Ravaged River (Men of Mercy #6) by Lindsay Cross Read Free Book Online Page A

over and check Merc, make sure he was still breathing. He got the brief flash of blue. The sound of car breaks skidding across pavement.
    “Two down! Two down! Need an ambulance, stat.” That voice was oddly familiar, but Hoyt couldn’t pull his thoughts together long enough to connect the audio with a visual.
    “Sheriff, I got two more over here. Damn, look at that Jeep, I’ve never seen anything like that.” Feet scuffing the ground and a pair of black shoes in his side vision.
    “These two are dead.”
    “Mine aren’t.”
    Another pair of black boots, this time cowboy boots. “Hoyt? Shit man, what happened?” Sheriff Lawson. It was his voice. The Sheriff had helped TF-S on a couple of local missions in the past. Lawson’s head seemed to float above him, blocking out his nice view of the stars. “You hear me?”
    Hoyt tried to focus on the sheriff. What had he said?
    “Hoyt, can you talk?”
    He concentrated. He opened his mouth, and groaned out one word. “Wreck.”
    Lawson gave his deputy a measured look and then turned his attention back to Hoyt. “And the AKs on the ground over there?”
    Classified information. Hoyt didn’t know if the sheriff was privy to their mission or not. But he wasn’t about to be the one to leak intel and get his ass busted by the Colonel. Only one thing to do. Hoyt pushed off the ground, sitting up fast. The blood leached from his head, depleting his brain of oxygen. The crescendo came back in a hot roar. Hoyt smiled as he finally let himself give in to the impulse to pass out.

6
    H ayden locked the door to the Java Shop, gave her clothes a last straightening and marched across the full parking lot. The sound of loud music filled the air as she neared the Sigma Pi house, and the ball of nerves in her belly grew and grew. Was she really ready for this? Hayden stalled a little over halfway, between a shiny new beamer and a dark blue Mercedes.
    She'd promised the professor. No more hiding and no more pining over Hoyt. But she hadn't quite envisioned the crush of college kids crowding the backyard of the frat house. Maybe she should re-think her journey and save it for another day.
    Really? Hayden James, former life of the party, wanted to tuck tail and run?
    Yes. Yes she did. But if she didn't press on, what would that make her?
    Chicken.
    Hayden took one hesitant step forward, then another. Forcing herself to ignore the tight feeling in her chest, she lifted her chin. Just a few more rows of cars to go. When she passed the last of the vehicles, her friend Mandy spotted her from the back of the crowd and waved.
    Hayden expelled a breath. Now there was no choice. Mandy was always bugging her to get out, and she’d never let her back down now. Hayden made her way to the entrance gate, and the pledge standing guard gave her a once over then flagged her to enter. Scrunching against a white picket fence in the backyard of the frat house, she made a beeline for Mandy. The crowd of toga-wearing college kids swelled outward from the three-story brick building.
    "This is crazy,” she said to her friend. “I can't believe there are so many people here."
    Mandy tucked her short straight brown hair behind her ears, yanked a compact mirror from her clutch and eased closer to the crowd. "It's great, isn't it? I had no idea their annual Greek Goes Greek bash was this much fun."
    More like oppressive. Hayden wanted to hop over the low fence and take off through the parking lot. The Java Shop stood sentry on the other side. She could slide into the sanctuary of the closed coffee house. She could regain her peace and reclaim her solitude.
    And think about Hoyt.
    Jesus, she was screwed.
    "This is not what I'd call a small gathering. "
    Mandy shrugged, but her smile said she’d known all along. "How was I supposed to know he’d invited us to the party of the year?"
    "Oh, I don't know, maybe since you've gone for the last two years in a row."
    A stoner stumbled and shoved her into the fence.