Shattered

“Basic Interrogation 101,” he said.

“I bet you aced the class.”

He smiled to himself, and not just because the conversation was silly, but because the sound of her voice did that to him.

“I’m sorry I pointed a gun at you,” she said with a quick upsweep of her lashes. “Is it really empty?”

“Yep. That’s why I didn’t take it with me when I went outside to scout.”

“I thought you’d forgotten it.”

“Cops don’t forget their weapons,” he said. But being around her was causing him to forget so many other things, including all the reasons he should stay away from her.

ALICE SHARPE met her husband-to-be on a cold, foggy beach in Northern California. One year later they were married. Their union has survived the rearing of two children, a handful of earthquakes registering over 6.5, numerous cats and a few special dogs, the latest of which is a yellow Lab named Annie Rose. Alice and her husband now live in a small rural town in Oregon, where she devotes the majority of her time to pursuing her second love, writing.

This book is dedicated to my delightful friend and other daughter, Charmian Lodjic, who loves herself a good cowboy.

Happy reading, honey.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Extract

Chapter One

After giving the congested waiting area a once-over, Nate Matthews approached the flight center of the tiny Shatterhorn, Nevada, airport with his customary long stride. After hours behind the wheel, it felt good to finally move around. A woman standing behind the counter cast him an anxious smile as she looked up from her computer. He guessed the lousy February weather was playing havoc with things like schedules.

“I’m running a little late,” he explained, “and I’m supposed to meet some friends here but I don’t see them. Can you tell me if they’ve arrived?”

“In this weather? I doubt it,” she said. “No private planes have landed for at least an hour. Let’s take a look. What’s their name?”

“Jessica and Alex Foster from Blunt Falls, Montana. He’s flying his own single-engine Cessna.”

She checked the computer screen, then thumbed through a sheaf of papers, leaving for a moment to talk to a man sitting at a desk behind a glass partition. When she returned, she was shaking her head. “There’s a record of Mr. Foster filing his flight plan, but none of him landing here. Looks like you arrived first. Really, though, I’m not sure I’d expect him tonight. The weather is deteriorating quickly, especially at higher elevations.”

Nate leaned against the counter for a second. The drive had not been without mishap; in fact, he’d barely survived a blown-out tire and the near collision that followed it. And then he’d found the spare was flat, too. Arranging a tow truck to haul him back to Vegas to get the tire fixed had eaten up time. Alex and Jessica should have landed way ahead of the storm.

The man behind him cleared his throat impatiently and Nate moved away from the counter. Finding a quiet corner, he called Alex’s house just in case something had come up at the last moment. Jessica answered the phone.

“Hey,” he said after identifying himself. “Is everything there okay?”

“Sure,” she said, but her voice sounded stressed. “Is Alex with you?”

“No, that’s why I’m calling. Did he leave on time?”

“Yes. He should have been there by now.”

“I thought you were coming, too.”

“I didn’t feel well,” she said after a brief hesitation.

He took a deep breath. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but I hear there’s a storm in the mountains.”

“Maybe he had to land somewhere else,” she said.

“Maybe. Wouldn’t he call you?”

“Not necessarily.” There was the edge again. “Anyway, if anything can go wrong with phone service or the radio, you can bet it will. All his equipment is ancient.”

Nate stared at the snow falling outside the window. “I’ll alert them here. I think you should do the same on your end, just to be safe.”

“I will,” she said. “But he’ll show up. He always does. What would the Blunt Falls police department do without him?”

“Yeah,” Nate said, certain now that something was going on with Jessica. His immediate concern, however, was Alex, though he didn’t have the slightest idea what he could do about it.

He and Alex had made plans to meet at the airport and then hook up with a third man, a guy by the name of Mike Donovan. They’d only met Mike once, but it had been on a Labor Day afternoon none of the men would ever forget. Alex had told him that this time Jessica was coming along for the ride and maybe a side trip down to Reno.

Nate asked the airport to notify the right people about Alex’s flight, tried Mike’s cell phone and walked back to his truck through growing snow flurries. Chances were good Mike was sitting at the mall, too distracted to even hear his phone.