Aimee Thurlo - Winter Hawk's Legend

“You may have heard his name mentioned during tribal agency meetings. That’s Daniel Hawk,” he said, following her gaze. “Like you, he’s a private consultant. Hawk owns Level One Security and conducts our training exercises, not only here, but also at every critical tribal facility. Naturally he’s got the highest clearance level.”

Holly nodded, finally being able to place a face to the name. She’d heard Daniel Hawk described as a one-time bad boy who could attract women faster than free chocolate. Daniel had presence. That confidence and take-charge attitude, coupled with those wide shoulders and long legs, sure made him easy on the eyes.

She watched Daniel Hawk as he moved, his back straight, his steps measured and filled with purpose. He came to a stop and glanced around the room, his gaze missing nothing. Then, for a brief moment, his eyes met hers. That steady, penetrating look was a blend of curiosity and casual sensuality that made her body tingle all over.

Holly was used to being checked out by men wherever she was. Though she wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, at five foot three she had generous curves in all the right places and men had a tendency to turn their heads to look when she stepped into a room. Yet it wasn’t admiration that was mirrored in the dark eyes that held hers—it was a subtle challenge.

Taking a deep breath, Holly forced herself to look away. He wasn’t checking her out in a man-woman sort of way. He was a professional, sizing her up as he would any stranger in his environment.

Hearing herself being introduced, her focus shifted instantly to the job at hand. Holly beamed a confident smile to everyone in the audience as she strode up to the podium. Prepared, she started her presentation without skipping a beat. Martin had already loaded her graphics into the projection system and the remote worked perfectly.

Even though nearly every seat in the room was occupied, she felt completely at ease. Her engaging voice kept everyone’s attention, even through the dry, technical segments of her presentation.

Everything went smoothly until she began to explain the specifics of the new extraction process—an improved technique for freeing up deposits of natural gas far below the surface. Out of the corner of her eye Holly saw a Navajo man wearing a denim jacket rise from his seat. He sidestepped past the seated guests and headed toward the center aisle.

Holly wondered if the man was having difficulty keeping up with the technical portion, but she was forced to block him from her mind and focus on her presentation.

As soon as he reached the aisle and turned toward the podium instead of the exit, Holly recognized him instantly. Clyde Keeswood was a community activist who’d opposed the tribe’s energy resource operations from day one. He’d shouted out his opposition in every press conference and lecture she’d held the past few months. Now what?

Almost as the thought formed, she saw Daniel Hawk on the move.

“This is the same PR bull we hear every day,” Keeswood shouted, walking toward her. “Why don’t you give us the whole story?” He came to a stop next to her empty chair and glared at her.

“I promise to answer your questions after I finish explaining the details of the extraction process,” Holly said, refusing to raise her voice. “I’ll keep it brief, Mr. Keeswood, then we’ll address whatever concerns you have. If you can take a seat….”

He remained standing. “Nothing will be brief, except our way of life after the wells run dry. Sure, the tribe and their big business partners will make gobs of money selling natural gas to— I don’t know, big developers, factories? But the water table will be contaminated with chemicals—that’s if the wells don’t go dry first. You think this is a desert now? Just wait.”

“No chemicals except water itself will be used to free up the gas formations. Let me show you how it works,” she said. She stepped to the left and pressed a remote. A projector on the far side of the room produced an image on the screen behind her on the wall.

The man spat out a curse and picked up her chair. As he raised it over his head, Daniel Hawk was suddenly there. In a split second he yanked the chair away from Keeswood.

The force threw the activist off balance. He fell backward and toppled onto the tile floor. Daniel set the chair aside, and straddled the troublemaker, ready to roll him over and cuff him.

Keeswood punched upward but Daniel blocked the jab, grabbed his hand, then twisted it around, forcing the man facedown on the floor. By then, two uniformed security guards arrived. They hauled Keeswood to his feet and quickly led him away.

Barely ten seconds had passed, but the room had grown completely silent. Holly glanced at Daniel, and he nodded, giving her a thumbs-up.

“Harmony has been restored. I think we can continue now,” she said, and the room exploded in applause. Holly glanced back, looking for Daniel, but all she saw was his back as he left the room.

Disappointed, she focused on what she had to do. Later, when she could get away, she’d catch up to him and thank him personally for what he’d done.

Once her presentation came to a close, Holly smiled at her largely enthusiastic audience and thanked the group for their patience. “Now I’d like to answer all your questions. Please ask me whatever you’d like.”

The question-and-answer session took another thirty minutes. Afterward, they broke for a well-deserved lunch.

Holly followed the attendees to the small cafeteria at the other end of the building. Going down the buffet line, she opted for a large bowl of fresh mutton stew, warm fry bread and hot coffee in a big white mug with the tribal emblem on the side. With her tray full, she headed to a table by the windows. As she approached the spot, a tingle of awareness spread through her.

Female intuition… She knew even before she could confirm it that Daniel Hawk was looking at her.

As Holly set her tray down, Daniel came up and introduced himself, but according to Navajo customs, didn’t offer to shake hands.

“No introduction is necessary, Mr. Hawk,” she said, noting how low and masculine the timbre of his voice was and how it seemed to fit him perfectly. “I know who you are and I’m glad you came over.” She sat down and invited him to join her. “I owe you a big thank-you.”

“No thanks are needed, but I thought you could use some pointers on how to spot trouble before it happens,” he said, taking a seat across from her. “We can talk now while you have lunch.”

For a moment she wondered if he was somehow blaming her for what had happened. “I’d like to hear what you’ve got to say,” she said, “but my job is to give presentations. If there’s a problem, security has to handle it.”

“They will. I just thought a few tips might give you an edge. If nothing else, it could give you time to duck.”

She smiled, but before she could answer, two more session attendees came up with their trays to join them at the table. They’d only been there a minute or so when Daniel’s pager went off and he was forced to leave.

“He’s really something, isn’t he?” Jennifer Long, a representative from a local utility cooperative, whispered.

Holly watched Daniel until he left the cafeteria. “He’s observant, too. I get the feeling very little gets past him.”

“Do you suppose he knows he’s total eye candy?” Mary Randall, an attorney for the tribe, said with a mischievous smile.

They laughed, and as Holly ate lunch, two more people joined them. It wasn’t until later that afternoon, during a pause in the schedule, that Holly saw Daniel again. He met her by the coffee urn as she stepped out of a meeting room during a short break.