Read Online HeroRevealed by Anna Alexander - Free Book Online Page A

hadn’t fallen into the complacency of
policing a small town like some of the other officers had. She had high hopes
of him being a big part of the next generation of the department she was
working so hard to reinvent.
    “Morning, Sheriff.” He tipped his hat in greeting then his
jaw dropped in alarm. “What happened to you?”
    “What are you talking about?” She frowned then tried not to wince
as she imagined what she must look like. Shit, had Kristos left a hickey she
hadn’t noticed?
    “Your eyes,” he stammered and pointed at her face.
    She bent to look in the side mirror and choked on a gasp.
She blinked once, twice, then three times in hard, tight pulses, but the image
didn’t change. How the hell had she not noticed that?
    Her irises, once a plain, nondescript hazel, were now milky
white.
    A string of curses that would’ve made a Hell’s Angel blush
rent through the morning air, scattering whatever remaining wildlife in the
area scurrying for their lives. Her fingers dug into the cold metal around the
mirror as she wished it was the neck of a certain alien from Saturn.
    He did this to her, whatever this was. He must have.
    “Sheriff?” Reutgers asked. She didn’t miss the way his hand
covered his privates, as if he expected her to pummel the first victim she
encountered. With the anger surging through her, it was a very real
possibility.
    “It’s, ah, it’s a…uh bandage the doctor gave me for some
scratches on my eyes. They’re like contacts. I just didn’t expect it to look so
dramatic.”
    “I didn’t know that even existed.”
    “Modern medicine for you.” May the boy be kind enough not to
question her further. “Show me what’s going on.”
    A handful of park rangers and a few of Cedar’s finest stood
where it looked like Willie the Giant dragged his trowel in the ground in
preparation for planting.
    She let loose with a low whistle as she surveyed the damage.
“Are we sure no one’s under there?”
    “Yep,” Deputy Dawson answered then scratched at his belly
hanging over his belt.
    Where Reutgers was the department’s future, Dawson was the
epitome of everything wrong with the old regime. He was a coffee-guzzling,
doughnut-popping chauvinist who reinforced the stereotype of good ol’ boy law enforcement. On some days she wished his size thirteens would get in his
way, tripping him up so he could retire with his pension and leave the real
work to those who actually gave a shit.
    “I’m not taking any chances. Call in Joyce and Armando. I
want their dog out here, now.” She crouched near the edge and drew in a deep
breath. Under the damp, bitter scent of freshly turned earth and metallic rock,
she tasted the burn of primer on the back of her tongue. It reminded her of the
year she spent on the bomb squad during her anti-terrorism training. Each night
she had come home smelling like a fireworks factory. “Someone set this to
blow.”
    Dawson snorted and tried to fold his arms across his chest,
only succeeding as far as crossing his wrists. “Why would anyone go to the
trouble to create a ditch with explosives?”
    Her gut told her it had something to do with the tunnel
found yesterday. “That’s our job to find out. Bust out the gloves, boys. I want
samples of dirt, rock and foliage from all over this area. I also want a
geologist called out for a consultation.” Oh what she wouldn’t give for a
proper forensic unit.
    “A geologist? What for?”
    “Unless you have a degree in topography or geology that I
don’t know about, I want to know what’s so special about this stretch of rock.”
    He turned to spit then sucked at his teeth. “It’ll just be a
waste of time, and it’s not like anyone was hurt.”
    “I’m sure these rangers appreciate your concern. If bending
over is too much for you, Dawson, then find me the geologist.”
    “Where the hell am I going to find one of those?”
    “It’s called the internet. There are websites out there
beyond the ones with