Spirit Bear - Delta James Page 0,1

her if they could watch it for her while she used the ladies’ room.

Nora had to force herself to walk calmly down the hall to the restroom, past the door, enter an employees’ only area, and out to the street via an exit into the back alley. She hailed a cab, went to the airport, and caught the first flight out of Vancouver. She didn’t care where it was going, so long as it was a short flight. She hopscotched her way across Canada before renting a car in Toronto and driving across the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit. Once there, she paid cash for a small private plane to Chicago.

That was three days ago. She was exhausted but happy to see her loft after her nerve-wracking return home. She’d had the taxi drop her six blocks from her place and walked the rest of the way. She looked up at the windows in her loft and froze. There were at least two figures moving in her darkened loft. The only reason she’d spotted them was a small flash of light where it shouldn’t be. She waited, and it happened again. Most people would have assumed it was a break-in and called the cops, and most people would have included Nora four days ago, but not now. She knew better. She had no idea what the story was or how deep the conspiracy was to keep it from seeing the light of day, but she knew she was out of her depth.

She’d turned back around, grabbed the first city bus, and made her way back to the airport. Nora had no idea where to go or who to turn to, but the story was back in Canada. She had no intention of returning to Vancouver. She’d never told the Mountie her name. They—whoever they were—would be looking for her. She removed the battery and SIM card from her phone, ground all three under her booted heel, then spread the remains through several trash cans.

On her flight, Nora went through her PDA, looking for someone, anyone, she could trust to help her track down the story and bring Char’s and Jack’s killers to justice. She needed someone with lethal skills… someone who could operate outside the law and keep her safe, regardless of the cost. Her finger stopped scrolling at one name; she took a deep breath. Nora knew only one man who had the intelligence and skill, but he wasn’t likely to want to help her. The last time he had done so, it had cost him the lives of his brothers-at-arms.

Boone Daniels was the only reason she’d had to face a military tribunal. He was also the only reason she was alive. If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking and even quicker reactions, they both would have perished with the rest of his unit.

She’d kept track of him over the years, using her investigative skills and a need that bordered on obsession to know where he was, what he was doing and that he still breathed. She’d tracked him down to Great Bear Rainforest. He’d left military service and become a back-country guide as well as a highly paid special operative for hire—in other words, a mercenary.

She contacted him through mediaries, and to her great surprise, word had come back quickly—more quickly than she’d imagined it might—he was willing to meet. She was to go to a remote lodge inside the pristine wilderness, where she’d be contacted with further instructions.

When she’d arrived, the proprietor had shown her to a room at the back of the lodge. Her paranoia and fear had gained momentum since she’d seen whoever it was in her loft. Nora checked under the big iron bed, what passed for a closet, the bath in her room, then wedged the sturdy desk chair under the door handle after ensuring the window was locked. She got undressed and stretched out on the bed, almost jumping out of her skin at every creak or groan in the old lodge. Somehow, after darkness consumed the room, she fell asleep.

Nora woke, stifled a scream, and almost had a heart attack. Sitting on the footboard at the end of the bed was none other than the man himself, Boone Daniels.

“Jesus, Boone, you scared the hell out of me!” she hissed, throwing a pillow at him. She knew it was ineffective, but it made her feel better to do something, and she supposed he got the idea.

She’d never been so glad to see