The Enforcer Read Free Page A

pleaded.
    “ You know it’s true. Who’s going to take my place?”
    She swallowed hard at the wrenching reminder that she would soon lose her dearest and only friend. Tearing one of her hushpuppies in half, she stuffed the morsel in her mouth and chewed it without tasting. Terrence was right, of course, but… “I don’t know. I don’t trust him,” she said. The memory of the FBI’s suspicions made her extra cautious.
    Or maybe it was just herself she didn ’t trust.
    Tobias Burke hadn ’t been at all what she’d expected. It was true he’d evoked disturbing memories of the war, but apart from that, he’d made her feel unsettled, tumultuous--even excited. Thank God for his dog or she would have stammered like a schoolgirl under his dancing, ocean-blue gaze. And those hands—they were exquisite, strong yet sensitive. Combined with his sexy smile, his presence had kept her enthralled and therefore fully in the present, until he’d agitated her PTSD by bringing up that story about the poor child blowing up.
    It was easier just to send him away than it was to examine her reaction to him.  
    Terrence’s chair groaned as he leaned back and folded his arms in palpable disagreement. No words were needed to make Dylan regret her quick decision. 
    Her right temple throbbed. She closed her eyes and rubbed it absently. She had always trusted Terrence ’s intuition, especially in times like this, when her own mind was so confused and unreliable. Besides, given her XO’s diagnosis of incurable, stage-four leukemia, time was running out on her most trusted friend, and she could use a soldier with Burke’s expertise and obvious physical prowess to take his place. So what if he was as emotionally unstable as she was? She had PTSD, herself, and still managed to function as a physician and a well regarded leader. And despite what she’d told him, her militia was filled with less-than-stable individuals.
    “ Let’s go find him,” she decided. 
    They both left money on the table, enough to cover the bill and the tip. Departing the pub, they climbed into Dylan ’s old Chevy Suburban, which was parked across the street. Because of his prosthetic leg, Ashby let her drive. Neither of them spoke as Dylan pulled a U-turn, guiding the gas-guzzler through Lower Town where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers converged under a high bridge. 
    Tobias Burke wasn ’t lingering around the Swiss Miss ice cream shop or the Coffee Mill, or even at the park down by the water. Dylan turned up High Street, throwing the gear shift into a lower gear to fight the steep grade as she drove back up the mountain.
    And then she spied him sitting on the stone wall adjacent to the road, and her pulse ticked upward. He sat with one foot up on the wall, the other dangling by his dog, looking like he was waiting for her. Had he been?  
    Dismissing the absurd thought, she eased up on the gas and slowed to a stop, lowering her window. His widening smile gave rise to an unmistakable warmth spreading through her body.   
    “ You’ll have to cut your hair immediately,” she announced, employing her sternest voice to combat his weakening effect on her. “And shave that scruff off your face.”
    “ Not a problem.” He leapt nimbly off the wall.
    “ And you will address me as ma’am or Captain Connelly,” she informed him, elevating her position to maintain her distance.
    “ Yes, ma’am.” He picked up his bag and grinned at her.  
    She had the feeling she was being mocked but let it slide. “Well, get in the car, then, unless you have somewhere else to stay.”
    Without another word, he crossed to the SUV, opened the rear passenger door for his dog and climbed in after her, sitting right behind Dylan.
    As she gunned the engine to get them moving again, she glanced in the rearview and caught him looking pleased with himself. 
    “ Don’t get too comfortable, Mr. Burke,” she warned him, tightening her grip on the wheel. “I’m taking