Page 121 of Lethal Danger

A well-timed whine from Flash drew Jazz’s attention to the dog. And reminded Hawthorne he’d better rein in his emotions. She was okay. And he was still romantically unavailable.

“Thanks for saving my life, partner.” Jazz crouched face-to-face with the K-9 and rubbed his head and ears with both hands. “Again.” She pressed a kiss on top of the dog’s head, then stood, looking in the direction of the damage on the trail. “That was close.”

He couldn’t have picked a better heroine. She’d nearly been killed, and she was as calm and cool as ever. “What exactly happened?”

“I don’t think it was a land mine since Flash warned me before either of us triggered it. Probably a buried IED.”

A run-of-the-mill homemade bomb. Not very friendly.

“Had to be remote detonated since nobody would know when I’d be here. Unless it was meant for someone else.” Her tone said she didn’t consider that a realistic theory. She shot her gaze to Hawthorne. “Did you see anyone at the lookout?”

“One hiker was headed onto this trail as I arrived.” Hawthorne recalled the man in jeans, boots, gray T-shirt, and baseball cap. He’d only seen the man from the back. “At least I assumed he was a hiker.”

“He was coming down this way?”

“Yes.” Hawthorne clenched his jaw as he looked past the wreckage the explosion had left on the trail. “And I bet I ran right past him on my way to you. He probably hid off the trail.”

“Flash and I will find him.” She turned toward her K-9 but swayed.

Hawthorne reached for her and braced her arms. “Hold on. You’re in no condition to go anywhere. And I guarantee he’s already gone. He wouldn’t be hanging out to wait for the rescue squad and police.”

“But Flash can track him.” She pressed her hand to her forehead as if it hurt.

“Maybe. But you can’t right now.” He tried to guide her in the other direction. “Come sit down and rest for a bit.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Is it ridiculous to want to take care of you?”

She dropped her hand, allowing him to see her eyes. Her brows lowered as she peered at him. “I don’t know. No one ever has.”

The lonely shadow in her eyes felt like a kick to his gut. He didn’t know how to respond. What to say or do. He’d already said too much. Implied too much.

He tried for a smile. “Then enjoy the moment. And sit down before you fall down, will you?”

She gave him a mock glare and lowered to sit on the gravel and dirt path, Flash moving in close to nudge her face with his nose.

Hawthorne pulled out his cell phone and called emergency services in case no one elsewhere in Whitlow Park had reported the sound of the explosion.

“We can’t just sit here.” Jazz looked at Hawthorne as he ended the call and dropped to the ground a few feet from her.

“We can, and we should. The lady on the phone said I need to keep you still and quiet until the ambulance gets here and they check you out.”

“Who made her the boss?”

He grinned at her ready humor, even in the face of near death. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

“Thought so.”

“But I do have the answer to the question I wanted to ask you.”

“What was that?”

“I was going to ask if that ‘flat tire,’” he made air quotes with his fingers around the mythical label, “was the only incident like that you’ve had happen lately.”

She stared at him a moment.

Was she going to deny what they both knew to be true? She’d tried to pass it off as nothing before.

---