I had to stop thinking about her, like that. I was finding it hard to think about her without getting hard.
“Hawk, tell me what you’ve been up to.”
“I just got back from overseas; we shut down a terror organ snatching ring. The people would go to spots on Earth where natural disasters were disguised as medical help. They were taking any live bodies they could find. They kept them drugged up until they had harvested all their organs.”
“That’s horrible,” Sherry said, looking at her family. “So the family members thought they were killed in the disaster.”
“Some thought that. But some knew it had to be kidnappers who took them. We were able to save many people because we finally received help from other countries. No one wanted to get involved because organ harvesting is more lucrative than any other business.”
“That is so scary. I heard about that. I didn’t know you were involved. Why do you risk your life like that?” Julia whispered as she reached across to take my hand. Until she realized what she was doing, and jerked hers back.
“The same reasonyou risk yours fighting crime. The first time I saw those women and children lying on cots, hooked up to IVs, Iknew I wouldn’t stop until they were all locked up. I’m sure there are more out there; people pay a lot of money for organs.”
“I’m surprised the cartels aren’t doing it in the United States,” Jack said.
“They do it everywhere. Just because we shut one down doesn’t mean more haven’t sprung up all over this earth. They don’t discriminate based on skin color unless they are Kings. I want all of you to stay away from the cartels around here. My buddies are looking into them and will call me when they find something out.”
Julia stood and took out cups. She poured everyone a cup of coffee and then placed the cream and sugar bowl on the table.
“You don’t get to decide who I can or cannot investigate. I live here, and I won’t let the cartel destroy our town.”
“Do you know how I know when you are angry?”
“What are you talking about?” Julia demanded.
“Your ears get red when you become angry.”
“They do not!”
“Yes, they do,” Sydney and Sandy said at the same time. “That’s how we know it’s time to back off.”
My secret crush was going to be harder to leave behind this time, when I had to go.
117
Julia
Iparked my truck on the edge of Jasper Jensen’s property just after sunrise. It was already hot, he heat waves clung low over the fields, and the cypress trees looked ghostly in the gray light of the shade. I slipped on my cap, pulled my hair through the back, and adjusted my holster.
I wasn’t officially on duty. But when it came to the cartel, I didn’t care about shifts or paperwork. I cared about keeping Copper Cove safe—and keeping Hawk’s father alive.
I walked toward the back fence line, where the woods thickened. Something about that patch of land had been bothering me since last night. When I crouched near the fence, I found deep ruts in the mud—tire tracks, big ones. A truck had been here recently.
I snapped a photo and followed the trail a few feet until I found a crushed cigarette butt, the kind you don’t see around here often—imported, the ones that looked like thin cigars. The kind cartel men were known to smoke. My stomach tightened.
I straightened at the sound of footsteps behind me. My hand went to my gun before I even turned.
“Easy there, Detective.”
I exhaled and lowered my weapon. Hawk stood a few feet away, his ball cap pulled low, the morning sun just catching the stubble on his jaw.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Following my dad’s orders. He said if I wanted breakfast, I’d have to earn it by keeping you out of trouble. We saw you coming this way.”
I glared at him, though it was hard to stay mad when he looked like sin wrapped in a T-shirt. “This is an active investigation. You can’t be here.”
He crouched beside the tracks, ignoring me completely.
