the way about who she would be meeting, and what she should expect.
Lots of interesting people she gathered—some who were shifters.
And lots of questions, too.
They’d eventually reached the facility, and Ryan had pulled his car up to a kiosk at a gate beside a large black metal fence that undoubtedly kept the place private. He talked to a guard there whom he appeared to know and was permitted to drive inside and park. Then he’d led Maya into this small but official-looking building.
Now, they were in a waiting room of an office on the top floor. Piers joined them with Rocky, who leaped over to Maya and wagged his tail. “Great to see you, guys,” she said, patting the wolf-dog on his head and behind his ears. And it was.
Not just because he reminded her of a shifted Ryan, either. She simply loved canines that were, or resembled, wolves.
“And great to see you,” Piers said. “Ryan told me what’s going on, and I think the idea’s a good one.”
So did Maya. But would these guys’ commanding officers agree?
Another soldier in camo, probably in his early forties, entered the reception area from the office door. He was tall, with dark hair that had lines of silver within it. His eyes were golden, his eyebrows dark and he had a hint of dark beard on his nice-looking face.
She couldn’t be sure, but Maya believed he could be a shifter. He at least had some features with coloration resembling a wolf.
Ryan and Piers both rose to greet him. No salutes, but Ryan had said that generally Alpha Force tended to be less formal than most military units, at least in that way.
“Maya, I’d like you to meet Major Drew Connell,” Ryan said, motioning for her to join them, which she did. She offered her hand, and the major shook it. “Drew, this is Maya Everton.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard a lot about you, and I’ve liked WHaM for a long time.” That statement somehow convinced Maya even more that this man was a shifter.
She’d anticipated meeting quite a few of Ryan’s kind here.
They all went into the room behind the door, and she was introduced to the man whose office it was—and quite an office it turned out to be, with bookshelves lining the wall behind the main desk. Its featured contents appeared to be classics, and in the center, under glass, was what appeared to be an original script of the movie The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney, Jr.
It belonged to General Greg Yarrow, who apparently was the driving force in the milita
ry behind Alpha Force. He knew and helped to select its members, even though Maya gathered that he wasn’t a shifter himself.
The general sat behind the desk, rising to shake her hand. Like the other military men here, he wore a camo uniform. He also appeared fairly senior.
“Welcome, Ms. Everton,” he said. He introduced the other men who sat in chairs facing his desk.
Then Drew introduced her to Lieutenant Patrick Worley, his second in command at Alpha Force, as well as Drew’s wife, Dr. Melanie Harding Connell, a veterinarian—and, apparently, not a shifter, Maya gathered.
“Welcome,” Melanie said. “I think we’ll have lots to talk about if all goes well here.”
Which it seemed to do.
Ryan’s idea had been to form an alliance between Alpha Force and WHaM. Although the fact that many of Alpha Force’s troops were shifters was definitely private, its reputation was now being allowed to grow as a unit that used K-9s and other animals for military purposes.
Many of them appeared to be wild animals, like wolves and cougars and birds of prey.
Having an organization like WHaM as an unofficial partner in the protection of wildlife seemed like an excellent idea.
Giving one of the founders of WHaM an office at Fort Lukman could only add to the cover story. That’s what Ryan had suggested, and his commanding officers seemed willing to give it a try.
They seemed to like and respect Ryan. In fact, he’d promised that Pete Sharan would meet them when they left here. His parents had come, too, but had left for home. Pete definitely was joining Alpha Force in the near future.
It didn’t take long before an initial agreement was reached with the others in the room with her. They’d need to come up with a more detailed plan before putting it into effect, but everyone seemed pleased with the idea of an alliance, at least to some extent, with WHaM.
Maya soon said goodbye to her new friends here, except for Ryan, who walked out the office door with her.
She felt a bit overwhelmed, but definitely delighted.
Especially since she would get the opportunity to see more of Ryan. Potentially a lot more.
As they exited the building, Ryan said to her, “This is a great beginning.”
“It sure is,” Maya agreed, grabbing his hand and squeezing it, but only for a moment. They both had to act professional, especially here.
“Now, I’d like to show you more of Fort Lukman,” Ryan continued, “like the kennels and training facilities for our cover dogs, the labs where our elixir is made and improved, and more.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Maya said.
“We can grab dinner a little later at the cafeteria—and then, if you’d like, I’ll show you around our Bachelor Officers Quarters, my apartment in particular.”
His smile grew wide and suggestive, and Maya could only grin back. “I’d love to see it now—and visit it in the future when I move here, too.”
“Count on it,” Ryan said, putting an arm around her shoulders and, despite the fact that other soldiers were out there on the grounds of the military facility, he pulled her close.
She didn’t object. In fact, she did the same with him.
And definitely looked forward to the future.
*
Keep reading for an excerpt from TOUCHED BY PASSION, Book One of the STRANGERS OF THE NIGHT Anthology by Megan Hart.
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Touched by Passion
Book One of Strangers of the Night Anthology
by Megan Hart
Prologue
Collins Creek
Jed doesn’t like the sound of the babies crying. He can hear them even from the other building, wailing inside his head. He’s too big to be one of them anymore. No more diapers. No more crib. No more giant room that always smells faintly of milk and poo. Now he has his own big bed in the dorm with the other kids, and although he misses his mothers, he knows better than to give in to tears. If you cry here in the dorm, you get a beating.
Instead, he clenches his fists tight at his sides and stares up at the ceiling. His cot is hard and lumpy. The blanket scratches his chin if he pulls it up too high, so he tucks it around his belly. The other kids are sleeping, but Jed can’t seem to manage. There’s too much noise, too much going on. If he gets up now, he could go to the monitor, who will give him some medicine to sleep, but it makes his head feel fuzzy and his belly hurt. He tries to fall asleep on his own.
Tomorrow is dedication day.
The fathers have been watching them all since they were babies in the nursery. They already know which ones are special. Who will be dedicated, who will be sent away.
This is Jed’s first dedication time, but he’s heard the other kids talking even when they’re not supposed to. Everyone’s scared about what happens when you’re sent away. The rumor is that you get put into the big fireplace in the barn and made into smoke, and Jed believes it. He’s been able to “feel” everyone at the farm for as long as he can remember. The kids who get taken away after each dedication, well…he doesn’t feel them anymore.
Before he’s even had time to sleep, the lights overhead come on. The other kids shift and squeal, crying out in excitement and fear when the doors to the dorm boom open and the fathers are there in their black robes, their white masks. It’s supposed to make them all equal, but it doesn’t matter to Jed that they all look the same. They all feel different.
The kids are up and in a line, marching into the hallway. One by one, they go into the meeting room. None of them come out. They won’t know until later who’s still left, though of course, Jed will know before everyone else. That’s what he tells the fathers waiting for him in the meeting room when they ask him. He tells them who he can still feel. Who he cannot. They stare at him from behind their white masks, nodding when he points to each and names them.
They feel happy, and that makes Jed feel happy, too. He won’t be burned up into smoke. He gets the special pudding for dessert that makes the world spin around in many colors. He gets to go back to the dorm and his lumpy bed, where he can only lie on his back, laughing and laughing at the funny way everything grows and shrinks.
He’s still laughing when the doors bang open again. More men in black. No white masks. Guns. They kick over the beds, the monitor’s desk. They shout. Most of them feel angry, though one or two feel more scared than anything else, and none of them feel nice.
They take all of the children.
Jed never sees Collins Creek again.
Chapter 1
Samantha Janecek had never liked hospitals in general, but she lo
athed this hospital in particular.
It wasn’t the smells of chemicals and despair, though those clung to her like some stinking perfume she could never quite scrub away. And it wasn’t the bright, unrelenting lights that forced everyone inside to adjust to some artificial internal clock, although they messed with her sleep so much that she hadn’t been able to get more than four hours at a time since she’d started here. More than anything else, it was this uniform.
No scrubs for the nursing staff here at Wyrmwood. Nope, the women had to wear white, starched dresses with Peter Pan collars and a weird belt thing that hit her too high on the ribs to be comfortable. Thick white support stockings, crepe-soled granny shoes. Worst of all, the mesh cap she had to pin into the thickness of her blond hair, which refused to ever stay neatly in the required bun. The uniform was straight out of the late sixties—fitting, she supposed, since the rest of Wyrmwood seemed to have been arrested in that same era. Including the fact there were no male nurses here, only orderlies. They also wore all white, but at least they got to wear pants.
“Morning, miss,” said Nathan through the glass as she showed him her ID card and pressed her fingertip to the panel at the side of the door.
When the green light clicked on, she pushed through the heavy door that slid behind her with a hushed whirr. “Hi, Nathan. How’s it going?”
“Same old, same old.” Nathan shrugged. “Quiet tonight.”
Of course it was quiet. Not only were all the patients on the fourth floor secured in their individual rooms behind soundproof walls, but most of them barely spoke aloud. Some by choice, an elective muteness. Some because they’d lost the capability for speech somewhere along the way. It might’ve been different on other floors, but as she’d never worked on any of them, Samantha couldn’t say.
“Have a good one,” Samantha said as she signed in using the electronic keypad at Nathan’s station.
She paused for the automatic snapshot that would be added to her file, another level of proof that she was who she said she was. That she was here when she ought to be. She’d often considered pulling a funny face during the picture taking, but had never quite dared. Humor was not encouraged here.
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