Free Dream Shard by Mary Wine Page A

good sign, even if she found herself lamenting it. There was no sense to her reaction, of course he was going to regain his memory and be on his way. She should be glad. His cloak-and-dagger lifestyle wasn’t very healthy for her.
    Still, she got the feeling she was going to miss him.
    Burgos didn’t need to ask his men how they felt—their rising frustration matched his own. He swept the river bank for several hundred feet before sitting down on a large boulder. His phone vibrated within ten minutes.
    “You were told to follow the tracks. Why have you stopped?” Dresner demanded.
    “Because we’ve been going for sixteen straight hours. Catching up with him won’t do us any good if we lack the strength to take him down.”
    “Devon Ross is an Operative with a Ranger unit. Give him one-hour head start and he will slip through your grasp.”
    “Something’s off.”
    There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. “Explain.”
    “The trail we’re following is a pair of tracks. An Operative would have made communicating with his unit a priority. He wouldn’t be hiking through the forest with someone else in tow. “
    It was as close to accusing Dresner of withholding information that Burgos was willing to go.
    “I will call you back.”
    The line went dead. His men were watching him but he shook his head. “We’re in a holding pattern. Take a break while you can.”
    Kalin made a soft sound in her sleep and Devon opened his eyes. He hadn’t really fallen asleep because his senses were full of the scent of her skin.
    It was intoxicating.
    Alluring, sexy and everything he had to ignore. The last thing he needed to do was get another woman killed. He just wished he could recall how it had happened. The guilt was there, chewing relentlessly on him.
    But the details eluded him.
    He could see Heather’s face and her sightless eyes when he’d held her the last time. The lack of details left him furious because he liked his life organized.
    Actually…focused.
    It was more than a word. It was like a tangible thing that he could feel. Without it, he was like coffee being poured straight onto the counter. There were no perimeters, no rules.
    No reason at all to resist the urge to discover how sweet Kalin’s lips were.
    Nothing at all.
    Burgos jumped when his cell phone buzzed.
    His hand closed around his gun and he swept the area around him twice before realizing it was his phone that had woken him. The horizon was pink as he pulled the phone from his pocket.
    “I’m sending you back up.” Dresner informed him. “The second set of tracks belong to a woman who gave Devon shelter. Make sure you eliminate her.”
    “A female will slow him down. I don’t need back up.”
    His men were waking up and listening. There were a couple of nods.
    “Your pay is high enough,” Dresner snapped. “Remember, no one gets paid if Devon Ross isn’t caught. Don’t get greedy.”
    “Got it,” Burgos conceded. “Why is he heading north?”
    “We don’t know. It’s possible he’s suffered trauma from his helicopter going down. For the moment, it is an advantage. Run him to ground. Don’t move on him until you call in.”
    “Understood.”
    Normally, Burgos didn’t care for being put on a short leash when it came to taking action. But today was different. Dresner didn’t suffer failure gracefully. It was better to let him think he was in charge, because the vast forestland stretching out in front of them had plenty of places for Devon and his friend to blend into.
    But Burgos always did like a challenge.
    Especially one that came with a large bounty.
    Devon Ross smelled good.
    Kalin took a deep breath and sighed. She snuggled closer to the man, dreaming of the first hours she’d met him. He needed her, so it was okay to just relax against him. And man, did he feel good against her. Somehow, she’d forgotten how much of a rush it was to be against a man. The pure intoxication of having her senses filled with