Free Shut Up and Kiss Me by Christie Craig Page B

camera. It took him a few minutes to figure out how to see the images. He didn’t find any shots of the powwow. It felt good to be right.
    Not that this made her entirely innocent. She’d still broken a rule. Of course, looking at the expensive Nikon, he could almost understand why. Especially since someone had broken into the lodge to steal it.
    Maybe he should bend the rule for her. Maybe. He’d see if she played nice tomorrow—real nice, not the fake approach she’d tried before he left. Yeah, he’d make his decision tomorrow when he saw her.
    Anticipation stirred in his chest. But would he have time to see her? Between investigating an attempted robbery, picking up Jose, and checking in on Redfoot, could he fit her in?
    I’m not leaving. I’m staying here until you hand over my camera.
    He hoped she hadn’t been lying. A vision flashed through his mind, of finding her naked in his bed, warm, willing. It was a very nice vision. His body reacted, but shouldering back in his seat he gave his libido the soul-crushing news that it wasn’t happening. If by some farfetched chance she was still at his place, she’d probably be sleeping on his sofa—if she was sleeping and not waiting for him with murder and her camera on her mind. He headed home to see.
    He hadn’t gotten down the block before his cell phone rang. “Hello,” he answered, his head and heart already back on Redfoot.
    “Sky, it’s me.”
    Sky recognized his friend Sal’s voice, the owner of the one and only hotel in Precious. It should have put him at ease, but it was after midnight. Since Sal had married Jessie, late-night calls weren’t his thing.
    “What’s up, Sal?”
    “There’s trouble. That Winters chick stormed into theoffice and woke me up squawking about how someone broke into her hotel room. I checked, and they really did a job on it.”
    “Damn it!”
    “She said she found her room like that, but she was bleeding pretty bad and I’m not sure if she’s telling me everything. Maybe she caught whoever was breaking in.”
    “How bad is she hurt?” Sky couldn’t help but remember Redfoot’s warning.
    “I don’t know. She wouldn’t let me touch her. I think it’s just her hand, but she left a trail of blood in and out of my office. I gave her another room.”
    “I’m on my way.”
    “Uhh…” Sal sounded nervous. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
    “Why not?” Sky asked.
    “Because when I said I was calling the police, she went wonky on me and said if you showed up without her camera, your ass was hers. She said all she wanted was a different hotel room and her freaking camera back by morning. As she left she said that Precious could ‘freaking figure out how to bring tourists here on its own.’ And while she did say ‘freaking,’ she looked mad enough to eat her young.”
    It hit Sky that whoever had gone after Shala was the same asshole who’d broken into the lodge and hurt Redfoot. He made a quick turn toward the hotel, glancing at the camera on the seat next to him. The thing was expensive, but was it worth this much effort? He didn’t think so.
    Sal continued. “I’m guessing her camera was stolen in the break-in…? Not that she was making sense, but she muttered something about being trapped by a pack of wolves and ‘I’m not finding Precious so precious.’”
    Wolves? Redfoot’s vision? Damn, he didn’t believe in all that shit. Unless…His dogs. Had Shala had a run-in with Butch and Sundance?
    “I gave her the key to a different room, and she shot outof here like a chicken with its feathers on fire and a stick of dynamite up its butt. I hope like hell the mayor hasn’t given her a check yet, ‘cause I’m thinking, when she’s out of Precious, she’s not coming back.”
    Sky didn’t want to think about her leaving. He looked at her camera. Suddenly, handing it over to her didn’t seem like a good idea.
    “I’m on my way,” he said. “Just do me a favor and keep an eye on her