Under Threat by B.J. Daniels (reading the story of the .TXT) 📕

leash and willing to talk was a huge breakthrough in our cases. And then you ruined my interrogation.”

“You were asking the wrong questions.”

“I know what the right questions are. I’ve been doing this for too long to ask the wrong questions. You were taking too direct an approach, and it wasn’t even your job to approach anything.” He gritted his teeth to stop from talking. He wasn’t going to let her rile him up with her ridiculous accusations.

He finished his soup and then closed out all the files he didn’t want her to have access to. He set his computer up so he’d be able to track whatever she did try to look up while he was asleep.

He didn’t consider it underhanded, he considered it necessary.

“I’m going to sleep. Obviously you can make yourself comfortable, but keep all doors locked, all windows covered. You hear a noise, see anything suspicious, anything, you come get me immediately.”

“What if someone blasts through the window and I have nothing to protect myself with?”

She made a good point, but it wasn’t a particularly comfortable one. Did he trust her enough to arm her while he slept? “What are your qualifications?”

Her eyebrows drew together. “My...what?”

“Do you have a permit? Training?”

“Well, no.”

“Have you ever used a gun before?”

“Well...” She sighed at his raised eyebrow. “No.”

Vaughn resisted rolling his eyes. Barely. “We’ll see about training you, but in the meantime, don’t touch a firearm. If someone comes blasting in here, they’ll have you disarmed before you even figure out how to aim and pull the trigger.”

She scowled, but she didn’t argue. He’d count that as a win.

“If you see something suspicious, come get me. Otherwise, stay out of trouble.”

Her full lips remained pressed together. The lips were distracting, but not as distracting as how...formfitting his sister’s clothes were on this woman. And thank goodness they were his sister’s clothes and he could keep any wayward thoughts at bay with that reminder.

He turned abruptly and headed for his room. It didn’t make sense to sit here sniping with her when he needed to catch a few hours’ sleep. He didn’t bother with a shower; he’d deal with that later. For now, he went straight to his bed and slid under the covers.

He was exhausted enough that his eyelids immediately closed, but he didn’t drift off right away. No matter how exhausted he was, there was too much on his mind.

Unfortunately, a large portion of that was Natalie Torres. He still hadn’t had a chance to dig deeper into her background beyond the file the department had kept on her while she’d been employed with them.

No criminal record. Hell, not even a speeding ticket. She’d lived at the same address for the entirety of her employment, and none of her other jobs struck him as peculiar or suspicious.

It was simply her that was both peculiar and suspicious. The way she’d jumped in and questioned Herman after years of following the rules. The way she’d paled when he mentioned trafficking.

The way she chewed on her bottom lip when she was thinking, leaving it wet and...

He groaned and rolled face-first into his pillow. He’d never been... He punched at the pillow, irritated with the truth. No matter how suspicious he found Ms. Torres, he was physically attracted to her.

Which didn’t matter, of course, it was just increasingly obnoxious that the woman he didn’t want to be attracted to was the one he was stuck in an isolated cabin with. For who knew how long.

But, he couldn’t think like that. He had to focus on one thing at a time. If he got too worked up about what could happen, he’d miss something about what was happening, and that could get somebody killed.

He hadn’t let it happen yet. He wasn’t about to let it happen now. That was how he had to think. He had to be certain that he could solve this case before any more people got hurt. But he needed to get in a couple hours’ sleep so he could focus on the files and find the connection he was missing.

He needed to figure out what Ms. Torres’s connection was. Because she had to have one. Maybe it wasn’t with The Stallion, but she was involved with something. He was sure of it.

And when Vaughn Cooper was sure of something, God help the person on the other side.

Natalie glanced at the hallway Ranger Cooper had disappeared down at least twenty minutes ago. Surely he was asleep. She’d been afraid to move the entire time he’d been gone, afraid that he would somehow read her thoughts and her plan and come rushing back out and take the computer with him.

But he’d left it. Ranger Cooper wasn’t a stupid man. She didn’t think he’d actually have anything on that computer she could access that would give her answers, but if he had the internet, or even a basic case write-up of something, she might be able to find the information she needed to make the connection. A connection between her sister and this Stallion person.

A clue. A hint. Something, something to help her figure out how to proceed.

Natalie stood, and her heart was nearly beating out of her chest. She had to get a handle on her nerves at being caught. What did it matter? He knew what she was doing. He had to know this was what she was going to do. Getting caught was the least of her worries.

Her heartbeat didn’t seem to listen. It continued to beat guiltily in her chest, but she had do something. She took her bowl to the kitchen and rinsed it out. She waited after each movement to see if she could hear Ranger Cooper moving around or coming back out to the hallway. But the cabin was eerily silent.

Now her heart was overbeating for a completely different reason. The fact someone could be out there. Someone could be out there and watching her and just...

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook