Page 2 of Seized by the Lawman

“Nothing new. We get the leftover funding,” Gabel “Abel” Stone said as he reached for his stress ball, squeezing it in his beefy fist. “I still can’t believe I missed out today. I wanted to get my hands on a few sum’bitches,” he snarled.

“There’s always a next time,” Nix said.

Claire came hurrying in. “Anyone else need anything while I’m out making copies?”

“With the chance of sounding like an ass for asking you to grab coffee—”

She waved a hand to dismiss Abel. “I don’t mind. I enjoy doing errands.” She met Nix’s gaze. “Can I get you something? I know you like an espresso with two pumps of cream and one sugar.”

Now how the hell did she know that? Nix blinked. “Are you and the barista in cahoots?” he teased, but when she gave her head a hard shake sending her glasses off her nose and onto the floor, he wanted to kick himself in the ass.

“I-I was in…” she hurried and grabbed her glasses from the floor and placed them back on her face, “in the coffee shop yesterday morning when you ordered. I know what everyone wants. I’ll be back.” She turned and started for the door.

“Wait, Claire,” Jamison said.

The woman swiveled on her squeaky shoes looking like a swift wind could knock her over. “Yes?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” He held up the papers that needed copied.

“Oh, yes. Mercy me. Sorry. I’d forget my head if it wasn’t attached.” She took the papers from him and disappeared out the door.

“Oh, wow. She’s got it bad,” Abel said.

“Why don’t you put the poor woman out of her misery and ask her on a date?” Riddle’s question was aimed at Nix.

“I don’t think that’s the answer, man. She just needs some getting used to me,” Nix added.

“Certainly can’t fire her. She’s the only one who knows the ins and outs of this operation,” Jamison said. “Ain’t like Carson would anyway. She’s been around since this team was formed.”

Sitting back in his chair, Nix adjusted the screen of his laptop and looked over the top at a few men who were busily chatting about something else now. He dragged himself away from the conversation because he had better interests. He knew very little about the pretty redhead, Melissia, outside of the fact that she liked dancing after kicking back a shot of tequila. He grinned at the vision of her on the dance floor. Her long, damp hair whipping about her flushed cheeks, the hem of her short skirt lashing about her firm thighs and the lavish scent of her that lingered in his nostrils and on his skin. He’d taken lots of showers, but there were just some aromas and tastes a man couldn’t forget—not that he wanted to. She’d been as tasty as a ripe peach dripping with sweet juices.

His body seized with an emotion he couldn’t describe with words. He shifted, attempting to ease the tension in his groin, but ended up making the situation worse. Up until now, he’d been able to resist the temptation of finding her at his fingertips, but after the erotic dream he’d had last night, he’d been a basket case. He could easily run a background check, but why bother when he could find what he needed online. Pulling up a new tab, he typed in her name, hoping she’d given him her real one, and a picture of her came up next to the headline, “Reality star breaks up with minor league phenomenon Brad Santiago.” The next story read, “Secret photos of sexy redhead’s beach vacation.” And another, “Melissia Easton has a million followers on Facebook”.

Nix swallowed the baseball sized ache in his throat as the words “Reality star” rolled through his brain. What the hell? Although they hadn’t done a lot of talking, not once had she mentioned that she was a “reality star”. He certainly wouldn’t have recognized her one way or the other because the last time he watched TV had been a DVR of a basketball game that was months ago. Working with Hawks, helping his dad on the family ranch, and moving to a new place recently had left little extra time for him.

Scrolling down, and just from the captions, he realized the woman who’d tempted him with her pale blue eyes and heart-warming smile had been in a relationship with the next up-and-coming baseball great, Santiago. From Nix’s standpoint, the thirty-something athlete was too cocky and had a weak wrist.

Pushing a hand a little too roughly through his hair, Nix shook his head, wanting to resist clicking on a picture of her, but he moved and “accidently” hit a button. On his screen, staring back at him, was the beauty herself from a photo dated five years ago. Her hair was at least six inches shorter then and she wore a little more make up, but all in all, the stars in her eyes and the scattering of freckles remained. Clicking the mouse, up came another picture, this time she was on the beach in a teeny-tiny bikini, dipping a toe in at the ocean’s edge.

The temperature rose.

The next frame she was on a fancy yacht with a man, “a friend” from what the caption read. Her top was off and her beautiful breasts were exposed. She was completely unaware that she was being photographed—or was she? The thought of her being violated by some slimy photographer made Nix sick. He clicked off the picture and onto another. She was wearing a white Stetson, thin tank top and cut off jean shorts that rode up high on her hips. He had a thing for cowgirls. He’d been so engulfed, both in her beauty and the shadows of her nipples under the cotton that he hadn’t heard the footsteps behind him.

“Hot.”

His attention was dragged from the screen in a rude awakening and Nix clicked off, looking up at Crow Reese, one of his closest friend on the team. “What did you say?”

“The clues are hot on this case of the predator who had all the videos of the young girls. What did you think I said?” Crow was the largest of the bunch by height and weight. He had eyes that were so dark they were almost as black as his hair, hinting at his Native American roots. Nix was learning quickly that the man’s large frame didn’t mean he couldn’t move as fast as lightning, which he attributed to years of training as a boxer. Right after Nix joined, they’d been sent to bring in a member of the Irish mob who was wanted for tossing a bomb into a café that had exploded and when the suspect took off running, Crow chased him down, catching the younger, athletic man like it was easy work.

Nix shrugged. “Exactly what I thought you said.” His phone chimed. He looked down at the number on the screen, not recognizing the out of state area code.

“You going to answer that, man?” Crow asked, leaning over a few inches to try and catch a peek at the phone.

“Nah.” He clicked a button, which sent the call straight to voicemail.

Jamison stood and joined Nix and Crow. “I just found a rat and I’m about to catch it.” Jamison was quiet and reserved, and when he spoke, a person listened and knew the man had thought over his words carefully. He had not one ounce of fat on his body although he didn’t work out every day to maintain his toned physique, but instead spent a lot of time time with his daughter during his free time. Although Nix hadn’t known the entire team before he signed on, he trusted them to watch his back and he certainly hoped they trusted him as well. A man was only as good as his team.

“A rat as in our latest suspect who’s neck-deep in drug trafficking?” Crow asked.

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