Rival Forces Read online

  Yard chewed her lip. Was McGarren here to keep her from making a greater fool of herself? Or continuing her search?

  Her mind went back to their kiss. She was sure it was just a show of force. That’s all it could be. No matter how good it felt. The kiss had caught her unprepared. The sheer pleasure of it was both familiar and unique. Even he seemed a bit surprised by his own arousal. Well, that was his problem. She wouldn’t be caught off guard again.

  The phone in her pocket vibrated. She pulled it out to see a text from Law about her. “I don’t think so.” She stuck it back in her pocket, where she intended for it to stay. There’d been way too much conversation about her private life already. Now she needed some answers.

  She walked into the living room, not sure what she was going to say. If she succeeded in uprooting McGarren, he would report that to Law, and Law wouldn’t be happy. Yet if McGarren stayed, what would she do with him? Neither prospect had her jumping for joy. If he stayed, there needed to be ground rules.

  Except it seemed the choice was already made. McGarren was gone.

  She glanced around. Not in the kitchen. She doubted he would have gotten past Oleg, who was stretched out like a sheepskin rug before the doggy gate. And the door to the half bath was open. Surely he hadn’t had the audacity to go upstairs to one of her guest bedrooms?

  From the corner of her eye she caught a tail wag. As she turned her head Lily hopped up on the back of her sofa and gave her a series of high-pitched yips. A bronze arm reached up and swept the dog back down out of sight. Yardley waited a few seconds and then heard distinctly the sounds of soft, deep snoring. Kye had stretched out on her sofa and fallen asleep.

  She backpedaled before she could change her mind. She was sweaty from her jog. And shivering from the cold seeping through her damp running clothing, though she hadn’t realized it until now. She needed a shower. Then she’d decide what to do.

  But first she ducked into the kitchen to grab that long-awaited cup of coffee.

  As she took a sip, she glanced out back through the window above her sink. The sun had risen, promising a final nice day before rain rolled in.

  Up on the ridge behind her property ran a narrow track, nothing like a road. It was sometimes used by utility trucks seeking to repair a line or cable or pipe. Most of the time, she wouldn’t have noticed it. But the trees were January-bare. Up there, just opposite her window, a law enforcement cruiser was parked. Beside it stood an officer in uniform using a pair of binoculars. Unless she was mistaken, he was staring straight at her.

  “What the hell?”

  She put down her cup and went to the back door. By the time she opened it, the officer had climbed back into his vehicle and was moving away.

  Even though the leaves were gone, the stockade of sapling tree trunks prevented her from identifying the emblem painted on the cruiser’s passenger door. It didn’t seem to be local.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Kye jerked awake as the front door closed softly. Three giant steps and he was at the door, face pressed to the single pane of glass in it. Yard was walking away, a leash in hand. Oleg was at the end of it. Even as he watched she veered off to the left toward the training fields.

  With one ear straining for the sounds of a car engine coming to life, in case he was wrong about her intentions, he snatched his backpack from the floor. He pulled out a pair of jeans. After extracting his tactical boots and a thick pair of socks, he quickly pulled them on. No engine. She wasn’t driving away. In the distance he heard her calling to the dog and his barks in answer. She must have let him off the leash.

  He hadn’t fallen completely asleep. He just hadn’t alerted Yard to that fact when she’d come out of her room the first time. After the tense encounter that ended in the total surprise of that very passionate kiss, he’d thought they needed a break. He certainly did.

  Of course, he was curious as hell about what the Battise siblings were saying, but he didn’t want to risk being caught with his ear pressed to her bedroom door if she suddenly opened it. It was informative to hear her shouts wind down into mumbles. Whatever Law had said must have mollified her. He doubted even Law had enough authority with his sister to cower her. More like they’d settled for détente, no winners, no losers. At least she hadn’t come back through the door to try to throw him out, again. A few minutes later, he’d heard the faint rush of the shower.

  Kye rubbed a hand over his face. His peace of mind had lasted as long as it took for him to realize that Yard was naked on the other side of her bedroom door. All the pent-up lust that her kiss had ignited came roaring back to life. For ten solid minutes all he could think about was Yard, naked beneath a sluice of warm water. He had a very good imagination. It filled in her once coltish form with the ripeness of maturity. Curves and hollows he’d once explored with eagerness were augmented in his mind. Sweeter, more lush, more enticing. It was one of the longest, sweatiest ten minutes of his life. Pure torture that had Lily adjusting and readjusting herself on his lap. Finally Lily had abandoned his body for the more reliably smooth surface of the floor. All because of a woman he wasn’t certain he even liked anymore. But when a man’s dick was in charge, reason left the building.

  Shaking his head at his insanity, he looked down at Lily, who was looking up at him with what seemed a detached, even disapproving expression. “Don’t look at me like that. I stayed on this side of the door. I get points for that.”

  Ignoring him, Lily turned and walked over to the far side of the room. All the females in his life were giving him attitude.

  After a careful examination of her surroundings, Lily stuck her head in to sniff at something on the floor of Oleg’s empty cage.

  “Yeah. You must be hungry.” He dug in his backpack and pulled out a handful of dog food. “Lily. Catch.”

  Lily barked high and happy, leaping to catch piece after piece of dog food nuggets. Everything with Lily was a game, even eating.

  “More later.” Kye filled a pocket of his cargoes with the rest. He glanced toward the kitchen. Oleg, the reason he hadn’t helped himself to coffee before, was of course out with his handler.

  Smiling, he headed for the kitchen. If he hurried he could grab a coffee and a shower, and maybe something for breakfast. His stomach grumbled in agreement. And maybe he’d check in with Law himself.

  He reached for his phone but his pocket was empty. Yard had it. He glanced at her bedroom door but decided against checking to see if she’d left his phone lying in the open. He had sisters. One thing a brother learned early was to never cross a woman’s doorway without permission, even to retrieve his own gear.

  Priorities. Coffee. Something to eat. Find Yard. Get phone.

  The sun had climbed the eastern ridge of the mountains, flooding the property with light, by the time two of those priorities were accomplished. Remembering the January chill, he grabbed a hoodie from his pack, wrapped Lily’s leash around his waist, and picked up his car keys. Just in case.

  Ahead of his footsteps across the lawn, the grass glittered with diamond-bright crystals of frost. The sharp wind trying to invade every exposed area of his body, including his nostrils, annoyed him. He was damn tired of the cold. He was supposed to be where it was warm and sandy. The things he did in the name of friendship.

  Once he entered the training area, Kye jogged his way toward the training structure where he could hear Yard giving voice commands. Lily kept pace, clearly enjoying the freedom. She’d tolerated the long plane ride and then two hours in the rental without a complaint. But being a toller, she needed lots of exercise to be happy. Otherwise, things got chewed or eaten, or occasionally disappeared altogether. Like his underwear. So far, nothing alarming had ever come out of her rear end. But he suspected it would, sooner or later.

  Finally, Lily stopped short as they neared the buildings to sniff the frosty air.

  Kye knew that Yardley had the Czech wolfdog with her. Belatedly, he wondered if Oleg was off the leash.

  Before his tho
ught ended the dog, lean, wolfish, and silver, shot out from behind the building. Oleg was moving full-out, straight at him.

  Yelping in surprise, Lily turned and shot like a red-and-white rocket back toward her handler.

  “Fuck.” Kye grabbed Lily as she leaped up and twisted to angle his body so that she was protected. At the same time he braced for what he suspected would be at least one bad bite.

  Yard appeared from behind the building. In relief he heard her voice, high and clear, giving orders.

  “Oleg! Fuj!”

  The wolfdog stumbled to a halt within a few feet of Kye with head lowered and hair lifted along his spine. Unable to ignore his handler’s command, he simply growled low in his throat as he watched his quarry. That’s when Kye realized he was muzzled.

  Yardley’s voice broke the silence again. “Oleg, ke mne!”

  The dog disengaged and rounded back toward her with bright barks and high yips.

  Kye felt like a pork chop that had been dangled before the maw of a hungry wolf and, at the last second, snatched back.

  Yard had the leash but Oleg wouldn’t come the last few feet to be leashed. Instead, he came to a stop half a dozen feet away, turned his back on her, and stared off into the wooded area in the distance, always the outlier watching for trouble.

  Yardley followed the wolfdog’s intent gaze but didn’t see anything unusual in the distance. Probably, the dog was still getting accustomed to his surroundings. The breed was very sensitive; a new environment could be overstimulating. Their attentiveness made them great guards in unfamiliar territory. Oleg had most likely heard a deer snapping twigs and breaking branches as it slipped unseen through the underbrush. “Oleg, nech to.”

  The Czech wolfdog’s erect ears twitched, the only indication he’d heard the command to leave alone whatever had his drawn attention. But he didn’t move.

  Satisfied that he wasn’t about to run off, Yardley stalked toward Kye, her face pinched with anger. Without even another word from his handler, Oleg moved forward as she did, keeping his advance position in front of her like a VIP bodyguard.

  “Are you a complete idiot? Bringing another dog out here without warning me!” She was finally able to leash Oleg.

  Kye put up a hand. “My bad. I didn’t stop to think you could be working him off the leash.”

  “That just proves you weren’t trained by me. And don’t try to sneak up on me again. I might not be so quick to call him off next time.”

  “Copy that.” He knew she didn’t mean it. She wouldn’t misuse a dog for her own ends. He didn’t correct her, either, by pointing out that the dog was muzzled and so couldn’t harm him, though he might still have been able to injure Lily with his paws. “What are you working on? I wouldn’t mind playing decoy but I’d prefer to be suited up.”

  Mischief sparkled in her eyes. “You probably won’t fit in our suit. But you can hide if you want. Let them work at finding you.”

  “Them?” Somehow Kye suspected that wasn’t a free-lunch offer. She had something in mind. Still, he hadn’t come up with any better way to spend time with her while working on getting her to open up. “Sure. What are your objectives?”

  “Oleg needs companionship. Wolfdogs are hardwired for pack. He’s beginning to show signs of separation anxiety. That almost-attack just now was the first time I’ve seen him work effectively.”

  “Lily and Oleg as road buddies? Sounds interesting.” Kye didn’t know much about wolfdogs, had never worked with the breed, but he was game. “You want me play the prey that brings them together?”

  Yard stared at him for several seconds. Even when he was being obnoxious, he was damn attractive. And he knew it. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be useful.

  Finally she gave a single jerk of her head in agreement. “Here’s the key to the equipment room.” She reached into her pocket, only to have a tennis ball pop free.

  As the ball hit the ground, Lily leaped from Kye’s arms and made a beeline for it.

  Oleg, seeing his moment, swung around as Lily passed him and charged after her. Taken by surprise, Yardley lost her grip on the leash and the wolfdog was again free. Yard’s shout of surprise echoed his as Kye’s heart went into overdrive.

  Lily snatched up the ball. In true toller fashion, she jerked her head back to toss it skyward, unaware of the menace barreling down on her.

  Oleg hit her low, sweeping Lily’s legs out from under her.

  Lily yelped in surprise as she went tumbling over and over in the grass. The ball landed and bounced away.

  Oleg was making a sharp turn. So did Lily, because the thing she lived for—a toy—was getting away. As she righted herself, Oleg made a sprint to reach the ball before her. He moved around to the other side so the ball was between them.

  Lily paused several feet away, and Oleg, trembling with excitement, seemed unsure of what he was expected to do.

  Kye had waited for his moment, not wanting to distract either dog, which might cause the big one to attack. “Lily—!”

  “—Wait.” Yard grabbed Kye’s jacket sleeve. “I think they’re playing.”

  Kye scowled at her. “He’ll snap her in two.”

  “Muzzle, big guy.”

  As Kye watched, Lily bent down, bringing her head to Oleg’s level with her rear still in the air, tail down as if about to pounce on the ball.

  The wolfdog matched Lily’s pose, head down near paws, rear end high, tail wagging furiously. Not making eye contact, Oleg growled and jumped toward her. Lily backed up a few steps whining.

  “Not yet.” Kye felt Yard’s fingers hard on his arm. He could break her grip easily, but he didn’t. He didn’t trust the wolfdog but he did trust Yard’s judgment about him. That only moderately assured him that his toller wasn’t going to be wolfdog dinner, muzzle or no.

  Lily suddenly grabbed the ball as it lay within a foot of Oleg’s nose then turned and sped away. Lily was fast but Oleg was like a gray flash of fur, smooth and accelerating with every bound. He was on her in no time, all snarls as he tried to nip her hind legs through the muzzle. It was rough-and-tumble, yet Kye noted that the wolfdog wasn’t showing serious aggressive signs. Without the muzzle that might be a different story.

  Yardley spoke. “Oleg, ke mne!”

  This time the silver dog obeyed instantly. He loped over to her side and fell into heel position. He was breathing a little fast but didn’t appear to be in distress as she attached his leash. Once again, his attention was directed toward the woods in the distance.

  At the same time Lily ran to him, ball in mouth, and jumped up in the full confidence that Kye would catch her, which he did. When she was safe in her handler’s embrace, she looked back over her shoulder and yipped at Oleg.

  Kye grinned at her. “You were right.”

  She smiled back, easily this time. “I’m always right, about dogs.”

  Eye contact. It hit her with the impact of a star falling on her. Something in his gaze, as warm and powerful as a tropical tide, pulling her in despite her misgivings. Like his kiss, everything about Kye McGarren communicated the power of nearly irresistible persuasion. How could she feel like this when David was still a stinging memory of loss?

  The sound of a car horn startled the quiet morning. Humans and dogs turned at the same time to see that a dark sedan had entered the gates. The car rolled to a stop about ten yards away from them. Two men exited, looking for all the world like an reenactment of Men in Black. Kye smirked. “Friends of yours?”

  Yard shook her head, folded her arms, and cocked out a hip. She couldn’t begin to guess what this was about. But she suspected that she wasn’t going to be happy about it.

  The younger of the two men approached while the other, a middle-aged man with a shaved head and brown complexion, remained near the sedan. They both looked deadly serious.

  Yardley’s heart stuttered. Bad news to be delivered by the subordinate?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The younger man, with crisp blondish hair an
d a slash for a mouth, paused out of range of the length of leash Yardley held. She couldn’t be certain that behind the shield of his sunglasses he watched Oleg warily. But his voice held a trace of tension as he spoke. “Ms. Summers?”

  She gathered up more of the leash to show she wasn’t about to set her K-9 on him. “Who’s asking?”

  “I’m Agent Glaser. And this is Agent Jackson. FBI.” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder before flipping open a badge. Yardley only saw a gold shield with an eagle on top before he flipped it closed and pocketed it. “We’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  “May I see your badge?” Yardley’s heart skipped a beat as she felt Kye move in behind her. She really didn’t want an audience for this. The less he knew about her life, the better.

  As the agent reluctantly removed it for inspection Kye leaned in over her shoulder to get a look. “That’s DEA. What business could the Drug Enforcement Agency have with Harmonie Kennels?”

  Glaser glanced up sharply at Kye but directed his words at Yardley. “Can we go somewhere more private to talk, Ms. Summers?”

  Yard shook her head, her emotions doing a one-eighty at his words. Any story that began with Can we go somewhere more private … wasn’t going to end well. If this was bad news, she wasn’t going to be treated like a civilian who needed to be coddled when told a hard truth. The truth was, thanks to Law’s butting in, Kye already knew about David. No use trying to hide anything now. “This is my property. This is as private as I get.”

  “Why don’t you just tell Ms. Summers why you’re here, Agent.” Kye’s voice was calm, almost friendly. But Yardley could tell by the way he moved in a little closer, as if to offer her the support of his presence without actually touching her, that he was feeling anything but friendly.

  Glaser glanced again at Kye. “Who are you?”