Being Amber Read Online Free Page A

ground floor of Rock’s building.
    Normally, before his roommate Diana had gotten married and moved out of Circle City with her husband, he would have gone back to his apartment. She would have teased him about being such a slut and then he would fall asleep spooning her like every other night since the day she moved in.
    Some men would have been happy to have a respite from the responsibility of their female, but he wasn’t one of them. Without Diana to take care of, the apartment felt empty. It wasn’t home anymore.
    Lost in thought, he exited into the humid summer night and walked the path that meandered from building to building.
    He was well aware he hadn’t adjusted well to Diana’s absence. It was ironic that he’d never realized how much he needed her until she wasn’t there anymore. The responsibility of caring for her and protecting her created stability in a life that was self-destructive and wild when they’d first met. He realized now that her presence established a home for them both. No matter where they’d been or what they’d done since they crawled out of bed together that morning, there was someone to go home to–assigned family, but still family.
    It wasn’t sexual with Diana. Never sexual. But it was intimate. Her unconditional acceptance of his authority, and her warm body got him through many nights of rebellion and insecure feelings about his place in the world.
    The soft ping of the elevator roused him from his rumination. The door opened and he found himself looking down the hall of his floor in building seventeen. Small crowds gathered here and there outside open doorways.
    He walked through the first gathering and into the apartment beyond.
    “Can I crash here?” he asked Caroline when he found her cross-legged on the bed, watching TV with a group of others.
    “Xander, you know you don’t have to ask,” she said, moving over and making room for him.
    “I’m working tomorrow. I have to set the alarm,” he warned.
    “No prob.”
    He climbed in the bed, finding enough room among the large tangle of people to get comfortable and fall asleep.
    * * * *
    “You wanted to see me, Cap?” Xander stepped into his supervisor’s office.
    “A fallow has been transported over from the Sapphire Designation Center. Jordan’s covering her right now,” Captain Rush said, without looking away from his compad. He touched his screen a couple more times then looked at Xander. “Looks like you’re on. We need to have a strategy session. I notified the rest of the task force team. Take an hour for dinner. We’ll meet at eight in the briefing room.”
    Xander stepped through the side door of police headquarters and lifted his face toward the thunderclouds and sprinkling rain. He breathed deeply. Anticipation and contentment swirled in his chest. He was ready to get back to normal, having a female assigned to him, someone to care for again. The practice of single Amber males caring for their assigned female suited him, fulfilled an inexplicable need in his personality. It made him a better man.
    An hour later, Xander, Rock and Brady, the electronics specialist, as well as Wes, the homicide detective from the last fallow cases, were all gathered around the large briefing room table in Amber Zone Police Headquarters. The atmosphere was relaxed. Everyone knew one another. The officers assigned to the Circle City area were like family to each other. All of them, except the captain, were single and lived in Circle City as well.
    Captain Rush’s sharp eyes lasered in on the team members as he walked in the door. Rush reminded Xander of a predatory bird. His bald head and pointy beak nose added to the effect.
    “Let me give you the overview of what we have so far,” he said, getting right down to business. “The last three fallows assigned to Circle City from other zones have wound up dead within weeks of their placement here. The first, Stacey Adams…” He tapped his stylus on his handheld to