Page 10 of Justified Fear

She shivered again.She knew it was muggy outside, and she was still sweaty.For some reason, though, she was freezing.

“I think Keely needs to get some medical attention,” Ryan said.

“I don’t?—”

“There are paramedics waiting to assess your condition,” Rome said.“I would hate to tell them they came here for nothing.”

“Oh.”She sighed.She hated hospitals, but just talking to the EMTs wouldn’t be that bad.“I guess I can have them look at me then.”

“Morrison, do you mind taking her out there?”Carino asked.

“I can go by myself,” she said, just as Ryan said, “Of course.”

With regret, she stood.“Thank you for finding me.”

Then, she started toward the back door of the house, but Ryan stopped her.

“Let’s go this way,” he said gently.It was then that she realized that it was probably a mess inside, and they were still gathering evidence.Her eyes filled up with tears, but she blinked them away.She would have plenty of time to cry later.She would not do it in front of strangers.

“So,”Seth said, looking at Carino, “we have someone missing.”

Carino nodded.“From what I can tell, it’s the bartender.”

“Are we sharing jurisdiction, or do you want us to take over?”

“The Governor has already said he wants you on lead for this one.We’ll assist.”

“It’s odd,” Rami said.

“What?”Seth asked.

“She has said a few things that point to training, or at least some kind of training like self-defense.Do we have a background on her?”

“Not yet.”

“I picked up on that, too,” Nikki said.Seth cocked his head, and she sighed.“The jacket.”

“She was right about that chef jacket,” Seth said.“It would have stood out in the forest.”

“Did she say anything else?”Kap asked.

“Not really.I mean, it was smart not to go out front.She also knew to go up trees because of the feral pigs.But it was convenient that she was outside,” Rami said.

“Or really freaking lucky,” Seth said.

“She’s holding it together really well, too.Another point to training.And she mentioned dropping to the ground,” Nikki commented.“Still, that might be the shock.Sometimes it hits you later.”

They all nodded.

“Your main focus is finding that bartender.He either helped the guys who got in, or he’s been kidnapped.Either way, he might be the key,” Carino said.

“Carino, press is showing up,” one of the uniforms called out.

Dammit.The fact that the jackals were already here meant this was going to be a total shit show.

“Yeah, really glad I get to toss this thing in your direction,” Carino said.

Three