All I Want Read online

  “Ah, man, come on,” Mick whined. “You know I can’t talk to you no more if I want to keep breathing.”

  “Tell me enough to catch the Butcher and you have nothing to fear,” Parker countered.

  “Jesus, you’re killing me. Did you go to the Rocky Falls area? Cat’s Paw?”

  “Yes,” Parker said. “And why Cat’s Paw? Only locals know about that place.”

  “Carver grew up there. He’s still got connections.”

  “There’s nothing there,” Parker said. “Except a possible militia hideout.”

  “Yeah, his brother’s militia,” Mick said. “And that asshole’s as mean as Carver.”

  Parker felt his temper stir. “And you left all this out before because . . .?”

  “Because you didn’t ask.”

  “Or because you were trying to fuck up the investigation,” Parker said. “A federal crime, by the way.”

  “No, I wasn’t trying to fuck you up, I swear!”

  “Or maybe you were trying to get me killed.”

  “No! Man, you’re touchy. It’s nothing like that,” Mick rushed to assure him.

  “Then why don’t you tell me what it is like.”

  “You asked and I told you, he’s there in Idaho. It got too hot with you guys, specifically you, so he went home to hide out until things cooled off. He knows that entire area inside and out. And it’s a great place to lay low because it’s tough to get to and nearly impossible to sneak up on him. Plus, having grown up on that mountain, he’s got friends and relatives who’ll protect him to the end.”

  “By friends and relatives, you mean the people he’s now using as a screen for protection?” Parker asked.

  “Well, it’s not like they’re innocents,” Mick said. “His family tree belongs on the walls of post offices and cop shops across the country, if you know what I’m saying.”

  “What else am I missing?” Parker asked.

  “Nothing! Now do me a favor and lose my number.”

  Parker disconnected. Then he called his only other contact in the area besides Wyatt. Kel was a local sheriff and a good one. If anyone knew anything about this, it would be Kel.

  “Been a long time,” the sheriff said when he answered. “You’ve been busy, I hear.”

  Law enforcement, all divisions and agencies, were like the quad at any high school. Filled with gossip. “Little bit,” Parker said. “And you?”

  “I’m thinking you didn’t call to chitchat.”

  Directness. Parker appreciated it. “I need to know what’s going on up at Rocky Falls.”

  “Why?”

  Fair enough question. “A few years ago we arrested what we thought was a small onetime-operation kind of guy for endangered species poaching. He worked the Pacific Northwest, selling skins and other illegal items to a bigger organization. Small fries, but we wanted the bigger cartel so we cut him loose under certain terms.”

  “Certain terms,” Kel repeated. “You recruited him as an informant.”

  “To help us catch his former boss, Tripp Carver, also known as the Butcher.”

  “The guy who killed one of your agents,” Kel said.

  “Yeah, and now we’ve got rumors of four point five million dollars in skins and ivory being readied for sale.”

  “And you think this Carver is in Rocky Falls with the goods?”

  “Specifically at Cat’s Paw.”

  There was a beat of silence. “Thought you were on medical leave,” Kel finally said.

  Parker pleaded the fifth, and Kel laughed softly. “Okay, so that’s not going to slow you down, I get it. You got anything more than rumors?”

  “I’ve gone further on less. What can you tell me?”

  “That you’re not the only one with eyes on the prize.”

  Parker read between the lines on that one. “Local law’s on it?”

  “Bigger,” Kel said. “We were told to stay out of it. I can nose around some if you need.”

  “I need.” Parker heard Zoe coming in the front door, heard the sounds of Oreo scrambling off the spot on the couch he wasn’t supposed to nap in and go skidding to the foyer with a welcoming woof! He thanked Kel and disconnected, and then ambled into the living room.

  Zoe had dropped her things and crouched down to give Oreo a doggie treat from her purse. “Who’s a good boy?” she murmured.

  “Well, I don’t like to brag, but I’ve been pretty good,” Parker said.

  She lifted her gaze to where he’d stopped in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, leaning against the jamb. “Do you want a cookie, too?” she asked.

  “Depends,” he said. “Did you bake them?”

  She rolled her eyes and pulled Oreo in for a full body hug, giving him a loud smooch on top of his snout.

  “I wouldn’t say no to one of those, either,” Parker said. She ignored this, too, except for the flush that stained her cheeks. She looked beat to hell. Her hair was tousled and she had what might have been a grease stain across her jaw. At some point she’d ditched her blazer and wore just the white silky tank top, also sporting a stain across one breast.

  Catching him looking, she shrugged. “Dougie, our mechanic, was moving too slow on the Cessna Caravan. I was giving him a hand.”

  “You can work on an airplane but you can’t fix anything here at the house?”

  “Yeah, well, I’m an enigma,” she said. “An annoying one. Just ask anyone in my family.”

  Pushing off the jamb, Parker moved close to her, watching as her breath caught and her eyes locked on his mouth.

  It was a relief, really, to know that he caused the same baffling reactions in her as she did in him. “I’m not annoyed by you,” he said.

  “No?”

  He smiled. “No.”

  “What are you?” she whispered, still staring at his mouth.

  “Lots of things.” He pulled her up and rubbed his thumb over the stain on her jaw, feeling a surge of satisfaction when her breath caught again. “Including turned on.”

  Her gaze flew to his. “I turn you on?”

  “Yes.”

  She stared at him some more. “We’re not doing this. We’d be stupid to do this.”

  “I agree. But that doesn’t seem to mean a damn thing to me.”

  She didn’t say anything and he raised his brows. “Am I alone in this, Zoe?”

  Appearing to wrestle with that, she hesitated, and he wondered if she’d lie.

  “No,” she finally said. “But that’s only because I haven’t actually . . . Well.” She grimaced. “Let’s just say it’s been a while for me. With someone else. Together.” When he smiled, she groaned. “You know what I mean!”

  “And that’s the only reason you want me, because it’s been a while?”

  She busied herself with gathering up her things.

  But Parker hadn’t gained his investigator skills by accident. He’d started as a teen trying to figure out how to get out of the life that had been set in stone long before he’d been born, and he’d only honed his ways of ferreting out the truth in the years since. He’d long ago learned the value of holding his silence, and sure enough his patience was rewarded.

  “Okay, that’s not the only reason,” she finally said. “My current theory is that it’s because you’re sweet to my big, silly dog.” She paused. “And also maybe a little bit because you have nice eyes.” She closed hers.

  He laughed. “I like where you’re going with this.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” She fanned her heated cheeks. “Except to the shower.” She popped open her eyes. “Alone.” She headed up the stairs.

  Parker was trying really hard not to imagine her stripping out of her clothes when he heard the bathroom door yank back open.

  “Hey,” she yelled down the stairs. “Why does this lock work?”

  Oreo looked at Parker.

  Parker put a finger to his lips, and Oreo seemed to grin at him.

  The door slammed again.

  And