Free Harmony's Way by Lora Leigh Page B

mating had thrown her into a reality she was ill equipped to deal with.
    “Come on, let’s take you home and get you to bed, baby.” He helped her sit up, before lifting her to her feet. “You won’t have much rest before it builds again.”
    He wrapped his arm around her waist as he led her from the office to the back door.
    Sliding the electronic key through its slot, he waited for the click of the lock before opening the door and moving quickly from the exit.
    His Raider was parked in front of the door, so getting her into the passenger seat was accomplished without a problem. She slumped into the comfortable seat, her eyes drowsy, her body nearly boneless.
    Lance allowed a grin to quirk at his lips as he buckled her in, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
    “Go ahead and nap, baby, I’ll wake you when we get home.”
    He brushed the hair back from her face, his fingers lingering against the incredibly soft skin of her cheek as she stared up at him. Exhaustion marked her face, glazed her eyes. How long had it been since she had slept?
    “I have someone trailing me,” she whispered.
    He frowned down at her before scanning the parking lot, knowing instantly what she was talking about.
    “Have you identified him?”
    She shook her head slowly. “I’m weak,” she said then, distress filling her eyes. “I can’t be weak, Lance.”
    “It’s okay, baby, I’ve got your back. You rest, I’ll keep an eye out for your tail.”
    She shook her head, drugged with the exhaustion overtaking her.
    “I can’t be weak,” her voice slurred. “I can’t be…”
    Between one second and the next she was asleep. Lance sighed as he closed her door gently before loping to the driver’s side. After closing his door, he set the radio to link into Lenny’s line.
    “Lenny, I’m setting security protocols on the way to the house,” he told the sergeant as he activated the energized shields around the vehicle. “Track GPS and see if I have a tail on the way.”
    “You got problems, Sheriff?” Lenny’s voice was concerned.
    “I don’t know yet. See if you can detect anything suspicious from the public GPS and let me know.”
    GPS protocols were required on all vehicles, though they could be disconnected legally in many areas. He didn’t have high hopes of Lenny catching anything, but it was worth taking the chance.
    “I got you, Sheriff,” Lenny answered. “I’ll let you know if we catch anything.”
    He pulled out of the parking lot, hitting the main street as he headed home. Lance cracked open his window, and for the first time in his life, he deliberately opened his mind to the whispers flowing on the wind.
    A world of secrets, of pain, happiness and fears could be heard in the winds, his grandfather had once told him. If he listened close, then the wind would bring him what he needed, but only if he was willing to hear what it had to say.
    He had never been willing before. Lance had fought the secrets of the wind, and his place as its chosen child. He had believed he could live without it, and perhaps he could, but he knew that saving Harmony was more important than his reluctance to follow something as unseen as the air around him.
    As he drove, he let the wind blow around him, curling around his body, and Harmony’s, before he detected the whisper at his ear. There were no words, there was the whisper of her cry, but he had heard that before. Behind the cry, though, was the secret he searched for, the whisper of deceit. And the warning.
    He was being watched. Lenny hadn’t reported on the GPS, which meant control wasn’t picking up the tail, but the winds whispered the knowledge.
    He grimaced at the illusive whispers. There were no answers, and that was the part that had driven his reluctance over the years. There were no answers, no proof, nothing to hold on to to give him what he needed to solve the problems he faced.
    He was a sheriff. He dealt in facts, in proof. A whisper of danger, or a ragged cry