Manhunt in the Wild West. Jessica Andersen

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СКАЧАТЬ talking to myself,” Chelsea said as the van came to a stop and the guard disappeared from the window. She felt a little spurt of disappointment to have their shared look broken off, followed by a kick of nerves that she’d see the rest of him in a moment. Not that she was likely to follow up on the attraction, if it was even reciprocated. His direct, challenging stare warned that he’d probably be too intense for her, too unnerving.

      She liked her guys the same way she preferred her Tex-Mex and curry: a little on the mild side, satisfying yet undemanding. She might be drawn to the other kind of guy, the tough, challenging sort she liked in her books and movies, but that was where her inner wimp kicked in. She didn’t want to date a guy she couldn’t keep up with.

      And that was so not what she was supposed to be focusing on right now, she lectured herself as the driver killed the engine and emerged from the vehicle, carrying the requisite paperwork. Moments later, the back doors swung open and two other guys jumped down and started readying the body bags for transfer into the morgue. The men were wearing drab uniforms with weapon belts, and hats pulled low over their brows, making them blend into a certain sort of sameness…except for the blue-eyed guard, who Chelsea recognized immediately, even from the back.

      He was maybe five-ten or so, with wide shoulders and ropy muscles that strained the fabric of his uniform, as though he’d bulked up recently and hadn’t yet replaced his clothes. His hips were narrow, his legs powerful, and though she’d never really gone for the uniform look before—she was surrounded by cops on a daily basis, so there wasn’t much novelty in it—the dark material of his pants did seriously interesting things to his backside when he bent over and fiddled with one of the gurneys, unlocking it from the fasteners that had kept it in place during transport.

      As far as she could tell, two of the bodies were on gurneys, two on the floor of the van. Normally she would’ve been annoyed by the lack of respect for the dead. Not this time, though.

      When the driver moved to hand the paperwork to Jerry, the assistant waved it off and pointed at Chelsea. “She’s in charge. I’m just the muscle.”

      She tore herself away from ogling the guard to reach for the clipboard. “I’ll take the paperwork. Jerry can help you unload and show you where the bodies go.”

      The driver frowned. “I thought a guy was supposed to sign off on the delivery. Rickey Charles.”

      Chelsea flipped through the pages, nodding when everything looked good. Once all the bags were inside the morgue, she would open them up and inspect the bodies, making sure the info matched. Then, and only then, would she sign the papers indicating that she’d accepted the delivery, freeing the guards to make the return trip to the prison.

      Not paying full attention to the driver, she said, “Rickey got held up this morning. I’m covering.”

      Actually, her fellow medical examiner was in lockup, sleeping it off after being arrested on his third DUI, but she wasn’t about to advertise the fact. Sara had made a monumental mistake hiring the charismatic young pathologist in the first place, but he was related to one of her higher-ups, and he’d fit the “young and innovative” stamp she’d been trying to put on the ME’s office, so she’d given him a chance despite his less-than-stellar recommendations.

      That’d come back to bite Sara, but Chelsea knew her friend would handle it quietly. There was no need to gossip.

      Noticing that the driver had started to fidget, she said, “Don’t stress. It’ll just take a few minutes.”

      He mumbled something, grabbed the clipboard and turned away, heading back for the van.

      “Hey!” she called, starting after him. “I haven’t signed off yet.”

      Just then, Jerry started pushing the first gurney toward the morgue, and she saw that he’d acquired a smear of red on the front of his scrubs.

      “Jerry, stop,” Chelsea said quickly as a twist of worry locked in her stomach. She crossed to the blue-eyed guard, who was facing away from her, prepping the second bag for transport. She tapped him on the shoulder. “Weren’t these body bags surface-cleaned back at the prison?”

      They certainly should’ve been. Not only was it standard protocol, but it was also doubly important in this case, given that they didn’t yet know why or how the prisoners had died.

      Her guard turned—that was how she found herself thinking of him, as “her guard,” though that was silly—and she got the full-on gut punch of his charisma. His features were lean, his skin drawn and pale, and he didn’t look like he smiled much. And those eyes…up close they were even more magnetic than she’d thought them from afar, ice blue and arresting, and holding a level of intensity that reached inside her and grabbed on, kindling a curl of heat in her belly.

      He looked more like a grown-up than most of the thirty-somethings she knew. He looked like a leader, like someone who would take charge of any situation.

      “We’re just the transporters,” he said, his voice a rough rasp that slid along her nerve endings and left tiny shivers behind. “We’re running late, so it’d be best if you signed off on the delivery so we can be on our way.” Something moved in his expression, there and gone so quickly she almost missed it, but leaving the impression that his words were more an order than a suggestion.

      Nerves fired through her, warning that something wasn’t right.

      Not liking the feeling, or the strange effect the guard had on her, Chelsea backpedaled a step. But she stuck to operating procedures, saying, “I’m not signing anything if there’s blood on the bags. You have no idea what killed these men. For all we know, it could be an infectious agent.” She gestured for Jerry to step away from the gurney, and reached for her cell phone. “Leave everything right where it is. I’m calling my boss.”

      This is so not what Sara needs right now, she thought, but protocol was protocol, and if the medical staff at the ARX Supermax had been so sloppy as to allow the bodies to be shipped without the bags being disinfected first, who knew what other safety precaution they might’ve skipped?

      “Wait,” the blue-eyed guard said, holding up a hand. At that same moment, the guard behind him spun and grabbed for something on his belt. A gun.

      Chelsea’s eyes locked on the weapon, and she froze.

      Jerry’s head jerked up and his mouth went slack, his eyes locking on the other guard. “Hey, aren’t you—”

      The man shot him where he stood.

      Jerry jerked spasmodically as blood bloomed in the center of his forehead. Then he went limp and fell, his eyes glazing as he dropped, his mouth open in an “O” of surprise.

      To Chelsea, the world seemed to slow down, his body collapsing at half-speed. She sucked in a breath to scream, but before she could make a sound, something slammed into her temple, dazing her.

      She staggered, only just beginning to realize that the guards weren’t guards at all. They were convicts wearing the clothing of the guards who were no doubt filling the body bags in the van. Somehow the prisoners had played dead and then pulled a switch en route.

      Heart drumming as her consciousness dimmed, Chelsea fumbled for her phone, and watched it spin out of her grasp and clatter to the ground, which pitched and heaved beneath her. The blue-eyed guard caught her as she fell, supporting her in his strong, steady arms, СКАЧАТЬ