Free Deadly Intentions by Leighann Dobbs Page A

her.  
    She chewed her lip in indecision, then slowly turned, backtracking down to the next step which, unfortunately, chose this time to creak loudly.
    “Jolene? Is that you?” Luke poked his head out the door and she was caught. No choice now but to go into the office and pretend like nothing was wrong.
    “Hey, Luke. What brings you here?” Jolene asked. “Jake said something the other day about you having another job for us?”
    Well, sort of.” Luke and Jake exchanged a glance that made Jolene feel uneasy.  
    She tossed her bag on her desk and then sat on it herself, her legs dangling in front. “Oh?”
    “Are you okay?” Jake asked.
    “Yeah. Just tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.” Jolene’s stomach turned at the lie. She didn’t like being dishonest, especially to Jake, but sometimes you had to do what you had to do.
    “Oh?” Jake’s narrow-eyed study of her told her he didn’t fully believe her and she squirmed uncomfortably.
    “Anyway,” Luke cut in, “my boss has sent a warning. Something’s up and you and your sisters are in the middle of it.”
    Jolene mashed her brows together. “What do you mean by something ? I thought your company located lost treasure. Why are they interested in four sisters?”
    Luke shrugged. Leaning against the wall, he crossed his arms across his muscular chest. “I think they figure you girls are their ace in the hole, what with your gifts and all. They don’t want you to get hurt. They need you.”
    Uneasiness crept into Jolene’s gut. She wondered if what Luke was talking about had anything to do with what had happened out at the Birchwood Storage .
    Should she tell them?
    Even though telling them was probably the smart thing to do, she kept quiet. Jolene was fiercely independent and if word got out that she’d been attacked, Luke, Jake and her sisters would start getting overprotective. She didn’t need anyone following her every move or restricting her freedom, at least not until she found out the truth about her mother.
    “Well, what do they think is going on? Was there some kind of threat? Or does it have something to do with my ancestors’ treasure? Are pirates going to descend on us again?” Jolene referred to the incident that brought Luke back to Noquitt in the first place.  
    Luke had left Noquitt when he was young to join the military. After retiring, he’d taken a job with his current employer, which was a perfect fit for his skills. One of the jobs had led him back here to protect Jolene and her sisters from modern day pirates fixing to steal a treasure her sailing merchant great-great-great-great-grandfather had hidden.  
    “She didn’t say, just that I should protect you guys.”
    “Protect us?” Jolene snorted. “You’ve seen us in action—do we need protecting?
    Luke’s deep green eyes bored into hers. “I can’t deny that you guys have the ability to put up a good fight. But have you all been practicing and honing your skills? It seems to me like your gifts are still raw … if there is a coordinated effort against you, you might not be able to defend yourselves like you think.”
    Jolene bristled. “We have more control over our gifts now and we have been practicing.”
    It was mostly true. They did practice a little. Okay, maybe not as much as they should, but their paranormal use of energy always seemed to kick in at the right time and had allowed them to escape from danger in the past.  
    “Another thing I was wondering …” Luke hesitated, his voice trailing off.
    Jolene raised her left brow. “Yeah?”
    “How well do you know your Aunt Eliza?”
    “I don’t know her at all. None of us do. You probably know as much about her as we do at this point.”
    “Right. Morgan said you guys got a letter out of the blue.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Have you noticed her doing anything strange?” Luke asked. “I don’t mean to imply that she’s up to anything … I mean, I know she’s family and all, but