Taming Deputy Harlow

by Jennifer Morey

  She ran her finger down his nose, smiling on the inside and out.

  A knock on the door drew her back up, and she went rigid. “Jamie?”

  “Hold on,” Jamie said loudly, then to her he whispered, “That’s a detective.” Jamie lifted Reese off him. She found her footing and smoothed her skirt while he pulled up his pants and fastened and belted them.

  “He must have news about a woman who was shot yesterday.”

  She looked over at him as he strode to the door. “Shot?”

  Unlocking the door, Jamie stood aside as another man stepped in, eyeing the door and then Jamie before looking at Reese.

  “Reese, Jasper Roesch. Jasper, Reese Harlow, my fiancée.”

  Jasper swung his gaze to him.

  He grinned lopsidedly. “I told you.”

  “You didn’t tell me anything.” Jasper walked toward her.

  Remembering her panties, Reese looked for them. Seeing them on the floor near her foot, she kicked them under the desk just as Jasper stopped beside her.

  “A pleasure.”

  She shook his hand. “Likewise.”

  Jasper turned to Jamie. “The woman woke up. She’s got a long recovery but the doctors think she’ll be all right. I was just heading out to go talk to her. You want to go with me?”

  Jamie looked at Reese. “No. I have to help Reese move in with me.” He went to stand beside her and took her hand. “Did you ever get her name?”

  “No. She had no identification on her. Just some makeup and money in her purse—a lot of money.”

  “I’ve had enough mystery for a while. I’m going to concentrate on running security operations and leave the mystery solving to you guys.” He put his arm around Reese. “And maybe start working on growing a family.”

  Reese gaped at him. They hadn’t talked about that. How did she feel about having babies? As confused as she had been about opening her heart to love, she hadn’t even considered having children with him.

  “You’re going to have to work pretty darn hard.”

  “If I can woo you into being with me, I can woo you into having my baby.”

  Amazed he’d picked up on what she’d really meant, she answered his teasing tone. “Your baby?”

  “Doesn’t that have a romantic ring to it?”

  “It has a ring to it. I’m not sure about romantic.” A painful ring—when she gave birth. A trying ring—when she thought of all the times the baby would cry and keep her from doing what she wanted.

  “You weren’t sure about me, either.” He kissed her cheek.

  “All right, this sounds like a personal conversation.” Jasper headed for the door. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” He shook his head. “Some men just lose their heads over women.”

  “You should try it sometime,” Jamie said.

  “No thanks.” He closed the door behind him.

  “He’ll learn someday,” Reese said. “If I did, anyone can.”

  * * * * *

  If you loved this novel, don’t miss other

  suspenseful titles by Jennifer Morey:

  COLD CASE RECRUIT

  JUSTICE HUNTER

  A WANTED MAN

  THE MARINE’S TEMPTATION

  THE ELIGIBLE SUSPECT

  ONE SECRET NIGHT

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  Keep reading for an excerpt from HER SECRET CHRISTMAS AGENT by Geri Krotow

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  Her Secret Christmas Agent

  by Geri Krotow

  Chapter 1

  You are going to die.

  Mitch Everlock stared at the message written on butcher paper and taped across the chemistry classroom’s high-tech SMART Board. Its red letters were dripping as if they’d been drawn with blood. Judging from the unmistakable scarlet hue and the metallic tang permeating his classroom, it was blood. His arms were full as he held his travel coffee mug in one hand, his laptop bag slung over his shoulder, and a pile of heavy books in the other hand. All of which he wanted to hurl at the red-lettered message. As former Special Forces and a current Trail Hikers secret operative, he wasn’t afraid of or shocked by the grisly message meant for him.

  He was annoyed as all get-out.

  The boldness of the blood writing, in the midst of the buildup to the holiday season, infuriated Mitch. He didn’t care about his Christmas, but if his students saw the message it’d scare the Santa Claus out of them.

  Dropping his armload on the laboratory counter, he ignored the beaker of candy canes he’d knocked over and pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket to take a few snapshots of the message before he used speed dial to call his second place of employment.

  The Trail Hikers was a clandestine government shadow agency that officially didn’t exist, except for those who worked for it.

  “This is Claudia.” Claudia Michaels, the CEO of Trail Hikers and his sister-in-arms, answered, her voice strong and commanding over the connection. She, too, was a war veteran; a retired US Marine Corps General.

  “Good morning, Claudia. Mitch here. Our Rainbow Hater’s raised the ante. Now he’s threatening to kill me.” He told her about the fifth message from the entity they’d named the Rainbow Hater. So far there wasn’t conclusive evidence linking the hate crimes to the cult that had formed in Silver Valley last year, but several law-enforcement agencies, to include the FBI and more locally, Silver Valley PD, believed the crimes and cult were connected. The cult, known as the True Believers and originally based in Upstate New York, had regrouped in Silver Valley after prison sentences had forced its leaders into hibernation for two decades. The threats at Mitch’s school had a definite True Believers Cult “feel” to them. The cult had become a most unwelcome presence in otherwise serene Silver Valley, a quintessentially American town in South Central Pennsylvania.

  As he sent Claudia the photos via text, he filled her in on his impressions. Since he was a Trail Hikers’ agent, he had the training to handle it himself, which was what he wanted.

  “Let me get involved, Claudia. Trail Hikers will solve this twice as fast as Silver Valley PD.”

  “We expected this, Mitch. Do as we’ve planned. Let SVPD collect the forensics. Don’t touch it.” Claudia was right—Silver Valley boasted one of the top local forensic teams in the state. It was all thanks to their police chief’s insistence on thorough training and his a
bility to ensure their budget received the necessary allocation each fiscal year.

  “Are you sure I can’t help? Let me take care of this and we’ll catch the bastard in no time. If I need assistance I want TH at my back, not local cops. Plus, you know word will get out and the last thing we need is a bunch of upset parents, especially right before the Silver Bells Ball holiday formal. We’re only a few weeks from Christmas break.”

  “SVPD is the best, Mitch. And this is happening in their jurisdiction, their high school. What we suspect, who we suspect to be behind this, is irrelevant at the moment. We’re months away from taking the True Believers down. The focus now has to be on the Rainbow Hater.” Claudia’s tone was crisp as she continued to spell out the Trail Hikers’ involvement with monitoring and eventually eliminating the potentially deadly cult currently setting up shop on the outskirts of Silver Valley. “Remember, the highest levels of law enforcement are on this, but they’re staying hands-off as long as SVPD and TH can work it.”

  “They’re probably putting one of my kids up to this, Claudia. I don’t take well to anyone bullying a student.”

  “Which is why you’re being targeted, and why you’re the best teacher they could be messing with, for our sake. Inform Principal Essis and let her call in SVPD. If you have any problems, you can go directly to Colt.” Claudia referred to the formidable SVPD chief of police, Colt Todd.

  Mitch heard her sigh over the clear line and understood in that moment that she was as frustrated as he. They should have caught the cult members by now, but they were hardened criminals and had been slippery, outsmarting the laws that had put them behind bars over twenty years ago.

  “And, Mitch?”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “Stay the hell out of SVPD’s way. They’re going to be sending in an undercover officer, according to Colt. Work with whomever it is. But watch your six in case whoever wrote those words turns out to be crazy enough to follow through on his threats.”

  “I pray for the opportunity to face him.”

  Claudia chuckled. “I’m sure you do, but you know our ground rules.” She hung up.

  Rules. Yeah, he knew them. All too well.

  Mitch called Principal Essis and waited for her to come, his fingers itching to take a sample of the blood on the whiteboard. Claudia was right. He had to always give the appearance of being only a chemistry teacher. His vocation was teaching and he didn’t want to risk losing the best job he’d ever had, besides serving as a Marine. Working under contract to the Trail Hikers during school breaks used the skill set he’d gained in Marine Recon and, while he enjoyed it, teaching was his first love.

  Watching students’ eyes light up when they got the meaning of a chemistry equation or solved a lab problem on their own was what he relished.

  Which made him want to employ his other abilities in the most effective manner: to catch whoever wanted Silver Valley High School to stop supporting its teen LGBT club.

  * * *

  “I’m ready for whatever you need me to do. I haven’t done any long-term undercover before, nothing more than a few weeks. But I know I can do this.” Nika sat in a government-issue office chair at the Silver Valley Police Department and watched the team leader for the Rainbow Hater case at Silver Valley High School, Detective Bryce Campbell. “I have to ask, though, why me? Why not one of our younger officers?”

  Bryce blew out a long breath. “There’s more to it, Nika. We think the hate crimes against the Rainbows club and teacher Mitch Everlock are somehow connected to the True Believers.”

  “I saw the morning report. Leonard Wise is out and free to live here if he wants to.” Wise had been the leader of the True Believers in Upstate New York two decades ago. His prison term was up, and several of his former cult members had been released from prison, too.

  “Zora feels horrible about all of this.” Bryce looked as miserable as Nika knew his fiancée was feeling.

  “It has nothing to do with her. Wise is sick and would have set up somewhere again. He found her first, so he settled on Silver Valley.”

  “Yeah, but...you know.”

  Bryce didn’t have to elaborate. Nika did know—when Bryce’s fiancée had been only twelve she’d been a potential victim of the cult. She’d reported the cult, and Wise in particular, saving herself and many other girls. Zora had been moved to Silver Valley and started a new life with her adoptive family. But last year Wise had tracked her down and sent Zora’s mother to Silver Valley to go after the daughter she’d betrayed. Bryce, Zora and SVPD had worked together last Christmas to stop a serial killer who’d targeted Silver Valley’s female ministers. Nika wasn’t privy to all of the details but Zora had somehow worked in disguise to catch the Female Preacher Killer. She’d drawn her biological mother out and was instrumental in having her committed to a mental hospital, where she should have been when Zora was a young girl—before the True Believers Cult had held Zora and her mother hostage.

  “How is Zora? This Christmas is going to be a lot different for you two.”

  Bryce grunted. “We’re doing the minimum for Christmas as it’s the last week before our wedding. You have a date yet?” He shot her a collegial grin.

  She grimaced. “No. Every time you ask, my answer will still be the same, Bryce.”

  “Right. Well, you’ve got a few weeks to find a date. So, back to the Silver Valley High case. We’ve got someone who’s got a hard-on for the LGBT club and Mitch Everlock in particular. You go in there without your usual makeup, your hair plain, the right clothes, you’ll pass for a high schooler. Have you seen some of those girls? They’re like cover models. They all look twenty-five, whether they’re freshmen or seniors.”

  “I doubt they all look that mature, but go on.”

  “There’s a student whose mother is really into the meetings that the cult is holding, over in the trailer park.” The trailer park on the edge of Silver Valley had been purchased by Leonard Wise last year and occupied by his fellow former True Believers founders. “This mother is the only one we have a concrete connection to.”

  “What’s the student’s name?”

  “Rachel Boyle. You need to get in there and see what you can find out. I’m not saying become her best friend, because from what Mit—Mr. Everlock—has told us, she’s pretty withdrawn. At least, over the past semester she’s withdrawn.”

  “That doesn’t mean she’s the Rainbow Hater, Bryce.” She didn’t call him on the fact that he’d referred to Everlock by his first name. It was obvious he and the science teacher must know one another outside of the case. “We don’t even know for sure if the Rainbow Hater is attached to the cult.”

  “No, we don’t. But it’s the best lead we’ve got right now, Nika.”

  * * *

  Three days after having his life threatened by the latest bloody message, Mitch took a long look at his first-period class. He made sure he made eye contact with each of the twenty students. He hoped they each knew that he was here for them, whether it was about chemistry or personal matters. Especially if they were being coerced by the True Believers Cult members to commit a crime.

  “Who can give me the resulting compound, given the variables we introduced into our lab experiment?” Mitch switched on the SMART Board, scrubbed clean of the tape goo from the hate message. As the digital whiteboard booted up he took another chance to peruse his smartest group of students. Period one, Monday through Friday: high school seniors, all but one or two destined for the top universities in the state. Many would go out of state, maybe one or two to an Ivy League. Acceptances hadn’t been sent out yet, but he’d seen enough seniors to have a good feel for where each would end up. He felt so damned privileged to be teaching the best of the best.

  The thought of any of them being involved in the hate crimes left the taste of bile in his mouth.

  “Anyone? What did
you do this weekend that’s making you so tired on this fine Monday morning, folks?”

  A raised hand. Amy Donovan, the class favorite. Not a teacher’s pet, but the class’s go-to girl on how to keep the labs safe and accurate. She was also the senior class president and a cheerleader. Silver Valley High’s all-American girl.

  “Amy.”

  “It’d be ammonia.”

  “That’s right. Anyone else want to add your observations from last week’s lab? Neel, I remember you had several questions about the Bunsen burner.” The roll of laughter didn’t embarrass the first-generation Indian American who sat straighter and flashed a bright white smile.

  “Jeffrey helped me with that just fine, Mr. Everlock.”

  More laughter. Neel had accidentally singed his eyebrows with a Bunsen burner at the beginning of his junior year.

  Had it been almost two years with this group already? They’d been the best Mitch had ever taught.

  “I’m going to miss you losers over the holiday break. But we’ve still got three more units to get through in our textbook. Let’s keep the discussion going.” They all grumbled over their laughter at his teasing. They knew they were cherished, he suspected.

  Mitch never got enough of the youthful energy. This class more than the others was special to him because they all wanted to be here, to go wherever their brains could take them. Which, for a good portion of them, would be very, very far.

  Hopefully not as far as a war in Iraq or Afghanistan, where he’d been.

  Using the techniques he’d learned through therapy sessions with his counselor, Zora, he took a deep breath and let go of the images of smoke and blood that filled his head as he was transported back to his time in the Middle East. The harrowing memories wanted all his attention—but he had a class to teach.

  I’m in Silver Valley, Pennsylvania. I am safe. Today is Monday and it’s a B day on the school schedule.

  The practiced reminder of reality settled him.

  “Mr. Everlock?” Bright blue eyes reflected no notice of Mitch’s brief return to what had been his hell on earth.