Undercover Hunter
In this story from New York Times bestseller Rachel Lee, two investigators must learn to play nice before it's too late.Detective Cade Bankston never had any luck with female partners. So when he’s assigned to work with feisty, raven-haired DeeJay Dawkins, he isn’t pleased at all. Posing as a married couple, the investigators must team up to catch a killer. That is, if they don't kill each other first.Putting their mission first proves tricky as mutual disdain evolves into mutual desire. But distraction is not an option. The killer who seemingly vanished five years prior has returned to Conard County, Wyoming, to finish what he started. And he just set his sights on two new victims.
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In this story from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Lee, two investigators must learn to play nice before itâs too late
Detective Cade Bankston never had any luck with female partners. So when heâs assigned to work with feisty, raven-haired DeeJay Dawkins, he isnât pleased at all. Posing as a married couple, the investigators must team up to catch a killer. That is, if they donât kill each other first.
Putting their mission first proves tricky as mutual disdain evolves into mutual desire. But distraction is not an option. The killer who seemingly vanished five years prior has returned to Conard County, Wyoming, to finish what he started. And he just set his sights on two new victims.
âWell, we know where it ended. The question is where did it begin?â
âWe arenât going to figure that out now.â DeeJay turned, and as she did so, her boot caught on something, maybe a root, and she started to fall.
Instantly, strong arms caught her and the next thing she knew she was pressed against Cadeâs chest. Layers of down prevented it from being in any way intimate, but when she looked up into his eyes, no amount of down could prevent the hot arc of hunger that speared through her.
A flare in his gaze seemed to answer her.
âCade?â she said breathlessly, the question almost lost as the treetops stirred in a sudden wind. It didnât matter. She didnât know what she was asking anyway.
âDamn,â he said quietly. Apparently he knew the answer because he leaned in and kissed her.
***
Falling in love is one of the biggest risks we take in life. Itâs the emotional equivalent of jumping out of an airplane without a parachute and trusting your jump partner to catch you and carry you down. When weâre young, we leap into it with joy. When we get a little older, if weâve had some bad experiences, weâre not as quick to take that leap. Maybe we refuse to take it again.
But at the root of love is trustâtrusting someone enough to be utterly vulnerable to them, because when we truly love we become emotionally naked. All the walls are down, all the defenses lowered. With a single word or act, we might be devastated.
DeeJay and Cade both have reasons not to trust, DeeJay more than most. But when they are partnered to help catch a serial killer, those defenses must be breached. As partners they must rely on one another completely, and that reliance requires the first seeds of trust. Preoccupation with the case gets them through at the beginning, but in the end love saves them both.
Enjoy!
Rachel
RACHEL LEE was hooked on writing by the age of twelve and practiced her craft as she moved from place to place all over the United States. This New York Times bestselling author now resides in Florida and has the joy of writing full-time.
Contents
Dear Reader
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Calvin Sweet knew he was taking some big chances, but risks always invigorated him. Coming back to his home in Conard County was the first of the new risks. Five years ago heâd left for bigger cities because the law seemed to be closing in on him.
Returning to the site where he had hung his trophies was a huge risk, too, although he could claim he was out for a hike in the autumn mountains before the first snows fell. There was nothing left, anyway. The law had taken it all away, and the sight filled him with both sorrow and bitterness. Anger, too. They had no right to take away his hard work, his triumphs, his mementos. His boys. He knew his mother would be proud of what heâd done, but the proof that heâd appeased her was gone.
Theyâd taken it all away. After five years all that was left were some remnants of cargo netting rotting in the tree limbs, the remains of a few sawed-off ropes.
But he could close his eyes and remember, and remembering filled him with joy and a sense of his own huge power, the power to purify them forever. Calvin had saved them.
Unlike his boys, he was filled with great purpose, a purpose handed down to him by his mother.
From earliest childhood he had been fascinated by spiders and their webs. He had spent hours watching as insect after insect fell victim to those silken strands, struggling mightily until they were stung and then wrapped up helplessly to await their fate. Each corpse on the web had been a trophy, marking the spiderâs victory. No one ever escaped.
No one had escaped him, either.
But his boys were gone, carried away to a different fate on cold slabs and cold holes in the ground. Honored no more, at least not by him.
He stood for a while, remembering, then turned to begin the trek back to the ranch. A small ranch, left to him after his motherâs death long ago, but it was isolated enough to pursue his calling, and without his mother around it would be even more private. He considered it a bonus that construction at the new ski resort had begun. An influx of people for the jobs made his return even less remarkable.
