Hill, Gerri: Angel Fire

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Synopsis

A vacation out of the city sounds like just the ticket for Tori Hunter and Sam Kennedy. Joining their Dallas Police Department pals Casey O’Connor and Leslie Tucker in a rented RV, they set out for the New Mexico mountains—and on a collision course with a manhunt.

FBI agents Cameron Ross and Andrea Sullivan are tracking a deadly quarry in desolate territory. An ex-teammate from Cameron’s Special-Ops days is in deep hiding, planning who-knows-what to cap off a killing spree. With a hostage at stake and time running out, Cameron reluctantly agrees to outside help from women she doesn’t know…or trust.

Table of Contents

Cover

Synopsis

Title Page

Copyright Page

Other Books by Gerri Hill

About the Author

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Bella Books

Copyright © 2014 by Gerri Hill

Bella Books, Inc.

P.O. Box 10543

Tallahassee, FL 32302

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First Bella Books Edition 2014

eBook released 2014

Editor: Medora MacDougall

Cover Designer: Judith Fellows

ISBN: 978-1-59493-429-2

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

Other Bella Books by Gerri Hill

Artist’s Dream

At Seventeen

Behind the Pine Curtain

The Cottage

Coyote Sky

Dawn of Change

Devil’s Rock

Gulf Breeze

Hell’s Highway

Hunter’s Way

In the Name of the Father

Keepers of the Cave

The Killing Room

Love Waits

The Midnight Moon

No Strings

One Summer Night

Partners

The Rainbow Cedar

The Scorpion

Sierra City

Snow Falls

Storms

The Target

Weeping Walls

About the Author

Gerri Hill has twenty-six published works, including the 2013 GCLS winner Snow Falls , 2011 and 2012 GCLS winners Devil’s Rock and Hell’s Highway , and the 2009 GCLS winner Partners , the last book in the popular Hunter Series, as well as the 2012 Lambda finalist Storms . Hill’s love of nature and of being outdoors usually makes its way into her stories as her characters often find themselves in beautiful natural settings. When she isn’t writing, Gerri and her longtime partner, Diane, keep busy at their log cabin in East Texas tending to their two vegetable gardens, orchard and five acres of piney woods. They share their lives with two Australian shepherds and an assortment of furry felines.

Chapter One

Tori Hunter leaned back in her camp chair and watched with amusement as her best friend attempted to get the fire going.

“O’Connor, what the hell are you doing?”

“Lighter fluid.” Casey paused. “Unless you want to get your ass up and help.”

“No, no. I’m fine. But after you blow that thing up, would you bring me a beer?”

Casey turned to her. “Are you going to get up and do anything ?”

“I’m on vacation. I think that’s what you promised me when I agreed to come out here, wasn’t it? That you’d take care of everything and I could relax,” Tori reminded her.

“Yeah, but as bossy as you are, I didn’t think you could stand it.”

“Bossy? Me ?”

Casey gave her a crooked smile. “Oh, yeah, Hunter. You.”

“Come on. I’ve mellowed in the last few years. That’s what Sam says. Some people might even say I’m nice now.”

Casey laughed. “Name me one of your colleagues who would use that word. And I mean current colleagues. You can’t use John. You saved his life. He’s got to say that.”

Her current team flashed through her mind quickly and…okay. So maybe Casey had a point.

“Yeah. Thought so,” Casey teased as she headed toward their rented RV, presumably to fetch the beer she’d requested.

Tori smiled at her, then took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, so different from the city air she was used to. She had to admit, it was relaxing, this camping trip that Casey and Leslie had talked them into. She’d balked at first. A trip to New Mexico? In a rented motor home? For a whole damn week? No, not her thing. But Sam had thought it would be fun and Casey had badgered her enough that she finally agreed. Back in Dallas, the four of them hung out whenever their schedules allowed, which seemed to be less and less lately. Casey and Leslie still worked Homicide and Sam was still at CIU. Tori had moved on to the FBI a few years ago now. She would like to say she loved it, but the truth was, she missed Homicide and she missed working with Casey. But after what had happened to John Sikes, after the whole Patrick Doe thing, she needed a change. She hadn’t even told Sam yet, but she was thinking about going back to the Dallas Police Department. That was one reason she’d agreed to this trip. She wanted time away to think things over and decide if she was ready to go back. She didn’t want to get Sam’s hopes up if she wasn’t sure.

“Here you go, princess,” Casey said as she handed Tori a bottle of beer.

“Thanks.” Tori glanced toward the RV. “What are they doing in there?”

“Sam is making some sort of rice dish and Leslie is seasoning the chicken.” Casey pulled her chair closer. “This is great, isn’t it? We could be back home sweltering in the heat. September and it’s still in the upper 90s there. That’s crazy.” She took a deep breath. “Instead, we’re up here in the mountains. No humidity. It’s nice and cool. And we’re getting to see a little early fall color.” She clanked her beer bottle against Tori’s in a silent salute. “It’s great up here, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.” Tori took a swallow from her beer. “Thanks for making me do this.”