Cole: Black Bear Outlaws #3 (Mating Fever) Read Free Page A

But he was clean now, and the most respected P.I. in southern California.
    “Do you have anything for me?” I asked him.
    “Nothing yet. But we have a few leads I’m running down. We have partial plate numbers from the security camera, an interview scheduled with the neighbor when she gets back in town later in the week, and I have an assistant running down background checks on everyone in Amberly’s immediate circle. That includes co-workers, friends, and relatives. There’s always a connection.”
    Relatives. Amberly didn’t have any left. Her grandmother had been her sole family before she’d died three years ago. She was the same woman who’d left Amberly this house she hadn’t even wanted, but said she’d kept because it was the last connection to any sort of family. “No chance it’s some random fan?”
    “Could be, but there’d be some sort of warning before the threats escalated this far. Those cases usually start with letters or emails and progress from there. This feels a lot more personal.”
    “All right.” The rumble of a delivery truck drew my attention. I gazed out the window, watching as the driver ran a small package up to the porch, dropped it off, and jogged back to his truck. “Looks like I’ll be in town by tomorrow morning. I’d like to come by so we can put our heads together on a list of possible suspects.”
    “Here? I thought our client was laying low?”
    The front door opened, followed by Amberly grabbing the package and disappearing back into the house. “She was, but she needs to get back for work. Where she goes, I go.”
    “I see.” The hesitation in his tone told me everything I needed to know. Going to L.A. was a bad idea.
    “I’ll call you tomorrow,” I said and clicked off before he could voice his concerns. He didn’t need to. We were on the same page.
    I stuffed the last of my crap in my bag, and lugged it downstairs. Amberly already had her four suitcases lined up near the front door. The box she’d carried in was on a side table, unopened. I moved to inspect the address label. As expected, it was for Amberly. But the return address was a surprise. Why was someone sending her something from a small town about thirty miles north of Bayou Basin? She’d said other than the house, she didn’t have any ties to Louisiana.
    A quick search on my phone indicated the address was an independent shipping store. Warning bells went off in my head, and I strode to the kitchen with the box tucked under my arm.
    Amberly still had the phone pressed to her ear, but her eyes found me as soon as I crossed into the room.
    I held the box up and whispered, “Do you know who this is from?”
    She shook her head and spoke into the phone. “What if I hire an entire security team? Not just for me, but for the set, too?”
    The scowl that followed didn’t indicate good news. Looked like her plans to get back to work weren’t shaking out.
    Unwilling to open the box in her presence, I took it outside and set it on a small round table next to the porch railing. It wasn’t very heavy, maybe five pounds at the most. There was no telling what could be hiding on the inside, and I wanted to see it, whatever it was, before Amberly did. Using my pocket knife, I cut through the packing tape. Inside, the top was filled with white tissue paper. I sucked in a breath, and used the tip of my knife to lift the filler.
    “Son of a bitch,” I whispered to myself as I took a quick shot of it with my smart phone.
    “What is it?” Amberly said from behind me.
    I spun, not wanting her to see the contents, and accidentally nudged the box, sending it sailing right over the porch railing.
    A loud boom sounded from below, followed by a surge of heat as flames shot up.
    “Get down!” I yelled, tackling her. We flew through the back door and landed on the hard tile of her kitchen. Her small frame was trapped underneath my larger one, while her eyes were round with fear.
    “Was that...” She swallowed