Sixteen Days

Sixteen Days

Sherri Somerville

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©

Copyright 2014 Sherri Somerville.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn:

978-1-4907-2282-5 (sc)

isbn:

978-1-4907-2283-2 (hc)

isbn:

978-1-4907-2284-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013923806

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T ucker Heart packed her bags with as much western attire as she owned. She packed shirts, jeans, boots, and hats. She tossed in some jewelry that she thought would go and a couple of fancy baseball hats, along with some shorts and T-shirts.

She has two hours to pack, close up her house, and get to the airport. She had been assigned to a job on the rodeo circuit.

Tucker was hired on to an elite agency, one she had held out for, after graduating from the top police agencies in the nation. Then she had taken every course she could in the last two years to make sure she was even a consideration for this job.

What made Tucker so desirable for this job was her ability to fit right in on any role she needed to play.

She was drop-dead gorgeous; she was sexy as could be, with long red hair, big blue eyes, and honey-dusted gold skin. She had been raised on a ranch but had summered on the ocean in college and had traveled abroad a little. She was quick-witted and not afraid of the devil himself. But she had one downfall, her temper, which went with the red hair and got her in trouble now and then.

The last job she had done was almost the last with this company; her temper almost blew the cover. At the last minute, she was saved by another agent, but now, she was on probation and had to work with the main man, the man who owned and started the agency, to see if she got to keep her job or not.

She had never met the man, being hired by his assistant, but had heard many stories about him and how he was a no nonsense hard-ass, so she was very nervous.

She had a small acreage outside of Grand Junction, Colorado, where she kept her horses, dogs, and cats. Luckily she had a good friend who would house-sit for her when she was away on long jobs.

She was taking her border collie Lefty along on this job, so she loaded him, her bags, and rushed for the airport. She was running a little late, only getting the call this morning, so the plane was already on the ground when she pulled in. She flashed her badge with security clearance at the guard at the gate and got the directions of where to park and leave her pickup truck, while trying to hurry, because she saw a big dark-haired man checking out the airplane while it was fueled. She leased her dog, grabbed her bags, and headed that way. She waited for the man to look up and see her before she stuck out her hand.

Tucker Heart.

He didn’t answer right away, running his eyes slowly up and down her body, which set her teeth on edge.

Are we going to have a problem here? She ground out.

He gave her a half smile. I don’t know, are we?

Not if you mind your manners and do your job.

And just what would that be? He smirked.

Take me to meet Mr. Ashton. He made a big deal of wiping his hands on a rag before sticking his hand out to her. I am Mr. Ashton. Shit, thought Tucker, what a way to meet the boss. She already was on probation; he must think she was a real bitch. She had no idea he would come in person to pick her up; she assumed he would send someone.

Get loaded up, we are leaving in five minutes. He ordered as he went back to what he was doing.

Yes, sir. She grabbed her bags and the dog and was on board when he climbed in.

He pointed to the other seat in the cockpit, indicating she should sit there, while he made friends with her dog, before snapping a line on the dog to keep him contained while in flight.

Tucker had checked the jet out, and it was to die for, top of the line, and costing more than she could even imagine. She did as he told her to and was reaching for the seat belt when he took it out of her hands and snapped it in place, running his hand up her chest to make sure it was tight.

Her face flamed red, but he acted like no big deal as he took his seat, buckled up, fired up the plane, before rolling out for takeoff.

Once they were in the air, he handed her a set of headphones. She put them on, and he was able to carry on a regular conversation with her over the roar of the plane.

I will be calling you Tucker, and I want you to call me Brock. This job has turned serious very fast, and we need as much information as we can get on who might be behind some dangerous actions. Did my assistant have time to brief you on what was going on?

Not really. He just said to bring western dress and my dog Lefty, because everyone on the rodeo circuit has a dog and it would help with my cover, she explained.

"Our cover. We will be posing as a couple working for a film company working on a documentary on the faces of rodeo."

Okay, and why as a couple, why not just two employees? Tucker asked.

Because we are going to be living together in a motor home, and I don’t want to waste the time fighting off the women or spend any time running off the men who are trying to get in your pants. Tucker’s mouth dropped open; she was absolutely shocked at how crude he was.

You certainly have a way with words, don’t you? she said.

Brock spun around with an arched eyebrow. Are you so easily offended, or maybe you enjoy going to bed with strange men.

Now you are being nothing but a pig, and my love life is none of your business. She spat.

Well, while you are working for me on this job, I am afraid it is. As far as anyone in concerned, we are madly in love and keeping the sheets a smoking. When she didn’t answer, he turned and pinned her with a look. Is this going to be a problem? Do I need to replace you on this job?

No, I can handle my side of the job, but just so we understand each other, I don’t sleep around.

Brock didn’t answer, so she waited a minute and then asked for more information on the job.

Once we are on the ground, I will fill you in. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Three hours later, they were landing at the Reno, Nevada airport. Brock helped her from the plane, handing her the dog’s leash.

While she walked the dog, she watched Brock hangar the plane. He was a very handsome man, big and rugged looking. No wonder he had to fight the women off.

She kept watching him as he worked; he was in Wranglers, boots, and a polo shirt, looking very much the part of a rich sexy cowboy.

On the way back to the plane, she was dumbfounded when a huge black and chrome motor home pulled into the airport. It had a custom paint job with the wording Lifestyles Documentary all the way down the side. It was towing a jeep behind, and she was sure it was her new home for the length of this job.

Sure enough, she saw Brock toss her bags inside while waiting for her and the dog to get on board.

I hope you know how to drive this monster, she said as she took in the sheer luxury of the inside.

It had everything known to man, plus a lot of equipment she thought they would need to either do the job or at least look the part.

But what she was worried about was the sleeping quarters, because right now, she only saw one bedroom at the back of the bus.

Go ahead and look around a minute before we head out, Brock told her.

She did and still only found the one bedroom, but the couch’s looked big and comfortable so she could make do, she thought.

She took the passenger seat, making Lefty lie down by her as Brock fired it up and pulled out on the highway heading for town.

We need to go grocery shopping first and stock up, but we can find a place to eat first, he said, which turned out harder than he thought; there was no place to park that big thing anywhere even close to a café. So they parked in a Walmart parking lot and ate at McDonald’s before buying two weeks’ worth of food and supplies.

This was almost funny; they were like an old married couple fighting over who was going to cook and what to buy.

Brock had a cook, and Tucker never learned; she could make a few things, but her interest was sure not in the kitchen. Nevertheless, they filled up two carts, plus a huge bag of food for Lefty. It took them forever to put it all away and get on the road to the rodeo grounds. Okay, this is what we need to work on, finding out who has a beef with either rodeo in general or with certain people running the rodeos or competing. But it is very important to keep what we find secret, because the sport as a whole is under constant scrutiny. It may be a group effort or just one lone nut, but they are hurting people and animals now, so we need to move quick during this summer run over the Fourth of July, Brock explained.

Aren’t we taking a chance making it worse by making rodeo the star of a movie?

"That could be, but