Branded by Lust: 4 (Night Seekers)

by Holt, Desiree

  Everyone could see the visible easing of tension on Greg’s face. “Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it.”

  “That’s what we do. Stand by.”

  Ric hit a button. The screen went dark and then he moved to a seat at the table.

  Craig looked at Logan. “How soon can you be ready to leave?”

  “How soon can you make travel arrangements? I’ll stay at my ranch so no accommodations will be needed.” His laugh was dry. “My ranch manager will probably tell me to stay out of his business, I haven’t been there in so long. But it will be good to get back there for a little while.”

  “He does a good job for you?” Craig asked.

  Logan nodded. “He’s been there since I bought the ranch ten years ago. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

  “Good. That’s good. Okay, first things first. I’m going to send a partner with you. It worked out well in Maine and I think it will help in Montana. Besides, it’s a good opportunity for some on-the-job training.”

  “Sir?” Logan frowned.

  “I’m sending Rebecca with you.” He looked at the slender blonde. “Think you’re ready for your first assignment?”

  She grinned. “I was born ready, Mr. Stafford.”

  “Craig. Please. As you’ve seen we’re pretty informal here. Can you be ready in half an hour?”

  “Absolutely.” She glanced at Logan who was watching her with a strange expression on his face. “Unless…Logan, are you okay with this?”

  “You bet. We did well together in Maine.” He chuckled. “Even if you were still with the staties at the time.” He turned back to Craig. “I’ll let John Turner, my manager, know to expect us. His wife will make sure the rooms are made up and the house is stocked. And we’ll only need transport to the ranch. After that I’ve got my own vehicles.”

  “All right. I’ll get the helicopter here in thirty minutes and call the pilot on duty for the jet this week to gas up and be ready. You’ll fly into Billings, right?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “Ric, get Greg back and have him scan and email those photos to us right away. Someone get on one of the computers and search for anything and everything that’s been picked up about this killing. Jonah, start with the cases you worked in Maverick County and put a folder together for Logan and Rebecca to take with them. Mark, get our team set up with laptops, tablets, cell phones and sat phones and pack them in waterproof bags. Thirty minutes, people. Let’s move.”

  “This might be a good time for us to experiment with our new equipment,” Ric said.

  Dante Martello nodded. “I’m anxious to see how the prediction program works.”

  “Prediction program?” Mark asked. He stood with his arm around Chloe. “Is it something that could help find Chloe’s friend Melinda? She’s been missing for weeks now.”

  “I’m going to start testing the new software Craig had designed for us,” Ric answered. “I’ll use that case and all the information we have from it to test its reliability.”

  Sophia walked up to her sister as Rebecca pushed back from the table.

  “Are you ready to go out like this?” she asked in a low voice.

  “It’s not as if I’m a novice, Soph,” she protested. “How many years was I on the Maine State Police?”

  “I know. It’s just…this is a little different.”

  Rebecca gave her a steady look. “I already worked two Chupacabra cases in Maine. Remember? I’m definitely ready.”

  Sophia looked up at Logan who had come to stand behind Rebecca. “Take good care of my sister.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” Rebecca gave her sister a hug. “I’m just sorry this happened on your wedding day.”

  “I think it’s become part of the ceremony. It happened with the others too. Just take care and find this creature.”

  “Wish us luck.” She stepped back. “I’d better get moving.”

  Ric stood and held out his hand to Logan, gave Rebecca a light hug.

  “Vaya con Dios, my friends. Stay safe.”

  * * * * *

  Logan leaned back in the well-upholstered seat in the luxury jet, the expensive engines a muted hum in the background. He allowed himself a brief look at her, enjoying the image of her relaxed body.

  I’m sending Rebecca with you.

  Craig’s words still echoed in his head. It had taken every bit of discipline to keep his face blank and simply nod. Did he want her with him? Oh fuck yes. He wanted her in Montana with him. By his side. Next to him. In his bed.

  Not on the assignment sheet, Tanner.

  But he couldn’t ignore the fact that from the moment he’d met her, when he and Sophia landed in Maine, his cock had been sending him messages. And the more he worked with her, the more he got to know her, he realized it wasn’t just lust that was gripping him. Although that was certainly a big part of it.

  No, it was a lot more than that. He’d never believed you could make an instant emotional connection with someone. A person who filled a place inside you that you hadn’t even known was empty. But then he’d met Rebecca and he knew deep inside himself that being alone with her in Montana would be a real challenge.

  On the other hand, what if she felt the same way? He’d caught a look in her eyes once or twice, a certain smile, almost a silent message. Did she feel that same connection? That same electricity that fried every one of his nerves? Was he misinterpreting things because he wanted her so badly?

  He watched her now, her eyes closed, catching a short nap after the whirlwind of preparations, racing for the helo and hauling ass so the jet could take off. Her soft honey-colored hair curled about her face and fell to her shoulders. Thick lashes hid eyes that he knew were a brilliant emerald green and there was a tiny dimple at the left side of her sensuous mouth that winked when she smiled.

  She’d removed her jacket before buckling herself into her seat and the dark-green sweater she was wearing draped softly over full breasts that his hands itched to cradle in his palms. Her legs were stretched out, feet resting on the opposite seat, and he could see the line of her nicely rounded hips and slender legs beneath the soft wool slacks.

  In Maine they’d been so busy with the killings he hadn’t had a chance to really pursue the situation with her. He’d hoped after they got back to Desolation Ranch and were debriefed he could take a couple of days of down time and fly back to Presque Isle. Look her up.

  When Clint and Sophia had announced their plans to marry he realized Rebecca would be coming to Texas for at least a few days. Then Craig told them he’d invited her to join the team and the opportunity Logan had been looking for presented itself quickly.

  He hated the fact that another body had been added to the count. But he also was aware it was bound to happen until they found the master lair of the creature, the humans they were beginning to realize were behind it and completely eradicated everything. Until they did they’d be following its trail, as they were doing now.

  Tracking the beast was their number one objective. Since the killings in Maine the team had pulled out the maps of previous sites and studied them, coming to some conclusions about area and distance. He hoped this would help them when he got to Montana. With each killing site they gathered a little more information.

  But even though this was a top priority he knew he couldn’t disregard his feelings for Rebecca. He had to be very careful because if he was misreading the signs he’d be stuck in a situation that would be uncomfortable for both of them. Business first, as always. But others on the team who’d been sent on assignment had managed to find their mates. He was hoping for the same thing for himself.

  He shifted in his seat, the sudden constriction of his jeans against his cock and balls uncomfortable. If he didn’t get himself under control pretty soon he’d end up in the bathroom jacking off and how low-class was that? Besides, as far as he was concerned this was about a lot more than sex. He’d have to bury the wolf and his a
nimal instincts pretty deep to approach this properly.

  Rebecca sighed in her sleep, her magnificent breasts rising and falling slightly as she did so, and Logan had all he could do to keep from reaching over and caressing them. He wanted to span her waist with his hands and run them down the length of her legs.

  Jesus, Tanner. Keep your mind on business.

  He looked at his watch. At the speed of the new Gulfstream G650 he figured they’d be in Great Falls in another thirty minutes. Good. Maybe the frigid air would get his mind off his dick—and Rebecca’s tempting body.

  Chapter Two

  Rebecca stepped off the private jet at the far end of the Kalispell airport and turned her collar up against the breath-stealing cold. It was nothing new to her. She’d grown up in a climate just as cold and desolate as this. Learned how to protect herself against the biting winds that whistled through the trees and blew like a wild thing across the open spaces. At the moment she was glad of the cold air to chill her heated body.

  Meeting Logan Tanner when they worked on the killings in Maine had opened a new dimension in her life. Not that he’d made even the slightest move on her but she knew the chemistry was there. It sizzled in the air around them as an almost visible cloud.

  She wondered why the others didn’t see it. Sophia had made a comment or two but Rebecca had simply ignored her. She was looking forward to the trip to Texas for her sister’s wedding to Clint but then the invitation from Craig Stafford to join Night Seekers had dropped in her lap out of the blue. She hoped she’d been able to temper her eagerness when she accepted.

  Logan Tanner did things to her without even touching her that no other man had ever done. At six four he towered over her but she never felt threatened by his height. He was solid, secure, all hardened muscle with a square-jawed face that reminded her of cowboy commercials. His thick mink-brown hair was almost as dark as the chocolate color of his eyes and she had a sudden itch to run her fingers through it.

  But it was more than just hormones and testosterone at work. Emotions she’d kept carefully bottled up now simmered treacherously just beneath the surface. Working in a male-dominated environment, she’d been very careful to keep herself as sexually neutral as possible. Unwilling to be the topic of gossip, she kept her social life under the radar, which so far had worked out fine since no one she dated ever had the punch-to-the-gut effect on her. Until Logan.

  She hoped he felt the same thing but mixing business with pleasure was dangerous if it didn’t work out. Still, this might be her best opportunity to see if the chemistry between them was real. And something more.

  She’d kept her eyes closed during most of the flight, because looking at him, sitting so close to him, sent all her hormones on a wild ride and caused her cream to flood her panties. Her nipples were so stiff just from inhaling the scent of his aftershave as it drifted across her nostrils she wondered how they didn’t poke through both her bra and her sweater.

  Good lord, Bek. Try acting like a grown investigator instead of a horny slut, will you? You want more than a casual roll in the hay with this man, anyway.

  She shoved her hands into her pockets and followed Logan across the tarmac toward the small concrete-block building. As they approached, a man climbed out of a Ford Explorer and waited for them. When she saw his face she realized it was the same man from the video message.

  “Good to see you,” the man said, holding out his gloved hand to Logan.

  “You too.” They shook hands then gave each other the kind of backslapping hug that men did.

  Logan reached for Rebecca’s hand and pulled her forward. “Greg, this is Rebecca Black, another Night Seeker. She’ll be my partner on this. Bek, this is Greg Mattison, my brother-in-law.” He swallowed bitter sadness. “Julie’s brother.”

  “Nice to meet you in person,” she told him. She thought it interesting that although Logan’s brother was dead and the connection actually broken, the two men were still friends and considered themselves part of an extended family.

  “Let’s get you in out of the cold,” Greg said, opening the door of the vehicle for her.

  “Is it far to the ranch?”

  “About forty-five minutes,” Logan answered. “I’m just the other side of Overlook. Which, by the way, doesn’t overlook anything.”

  The pilot had carried their luggage from the plane and was stowing it in the rear of the vehicle. He and Logan exchanged a few words and then they were pulling away from the building and exiting to the interstate that ran past the airport.

  “I checked with John Turner,” Greg said as he maneuvered on the freshly plowed road. “He said you’d already touched base with him. He’s got the place stocked and your vehicles in good running order.”

  “Thanks for following up,” Logan told him. “And for coming out to pick us up.”

  “No problem. I did have to promise Amy you’d have dinner with us at least once.”

  “Amy is Greg’s wife,” Logan told Rebecca. “You’ll really like her.”

  In Rebecca’s experience, when someone said that about a person she always wondered why they felt compelled to make such a statement. And often the person turned out to be someone she was ready to ditch after five minutes. She hoped that wouldn’t be the case here. It was obvious this was a tight-knit little group.

  “She knows why we’re here?” Logan asked.

  “Oh yeah. She’s glad of it. She knows how frustrated I’ve been trying to get Sheriff Danvers to listen to me.”

  Logan made a rude noise. “I can guess just how well that went over.”

  “Did you work with him when you were here?” Rebecca asked.

  “Yes. I sort of inherited him when I won the election. He’s been around forever. Since he was the senior deputy the county commission just appointed him to replace me until they could hold another election.”

  “You’d think after what happened with your brother and Greg’s sister he’d at least be more open to what you have to say.”

  “He didn’t want to believe it that time either. He kept trying to convince people it was some insane drifter or a wild animal,” Logan said.

  Greg nodded. “A lot of people can’t conceive that such a beast exists. They’ll search for every other answer first.”

  “While more victims turn up,” Logan said, his voice etched with bitterness.

  They had turned off the highway and were following a two-lane country road now.

  “Did Logan tell you he lives out in the middle of no place?” Greg joked.

  “I’m used to it,” Rebecca told him. “I grew up in Maine in a similar situation.”

  It was beginning to get dark now but Rebecca could still see well enough to make out the vast stretches of emptiness, the mountains ringing valleys all covered with layers of snow and here and there an isolated farmhouse or ranch.

  “Is Great Falls the only town around here?” she asked.

  “Of any size,” Logan answered. “Bittersweet isn’t far from the ranch but the entire population is less than a thousand.”

  “It really is like northern Maine,” she commented.

  “I have a folder for you,” Greg said. “The photos I showed you in our video call plus the sheriff’s reports on both the sheep and the ranger kills. And copies of the pictures.”

  “I meant to ask you about that,” Logan commented. “I can’t imagine Danvers willingly handing those over.”

  “Amy’s brother Ford is a deputy now. You can thank him for them. I’ll give them to you when we get to the ranch.”

  They had been passing land marked by a wire fence for some time and five minutes later they turned into a long driveway. At its end sat a two-story house that looked as if all the lights were on. Spotlights in the yard behind it illuminated another smaller house, a barn and some other small outbuildings.

  “Here it is. It’s not big but it’s all mine.” Logan climbed out of the Explorer and opened the door for Rebecca, extending a hand to help her out.


  Rebecca put her hand in his and was shocked by the electricity that sizzled up her arm. She looked at Logan and saw the heat of recognition in his eyes. The same energy had crackled through his body. He squeezed her hand then dropped it but it took another few seconds before he shifted his gaze away.

  The door to the house opened as they climbed the steps to the porch. A man nearly as tall as Logan but rail-thin stood there silhouetted by the light behind him.

  “Damn, but it’s good to see you,” his caretaker said in a gravelly voice. “You’ve been down south too long.”

  Logan laughed. “Just doing a job. Besides, you take care of everything so well here there’s not much here for me to do.”

  “Come in, come in,” he gestured, standing aside so they could enter. “Eve made a pot of coffee and left a casserole warming in the oven.”

  “Coffee sounds good right now.”

  Logan introduced Rebecca, took her jacket and hung it with his on a coat rack in the hallway and led everyone into the kitchen. With the easy familiarity of one who had spent a lot of time in this room he took down four mugs from a cupboard and filled them.

  “Bek, I know you take yours black like mine. You guys can fix yours however you like.”

  When they were all seated Greg put the folder he’d brought in with him in the center of the pine table.

  “The pictures are pretty gruesome but they’re nothing you haven’t seen before.” He looked at Rebecca as if seeking confirmation from her.

  “I’ve seen them in person,” she told him. “The pictures can’t begin to do them justice. The scenes are horrific.”

  Logan slid the photos out and spread them around.

  John Turner shook his head. “I never will forget when you found Julie and Jed. No normal creature ever did that to them.”

  “And there have been many more killings since then,” Rebecca told him. “South Texas, Alabama, Maine. Now here again.”

  “Seems a lot of territory for one animal to cover,” Greg mused.