Read Online Mystic Hearts by Cait Jarrod - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t mean
to be short,” he said. “Long night.”
    Her
features softened. “No offense taken.”
    He
received the drinks and kissed her cheek. “Jake’s a lucky guy.”
    She
laughed. “Remind him, would you? Hearing a man complimenting his wife does a
guy good.”
    Larry
snorted. “And get one of his glares? No thanks.”
    “You
have a point.” She wiped her hands on her jeans and nodded toward the water.
“Steve’s lingering near the river, too. Tell the big lug he’d better say hi
before he leaves.”
    “That,
I’ll do.”
    Larry
watched his best friend’s wife head inside before he headed toward their office
without walls.
    The
crisp, cool breeze rustled the leaves on the trees and his hair. Fallen leaves
covering the boarded walked way crunched under his feet, the perfect time of
year, not too hot and not too cold.
    The
walkway ended and he made his way through the noisy ground covered in dead
leaves and twigs to the large rock, near the water’s edge.
    “Hey,
buddy.” Agent Steve Anderson stepped from behind a tree, a furrow marring his
brow. “You okay?”
    Larry
looked between his past and present colleagues, realized from the concern lines
etched in their faces that he wore his turmoil on his, and quickly schooled his
expression. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
    Steve
studied him.
    Not
wanting to give a reason to discuss his inner thoughts, he maintained the blank
expression.  
    “No
reason.” Steve shrugged, letting him off the hook by not questioning him
further.
    Clean-shaven,
blond hair, and a powerful force in the field, Steve was known around the
office as the all-American boy, a perfect field agent. “Heard you kicked ass
overseas.”
    “The
team did, yes. We’re lucky. A few times the guys ended up in a tight spot.”
    Larry
patted him on the back. “Glad everyone’s intact.”
    “Me,
too,” Jake said, tossing a stick into the water.
    Willis
scurried after the stick, kicking dirt and leaves behind him, and jumped into
the water.
    “Exhaustion
must have stolen your covert skills,” Larry said to Steve. “Pamela saw you from
the window.”
    Steve
glanced toward the house. “Jake, you’ll have to plant a tree or two to conceal
our rock cave.”
    Jake
snickered. “Rock cave. Is that anything like a man cave?”
    “Yep.”
Steve shuffled and leaned back against a tree.
    “Beats
thinking rock.” Larry chuckled.
    “Thinking
rock?” Jake and Steve asked in unison.
    “Pamela’s
words, not mine,” Larry assured them.
    “You
can’t hide from my wife.”
    “I’m
not trying to. You know she’s like a sister to me.” Steve said, “I’ll talk to
her after we’re done.” He faced Larry. “So, you have the hots for Charlene and
came close to ruining the case.”
    Steve
was direct, but his meaning was lost on Larry. “What are you talking about?
What case?”
    “Get
it right, Steve.”
    Larry
appreciated his former comrade’s support.
    “By
him playing footsy with Charlene,” Jake said, “he didn’t come close to wrecking
the case, he crippled it.”
    Larry’s
jaw dropped. “You’re shitting me. Your brother calls on Charlene to stay the
night alone on Halloween, at an old house no less, after enduring a kidnapping,
and somehow, I managed to cripple a case I know nothing about?”
    “Paul
had no choice but to call Charlene,” Jake said. “I was tied up on a case.”
    “Same
here,” Steve added.
    Jake
petted Willis’s head and picked up the wet stick his dog dropped at his feet.
He tossed it into the water. “She could have said no.”
    Steve
darted his gaze toward the cooler in Larry’s hand. “Do you have a beer?”
    “Thanks
to Pamela,” he said, passing the container.
    Steve
set the cooler on the ground next to the rock, handed an open can to Jake and
popped open another for Larry.
    “Crippled
a case? No way in hell.” Irritated, Larry snatched the beer from Steve’s hand,
downed a few gulps, and enjoyed the robust taste.
    “You
didn’t cripple