Cyclone: A Linear Tactical Romantic Suspense Standalone Page 22

  Scary, huh?

  Zac hadn’t known if Baby meant the bruise on Annie’s face, her being chummy with a woman he had dated, or the fact that Shawn had had them all so totally fooled and had set up such an elaborate trap. He’d even tried to kill Frank Jenkins. The man had been alive, barely, when help had arrived and rushed him to the hospital.

  Zac had just needed to get to Annie. To wrap her in his arms and never let her go.

  Fifteen minutes later, he was doing just that.

  Everyone was still milling around when he parked and jumped out of the truck, his eyes seeking out Anne, but unable to find her. He moved around people, barely able to answer their questions or listen to their version of what happened.

  He needed Annie.

  “She got overwhelmed,” Riley said. “She was okay, but all the people on top of what happened... She went to your place.”

  “Thanks, Riley.”

  Riley waved her arm out at all the people. “They all came for her, Zac. Every single one dropped what they were doing and rushed out here when they heard Doc needed help. You make sure she knows that, as overwhelming as it might be. She’ll never be invisible in Oak Creek again.”

  Zac nodded and marched off toward his apartment, avoiding talking to anyone even when they tried to get his attention. Annie needed him.

  He saw Mia and knew he should at least say thanks, but she waved him away. “Another time, Mackay. You and Anne can buy me a drink. Or ten. Besides, she did all the hard work.”

  He walked over to her and squeezed her shoulder. “Thank you, Mia.” The words were so inadequate, but they were all he had.

  She smiled. “Go get your girl, Zac. She needs you. Almost as much as you need her right now.”

  He turned and ran the rest of the way to his apartment.

  “Annie?” He slowed down his motions, not wanting to frighten her. Not knowing what sort of emotional state she’d be in.

  No answer.

  He took the stairs two at a time to the second floor, calling for her again. Then he heard it. The sound of the jets running in the hot tub. Of course.

  He stepped onto the porch. She was already in the water, her brown hair hanging out the back.

  “Hey, sweet Annie,” he crooned, the words as soft as he could make them.

  “Zac?” Her voice was hoarse, his name muddled from the swelling in her jaw.

  He rushed to the side of the tub, heart breaking at the sight. Except for kicking off her shoes, she’d gotten in fully dressed. “Hi, sweetheart. Mind if I join you?” He reached out and touched her face where she’d taken a blow. “Did someone check that for you? Looks pretty bad.”

  “Yeah, nothing broken. I should put a cold compress on it, but I was already too cold. I just wanted to get in the tub.”

  “I think you’ll be more comfortable if we get your clothes off.”

  She actually smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m not having a nervous breakdown. I just don’t have a bathing suit here, and I was afraid someone was going to come looking for me. And then my brain wasn’t working enough to come up with another solution.”

  Some of the pressure eased off his chest. She wasn’t broken. She’d just wanted her damn bathtub. He helped peel off her clothes, then stepped out of his own.

  “We should probably go down there and talk to everyone,” she said.

  He slid in behind her and wrapped his legs and arms around her. He would pull her into his very skin if he could. He breathed in her hair for long minutes, trying to convince his mind and heart that she was well and truly safe.

  “When I figured out what Shawn had done—the lengths he’d gone to, to get you alone...”

  “He was going to kill me,” she whispered. “And Frank. He came to warn us. Oh God.” She lost her words on a sob.

  “He’s still in surgery,” he whispered. “Don’t give up hope.”

  She nodded. Then they sat in silence for long minutes, just holding each other.

  “I’m so sorry I left you alone, let myself become complacent. You’re mine to protect and I didn’t. I failed you.” He would never forgive himself. She moved, and he opened his arms, so she could go if that’s what she wanted.

  But she turned around, arching her back so she could be face-to-face with him, crawling into his lap. “The only reason I’m here right now—not broken, raped, and probably dead—is because of you. Because of what you taught me. What you convinced me I could do. And I believed it, Zac. I was a warrior, and I beat him because he was expecting a coward.”

  He cupped her face as gently as possible. “You amaze me. Your strength, your courage, your intelligence. Every single day. You’ve never been a coward. And there’s a whole town’s worth of people ready to stand by your side and fight if you need it.”

  He kissed her, much softer than he wanted to, mindful of her injuries. Never again. That bastard would never hurt her again.

  She eased back, keeping herself trapped across his lap, lowering her head to his shoulder. “I guess we should go talk to everybody. I know the sheriff is going to want a statement.”

  “In a minute. Right now, it’s just you, me, and the Wyoming sky.”

  Two Weeks Later

  The Eagle’s Nest was crowded once again. The whole damn town seemed to be here, celebrating Frank’s release from the hospital. The younger man was here, sitting in a front booth in a position of honor, talking to everyone.

  Three days after surgery from the bullet that had punctured his lung and almost ended his life, Frank had woken up a hero. Mostly because Anne had told everyone how he’d tried so bravely to stop Shawn. If Zac didn’t know better, he would’ve said Frank seemed a little surprised by that version of events, but who was he to judge?

  Frank definitely didn’t have anything bad to say about Annie anymore. And he was probably going to use his newfound hero status to try to get a job at Linear.

  Hell, maybe he’d even get one.

  Today had been interesting. He’d gone before Jordan Reiss’s parole board to testify about the person who’d fallen asleep behind the wheel and killed Becky and Micah. He had told the board in no uncertain terms that Jordan should be released from prison. She should’ve been a long time ago. If her family’s last name wasn’t Reiss, she probably would’ve been.

  So today, thirteen years to the day after he’d asked Becky to marry him, he’d told a judicial board the person who’d killed his wife and son should be set free.

  Becky would’ve approved. Hell, Becky would’ve been pissed that he hadn’t done it long before now.

  Zac looked over to where Annie was standing at the bar with Wavy, Riley, and Mia, buying drinks. She winked at him over her shoulder, and it was all he could do not to drag her back home and not let her out of his bed for the rest of the night.

  Oddly enough, he knew Becky would’ve approved of that too. And of the fact that he never planned to let Annie go ever again.

  “Oh, dear Lord,” Aiden muttered from next to him in the booth. “Do you see the color of those drinks? It cannot be good for you to drink something that neon. Dorian had the right idea staying home tonight.”

  Dorian was doing fine but would use any excuse he could not to be part of a crowd. Even a friendly one.

  “Yeah, Dorian’s the smart one,” Zac said. “But I’m pretty sure Finn has drunk stuff that color before, and he’s relatively normal.”

  Finn didn’t respond, staring across the room.

  “Or maybe not,” Aiden said.

  Zac looked for what had drawn Finn’s attention. Not what. Who.

  Charlotte Devereux.

  She was standing alone near the corner of the bar. She probably hadn’t expected it to be this full on a Wednesday night. Riley saw her and waved her over. After the women hugged, Charlotte slipped off her jacket, obviously ready to join them. But when Riley pointed back to their booth, Charlotte froze when she saw Finn. Just stared at him.

  The way he was staring at her.

  Charlotte w
hispered something to Riley, then slipped her jacket back on. She finally broke eye contact with Finn and bolted for the door.

  Finn stood so fast he knocked into the table.

  “Damn, man, did you get a wasp down your pants? Be careful.” Aiden began grabbing napkins to wipe up his spilled beer.

  “I...” Finn trailed off, shrugging, then looking back at the table from where his eyes had been following Charlotte.

  Zac just nodded at his friend, storms brewing in his dark eyes. “We’ll catch you later.”

  Finn was out the door in seconds.

  “What the hell just happened?” Aiden asked.

  “A long, long story.”

  The ladies made it back over to them, each carrying handfuls of shot glasses with the bright blue liquid in them.

  “Holy hell,” Aiden said. “What are those?”

  “Electric Smurfs!” Mia yelled over the music. “Annie picked them out.”

  Zac looked up at Annie, who was absolutely glowing and starting to dance around with the other girls. He’d lose her to the dance floor soon. At least for a song or two, until he followed her out there.

  He pulled her down into his lap as everyone started to clink their glasses and drink the scary liquid. She had two shots left in her hands.

  “Is one of those for me?”

  Her eyes got serious. “If you want. I know you don’t drink. But I promise if you’d like to have a couple, I’m more than happy to make sure nothing gets out of hand.”

  He trailed a finger down her cheek. She would always be willing to give up her own fun to look out for the people she cared about. “You would really take care of me like that?”

  She kissed him, grinning against his lips. “Of course. I may take advantage of you back home once you’re drunk, but I would certainly make sure you got home all right first.”

  He grinned too, pulling back from her. “And give me all your loving?”

  Her eyes turned serious once again. “Every bit I have is yours. It always has been.”

  “I love you too, Annie. There’s so much to love about you.” He kissed her again.

  Aiden cleared his throat from across the table. Zac rolled his eyes at him. “Go dance with a girl.”

  “I think I just might.” He stood. “But after a couple more of these, I won’t be able to walk straight anyway.” He grinned and headed toward the bar.

  Zac kept Annie in his lap and took the shot from her hand. “So, if I drink this you’ll take care of me as long as I need it?”

  “Promise.” That smile. God, he would never get tired of seeing her quiet, gentle smile.

  He threw back the sweet liquid, then gave her a kiss. “I hope you’re a woman of your word. And I hear this Electric Smurf stuff stays in your system for about fifty years. So, I’ll need you around at least that long.”

  He kissed her once more and felt her sweet smile against his lips. “Then I guess that’s how long I’ll have to stay.”

  * * *

  I am truly honored that you would make room in your treasured reading (and reviewing!) time for CYCLONE. The Linear Tactical characters have stolen my heart and I think the books just get better, so I hope you’ll continue on in the adventure!

  If you’d like an ARC copy of Finn and Charlotte’s story in EAGLE, sign up HERE.

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  He’s fighting for what’s right…

  She’s fighting just to survive…

  Or to be place on the master ARC list for ALL Linear Tactical books as they release, click HERE.

  "Passion that leaps right off the page." - Romantic Times Book Reviews

  USA TODAY bestselling author Janie Crouch writes what she loves to read: passionate romantic suspense. She is a winner and/or finalist of multiple romance literary awards including the Golden Quill Award for Best Romantic Suspense, the National Reader’s Choice Award, and the coveted RITA© Award by the Romance Writers of America.

  Janie recently relocated with her husband and their four teenagers to Germany (due to her husband's job as support for the U.S. Military), after living in Virginia for nearly 20 years. When she's not listening to the voices in her head—and even when she is—she enjoys engaging in all sorts of crazy adventures (200-mile relay races; Ironman Triathlons, treks to Mt. Everest Base Camp) traveling, and movies of all kinds.

  Her favorite quote: "Life is a daring adventure or nothing." ~ Helen Keller.

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  The Linear Tactical books have been wandering inside my head for a long time. Deciding to take a chance on a big-effort indie series was not made lightly. As I write this, I still don’t know how it’s going to go… but I’m going to try.

  Sometimes we have to stop being scared and just go for it. Either it will work or it won’t. That’s life.

  First and foremost, I want to thank my husband of over twenty years who has never once said to me maybe you should be more cautious even when I probably should have been. He may never have read a single book of mine, but he doesn’t have to. I talk about these characters enough for him to know them almost as well as I do.

  And to my four kids. For every time you had to say something to me twice (or seven times) because I was trying to finish a chapter. For every time I texted you some random sentence because you were the first up on my phone and I didn’t want to forget something I’d worded perfectly in my mind while I was stopped at a red light. Thank you for learning how to feed yourselves so you don’t starve. To you guys and Dad: YOU ARE MY GREATEST ADVENTURE.

  To my mom and Aunt Terri, for exploring Wyoming with me (where are the mountains???) and helping me realize what needed to happen. Thank you for your encouragement and love and willingness to travel crazy place.

  For my tribe: Marci, Girl Tyler, Anu, Stephanie, Regan, Nichole, Julie, Beth, Lissanne, Elizabeth. THANK YOU. For the emails and FB posts where I have rambled endlessly trying to work out stories. For your encouragement, smiles and occasional tough love. I am so grateful to call you mine. (And Lissanne, sorry my moments and minutes are still so long)

  To my editors and alpha readers: Elizabeth Nover, Jennifer at Mistress Editing, Marci Mathers, Elizabeth Neal, Stephanie Scott, and Aly Birkl, for crying out loud, women: THANK YOU. You took a hot mess of a manuscript and made CYCLONE into a book I love and am so proud of. Thank you for your feedback and attention to detail. To Marci, in particular, who probably knows these characters better than I do, and is still mad that I didn’t change the Afghanistan Zac/Shane line.

  To Kim, Tanja, and the other wonderful folk at Deranged Doctor Designs, makers of my gorgeous covers: you are truly artists and such a pleasure to work with! Thank you.

  And to Lauren at Sly Fox Designs. Woman, I feel like if I got married right now you’d have to be in my wedding because we’ve spent so much time together. Thank you for the gorgeous banners, ads, and graphics that helped launch the Linear Tactical series. You’re amazing and so wonderful to work with. You have kept me sane these last few months.

  And finally to readers, both new and those who have been with me for a while: thank you. When I think of how exceptionally blessed I am to make a living as an author, I am humbled and honored. Your support means everything to me. I promise I will always endeavor to write the stories that keep you enthralled from page one. Life’s too short for boring books!

  With love and appreciation,

  Janie Crouch

  Copyright © 2018 by Jane Crouch

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locals is entirely c
oincidental.

  Cover by Deranged Doctor Design.

  A Calamity Jane Publishing Book

  CYCLONE: LINEAR TACTICAL