Hook Read online

Hook blinked. “Something big? I could be okay losing time off for a good payday.”

  “Not really.” Brian’s gaze didn’t meet his gaze as he pushed back his chair then slowly wheeled around to face him. “Fetch needs a favor. You’ll be paid a daily rate. It’s more than fair, but there’s no bounty involved.”

  “And someone else here couldn’t take this job?” He knew he was the new guy, but he had just come off a week-long chase.

  “Jamie and Sky took some time off. They’ve pushed back the wedding twice, and they’ve been fighting about it. Jamie wants to go to City Hall. Sky wants something special. They said they wouldn’t be back until they got everything nailed this time. Cochise is in Whitefish, tracking a guy up for assault. Lacey’s been doing the grunt work tracking down a car thief. She and Dagger will be heading out in the morning. He doesn’t know that yet, but I doubt he’ll mind…” he said, leaning in his chair to stare at the couple who didn’t seem to remember they had an audience.

  “And Reaper and Carly?” Hook prodded him.

  “They’ll be holding down the fort. Not that you shouldn’t be able to do some small gigs on the side—rounding up folks who didn’t make their drug tests.”

  Knowing he was only delaying the inevitable, he asked, “So, what’s the job?”

  The door chime sounded, announcing an arrival.

  “The job’s here…” Brian said, blowing out a relieved breath and then aiming a smile at whoever just walked through the door.

  Hook turned and saw Fetch Winter stride into the office. Hook had been hired by Jamie, but he’d met the man who’d started Montana Bounty Hunters a time or two when he’d swung by to check in on his first satellite office. Following Fetch inside was a slim woman with straight red hair cut in one of those downward-edged bobs. The red was darker than a copper penny. Her pale skin was in stark contrast to her vibrant hair, having an almost translucent quality. Most arresting were her green eyes. She was dressed casually in jeans and some sort of black T-shirt with white scientific equations covering the front.

  Cute, but “nerdy” wasn’t his type. Which didn’t matter anyway since he wasn’t looking for a girlfriend…

  Fetch saw him and waved him over. “Hey, Hook!”

  The woman’s gaze went to his prosthesis then snapped back to Fetch. “Seriously, that’s what you call him?”

  Fetch grinned.

  Hook shrugged. “It’s alright. He’s not dissing me. Last name’s Hoecker. Hook was the name I got in basic training, well before this,” he said, raising his arm. “And yeah, I did find it kind of ironic.”

  Fetch cleared his voice. “We should talk.” He led the way to the conference room, and the three took seats around the table.

  “Brian says you have a job for me,” Hook said.

  The redhead wrinkled her nose. “I’m the job.”

  Hook’s eyebrows rose. “How so?”

  Fetch leaned back and gave the woman a tight smile. “This is Felicity Gronkowski. I paid her bail to get her out of jail. It was rather large. She’s doing a job for us, setting up some equipment here.”

  “This have to do with the new server installation and the security equipment for the office we’ve been expecting?”

  “Yes. She’s doing the installation and will work closely with Brian to get everything connected.”

  “So, you bonded her out.” He couldn’t quite get past the fact their boss had done that. Sure, he bonded out people all the time, but paying bail for someone he wanted to come work for him…

  “Yeah, and I got her a lawyer, too, who’s working with private investigators to look into crimes Felicity’s been charged with. She was arrested for a string of burglaries.”

  Hook drew a quick breath. “You’re having someone who’s wanted for theft, installing our new systems…”

  “I’m right here,” she muttered, her lips firming into a straight line.

  His gaze didn’t stray from Fetch. “Sorry, I’m just trying to figure out what you want me to do.”

  The redhead smirked. “You’re my babysitter.”

  “Now, Felicity…” Fetch said, giving her a glare.

  A dark brow arched over brilliant green eyes. “He’s confused. I’m just breaking it down for him in simple words.”

  Hook felt heat creep up his neck. “It’s just…not what I expected.”

  Fetch leaned forward. “Look, the job’s easy. I’m putting you both up in a hotel, adjoining rooms, because I don’t want her wandering off. The PIs aren’t getting anywhere, and her trial’s in ten days. She’s understandably nervous. But she can’t go investigating for herself, or she might make matters worse.”

  “She a flight risk?”

  Felicity rolled her eyes. “Again, she’s right here.”

  Fetch’s mouth twitched. “I put the money down on her bond. I’m not going to lose it. So, you get to keep tabs on her while she’s here in Bear Lodge.”

  Hook blew out a breath that billowed his cheeks. “Brian said I could catch some small, local jobs.”

  “If you have to leave the office, she goes with you.”

  “That doesn’t sound the least inconvenient,” Hook muttered.

  “Just don’t underestimate her. She may be no bigger than a minute, but she’s ex-Army. Very capable. And smart.”

  “Why thank you, Fetch,” she said, patting her red hair.

  Fetch sighed and glanced her way. “You’re not going to give him any trouble, are you?”

  “Did I give you any?” she asked, her tone sweet.

  He raised a thick, dark eyebrow.

  Her gaze fell away.

  Hook surmised she had given Fetch some trouble, and now, he wondered exactly how closely he’d have to watch the woman. Good thing she wasn’t his type. Although the pout she wore plumped her pillowy bottom lip in a slightly arousing way…

  He shook his head to get rid of that thought. “Felon” wasn’t his type.

  Fetch looked at Hook again. “Can you handle this?”

  “Yes, sir.” He wouldn’t fail. He liked this job. One pint-sized terror wasn’t going to be any problem at all.

  Felicity didn’t like acting like a brat in front of Fetch when he’d briefed her new watchdog, but she’d been embarrassed having Fetch spell out the charges against her to the hot guy sitting across the table. Now, he thought she was a loser. A soon-to-be felon. Gum on the bottom of his shoe.

  Worse, she could tell how much he hated this assignment. His square jaw had tightened while Fetch had handed him the room keys and a company credit card to use to pay for their meals and final hotel bill.

  After the two men had shaken hands, Fetch had given her a hug and an admonition to behave, and then left her in Hook’s care. Inside, she’d railed at her circumstance. But she supposed it was better to be mad than to let the panic she fought every night seep in. She had only ten days until her trial started. The last time she’d spoken to Monica on the phone, the other woman had sighed.

  “We’re coming up empty, Felicity. My guys are digging. Looking for any employee who’s suddenly come into some cash, but there’s been nothing. We’ve put surveillance on the tech who trained you, but so far, he’s a total choir boy.”

  “Cameron’s been there forever. I can’t imagine it was him.”

  “I have a computer guy going through their system, looking to see if anyone monkeyed with code to implicate you. We aren’t giving up.”

  Felicity closed her eyes. “Thank you. And I know you have good people working on this.”

  “The best. Renegade Investigation and Protection is worth every penny Fetch is paying.”

  “I hate that he’s doing all this for me.”

  “Be glad he has your back. Fetch is good people.”

  Her hand tightened on her phone. “But I don’t know how I’ll pay him back if I’m convicted.”

  “Sweetie, I’m not going to give you platitudes. It’s looking bad, but heed Fetch’s warning. You can’t be involved in this.”

/>   “I know.” Well, she’d said the words, but it was getting harder and harder stay away.

  How could she do nothing? The thought of living inside a small cell for years left her feeling nauseated. The constant fear made it impossible to sleep. Her moods swung wildly from panic to melancholy. Not good feelings at all.

  “We should break for the night.”

  She glanced over at the office manager. Brian Cobb’s eyebrows were raised over his puppy-dog eyes. “Yeah, we should break.” He looked a little tired. And since she liked him, she gave him a smile and nodded, although she would have preferred to continue working, just because the thought of heading back to a hotel room where she’d be staring at the walls sounded…lonely.

  She glanced at the boxes she and Hook had brought in on dollies from the U-haul trailer Fetch had unhitched before leaving. They’d spent the afternoon opening boxes and tossing away packaging. The larger units were placed where they’d be installed.

  Tomorrow was soon enough to begin connecting everything. This part of the job would be easy now that the servers were up and working in the Kalispell office. All she had to do was connect the modems here, do some maintenance on their current hardware, upload some new programming, and then she could work on the security installation for the office. And maybe steal some time to hunt around social media online to see what her former work buddies were up to. Something she couldn’t do with people always looking over her shoulders. What harm would it do?

  She had just a few days’ work here, although Fetch had said she could take a week. Sometime during the coming days, she’d find a way to do some snooping on her own.

  “I’m closing up,” Hook said, from his workstation.

  “The boss has spoken,” Felicity muttered.

  His gaze narrowed on her for a fraction of a second, and she felt her heart skip a beat. His intense blue gaze did things to her. Didn’t help he was built like a brick house with broad shoulders, narrow hips, and an ass you could bounce quarters off.

  He pushed up from his desk and gave Brian a quick, flashing grin. “I’m meeting Raydeen in the morning for a run. Want me to send your love?”

  Brian frowned. “You can tell her hi.”

  One side of Hook’s mouth curved. Damn, the guy was cute when he smiled.

  He led her to a black 4Runner in the parking lot and hit the remote to unlock the doors. She climbed in and waited for him to circle around to the driver’s side. The vehicle was an older model, but the interior was immaculate. She cringed thinking about her very messy Corolla that had equipment, manuals, and mail littering the back seat and floorboard, as well as kid’s meals’ toys she’d collected from her lunch bags.

  When he climbed inside, he buckled in and gave her a glare until she did the same. Only then did he start the vehicle. “I suppose we should eat before we head to the hotel. No room service.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe they have takeout menus at the desk.”

  He gave her another glare. “I want real food.”

  “Pizza’s real food. And then we wouldn’t have to worry about breakfast.” She was proud of herself for keeping a straight face as she said it.

  He grunted but otherwise didn’t respond. Instead, he backed out of the parking space and drove out of the agency’s small lot. He turned left.

  They drove along the main street of Bear Lodge, and she perked up because she’d missed this view on her drive with Fetch since they’d come straight in on the state highway. Bear Lodge was exactly what one would expect of a small Montana town—weathered, but quaint. Mountains in the distance provided a hint of grandeur. Storefronts were a hodgepodge of different eras of architecture, but it looked as though the town had set standards for signage—hanging perpendicular from establishment walls from bars and attached with small chains. They shared the same artwork, a grizzly in the corner, brown backgrounds with the names in bright red and yellow painted fonts.

  They pulled into a space in front of Bear Lodge Café. The large plate-glass window showed a well-lit interior with black-and-white tiled floors, red vinyl booths, and a long polished wood counter, behind which a couple of waitresses moved, pulling food from a chrome ledge beneath a kitchen window and filling drinks.

  As soon as Hook cut the engine, she unbuckled and exited the 4Runner. Her stomach growled.

  Inside, they took seats at a booth and a waitress, wearing a black-and-white checkered shirt tucked into tight blue jeans, appeared beside them. She laid menus on the table and placed tall glasses of ice water in front of them. “I’ll give you two a few minutes.”

  Her gaze went from Felicity to Hook, where it lingered. Her appreciation for what she saw was apparent in her expression. Her cheeks blushed a pretty pink, and her eyelids dipped. As her gaze passed over his prosthetic, her expression didn’t change.

  Hook didn’t seem to notice she was checking him out. His attention was on his menu.

  Felicity didn’t know why, but the woman’s interest, and his inattention, annoyed her. “Thanks, but I don’t need any extra time,” she said, drawing the blonde’s gaze back to her. “I’d like a burger with fries. Extra onions.”

  Hook cleared his throat. “We’ll both have the country-fried steak with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a side salad. What dressing would you like?” he said, spearing her with a glare.

  She almost protested that she preferred a burger, but his gaze was too intense, and she didn’t like the fact the blonde was watching the exchange with her eyes rounding just a bit. “Ranch.”

  “The same,” Hook said, then folded his menu closed and plucked hers from her fingers to hand back to the waitress who quickly moved away.

  Felicity leaned over the table. “I wanted the burger!” she whispered harshly.

  “And you eat pizza for breakfast. I know. While you’re in my custody—”

  “I’m not in your custody.”

  “As good as. Fetch put you in my care.”

  She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Doesn’t mean you can dictate what I eat.”

  “Someone needs to. You’re too skinny and too pale. You need a few good meals and some rest.”

  “I’ll get plenty of that when I’m in jail.”

  His mouth firmed into a straight line. Then he sighed and settled back against the seat. “Okay, I shouldn’t have ordered for you. It was—”

  “Arrogant?”

  He nodded. “I don’t order for the women I date, just so you know. But Fetch put you in my care. I take my job seriously.”

  Salads arrived, along with a small loaf of sourdough bread with a tiny crock of butter. This time the waitress didn’t linger.

  Hook waved at the bread, and she reached eagerly for the knife beside it and cut the loaf in half, then halved it again and slathered it with butter. At first bite, she groaned.

  “Better than pizza?” he asked, with a small smile.

  “Much,” she said around a mouthful then blushed at her bad manners.

  They ate in silence that continued after their entrees were delivered, piping hot from the kitchen. However, the silence was neither awkward nor charged. They both tucked in to clean their plates.

  When she finished, she pushed back her plate. “Good Lord, I can’t believe I ate all of that.”

  “Neither can I,” he drawled. “You’re tiny. I don’t know where you put it.”

  She patted her tummy. “I have a fast metabolism. Before… before all this, I pretty much snacked all day.”

  His gaze dropped back to his plate, and he used his bread to mop up the last of the gravy.

  “I didn’t do it. Those robberies,” she said, because she didn’t like the thought of him thinking she was that kind of person. “Fetch believes me. It’s why he bailed me out, and why he hired people to find the truth.”

  When he raised his head, his stare was steady. “Fetch has a soft spot for ex-soldiers. Especially those in need.”

  “Were you in need?” she asked, trying to keep her tone
casual, but she was curious about the man.

  “He didn’t hire me. Jamie did, but he approved her hiring me straight from rehab. First job outside the Army. Brian met me first then recommended me to Jamie. Next thing I knew, she showed up on my doorstep with her fiancé, Sky. She offered me a job without knowing whether I could even do it.”

  “Why wouldn’t you be able to? You seem very…competent…with that arm.”

  His face screwed up in a grimace. “If I’d lost my left arm, the transition wouldn’t have been nearly as difficult. I was never ambidextrous. Tying shoes with one hand escapes me. Hell, cuffing a man is damn hard. My handwriting’s shit. But I can shoot. That came surprisingly easy.”

  “If you don’t mind my asking, how’d it happen?”

  “IED in Afghanistan. My squad was on foot patrol. The guy in front of me was obliterated. I was lucky.”

  The way he spoke, in bulleted words, told her he wasn’t comfortable talking about it, so she backed away from the topic. “Have you been with the agency long?”

  He shook his head. “Just a couple of months. Long enough to know I like this job. I like the crew I work with.”

  “I’ve heard a lot about them. Fetch says Jamie’s the best.”

  “They were deployed together. She was one of his soldiers. He wanted to open another office, so he put her and her partner, Reaper, in charge. Her fiancé Sky’s a SEAL and was an operative for a protective agency. They ended up working together on a case, and afterward, he decided to jump ship and join our agency. You met Dagger and Lacey. I think the only person you haven’t met yet is Cochise.”

  “Seems like everyone’s pretty tight.”

  “They’re all family.”

  “Not you?”

  “Not yet. I’m the new guy.”

  “At least you have the opportunity. Once they get to know you, it’ll happen.”

  He shrugged. “You ready to head to the hotel?”

  “You’re asking?” she said, both eyebrows shooting upward.

  He gave her a slightly sheepish grin. “Not really.”

  She took no offense and gave him a cheeky, “Well, then I’m ready.”

  Chapter 4