Shadow Hawk Read online

  Odd. It would seem that there was a large group of people here somewhere, and yet there hadn’t been a soul in the house or in any of the small storage sheds behind it.

  Which left the huge barn.

  An icy gust hit Hawk in the face, burning his skin. He had to admit, things had definitely gone from interesting to tricky, because now the metal tiles beneath them were icing over. Any movement could be detrimental to their health, because slipping off here meant a thirty-foot fall to the frozen earth below.

  Thanks to his goggles, Hawk had a crystal-clear view of the ground, and the distance to it made him want to puke. They’d been in far worse circumstances, he reminded himself, where his fear of heights had been the least of his worries. He and Logan had done some pretty ugly shit involving some pretty ugly people. On more than one occasion, they’d managed to stay alive on instinct alone, in parts of the world that didn’t even warrant being on the map.

  So all in all, things had improved.

  “Hope it doesn’t rain, because this baby’ll turn right into a giant metal slide.” Logan said this calmly, because he, damn him, did not have a height issue. “Like the one at the carnival—”

  “Logan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Shut up.”

  He laughed softly.

  The temperature had indeed dropped to two degrees above freezing their balls off, and with that wind icing up their organs, Hawk wanted to get a move on. But they were stuck up here until they got the signal from communications, which happened to be Abby and crew parked in a van on the main road half a mile south of here. “We need to move closer,” he said to her via his mic, over a noisy gust that whipped dust from the roof and into his face.

  “Remain in position,” she ordered, her voice breaking with static, but still sounding soft, warm…and sexy as hell.

  At least in Hawk’s opinion.

  Just listening to her made him react like Pavlov’s dog. Only he wasn’t drooling. Nope, listening to her elicited visions of wild up-against-the-wall sex, which caused a much more base reaction than slobber. “Remaining in position isn’t going to work,” he told her.

  “Soon as I hear from Watkins and Thomas,” she said, the static increasing, “we’ll move.”

  We. As in not her. He knew she used to be a great field agent, and yeah, so he’d read her files. But all her cases had ended abruptly a year ago, and no amount of digging could produce a reason. Then, after a six-month leave, she’d transferred from Seattle to Cheyenne, where Hawk had done his best to ignore his inexplicable attraction to her, because that had seemed to work for her.

  But now he wondered, how was it she’d gotten so comfortable behind the safety net? Why had she given up being in the trenches with the rest of them for a computer screen?

  “Watkins and Thomas are making their way to the east and west doors beneath you,” she added, referring to Logan’s and Hawk’s counterparts on the ground. “Wait for my cue.”

  Uh-huh. Easy for her to say. She sat out of the slicing wind in that van, and Hawk would bet money she had the motor running and the heater on full blast.

  She’d changed on the plane, out of her skirt, the one that had messed with his mind every time it clung to her thighs, which was only with every single movement she made. But her cargo pants and long-sleeved ATF button-down clung to her, too. Hell, she could wear a potato sack and do something to him.

  Logan shifted. Probably trying not to freeze to the roof. Hawk did the same, but for different reasons entirely.

  “Nearly there,” Thomas said into their earpieces. “Hearing noises from inside, a steady pinging.”

  “Affirmative,” Watkins said. “The windows are blacked out, going in southwest door—Jesus. It’s full of ammo and workstations. Definitely bomb-making going on here, guys, but there’s no one in sight.” He let out a low whistle. “Seriously, there’s enough blow in here to make Las Vegas prime beachfront property.”

  “Suspects?” Abby asked.

  “None.”

  “That can’t be,” she murmured.

  Hawk had to agree with her. Something was off, and not just because they’d managed to get onto the premises and up here, past the alarm and a pack of hungry rottweilers without being detected. But now they’d found the proof, right beneath their noses? It was all too easy. He flicked off his mic and looked at Logan.

  “You thinking what I’m thinking?” Logan asked.

  “That we’re being set up, instead of the other way around?”

  “Bingo.”

  “I’m guessing we got too close, and he’s unhappy with us?”

  “Let’s make him really unhappy and catch the SOB red-handed.”

  “Watkins, search the interior,” Abby directed, the static now nearly overriding her voice. “Hawk, Logan, guard the exits from above.”

  “But where is everyone?” This from Thomas. “It’s like a ghost town in here.”

  “There’s got to be a building we haven’t cased yet. Or a basement. Something,” she insisted. “Find it. Find them.”

  “There’s nothing,” Watkins said from inside. “No one.”

  Logan cocked his head just as Hawk felt it, a slight vibration beneath them. It was hard to discern between the howling wind screeching in his ear and the sharp static on the radio, but he’d bet that they were no longer alone up here.

  “What’s going on?” Abby asked.

  Neither Logan or Hawk answered, not wanting to give away their position in the icy darkness, which was so complete that without the night vision goggles, they couldn’t have seen a hand in front of their faces. Unfortunately, the goggles couldn’t cut through the heavy dust kicked up by the wind as they silently moved toward the ladder they’d commandeered and left on the northeast side.

  Which was now missing. Shit.

  “Problem,” Logan said.

  “What?” Abby repeated in that voice that could give a dead guy a wet dream. Hopefully Hawk wasn’t going to get dead, but without the ladder there was no way down without taking a flying leap. Just the thought made him break out into a cold, slippery sweat.

  Logan jerked his head to the left, and Hawk nodded. Logan would go left, and he’d go right.

  “Logan,” Abby said tightly. “Hawk. Check in.”

  “We’ve got company,” Logan said, so calmly he sounded comatose. “We’re separating to locate.”

  “Details,” she demanded.

  “Someone took our ladder.”

  There was silence for one disbelieving beat. “Watkins, Thomas,” she snapped. “Back them up. Now.”

  She was sounding a little more drill sergeant and a little less sex kitten, thought Hawk. Which was good, except he must be one sick puppy because the sound of her kicking ass turned him on as much as when she’d sounded like she was kissing it.

  “West side is clear,” Logan reported via radio, right on cue.

  “Hawk?” This from Abby. “Check in.”

  “Oh, I’m fine, thanks.” He eyed the slippery roof, the distance to the ground, and gave a shudder. At Abby’s growl of frustration, he let slip a grim smile as he looked left, right, behind him. Another gust blew through, wailing, railing, raising both holy hell and a thick cloud of dust as the icy air sliced right through him. He couldn’t see anything, any sign of Logan behind him, or anyone else.

  Which could be good.

  Or very, very bad.

  “Where are you?” Abby asked.

  In hell. Of that, Hawk had no doubt. “Logan?”

  “Hawk, get down now,” Logan suddenly said, and then came a click, as if he’d been cut off.

  “Logan?” Hawk tapped the earpiece. Nothing. The radio was dead, but he’d get off the roof because Logan’s instincts were as good as his own. He couldn’t see much, but he knew there was a tall oak nearby, with branches close enough to reach and subsequently shimmy down. All the way down. Christ.

  A sound came from three o’clock, and Hawk whipped his head around. Logan or enemy? Going