Eagle Warrior

She snorted at first, thinking he was kidding and then her jaw dropped open as she saw he was deadly serious.

“I have to report that to the FBI. So what I want to know from you is, did you know about this money?”

She couldn’t even speak, so she shook her head.

“Do you know where the money currently is?”

“No.” Her words were a whisper. “I don’t. You think he actually had that much money?”

Jack nodded. “I believe your father was accepting payment.”

“Payment? What could he possibly do that was worth that kind of...”

Morgan’s knees buckled and Bear Den caught her, drew out a chair and guided her into it. Her fanny hit with enough force to jar her gaze to the detective.

“This can’t be happening.”

Bear Den looked down the hall. “Ray? Can you come out?”

Her protector emerged from the hall. The front of his shirt was soaking wet and stuck to his chest, revealing the ripped muscles of his abdomen. Morgan’s breath caught at the perfection of his form.

“Why are you all wet?” she asked.

Bear Den followed the direction of her gaze. Ray shrugged. “Washed off the blood.”

The detective groaned and Morgan blinked, finally forcing her attention away, but took one more long look because a sight like that should be committed to memory.

Bear Den took a seat across from her and Ray retrieved the one between them, spun it and sat, his long legs straddling the back. Then he hugged the top and rested his chin on his hands. At least she couldn’t see the wet spot or his tight abs any longer.

Bear Den cleared his throat. “I was just relaying what the intruder told you.”

Ray’s gaze flicked from the detective to her. “You have some problems, Morgan.”

“What are you two implying exactly?”

Ray deferred to the detective.

“It appears that your father cashed a check twenty-four hours prior to his attack on the prime suspect in the Lilac Copper Mine shooting.”

“I don’t understand.”

Ray tucked in his legs and lifted his chin from his hands. “Your father was a paid hitman. Now word is out about the payday, and that means you can expect more like that nitwit I found in your hallway.”

Morgan’s stomach heaved. She pressed a hand over her pounding heart.

“More.”

“More and more competent.”

“Competent?”

“Dangerous. The kind of men that don’t pull hair. And they won’t stop until you deliver that money.”

“What money? I don’t have it.”

“Well I suggest you find it fast. The trick will be to keep you safe in the meantime.”

She sat back in the chair. “How am I supposed to do that, exactly?”

“That’s where I come in.”

Morgan looked from Ray to Detective Bear Den.

“You need a bodyguard, Morgan. Someone tough, resourceful and capable of protecting you.”

Her gaze flicked back to Ray Strong.

“Ray has agreed to act as your bodyguard,” said Detective Bear Den.

He stood there watching her like a hungry wolf in his transparent T-shirt rippling with contained potency. He was just the sort of male to cause a woman all kinds of trouble.

“I can’t afford to put gas in my car,” Morgan said. “How am I going to pay for...” She let her traitorous eyes caress him and his mouth twitched. His eyes glittered as if he knew what she was thinking. “I couldn’t afford to even feed him let alone pay him.”

“You can’t afford not to,” said Bear Den.

Morgan regarded Ray Strong. The man was tough, powerful and had already shown himself capable of protecting her and Lisa. He also ignited in Morgan an unwelcome burst of lust coupled with a rational sense of fear. The man was dangerous and the threat he posed was more than physical.

She shook her head. “This is a bad idea.”

Bear Den spoke again, his voice deep and resonant. “Are you familiar with the Turquoise Guardians?”

“My dad’s medicine society? Sure.”

“There is a sect within that organization called Tribal Thunder. This is a warrior band.”

Morgan didn’t think they still had warriors, not the real kind that defended their families to the death, made war on their enemies and took what they liked. She found her gaze slipping back to Ray like a thief on a night raid.

“I don’t know of Tribal Thunder.”

“Ray is a member of that sect. So am I. We’ve sworn an oath to defend our tribe.”

Now Ray took up the conversation. His voice did funny things to her insides.

He thumbed over his shoulder at her closed back door. “That little twerp is going to spill his guts. Word will get out. There is no calling it back. If you won’t do this for yourself, do it for your daughter.”

Word will get out.

Lisa. Her gaze went to the back door. What had she caught while her mother was attacked? What had she overheard the officers say afterward and most importantly, what had she told their neighbors?