Federali

By Patti Larsen

FBI Agent Foster’s return to Silver City isn’t exactly sanctioned by his superiors, though the girls don’t have time to question his motives. Not when they have their hands full with enough death, rivalries and vendettas to fill an unofficial case file...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Patti Larsen
• Release date: Jul 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781989925065

Patti Larsen

About me, huh? Well, my official bio reads like this: Patti Larsen is a multiple award-winning author with a passion for the voices in her head. But that sounds so freaking formal, doesn’t it? I’m a storyteller who hears character's demands so loudly I have to write them down. I love the idea of sports even though sports hate me. I’ve dabbled in everything from improv theater to film making and writing TV shows, singing in an all girl band to running my own hair salon.But always, always, writing books calls me home.I’ve had my sights set on world literary domination for a while now. Which means getting my books out there, to you, my darling readers. It’s the coolest thing ever, this job of mine, being able to tell stories I love, only to see them all shiny and happy in your hands... thank you for reading.As for the rest of it, I’m short (permanent), slightly round (changeable) and blonde (for ever and ever). I love to talk one on one about the deepest topics and can’t seem to stop seeing the big picture. I happily live on Prince Edward Island, Canada, home to Anne of Green Gables and the most beautiful red beaches in the world, with my pug overlord and overlady, six lazy cats and Gypsy Vanner gelding, Fynn.

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Federali

The Nightshade Cases: Book Fourteen

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2020 by Patti Larsen

Find out more about Patti Larsen at http://www.pattilarsen.com/home

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Chapter One

The last things he remembered were odd things, moments of clarity while the life within him failed. How the humidity made him sweat, that the scent of juniper and that distinct aroma of roses hung in the air. There was no pain, a remarkable thing.

Just closing darkness as his brain fired one last time, his gaze locking on the towering peak of the cathedral overhead, the quietly weeping angel whose shadow blotted out the moon standing in ironic watch over his departure from this earth.

A blessing, perhaps, and one he embraced despite his faith.

Darkness lived in this world. Whatever came next, whether it heaven or hell, surely it could be no worse than the torment consuming him.

With a final, deep and almost satisfied sigh, Father Dante Delacruz closed his eyes and went to meet his maker.

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Chapter Two

Gerri set aside her empty beer, the soft tap of glass on the laminate countertop the only sound as she padded on bare feet to the door. Whoever was knocking this late had managed to get into her building without her buzzing them through which meant either it was one of her neighbors or she was absolutely justified pausing to lift her gun from the holster and keep it at her hip when she checked the peephole.

The sight of her visitor had her holstering her weapon immediately, though when she pulled open the entry to Supervisory Special Agent Quinlan Foster, she knew he brought trouble to her door.

The kind that was about to either get her shot or laid. She knew which one she’d pick.

I’m sorry, he said, I know it’s late, but I need to talk to you, No preamble, dark hair tousled, five o’clock shadow on his broad jaw, those wide shoulders tight inside his black suit jacket, amber eyes glowing with something she recognized and felt in response. He looked like he’d gone a few rounds with something bigger than him. It’s important, Gerri.

She didn’t think, letting her bheast take over, reaching out and grasping him by the tie, tugging him firmly across the threshold and against her. Fuck, she loved it when a man was taller than her. The last time she’d seen him, she’d fought off the primal connection she felt.

She was so done saying no.

It can wait, she growled, letting her bheast out to butt up against his, positive when she did, when his pupils dilated and his hands rose to clasp her to him, when his mouth descended over hers, hot breath in her lungs, he had no idea who or what he was.

That could wait, too.

The door was on soft close hinges, or it would have surrendered with a boom when he shoved it shut behind him.

***

He smelled delicious, her bheast’s urges satisfied for the moment, though it had taken hours. She’d surprised herself with her need, with how much he was willing to give in return. She hadn’t spoken three words to him since he’d arrived, none needed, not really. Not when their bodies did the kind of talking that she’d been hungering for.

Now, with the sun just lighting the sky outside her window, she took in the lingering taste of him, his scent on her skin, the way his big, warm hand traced over her naked hip. Foster leaned in and kissed her, softly now, her lips on fire from the pressure of his, from the previous roughness of his stubble, body sighing its contentment while her inner wolf murmured in satisfaction and anticipation.

His hairless chest felt like velvet under her touch as she propped herself up on one elbow and looked down into those watchful and slightly shell-shocked eyes.

Now, she said, tell me what’s important.

Foster laughed, pushed himself up to kiss her again, aggression returning, before he engulfed her in his arms, pulling her back down to the damp sheets. Her auburn hair had come loose during their little wrestling match, spilling over both of them. She watched the goosebumps rise on his arms when the tendrils tickled him, or was it from the way her lips and teeth explored the corner of his mouth, his chin, fingers finding more sensitive places?

Gerri. His tone told her everything. She leaned in again, nose to his, eyes locked on his gaze, serious enough, though fighting off her needs despite the soft chuffing of her bheast.

You’re in trouble. She tasted it on him, felt it in his own desperate need, though fed by the animal inside him. Full blooded, how didn’t he know what he was? Right, because she hadn’t just found out what she was.

Foster sighed into her open mouth, kissed her softly, so softly. I need your help.

Anything. Gerri flipped over, head on the pillow next to him, hand now silent on his chest, exploring over. For now. There’d be a later, of that she would make sure. A later that wouldn’t be interrupted. What are you into the great and powerful FBI needs the assistance of a lowly homicide detective?

He didn’t have to answer. Sex had its benefits outside of the obvious. She felt tied to him now, to his heartbeat and his emotions in ways she hadn’t been expecting. Gerri didn’t get to worry about that, not when she understood before he spoke things weren’t exactly how they’d been the last time they’d met.

I’m on my own. Foster said it like a challenge. As if he expected her to give him a hard time. Instead, she nodded, waited. Was rewarded when his arm tightened around her and he went on, less defensive but with burning anger stirring his bheast. I’ve been investigating an old acquaintance you may remember.

Jordan Michaels? He was the only person Gerri could think of, the guy who couldn’t die popping into her head along with a secret and private curiosity at just what it would take to kill the intensely irritating dude for real and would she ever get a chance to find out…?

But Foster was shaking his head, rubbing his eyes with his free hand, distressed on the inside if more stoic on the outside.

You remember Peter Ashmore? Gerri did.

Casino dude, right? Has that creepy-as Mossad bodyguard. He’d been one of the men trying to kill Jordan. Gerri met the trust fund kid turned Las Vegas mogul during her investigation with Foster. She knew they had history, that