After the Storm Read Online Free Page B

start over in a place they felt was safe.
    His brothers knew of his weakness when it came to taking missions involving children or women, and they were more than happy to lend assistance in any way they could. They gave him shit about his soft spot, but they were every bit as determined as Donovan was to right wrongs against victims.
    Hell, the Kelly wives were survivors in their own right and kick-ass women to boot. His brothers were lucky sons of bitches, as were the team leaders, Rio and Steele. They’d all met their women in less-than-ideal situations, but they’d fallen hard and fast, and Donovan envied their connection to their wives. He wanted that. One day. He wasn’t in a hurry. It would happen when it happened. But he wanted a family of his own. A wife. Children. To be a bigger part in a family that was his alone.
    For now, he played the doting uncle to Charlotte, his oldest brother’s daughter, and to his younger brother Ethan’s twin boys. And now Rio had a thirteen-year-old daughter and Steele was the proud new father of a daughter. The world was changing around him, and yet he was seemingly standing still. Same routine. Same job. Every day.
    He couldn’t complain about his love life. He had sex. But he wasn’t into cheap thrills or getting laid just to get a piece of ass. He respected women far too much to indulge in meaningless one-night stands. As a result, his relationships were few and far between, and he hadn’t fucked his way through countless women. And he was okay with that. When the day came that he met the one, he wanted to be able to tell her that he hadn’t been some man whore. He wanted her to know that she was special. For that matter, he wanted it to be special for him as well.
    Maybe that made him old-fashioned or a prude. He didn’t really give a damn. His parents had brought him up to be respectful not only of others but most of all himself. If he couldn’t respect himself, how could he expect respect from others?
    Fifteen minutes after he’d relocated down the street, he saw the kid Rusty had hired walk out of the hardware store. She was not wrong. This kid checked his surroundings. In fact, he brought more attention to himself because he was being so cautious. He walked slowly, his head turning side-to-side and then over his shoulder in a regular rotation.
    He was a big kid. Tall and muscular, but thin. He had a look to him that told Donovan he was very likely malnourished. His face was thin and his expression was somber. He picked up speed at the end of the block as he crossed the street.
    Damn it. If Rusty didn’t hurry her ass up, they were going to lose him.
    Just when he’d decided to take off after the kid on his own, Rusty hurried out and ran toward his truck. She slid into the passenger seat and Donovan backed out.
    “You’re right about him being wary,” Donovan muttered as he slowed to a discreet distance behind the kid. “He’s too obvious about it, though. If a cop sees him they’re going to pick up on the fact that it looks like he has something to hide.”
    Rusty nodded and frowned. “Yeah, I know. But I can hardly tell him to act more casual, you know?”
    “Yeah. I hear you.”
    They drove slowly for several minutes and Donovan cursed.
    “Hell, how far is this kid walking to work anyway?”
    Rusty looked as unhappy as Donovan was.
    “I don’t know, but it’s been what, a mile so far?”
    “Almost two,” Donovan said grimly.
    “He’s turning onto that gravel road ahead,” Rusty said, leaning forward in the seat. “I hope he hasn’t made us and is throwing us off.”
    “We’ll drive by like we’re going ahead and then circle back,” Donovan said.
    He accelerated and drove past the road the kid had turned onto. He glanced over to see the kid walking along the side, his back to the highway. Donovan went up a ways and then did a U-turn and drove back to the road.
    “Damn it!” Rusty said when they took the turn. “I don’t see him