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“Do you have any idea why she would do something so

reckless? Rixitron is still intent on conducting their breeding

experiments with the
found
. Sarah’s been the number one target. It’s

been barely eight months since we stopped their attempted

kidnapping in Atlanta. Why would she risk coming here?”

“It has to be something important, and by that I mean something

damn near life and death in her eyes. I can’t fathom what it is, that’s

why you have to talk to Mama. If anyone can get into Sarah’s head,

it’s her.”

“Let me finish going through the tapes, I want to see if I can find

her leaving the airport. I want to know if she took a taxi, or they left

in a car. After that, I’ll head on over to your mother’s house.” Nate

shut off the Skype session, determined to find more information to

help in their investigation. He was not going to fail.

****

He held Sarah a little longer than necessary but must have

realized it, so released her. He looked into her eyes and smiled. Sarah

looked at her friend who had helped plan her escape and smiled back

at him.

“Let’s get your bags.”

“What you see, is what you get, Ramone” He groaned, and Sarah

winced, realizing how her words could be interpreted.

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“Does that mean I get you?” he asked.

“You’re still a flirt, I see.” She raised her eyebrows and looked at

him.

“Okay, okay. Let’s get to my car.”

Ramone held out his hand and she took it, following the throng

of people towards baggage claim leading to the exit of the Atlanta-

Hartsfield Airport.

Twice Sarah caught him glancing at her.

She couldn’t believe he was the same boy who had eaten paste at

Daniel Bagley Elementary. Even harder to believe he was the same

young man she had treated in the ER for a gunshot wound when

she’d been on rotations as an intern. He had been on his way to a life

of crime—angry, sullen, and downright scary.

She’d met his mother and sister that night so long ago, and

thought for sure they were going to lose him to a gang. Instead he

visited the hospital months later to thank her for saving him. They’d

reestablished their friendship.

“A Prius?” Sarah shouted with laughter, it was the first time she

laughed in the last forty-eight hours.

“Do
not
make fun of a man’s wheels. Especially when they are

taking you where you need to go.”

“You are Ramone Sands, right?”

“That’s Reverend Ramone Sands,” he said as he opened her

door. He lifted his hand and she knew he was going to stroke her

cheek. She caught it before he could.

“I don’t think there are security cameras here. We can stop

now.”

“Damn, I’ve been liking this. A lot. Haven’t you? Just a little?”

There was only a gentle question, which made her pause rather than

shake her head. But the reverend was nothing if not astute.

“Is there someone?”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know if there is or not.” She thought

about Nate, but then again, when didn’t she think about him? It had

to stop. His life was somewhere else. He wasn’t like Noah. He hadn’t

asked to be transferred to California, instead he was still out of the

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country most of the time. Obviously there was never going to be

anything between them.

“Sarah, are you listening to me?”

“What?” she asked, distracted.

“Never mind.” His hand cupped her cheek and he smiled gently.

He lowered his head and gave her the sweetest of kisses, and then

settled her into the car and shut the door.

Damn he was smooth. It didn’t matter though, he wasn’t Nate.

****

Nate didn’t know how he was supposed to eat the food Mrs.

Johnson put in front of him, considering he no longer had any back

teeth. He’d ground them to dust when he saw the kiss Sarah shared

with the man in the parking garage.

“Don’t you like lasagna?”

“Yes I do Lila, I’m sorry, I was preoccupied.” Nate realized he

better pull his head out of his ass. He didn’t want to hurt Sarah’s

mom’s feelings. He really liked the woman, and she’d gone to a lot

of trouble making such a great meal.

“I can understand why you’re worried, but while we’re waiting

for Kyle to get off shift, we might as well have dinner. I’m sure he’ll

have the information you need from the license plate number. Now,

give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be back with the garlic bread.”

Nate looked at the beautiful woman, who looked a little bit like

Sarah, which amazed him, considering Sarah was her adopted

daughter. Hell, calling her adopted wasn’t doing the whole thing

justice, since she showed up in the Johnson’s backyard one day when

she was five years old.

“It’s something else, isn’t it?” Frank Johnson nudged him.

“Hmmm?”

“My two beauties.” Lila went into the kitchen and Frank spoke.

Two of his other son’s heads popped up and grinned at their father. It

looked as if this was a well beloved topic. Nate didn’t know if he was

up for it, considering one of the beauties in question was gallivanting

around Atlanta with some pretty boy and putting her life in danger.

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Lori King

The front door opened, and finally Kyle came in and sat down at

the dinner table. He grinned at Nate.

“I’ve got the name of your guy.” He started spooning lasagna

onto a plate.

“Well?”

“Ma,” he yelled out. Lila came into the dining room.

“Hi Baby Boy. What did you find out?”

“Don’t call me that. Sarah’s the youngest.”

“I’m sorry Kyle.” Lila rolled her eyes to the rest of the table and

everyone laughed.

“Ma, do you know a preacher named Ramone Sands?” Everyone

waited as she thought for a moment.

“He’s the assistant pastor over at the Union Church on Third and

Jakes Street. Your sister treated him for a GSW her first year at the

hospital. They were in the same grade in elementary school for a few

years before his dad passed. Then he and his mama moved away.”

She sat next to her husband. “I remember your sister telling me he

was on his way to being part of a gang, but he turned his life around.

I never met the man, but your sister spoke highly of him. Reverend

Hughly wouldn’t have taken him as an assistant if he wasn’t of strong

character. Ramone is in charge of the youth ministry, if I’m not

mistaken.”

“You’re not. I called to talk to him. He’s conveniently

unavailable, meeting with a group of boy scouts at Lake Winfield to

hike and camp in the Chattahoochee National Forest.”

“Call his cell phone,” Nate barked. Every one of the Johnson’s

laughed.

“I did. He asked if this was an official investigation, and if Sarah

had done anything wrong. Basically he gave me the runaround. He

knew I was her brother.”

“Bring him in for questioning,” Nate shot back.

“On what grounds?” Kyle reached for the garlic bread.

“On the grounds she could be in danger and he
will
be in danger

if he doesn’t immediately tell us everything he knows.”

“I tried, he laughed.”

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“Fine, we go to him.” Nate was having a tough time with Kyle’s

lackadaisical attitude.

“I can’t go. I’m on duty. You’re stuck with the slacker who

doesn’t work.”

“Ignore my brother,” the second youngest Johnson brother,

Brayson, said. “He’s just jealous how the shifts work at the Fire

Department. I have a lot of experience camping in Chattahoochee.

We’ll go corner the good reverend and find out where he stashed

Sarah. This is total bullshit.”

“When can we leave?”

“After dinner, we’ll stop at my apartment and pick up the

camping gear and supplies we’re going to need.”

www.CaitlynOleary.com

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Berserker’s Rage

SmokeJumpers 2

By Elle Boon

© Copyright July 2015 Elle Boon

Felicity pinched the bridge of her nose and closed down the

computer. “Thank God today is over.” The final rush before prom

had moms, and their teenage daughters, coming into the overpriced

boutique to buy one of a kind dresses. The boutique, located in a strip

mall, was in one of the wealthiest parts of Beverly Hills.

She’d let the other employees, most of whom were teenagers or

college students, leave shortly after closing, while she did the end of

the month total. Looking at the clock on the wall she grimaced.

“Fuck a duck.” Knowing it was going to be dark out, but figuring she

was in a well-lit parking lot, not to mention the crime rate was almost

non-existent, she grabbed the bank envelope and stuffed it into her

purse.

From her office she saw the lights in the front of the store were

set to low. After making sure the alarm was turned on she walked out

the back, closing and locking the heavy steel door. She took two

steps and then stopped at the sight of four figures wearing hoodies.

Felicity hugged her bag closer to her chest, calculating in her

head the chances of getting back into the store, or making it to her

car. She wished she’d listened to her parents and learned to use a

gun, or taken those self-defense classes they’d went on and on about.

“Look at her. She’s thinking about trying to escape, Danny.”

One of the thugs sneered.

“Shut up, asshole.” The one she assumed was Danny began

moving toward her.

Felicity decided a few thousand dollars wasn’t worth her life,

and pulled the bank envelope out. The credit slips and checks could

be cancelled, she reconciled in her mind. “Here, just take it and go.”

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She held it out as the one she assumed was the leader came toward

her. They had masks with white skulls painted over their faces,

making them appear even more frightening to Felicity. She locked

her legs in place as he took, and then opened the envelope pulling the

cash out.

He leaned down and sniffed her neck. “You really should’ve

locked up and went home earlier. Don’t you know it’s not safe to be

out after the sun goes down? Things go bump in the dark, little girl.”

Looking up, she saw the coldest eyes staring down at her, and

she knew her life was over. No matter how much she wished it

otherwise, these men had no plans to take the money and run.

“Why?” Felicity hated the plea in her voice, but couldn’t help

but ask the one word question.

The other three men had moved closer, somehow maneuvering

her into the darkened corner near the dumpsters. A perfect place to

do God only knew what to her. Felicity looked around for an escape,

or a weapon, but saw nothing but garbage and darkness.

“You want to know why we chose you?” One of the thugs asked,

his voice grating. “You are always the last to leave. You may not be

much to look at, but your body is kickin, and there is the added bonus

of the money. We call that a win-win.” Two of the masked men fist

bumped each other.

“Wow, he sure is talkative tonight. I guess that means we get to

kill this one, huh?” Felicity nearly fell on her ass hearing the

feminine voice behind the mask.

“Awe, what’s the matter, sugar lips? Did you think only men

could do these sorts of things? Nah, I enjoy fighting and fucking just

as much as these guys. Actually, I think I may get off on it more.”

Thinking back to the string of crimes she’d read about, and how

they’d found all the victims, made Felicity’s stomach roll. She placed

her hand over her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said. Her

parents would be horrified that her body would be found naked, the

way the other victims had been discovered.

“That’s not going to save you, sugar lips.” Felicity hated the

woman.

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Lori King

“Alice, quit being a cunt and scaring our date.” The one she

assumed was Danny moved in closer. “Now, we can do this several

ways. You can let us have our fun, or you can fight, and we will

enjoy that even more. The difference is you won’t enjoy option B

nearly as much as us.”

“What the hell, Dan, you got a soft spot for the ugly duckling or

what?” Alice asked.

Felicity winced at the words tossed out by the woman. She had

always been a plain Jane, and had been fine with it. Hearing that even

her attackers thought she was ugly, but still planned…she couldn’t

finish the thought of what was coming. What she could do was fight

and not let them have it the easy way. She’d rather die fighting than