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  She tried to keep the hurt from showing on her face. He was right. One night. Why should she think it was anything else? What she hadn’t expected was for him to treat her like a complete stranger the next day.

  She swallowed against the tightness in her throat. “I-I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m reading something into it I shouldn’t.”

  He lifted her fingers from his wrist and slid his hands beneath her elbows. “Listen to me, Kelsey. There are things about me you don’t know. You’re right that last night something connected between us. But there are reasons why it can’t go any further. Believe me.”

  “What reasons? What is there that’s keeping us from exploring this further? Last night, you told me we connected. That something special was happening between us. What’s changed since then?”

  “It was a mistake. I got carried away.” He backed away from her. “Drink your beer and go home, Kelsey. Don’t come in here again. You might find out things that will give you nightmares. Now excuse me. I have business to take care of.”

  He walked away, leaving her staring after him, her heart stuttering inside her chest and her stomach clenching. How had she been so wrong about him?

  She took a sip of her beer, but it tasted flat and bitter. She set the mug down and pushed it away from her, ready to slide off the stool when the door slammed open and two men burst into The Bar. Everyone turned to look at them.

  “He’s back,” one of them said in a hoarse voice. He was tall, well over six feet, dressed in a plaid lumberman’s jacket, jeans and heavy work boots. His thick brown hair was sticking up in all directions as if he’d been running his hands through it.

  “We thought he was done, but he’s not,” the other man said, a wild-eyed blond just as big and looking just as dishevelled

  A man at one of the tables stood up and indicated the vacant chairs. “Sit down, come on. Are you sure it’s him?”

  The brown-haired man dropped into a chair then stood up again. “It has to be. Jody Logan’s missing right from his yard. It’s just like it was before.”

  Kelsey was conscious of the buzz of low conversation filling the room. Mack had moved out from behind the bar so she turned to the man next to her. “I’m sorry. I’m new here. Can you tell me what this is all about?”

  The man stared at her as if she’d arrived from a foreign planet. “It’s about the children. You don’t know about it? My god, woman, it was all over the papers two years ago.”

  Something clicked in Kelsey’s brain, memories of newspaper articles Sierra had shown her when she’d first inherited the cabin. A child abduction ring had apparently invaded the area from Canada, one involved in selling young children in a black market adoption ring. Taking advantage of the fact the houses were so scattered, they’d managed to abduct nearly a dozen children, all of them under three, most of them never seen again. The distraught parents were still trying every avenue to trace them, working with the FBI as well as private agencies. Three children had been found—one of them dead, one of them rescued hours after the capture, and one of them still undergoing treatment for the trauma.

  According to the newspapers, the three men involved had been captured and were now in prison. Did this mean there was a fourth man who’d gone free and was now back in business?

  “I’m just glad this is over,” Sierra had said at the time. “I can’t imagine something this evil up there in such a peaceful environment.”

  But did this mean it wasn’t over after all?

  “I’m sorry,” she said now. “I do remember reading about it. So now another child is missing?”

  The man nodded. “Apparently, there was one that got away. Or someone else has decided to go in business.”

  “Isn’t it possible the little boy just wandered away? Kids at that age have a tendency to roam. They’re naturally inquisitive.”

  The man gave her a scornful look. “Not around here. Kids are taught from the moment they can crawl to stay close to home. Predators, you know, although we usually only have to worry about the four-legged kind. Anyway, most of them were taken from their rooms at night or out of a crowd.” He heaved himself up. “Excuse me. I have to help.”

  Kelsey wasn’t sure what to do next. She tried to overhear as much of the conversation as possible without looking too nosy.

  “Where was Jody?” someone asked. “Did they take him from his home?”

  The blond man shook his head. “Fran was watching him play outside. The gate in the fence was locked like always. The phone rang, she ran to answer it and two minutes later when she came back he was gone.”

  Mack stood at the table where the men were sitting. “What’s been done so far?”

  “Sheriff Laporte had a deputy take Fran home then pick up her husband from work. Sheriff’s wife is with them now along with a couple of neighbours. Laporte called in the state police and they set up roadblocks.”

  “Was Fran able to give them a description of the other car at the station?” Mack asked.

  “A vague one. She’s trying, but she says she really didn’t pay much attention. And right now she’s fighting hysterics which doesn’t help.”

  “Have they asked for search parties to help?”

  The man with brown hair nodded. “Sheriff asked for everyone who could to come to the station right now. He’s coordinating with the staties. With the roads blocked off, they think there’s a possibility whoever took Jody might try to hide in the woods until the coast is clear.”

  Everyone in the bar was slapping money on their tables for their tab and getting ready to leave. Kelsey battled with her own internal conflict then went to stand next to the table. Maybe there was something she could do here, even if her talents weren’t as sharp as she’d like. Surely there had to be something she could do.

  “I’d like to help,” she said to the group of men.

  Mack looked at her, the same cold look on his face. “Exactly what do you think you can do? You don’t even know this area.”

  “I’m a certified tracker,” she told him, stretching the truth a little. “And I can get Luke and Sierra up here right away. They know the territory.” She looked at the other. “My name is Kelsey Bryant. I’m also a private investigator, staying at the cabin of my friends Luke and Sierra Bryant. It seems to me you can use every person you can get.”

  Everyone’s eyes shifted to Mack as if waiting for his blessing on the situation. His eyes were cold but assessing as they raked over her. Finally, he nodded his head.

  “All right. Do you know where the sheriff’s station is?”

  “I’ll just follow everyone else. See you there.”

  Chapter Four

  On the ride to the sheriff’s office, Kelsey called Luke and explained the situation to him.

  “Damn. We thought they’d caught everyone last time. Let’s just hope it’s a leftover gang member back in business and not a whole new gang setting up shop again.”

  “I just have a hard time with people who treat children like merchandise,” Kelsey told him.

  “At least, wolves care for their young as well as everyone else’s.” His voice was tinged with bitterness as he remembered all that the pack had been through. “Okay. Do you need us?”

  “You and Sierra,” Kelsey told him. “You know the area. How fast can you get here?”

  “I’ll have someone chopper us up right away. If I remember, there’s a field behind the sheriff’s station where we can land. But we’ll need a vehicle.”

  “I’ll leave mine,” she told him. “I can catch a ride with someone. I’ll leave the keys with the dispatcher.”

  “On our way.”

  Kelsey stuffed her phone back in her pocket and pulled into the sheriff’s parking lot behind the car in front of her. A large crowd had already gathered, and the man she assumed to be Sheriff Laporte was organising them into teams. She pushed her way forward, introduced herself and told him about Luke and Sierra.

  “Good, good,” he told her. “They know this pla
ce, all fifty square miles of it. The staties have got the roads blocked, but there’s a million places to hide with a child until whoever this is thinks it’s safe.”

  “I told Luke I’d leave my keys inside, so I’ll need a ride with someone on whatever team you assign me to.”

  “She can ride with me.”

  Kelsey hadn’t heard Mack come up behind her, and his voice still lacked any warmth, but his hand closed firmly over her upper arm. When she tried to pull away, he tightened his grip.

  “Okay.” The sheriff nodded. He pointed to the map. “Take quadrant four.” He reeled off the names of the others he’d assigned to the area. “Same procedure as usual, Mack. You know the drill.”

  Mack nodded before moving away to his truck, pulling Kelsey along with him.

  “Hey,” she protested, trying to keep up with him. “What’s with the caveman tactics? And besides, I thought you told me to peddle my papers someplace else.”

  “Things change.” Three other men were standing next to his truck, all big and muscular like Mack, all with faces wiped clean of expression except for the anger smouldering in their eyes. Mack gestured at them. “John Ravitz, Cal Bellows, Larry Pelletier. Gentlemen, meet Kelsey Bryant.”

  The men nodded at her, and Kelsey felt shock race through her system. They all had the same amber eyes as Mack. What the hell was going on here?

  “Something wrong?” Mack asked, feeling the tension radiating through her body.

  “N-no.” She shook her head. She couldn’t wait for Luke to get here. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”

  “We’re heading to the area by the old logging camp,” he told the others. “He may be hiding in there with the child so we need to approach with caution.” He looked at Kelsey. “Just follow whatever I do.”

  Kelsey could tell from the moment they reached a concealed parking area and began to hike through the woods that these were seasoned trackers. They moved with total stealth, hardly disturbing a leaf. Every so often she would notice one of them turning towards her, a questioning look on his face as if noting she moved just as quietly as they did.

  Splitting up, they covered every possible hiding area as they converged on the long-abandoned cabins. As she moved along with Mack, Kelsey felt herself tuning into the environment, her brain focusing on what she needed to look for, any clues that might be in their path. Slowly, she felt her senses come alive, her skills beginning to awaken. Maybe, she wasn’t losing it after all.

  Quietly, they searched the cabins one by one, but all of them were empty.

  Mack pulled out his phone after searching the last one and called the sheriff to report in.

  “Nothing from anyone else,” Mack told them.

  “But what about the little boy?” Kelsey protested. Now that she was in her groove again she didn’t want to stop, as if finding this child would erase the failure of her last case. “We can’t just pack it in. We have to keep going. Surely, he’s afraid, wherever he is. And what if the man who has him finds a way out in the dark?”

  Mack shook his head. “We’ve been at this for hours, and it’s getting dark. We need to be fresh to start again in the morning. Don‘t worry, though. New teams are taking over. And the state police will have their helicopters covering the area with searchlights all night. We’ll all meet again in the morning. Whoever this asshole is, he won’t get away. And we’ll find Jody. I promise you.”

  That had to be good enough for her. And she realised Mack was right. They were all exhausted, both from the search and effort at stealth. Much longer and they’d be no good to anyone, least of all Jody.

  “What kind of person does this?” she asked.

  “A devil,” Mack answered. “I just wish they could find out if it’s someone new, god forbid, or someone from before who slipped through the net. Or who we didn’t know about.

  They were halfway back towards town when Kelsey’s phone rang. Luke. He and Sierra had been on one of the other teams.

  “Anything in your area?” she asked.

  “Nada. We’re heading back to the cabin.”

  “I brought my sleeping bag,” she told him. “You and Sierra take the bed. I’ll bunk out in the living room.”

  Mack reached out and took the phone from her. “Luke? Mack Renfield. I’ve got a better idea. Kelsey will be at my place. What? Uh huh. I read you loud and clear. See you at first light.”

  “I don’t understand you at all,” Kelsey protested when he handed her phone back to her. “Last night, I thought we’d never get enough of each other. Today, you froze me out. Now, you’re taking me home with you. I’m confused. What gives here?”

  “I’m not sure I understand it myself,” he told her in a hard voice. “I should listen to my brain and take you to Luke and Sierra’s.” He made a sharp turn in the road and began climbing a narrow road to the top of a hill. “I told you. There are things about me you don’t know. Things that would… Well, never mind. But you’re in my blood, Kelsey. The only thing I can hope is to get you out of it so I can get on with my life.”

  “Oh, really. And exactly where does that leave me?”

  “Same place as me, I guess. You were just as hot as I was last night. Tell me you want me to take you back to Luke and Sierra’s place, and I’ll turn the truck around right now.”

  She tried to force the words out, but they were stuck in her throat.

  “All right, then.” He pulled up in front of an old two-story house with a wraparound porch. “Here we are. Bought this place ten years ago when I moved up here. What do you think?”

  She climbed out of the truck and looked around. The moonlight touched everything with a silvery cast, reflecting in the big windows in front and kissing the tips of the big pine trees. Even in the near dark, Kelsey could tell the house had character.

  “Big place for one person,” she said.

  “I like space,” he told her, leading her up onto the porch. “Come on. I’ll get a fire going before the temperature really drops.”

  * * * *

  As exhausted as they both were from the hours of searching, Kelsey was sure neither of them would have the strength for any kind of sexual activity. And despite her determination to hold back, to make Mack give her some answers, they were barely inside before they were tearing each other’s clothes off. Leaving them scattered on the hall floor, Mack lifted her in his arms and carried her up the stairs. He left her on his big bed only long enough to light the fire then stretched out his magnificent body beside her.

  When his mouth came down to cover hers, she met him eagerly, opening for him and eagerly accepting the flame of his tongue. His kiss was hungry, ravenous, and she was just as greedy. His hands cupped her head, slanting it to give him a better angle to plunder her mouth. She clasped her fingers around his wrists and held on for dear life. He drank from her like a man dying of thirst. By the time he broke the kiss, Kelsey was lightheaded and dizzy.

  “Your skin is like satin,” he told her as he ran his hands over every inch of her. “So smooth. Every time I looked at you today, my hands itched to strip off your clothes and touch every inch of you.”

  “We would have collected quite a crowd in the bar, don’t you think?” she teased.

  “But there’s no one here now.” His voice was thick with lust. “Now I can hold your breasts and squeeze the ripe rosy nipples. Like this.” He pinched one nipple, hard, making her jump. “Like that? Pain—the right pain—is the sweet edge of pleasure. Did you know that?”

  If the moisture flooding from her pussy was any indication, she more than knew that.

  “Y-yes,” she stammered, arching into his touch.

  “Oh, but we need to pay attention to the other one, too.” He clamped his lips over the one nipple while his fingers reached for the other. His teeth bit down while his fingers pinched, and twin stabs of excitement raced through her. The walls of her cunt were already quivering with tiny spasms.

  “Mmm…” she moaned twisting her body, arching into the p
leasure.

  “Oh, yes,” he growled, lifting his mouth from its grasp of the swollen bud. “I know you like that. What we need are some nipple clamps to squeeze these little nubs. Make them stand out even more. Then I can lick them at will.”

  He reached for one hand and pushed it down between them. “Grab my cock, Kelsey. Wrap those slender fingers around it and stroke it. You know how. Rub your thumb over the head.”

  Kelsey could barely get her fingers around the thick shaft, but she moved them up and down from root to tip and back again in a slow, steady rhythm. With her thumb, she spread the thick fluid seeping from the slit over the velvety head, rubbing it against the soft surface, her breath hitching as Mack groaned in response.

  “Oh, yeah, sugar. That’s it. Keep doing that.”

  His hand travelled over her belly down to the soft nest of curls, his fingers sifting through them. Kelsey widened her legs to give him better access, her flesh aching for the touch of his fingers. She didn’t have long to wait. He opened her labia like the petals of a flower and slid his fingers through the liquid making her inner lips hot and slick.

  “Yes,” she urged, widening her legs even more.

  Mack pulled one of her legs over and clamped it between his, then began a tantalising dance with his fingers over her sensitive flesh. He swirled his fingertips over the throbbing point of her clit, rubbing back and forth. Shards of sensation streaked through her pussy and her fingers clenched more tightly around his rigid shaft.

  “That’s it,” he said again. “Up and down, Kelsey. Oh, god, that feels good.”

  His hand drifted lower, and he probed the opening to her pussy, one finger then two slipping inside, even as he continued to nip at one throbbing nipple. His thumb set up a rhythm on her clit that matched the in and out thrust of his fingers in her cunt, and her own hand matched his strokes as she caressed his rigid penis, the hot shaft swelling in her grip.

  “Do you like it when I fuck you with my fingers?” he asked, his mouth leaving her nipple to move to her cheek.

  His warm breath tickled her ear as his tongue traced the outline of the shell then licked the spot beneath her earlobe. He trailed a wet line down the column of her neck, his teeth biting at the sensitive spot where neck and shoulder joined. And all the while his fingers teased her cunt, probing her wet sheath, curling to rasp his fingertips over her sweet spot and send jolts of fire through her.