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The Smuggled Wild series continues...
There are more romantic suspense standalones in the Smuggled Wild series. Here are the first three chapters from another special couple's encounter with each other and the illegal animal trade.
Smuggled Courage (excerpt)
Chapter 1
Anna snipped the final strands of hair, placing them just so with a bit more holding pomade.
She stood back, beaming at her client through the mirror. Ms. Jelm really did look wonderful today, the smile on her face lighting up her wrinkles and the pink highlights she’d asked Anna to put in special for the wedding of Ms. Jelm’s granddaughter this weekend. It had been a marathon day of haircuts, styles, highlights, and more, that had started at 5am with a regular, Mr. Kim, coming in for a shave.
“There,” Anna said, holding her breath as she continued to smile. She knew it was beautiful work, but was anxious for Ms. Jelm to agree. Anna had custom made the color recipe, adjusting the ph almost by instinct. Ms. Jelm’s grey hair was damaged and coloring it took a special finesse. Anna liked the chemistry side of hairstyling even if she had never majored in chemistry—or finished college, for that matter.
Ms. Jelm opened her eyes and gently touched the neon pink strands with her fingers. “Oh.”
“Is it okay?” Anna said, becoming more anxious.
Ms. Jelm’s eyes widened and she caught Anna’s blue eyes in the mirror. She broke into a big smile. “Oh yes. This is lovely. Lovely! Exactly what I wanted.”
Anna released the breath she had been holding. Her scissors and comb dangled from her hand as she relaxed. Even after ten years, even after knowing she was one of the best colorists in the area, with numerous repeat clients, usually booked out for several months in advance, she still worried she wasn’t good enough.
That she would never be good enough.
She could thank her ex for that unhappy insecurity, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
He was gone. She had moved on.
She was better than all of that mess.
Yeah, maybe if she kept telling herself that she’d actually believe it one day.
Ms. Jelm cocked her head to the side, a pink strand falling fetchingly across her cheek. She was a sweet old woman who came in like clockwork for her monthly wash and cut, but this wedding style was a surprise for her granddaughter—the wedding colors were pink and grey. “It’ll happen for you too, someday, honey.”
“What?” Anna said, brought back into the salon.
“Love,” Ms. Jelm said. “Or at least someone who will show you a good time.”
Anna nodded and set her comb down on a tray. She didn’t really want to talk about her love life—or the non existence of anything resembling a love life—on the eve of someone else’s wedding.
“But first you have to get yourself back out there. You can’t keep this search dog thing going if you want to find someone. Or you’ve got to at least change things up every now and then. Join an online dating site. I’ll find out which one my granddaughter used to find her husband. They’re so happy!”
Anna smiled brightly again because she couldn’t bear Ms. Jelm feeling sad for her or it might just break down her own barriers. “Ms. Jelm, you know I love my rescue work.”
“I know, honey, but there’s got to be more to life than only that.”
“I’ve got a wonderful job, wonderful dog, wonderful hobby. I couldn’t ask for more.” Actually, Anna asked for more from her life every night when she crawled into her bed, alone again, but she still had one more cut to do today and figured that client would not appreciate a blubbering hairstylist.
Part of her, most of her, wasn’t ready for a relationship again, but if she could just feel another human being against her skin again—she thought, maybe—well, she didn’t actually know what to think. She only knew she had this burning desire inside to feel wanted by someone.
She kept her style low-key, her clothes fashionable but comfortable, her hair luxurious, and her body fit. Running around in the dark forest at night jumping over logs and through the trees would keep anyone fit. Her brown hair and blue eyes had received many compliments over the years, and she’d even received a few offers for dates here and there, but not from anyone she was attracted to.
She wasn’t that picky, but she needed a spark, even a small spark. Something.
“Oh, Ms. Jelm,” Anna said, sweeping off any last bits of hair from the style gown and then undoing the velcro. “Your granddaughter is going to get such a kick out of your hair. She must be a wonderful person. I know some brides might think pink hair would ruin the wedding photos! You’re quite the daredevil!”
Ms. Jelm dimpled as she smiled again. “Well, that’s just the kind of family I raised. Plus, her mother said something about a full head of pink hair, so really, this is going to be quite conservative!”
Ms. Jelm and Anna caught each other’s eyes in the mirror and both laughed. Anna loved her job and how she could pamper people the way they deserved. She could even bring in some of her interest in chemistry like she did today for Ms. Jelm’s color. She loved her search and rescue work too—there wasn’t anything much more thrilling than helping save someone’s life from hypothermia, or finding a lost child.
Still—
Anna’s cell phone buzzed on her tray table of tools. The special ringtone immediately made all self-pitying thoughts flee Anna’s mind.
Ms. Jelm stood, brushing off her clothes. “What’s that special ring for, dear?”
Anna picked up her phone, letting it buzz in her hand for a brief moment. “It’s an emergency text to all nearby Search and Rescue handlers.”
“Oh,” Ms. Jelm said, her eyes widening with seriousness. “Is everything okay?”
Anna quickly tapped in her passcode and opened up the full message.
All Available Local handlers report to station 6. Missing child.
Anna looked up at Ms. Jelm. “A child’s gone missing.”
“Oh no,” Ms. Jelm said. “Then you must go.” She pressed a bunch of cash into Anna’s hands.
“Ms. Jelm this is too much.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that now. I’m happy to pay for excellent work and I do appreciate everything you do. Use the extra to give that pup of yours a nice treat after tonight’s adventures.”
Anna thanked Ms. Jelm but her mind was already racing onto what to do next. As Ms. Jelm left, Anna quickly texted out an apology to her next client, briefly summarized the reason for cancelling, and worked out arrangements to reschedule. While she took care of that, she cleaned up her station, put away her tools and supplies, and made it out the door to her car, all in less than five minutes flat.
It would take her another five minutes to drive home, then she needed to crate Sanchez and grab their gear before heading out. If she hurried, she could make it to Station 6 in less than 45 minutes.
An eagerness overtook Anna. Adrenaline began to pump through her veins.
Station 6 was deep in the forest of one of the local wilderness areas.
And a child had gone missing somewhere inside it.
Chapter 2
Anna carefully drove the last two miles on the dirt lane that led to the cabin. She used her brights to avoid potholes, tree stumps, and just running her car off the side of the road. Station 6 was little more than a cabin in the woods.
The forest smelled like pine needles and the kind of cold wetness that comes from a short spring day about to give way to a very cold night. Sanchez whined in the crate she’d belted in
to the back seat. As soon as she had taken up his search and rescue harness from the special supply box at home, he’d begun his special dance. He knew exactly what the harness and leash meant and he loved the work. The rescue mutt she had saved three years ago as a ten month old mange-covered pup had soon become one of the smartest, most energetic dogs she had ever met.
The time she had spent working with her black and tan mutt over the years, out in the woods doing scent training and then finally real search and rescue hunts, had probably saved her sanity.
Scratch that, not probably. Absolutely.
That dog was her everything. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have found him and then gotten to work with him like this.
Movement through the windshield caught Anna’s attention. Suddenly a shadow flew out from the forest in front of her headlights.
She slammed on the brakes, fishtailing the backend.
Her first thought was deer, but then the shape became stark and clear inside the rim of her lights.
A man. Tall. Hair curled messy and longish on his head. A rough shadow of beard on his face. His legs and arms rippled with muscle underneath jeans and a long-sleeve plaid shirt. She noticed his jeans were rolled up to the tops of his hiking boots.
He stood there, lights glaring at him so intensely he could barely keep his eyes open. He looked like something out of a mountain man clothes magazine.
Even from this distance, Anna could tell he was one hell of a good looking man.
But what the hell was he doing out here in the forest at this time of night?
She saw no dog with him, so he wasn’t a handler, and no uniform either, which meant he wasn’t part of the official search team.
Opening the window, she stuck her head out, but didn’t bother cutting off the headlights. She could see him, but he couldn’t see her or her dog, and she was fine keeping things that way.
“You almost died,” Anna shouted out the window. “Seriously, what were you thinking?”
“I need a ride to Station 6,” he said, his voice deep and gruff.
He held up his hands like she had a gun on him, but she figured it was just to show her that he meant to no harm. Huh, well she wasn’t the kind of girl to be scared of the dark, especially not with Sanchez around.
“You a handler?” She said, but she knew he wasn’t. He had no dog.
Sanchez whined behind her in the backseat, eager to start his run.
“Hush,” Anna said over her shoulder. “We’ll get on the scent soon.”
“Nope,” he said. “But I’m here to help all the same.”
He waited, standing with his feet hip width apart, boots planted in the dirt with a chest that V’d into his jeans, arms toned and strong, a friendly face, as far as those things go, though there was a hardness in his gaze that made her shiver. The rest of her flushed with a sudden, almost electric attraction.
“Can I get a lift with you?”
“What?”
“To Station 6.”
“How do you know that’s where I’m headed?”
“The chatter on the radio is about the missing kid. That’s the only place to go right now.”
Anna didn’t think about it too hard. He was right and she always had Sanchez to back her up. “Hop in.”
He lowered his arms and approached her passenger side. She couldn’t help but stare as her body flushed and an ache started in her stomach. He had this magnetic force to this walk. This vibe about him that imbued him with a sense of strength and confidence that was intoxicating.
Goddamn, he wasn’t even in the car yet.
Anna told herself to get it together. The door opened with a creak. Cold air rushed in and the pine scent intensified.
He settled himself onto the seat, relaxed and in control of himself.
So get control of yourself, Anna told herself silently.
A woodsy, almost smoke-fire smell entered wit him. Her brain caught fire on that musky smell. He buckled the seatbelt and it was like he couldn’t help his muscles from rippling even if he wanted to. She imagined his hand reaching over and settling warm and strong on her thigh and then slowly moving up—
“I’m Adam,” he said.
Anna blinked and tore her gaze away from the hand he had rested on his own thigh, moving her focus to his eyes. They were hard to see in the dim car compared to the brightness of the headlights but she thought they were some sort of hazel.
His gaze pierced her like he somehow knew what she had been thinking.
“What?” Anna said, flustered.
“My name is Adam,” he said, a crooked smile forming on his lips. She wondered what it would be like to feel those lips on her neck, his beard softly scratching her skin as he worked his way—
“What’s your name?”
“Anna,” she blurted and flushed again with embarrassment. Shit.
Sanchez barked a short bark in the back. A pay-attention-to-me kind of bark. “That’s Sanchez.”
Adam twisted around and took a good look at her dog. His movement let her better view the ripple of muscles down his neck and along his collarbone.
“Hi, Sanchez.” Adam reached out a hand to the crate.
“Don’t,” Anna said, reaching her own hand out to stop him, “He doesn’t like—”
But then her fingers touched the skin on the back of his hand. She lost her words as a zap of electricity flew between them.
His eyes widened, just a millimeter, and he stopped breathing, as if also caught by the electricity that had formed between them.
They stayed like that for a long moment, the forest sounds and smells fading, the lights beaming onto the dirt road in the dark, the shadows obscuring details and hiding desire.
Sanchez whined.
Adam blinked and smiled. “Dogs like me. They always have.”
“Wait,” Anna said, her hand still on his. “He’s like my bodyguard.”
Adam pressed his fingers gently against the crate to let Sanchez sniff them.
Anna held her breath waiting for Sanchez to get all Cujo on Adam. He did not warm up to strangers unless she did this long introduction that usually involved liver treats. But mostly she didn’t care to introduce him to many others because she liked the safety bubble he enforced.
Sanchez stiffened for a long second, eyeing Adam and then his fingers, then gave Adam’s hand a tentative lick through the bars.
Adam moved slowly, inserting more of his hand into the crate until he could use his fingers to scratch Sanchez behind the ears.
Sanchez thumped his tail, and pressed himself against the crate to give Adam more space for a good scratch.
“Some bodyguard.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “Traitor.” She said to Sanchez.
Sanchez opened his mouth and let his tongue loll out in response.
Adam laughed.
Anna smiled, then quickly pushed it away. She realized her hand was still touching Adam’s. She drew away, feeling the break like a cold wash of air, and turned back to the steering wheel. “Hmmmph.”
“I have a way with dogs, is all. It’s a talent.”
“All right, Mr. Talented,” Anna said. “They’re expecting me. Missing kid, you know.”
“I know it,” Adam said.
Anna shifted her car into gear and slowly returned to a safe speed on the dirt road. Adam turned back to the front, making Sanchez whine from the lost touch.
You and me both, Sanchez. You and me both.
Anna got herself back together and back down to business.
A missing kid needed her help.
She wasn’t going to let any man addle her brain like this, not with a kid’s life at stake.
“You don’t have a dog, so you’re not a handler. You don’t have a uniform, so you’re not police. What do you think you’re going to do out here in the forest at night?”
Chapter 3
Adam did not like this.
The car rumbled down the dirt road in the dark. Headlights crea
ted a creepy, looming image of trees sick on either side and grown so tall, they touched overhead, creating a sort of tunnel.
He did not like how easily he’d stumbled across someone else in the forest. He did not like how easy it had been to climb into the car of a woman alone at night in that forest. He did not like the sudden, unwelcome, voltage in his jeans when she’d touched his hand and lit his skin on fire.
No, Adam did not like any of this.
From the corner of his eye, he admired Anna’s grip on the steering wheel. Her hands closed over the steering's rim and he couldn't help but imagine those same hands closing around his own dick.
He shook his head and mentally slapped himself.
Shit. Of all nights, this was not the night to get distracted by a piece of pretty ass.
He could not let himself get distracted.
Getting distracted might just cost him his life.
And if it didn't cost him his life, it was going to cost someone else their life.
His cousin was in jail. Caught at the airport attempting to smuggle in dozens of an endangered type of tortoise from Madagascar. He’d walked through customs a little too funny.
Customs agents probably thought they were going to find drugs. Adam felt a small grin form on his face. He thought they must've been pretty surprised to see a couple belts worth of eggs wrapped around his cousin’s midsection so that his body heat could act as an incubator.
Each of those unhatched eggs was worth thousands of dollars. If those eggs hatched and survived to become actual tortoises, each of those tortoises would have been worth anywhere between $10-$50,000—each.
Adam peered through the windshield and tried to make out details from the surrounding forest, but it was useless. Somewhere in that forest were two fences off areas of tortoises that already been smuggled through and were waiting for final transport. His cousin owed the real smugglers a lot of money for delivery of those tortoises. But his cousin was now in jail. If the tortoises didn't make it to their intended destination, his cousin—and his cousin's wife and daughter—might not live out the week.
Smuggled Wonder Page 8
