Sunrise Crossing by Jodi Thomas Read Free Book Online Page A

you, wanting very much to kiss you. Do you think we can try again?”
    He moved his hands gently up her body and held her as tenderly as he knew how as she kissed him a second time.
    This woman with all her secrets and closed doors kissed him with an openness unlike anyone had ever kissed him. She wasn’t just going through the motions, waiting for what happened next, but there was tenderness, caring, as if she’d held all her passion in check for so long that she had to explode.
    This time he was the one who couldn’t breathe.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    M ADISON O’G RADY WAS one of the best pilots Fifth Weathers had ever seen. It took him a minute to get used to the cramped space and the vibration of the chopper, but the view was beautiful, both the land outside and the woman so close she was almost touching him.
    They flew low across Kirkland land, following the canyon and riverbeds as if running with the wild horses. The landscape took his breath away, and when he glanced at her, Madison smiled as if she understood how he felt.
    Finally, he calmed enough to explain how a cowhand had reported seeing a car far down in a gully where not even a truck could go. The canyon was too steep for the cowhand to get his horse close to the car, so he’d called in to the sheriff’s office.
    â€œWe might not have checked out an old car,” Fifth added, “but for the last week we’ve been getting info that a woman is missing. We don’t have details, but if she was passing through this area and was kidnapped, whoever took her might have wanted to make the vehicle disappear.”
    Madison looked down at the treeless, rolling land. “That wouldn’t be easy to do in this country. An abandoned car would be easy to spot.”
    â€œRight,” he said. “Short of digging a hole and burying it, the best way is to sink it in water. Only, if a flash rain comes, it’ll swell the gullies and drag the car along in a sudden flood. A few hours later, it could be miles from where it was dumped and above water or damming up a creek.”
    Much as he hated to brag, Fifth did feel like an expert on the subject. “The one animal, besides man, that does the most to change the lay of the land is a beaver. One den, built on a stream, can end up changing water flow for miles. So, even if it’s simply an abandoned old car, someone has to deal with it.”
    â€œSo we’re looking for beavers?” She made a face.
    â€œNo.” He laughed. “We’re looking for a car that might have done the beaver’s job. Someone reported seeing our missing person driving a red Chev. If we find it and there is a body in it, that’s where the law comes in. Of course, there have been other apparent sightings of this missing lady. One report said she might have taken a bus from Oklahoma City. Another claimed to have seen a hitchhiker near Dallas who fit her description. Right now we have no idea which ones are true. All I know is she’s missing and someone is in a real hurry to find her.”
    They flew for almost an hour, with Fifth marking off their route as they went. Now was a good time to note the flow of streams for future reference. The sheriff liked to walk the land, but Fifth preferred using a computer when he could. Madison was saving him several days of work. Some of the terrain could be reached only on horseback, and that would have taken a week.
    No old car appeared. Maybe it went back underwater. Maybe the guy who spotted it was wrong on his location. But, thanks to his mapping, the flight hadn’t been a waste of time.
    When they finally landed and she cut the engine, he leaned back and said, “Thanks. I can’t wait to get all this data into the computer. We might not have found the SUV, but I have a much better sense of the flow of the streams around these parts.”
    She grinned. “You are welcome, Deputy Weathers.”
    He collected his notes. She picked