Chapter One
The mountain of paperwork loomed high on the desk as Nicole peeked around it. She was starting to wonder if the other deputies had shoved more documents on it on purpose just to make her life that much more difficult. The overstuffed knuckle draggers always found her short height funny and never missed a chance to rub it in, always cracking jokes or placing things on the highest shelf so she’d either be forced to climb on a chair or get one of them for help. Most times she was willing to risk breaking her neck rather than ask one of them for aid.
The other deputies delighted in nothing else, and if it weren’t for the fact that Nicole had sworn to uphold the law, she would have dick-punched the assholes ten times over now.
Not that delivering a little crotch justice would help her current situation. There was always a stack of paperwork needed for even the smallest of things. One file was for a reported missing set of keys that were likely buried in the bottom of a couch and not in the pocket of some spy, as was suggested by the old man who called the Sheriff’s Department.
Another huge file was dedicated to a garden hose dispute between two neighbors involving a sprung leak and several thousand dollars of damage that led to a scuffle between two seventy-year-old men.
For all the paperwork involved, they were petty cases. No, those weren’t the cases that were going to keep Nicole up at night.
She stretched and glanced at the wall clock. It was well past the time she should have been out of the office, but that was nothing new. Her eyes wandered back down to the open file beneath the busy work she’d just been doing.
The deputy shifted the papers out of the way to stare at images of half-eaten animals. The vicious destruction looked like something out of a horror film, rather than from a terror lurking in their sleepy rural community.
Nicole shook her head and sighed. These were the cases that haunted her sleep. The ones that she couldn’t really seem to put out of mind so easily. Although the animal attacks had resulted in the loss of only one person, it didn’t make the carnage any less disturbing.
There hadn’t been issues with whatever had been killing the animals in the area for weeks, but she just couldn’t seem to let it go. The mayor suggested the experimental sonic fences were working better now, and it wouldn’t be a problem. Nicole wasn’t so sure.
All her life Nicole had been around wild animals, and she’d never witnessed something like this. Sure, a bear might go rogue or a mountain lion could be rabid, but this was something else. It was like the animal involved was hiding from them and waiting to come out when it knew it wouldn’t be detected. She’d never seen an animal act the way this one had, and there was something terrifying in that.
She shook her head. It was no wonder they all thought she was a bit off her rocker when she mentioned thoughts like that. If she wanted to advance in the department, she needed to learn to let some things go, no matter how difficult that might be. As far as the department was concerned, the case was closed, and they were all safe. She would just have to hope that was true.
A yawn attacked her. Despite getting her normal eight hours, it always felt like she was lacking in the sleep department. A flush heated Nicole’s face as she thought about why that was.
Two bright blue eyes filled her thoughts. She could already feel her body growing warmer just thinking about the dream man. He was far better than the nightmares that had been plaguing her for the months before, but that still didn’t explain anything about why she was dreaming about the man now.
Nicole didn’t know who the dark man was in her dreams. Maybe he was some TV star that stood out in her mind, but her conscious mind had forgotten. Heaven knew he was handsome enough to be. Even thinking that seemed a little funny. It had been quite some time since she had dreams about movie stars and put their posters on her wall, but for a man like this, she’d certainly consider it.
Not to mention that her dreams as a teen had been a bit more PG-13 rather than the R-rated content of the current ones. It was only her own reservations in the dreams that stopped them from turning full on X-rated. That was something she could never quite understand. Everything in her wanted more, but it just felt so real. Too real.
The image of their hot, naked bodies twined together flashed in her head, and she hissed, already excited by the thought. There was no question she wanted her mystery man. Burning desire was something she hadn’t felt in some time, which only made it all that more disappointing that she was hot for a dream figment.
He just seemed so real, and that was strange. It was like he really was a person. If only that were true. At least then she wouldn’t have to feel like she was losing her mind over a boyfriend she had created.
Nicole sighed. Maybe she really had been working herself too hard after all if a dream man could get her all hot and bothered at work.
“You still here?”
She jumped at the sound of Frank who was standing at the opening to her desk section. His gray hair peeked out from his wide-brim hat. The deeply etched wrinkles on the sheriff’s face only seemed to get deeper as the day went on. Still he carried the same carefree smile he’d worn the day she first started at the department.
The older man had been a good boss to her. Despite how sexist the rest of the crew could be, he always gave her an equal shot at any case that came up, even if he was a bit fatherly with her at times. It seemed like he checked in on her more these days than he ever used to. Maybe he could see the toll the recent cases had taken on her. The idea she was so transparent bothered her.
“Just finishing up some work,” Nicole said with a smile.
She closed the file on her desk but not quickly enough. She knew his keen eyes had spotted the file name she’d been looking at, the one that was supposed to have been long since closed.
He didn’t say anything, and she breathed an inward sigh of relief.
“I was just about to shut off the lights and head out,” Frank said. “You should do the same. You know how Ed gets up front with noises in the back.”
Nicole rolled her eyes at the current night-shift deputy. Although she was glad to be relieved of that duty, she wasn’t so sure the community was all that safe with Ed at the helm.
“And yet we gave him a gun?” She raised a brow.
Frank sighed and shook his head. “He’s about all we got right now,” he said. “Too many are leaving the area. Can’t hardly get an able-bodied person these days. Too many young people looking elsewhere than Eagle Ridge for something better. Not that I blame them. Gotta find work somewhere. Just a shame to see this place dwindling down.”
Nicole wrinkled her nose. The slow bleed was talked a lot about in town. How people were moving out for a better life. Sure, she herself was going to move on one day for a better position, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want the town to thrive. In her mind, there was only one real reason people were leaving, and it wasn’t lack of opportunity.
“It’s all those cults up near the mountain. No one feels safe with them there.”
Frank surprised her with a loud laugh. “They’re about the only reason this place isn’t dying quicker. From what I can tell, they’ve brought money to the area. Lot of folks around here are mighty glad to have them. Even if they are a bit… strange.”
Nicole sighed and leaned back in her chair. She’d heard all this before, and although she knew it was likely right, it didn’t settle the bit of unease those groups caused her deep in the pit of her stomach.
Something funny was going on with them. Call it a sixth sense or whatever, but she could feel it deep in her bones. Something about them was just different and dangerous.
A band of hot guys just showed up in the middle of the woods, and no one even questions it? She was surprised when the local reporter seemed to side with them and even their own mayor seemed to be in on whatever was going on. It was just weird, and Nicole was going to trust her instincts.
“I know,” Nicole said, shifting her heavy blonde bun around on top of her head. “There’s just something about them that rubs me the wrong way.”
Frank took a few steps forward and stared down at her with the fatherly eyes she’d come to almost dread.
“You’re working too hard,” he said. “Quit pushing yourself. Get out there and live a little. Find you a fella and settle down. Don’t let the job become your everything. It’s a job. A great job, but work isn’t everything, and it’s not like we have a lot of crime around here. There’s so much more to life.”
Nicole tensed. The last thing she needed was a boyfriend. It was already difficult enough getting the guys around the office to recognize her as a capable deputy. Letting any of them even think she was on the market only opened her up for more trouble.
John had already made it clear he was just waiting for his chance to assert himself in that position, and there was no way in hell she was letting that happen. Not only was the other deputy a pig, but if she had to guess, he was about as giving in the bedroom as he was on the job.
“I’m good,” she said firmly.
It was clear Frank wanted to say more but instead shook his head and stepped back. He gave her a quick nod. “Right. Well, don’t work much longer. I’ll let Ed know you’re back here so you don’t end up with an extra hole on your way out.”
Nicole softened a little and offered a small smile. She appreciated his concern, but it was a hard balance for her. Trying to get ahead but also trying to be herself. Anymore, she wasn’t so certain there was room for both if she was going to continue wearing her badge.
The older man walked across to the other wall and flipped off the lights.
Nicole returned to the papers on her desk. Maybe just a few more papers, and she’d clear out as well. A good night’s sleep seemed like a smart idea.
If anything, she’d see her mystery man again, and that was worth it right there.
The deputy made her way toward the front of the office. Ed was sitting at the front desk, quickly scribbling down something on a notepad, phone pressed to his ear.
“Thanks for calling it in. We’ll get someone out in the morning to check on it.”
Nicole paused by his desk and waited until he’d placed the phone down. “Something wrong?”
Despite making herself more than visible, the younger man jumped at the sound of her voice, his hand landing firmly on the gun at his side. Nicole watched him as he did so, uncertain just what she would do if the idiot drew his gun on her.
“Oh, Nicole, I didn’t know it was you.”
She bit her tongue to keep from saying what she was thinking, and instead focused on what he was scribbling down.
“What’s going on?” She nodded to the slip of paper.
“Oh, Gus Jinkins was on his way home and said it looked like there was something blocking the road down on 57.”
The old farm road wasn’t often used now that 61 was in place, and it was a good thing, too. Most of it had been washed out by flooding and run off over the years. Even the farms out that way had abandoned any hope of keeping the land going. It wouldn’t be long before the whole area was reclaimed by Mother Nature.
Nicole really wanted to just go home, but something bothered her about just leaving it be. Maybe some teens had gone out there for some funny business. With the rains they had been getting, it wouldn’t take much for them to get trapped for the night.
She reached down and grabbed the paper from Ed’s desk. “I’ll check it out on the way home. Make sure it’s not a car.”
Ed nodded. “Call for backup if you need it.”
Nicole grinned at him. She’d been with the office for four years now, and she could only think of a handful of times backup was ever needed.
“You got it.” She winked.