Dangerous Tease (The Layton Family 3)

Hank put the car in park. “Okay, we treat this as a possible crime scene. You stay behind me and if I tell you to get back to the car, you get the fuck back. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

The frigid air slapped Sam in the face as soon as he climbed out of the cruiser, chapping his cheeks. Josie would be freezing out here in just jeans and a T-shirt. He could still feel the soft cotton under his fingers. Had that only been a few hours ago? God, it seemed like forever.

He fell in line behind Hank, who crept toward the white clapboard house with his gun drawn.

Wind whipped across the open field, blowing flakes and making the house seem more like a mirage than a reality.

Adrenaline-spiked blood pumped at hyper-speed through Sam’s system and despite the cold, the small of his back grew damp with sweat.

Josie's fingers had turned white from the cold without gloves or coat pockets to protect them. She rubbed them together, pain pricking down their lengths as the blood returned. Outside the snowfall grew denser.

Once frostbite stopped being an immediate concern, she took inventory. One socket wrench. Her car keys. The pay-as-you-go cellphone Cy had given her. She flipped it open. No bars. Of course not, that would have made getting the hell out of here too damn easy.

She stood and extended the arm holding the phone high above her head the circled the room. In the corner closest to the animal nest, one of the bars flickered to life, then went dark. Willing circumstances to change, Josie crossed the room. No luck.

The phone snapped closed with a click and she slid it into her back pocket. She hunkered down by her other weapons. She balanced the socket wrench in her hand. Heavy, solid. It felt good. That would add some umph to her right hook.

Feet crunched on the icy snow outside of the boarded-up window.

As soundlessly as she could, she backed into a dark corner, gripping her makeshift weapons in each hand. Predator or rescuer, one wrong move and he was going to get a mouth full of metal.

Gloved fingers wrapped around a board blocking up the door and yanked it free.

They were within two feet of the front door when a high-pitched cry broke the silence and a blur of light gray burst from the homestead's front door.

The coyote ran serpentine around Sam and Hank before breaking into a straight run across the flat land and disappearing into the snow.

Hank recovered first and started back toward the house. He disappeared inside the doorway and returned a moment later, his eyes downcast.

Fear bristled along Sam’s spine. Were they too late? He sprinted to the door and pushed past Hank.

His gaze traveled the darkened expanse of the room, searching each shadow for Josie's bright platinum curls.

Nothing.

Dread filled him and threatened to knock him to his knees. Damn Rebecca and her treasure.

There is a beauty to this hard land more valuable than treasure, but for those who insist, I give you this, she'd written.

Sam stumbled outside and into the vast shadow of McPherson's Bluff. Oh yes, it was beautiful in the same way a cobra about to strike could be breathtaking.

He tried to hold on to hope, to the belief that this time he would be able to save a life. He pushed away the doubts, but like a spurned, angry lover, they refused to leave.

Hank clapped a hand on Sam's shoulder, displacing some of the snow piled there. “Don't worry, we'll find her.”

But would they? And if so, would they be in time?

Chapter Seventeen

Well, Josie girl, I told you we'd find you.” Snips stepped through the gap between boards nailed across the empty door. “And to think we found you right where we wanted to stop in the first place. I told you we went too far, Linc.”

A shadow moved in front of the partially boarded-up doorway, which Josie assumed belonged to Linc. The muscle man must be too big to fit through the opening. Who would have thought the big man's size would finally work to her advantage?

She gripped the socket wrench tight in her left hand, held at an angle behind her back. She curled her right hand into a fist and rested it against her thigh. Surprise would only be on her side once and she'd need it to knock out Snips. The steroids had shrunk his balls but they'd also pumped up his muscles and temper. Of course with the amount of pissed-off adrenaline pumping through her veins, she figured she still had the upper hand. She'd flatten him. Then she'd have to get past Linc in the doorway, which wasn’t as likely to be successful unless she timed it just right.

“What, no smart remark this time?” Snips strutted closer.