Hunt and Prey (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 8) by Kaylie Hunter (novels to read for beginners txt) 📕

Hunt and Prey

Kelsey’s Burden Series: Book Eight

 Crime Drama Series

KAYLIE HUNTER

This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, businesses, incidents, etc., are the imagination of the author, and any resemblance to actual persons or otherwise is coincidental.

Copyright 2021 by Kaylie Hunter

All rights reserved.

Cover design by ebooklaunch.com

BOOKS BY KAYLIE

Kelsey’s Burden Series

Layered Lies

Past Haunts

Friends and Foes

Blood and Tears

Love and Rage

Day and Night

Hearts and Aces

Hunt and Prey

Heroes and Hellfire

Standalone Novels

Slightly Off-Balance

Diamond’s Edge

For an up-to-date book list, visit BooksByKaylie.com

Dedication

Happy 70th birthday, Mom!

Covid prevented me from throwing you a big surprise party, but at least I get

to embarrass you here. Thank you for being my constant rock.

You mean the world to me.

Love and kisses from your favorite child.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter One

KELSEY

Sunday, 9:30 a.m.

The neck cramp I’d earned from staring through the scope for two hours with my head tilted wasn’t half as miserable as the runny nose due to the rotting, soggy leaves piled beneath me. Cold, wet, and in desperate need of a tissue, I held my position and listened to Grady’s familiar call, a squirrel’s clucking, which alerted me that Team Alpha was getting closer.

Based on the fog-horn blasts that signaled when contestants were eliminated, Team Alpha was down to three players. Team Kelsey also had three players left.

At the start of the contest, we’d sent Trigger and Tech, guns blazing and thrashing loudly, into the woods ahead of us to take out as many rivals as they could while the rest of us advanced without concern of making noise. I knew we weren’t as stealthy as the other team, so a solid strategy was our only chance to win. Somehow Tech and Trigger eliminated one of our rivals in the process, which was an unexpected bonus.

A half an hour later, the fog horn had sounded for Katie and Bridget who’d been our second line of offense. Both women were top-notch shooters and had eliminated three Alphas. And now here we were, even-Steven, with each team having three contestants still in the game.

I flinched as the silent woods erupted with the sound of gunfire. The shots came from the far left, where Jackson had set up a nest for himself. After he fired off three rounds, I heard both Grady and Donovan curse. Two more rounds were fired near Jackson’s location.

“Damn it,” Jackson yelled, followed by the rustling of leaves and branches. “How the hell did you sneak past me?”

Bones’ deep chuckle sounded nearby. “I’m part Indian. It’s in my blood.”

Jackson muffled a few choice curses under his breath. “At least I got Donovan and Grady first.”

“Like I need them.” I could imagine him shrugging his indifference. “Kelsey’s no threat in this setting.”

“You always underestimate her,” Jackson said before stomping loudly between the trees to catch up with Grady and Donovan.

Grady had the ability to sense when someone was watching him so I was careful not to watch them leave. Unfortunately, I was now facing in the opposite direction of where my target was. Bones being behind our line wasn’t good. The woods had already lost their leaves and any movement would be easy to spot. Not to mention heard.

His statement that the woods were more his element than mine, while arrogant, was nonetheless true. He could win in a sneak attack against me all day long. My only hope of winning rested on the mere few seconds when the fog horn blasts went off, which would allow me to roll over and not be heard.

I rested my paintball rifle on the ground as silently as possible. Under the netting, I edged my right hand to my hip to grip my pistol. I waited as I listened to the noises behind me. Only a barely audible snap of a small twig alerted me that Bones was moving north, deeper into the woods.

As the fog horn sounded, I rolled to the right, sat up, and sighted my target. My movements caused Bones to turn, gun in hand. We both fired.

The paintball hit me square in the chest at the same time I heard Bones yell, “Motherfucker.”

I laid myself back in the leaves, both groaning and laughing. I used my left hand to rub my bruised breast plate, not caring that I was smearing the neon green paint in the process.

Bones walked over and looked down at me. “Where the hell did you get camo netting?”

I laughed as I reached my green-coated hand out for him to pull me up. “Our girly pink t-shirts with glitter lettering are reversible. It’s all camo and netting on this side. Itchy as hell, though.”

“Bridget and Katie’s idea?”

“Of course.” I rotated my head in circles, trying to loosen the kinks in my neck. “How do you guys stay still for so long? It was unbearable.”

“You get used to it.” Bones gently shoved me toward the houses. “Donovan’s going to be pissed when he sees us walk out together. At least we ended in a tie.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “Team Alpha was three points ahead after the obstacle course this morning. We officially win the tournament.”

I