Code Name: Baby by Christina Skye Read Free Book Online Page B

him off with a shotgun.
    He hadn’t thought of that night for years. It was this unnerving house, the dogs on the old Mexican rug and the fire that crackled happily.
    He rubbed his thigh as he walked down the shadowed hallway. The wound had torn open again and was throbbing—a minor discomfort after the abuse Wolfe’s body had suffered over the years. He had a full supply of medicine in his field pack to deal with exactly this problem.
    Something moved at the end of the corridor. Quickly Wolfe slid against the wall, listening to a shuffling noise in the hall.
    The sounds came closer and then Baby appeared a few feet in front of him. Her ears perked up as she stared at the spot where Wolfe was standing, hidden in the shadows. Moments later Butch and Sundance moved to face the kitchen entrance, while Diesel prowled the house, going from window to window, alert and wary.
    Baby let out a low growl and trotted to the kitchen door, staring at the window. She was soon joined by the other two dogs. When Diesel finished his circuit, he joined them in front of the kitchen doorway.
    A noise brought Wolfe around, low and fast. Kit stood in the shadows, looking sleepy and mussed. The rifle she held was dead level. Then Diesel began to bark, and the other dogs joined in.
    â€œBaby? Diesel? What’s wrong?”
    She hadn’t seen him yet, Wolfe realized. She must have heard the dogs prowling around earlier.
    But something else was moving in the darkness. Wolfe heard the faint crunch of feet on gravel outside.
    Grabbing Kit, he pulled her out of sight, his hand clamped over her mouth. Seconds later the kitchen window shattered in a noisy explosion, glass flying over the tile floor.
    She fought his grip as he pinned her against the wall with his body, feeling her panic in the wild rise and fall of her chest. She tried to kick him, but he nudged her leg aside and blocked her clawing fingers.
    He brushed her breast, soft and warm beneath thin cotton, and the contact made him jerk as if he’d been burned; his hand locked over her mouth when she tried to protest.
    Glass crunched.
    Across the kitchen a man climbed in over the windowsill, his knife glinting in the cold moonlight.

CHAPTER FIVE
    W HAT ELSE COULD GO WRONG ?
    He pushed Kit down the hall, fighting her every step of the way. When she tried to scream, Wolfe cut her off with fast, focused images of herself floating in bubbling hot springs until he felt her body relax and slump against his chest, arms askew.
    Grimly, he called up the floor plan of her house, memorized during mission prep.
    Four steps left. One step right and then around the corner. She was still slumped as he carried her inside a closet and left her sitting against the wall, snoring faintly.
    One problem solved.
    Quickly Wolfe closed the door and wedged a chair under the knob.
    There was a bang in the kitchen, followed by a muffled curse.
    Silently, he crossed the room and waited beside the door as Kit’s intruder inched through the darkness. Moonlight touched the blade of a saw-edged hunting knife.
    Wolfe’s lips twitched. Bad move, pal. You just used up all your chances.
    With one sharp movement, he captured the man’s wrists and smiled coldly as he felt the bones begin to snap. Within two seconds the man was on his knees, begging to be released.
    â€œWho sent you?”
    â€œNobody.”
    â€œTry again, peanut brain.” Wolfe increased the pressure on his wrists.
    â€œNo more. It was just me and the boys, looking for—for that Apache gold that’s hid up here.”
    He was whimpering now, and Wolfe was inclined to believe him. The man didn’t look like a professional who could lie in the face of pain. As he pulled the man around into the muted light from the window, Wolfe recognized the troublemaker who had assaulted Kit that morning. Apparently he’d decided to return by night and complete the job.
    â€œGive me a name,” Wolfe repeated as he twisted