Hell for Leather: Black Knights Inc. Read Online Free Page A

know the guy’s last name, and that’s part of the problem. Truth is, I’ve never met the man even though Uncle Theo usually makes a trip out to see him at least once a year.” She was determined to oblige Mac’s request to fill him in on what she knew so far, this time without the sarcasm. Sheesh. “Anyway, Charlie invited Uncle Theo down for a visit. But Uncle Theo told me he didn’t really feel like making the ride by himself. I convinced him to go. Told him I’d go and we’d make a road trip out of it. I said it’d be fun.”
    And it had been fun. Up until the point when her uncle didn’t show up when he was supposed to. She lifted the key ring only to discover that, despite her best efforts at composure, her hand was shaking as badly as an alcoholic’s after twenty-four hours locked away in the drunk tank.
    Don’t panic. The two words flitted through her head for the millionth time. Only now it appeared her psyche was fed up with the mantra because it quickly answered back with Yeah right, sister. Not gonna happen.
    Okay, and great. That’s just what she didn’t need, her own subconscious mutinying.
    Mac crumpled his empty coffee cup and lobbed it toward a nearby trash can before gently taking the keys from her hand. And with far more dexterity than she would’ve thought possible given the amount of scotch she suspected he’d consumed—she didn’t know if it was him or Zoelner or the two of them combined, but the air around them reeked so strongly of whiskey she feared what would happen if they chanced by an open flame—he neatly inserted the key in the lock, twisted his big wrist, and pushed the gate open. It squeaked on its hinges, and the eerie sound streaked up her spine like the tip of a steel blade, further abrading her already raw nerves. What the hell is wrong with me?
    And either she winced, or Mac simply used those superpowers of deduction he’d been bequeathed upon his graduation from the FBI Academy, because he frowned fiercely. “Take a breath, Delilah,” he instructed sternly. “You look like you’re either about to toss your cookies or faint.”
    And that made sense, since she felt like she was either about to toss her cookies or faint. Or maybe she’d toss her cookies, then faint.
    For crying out loud, get it together!
    “I didn’t know your uncle was a Marine,” Zoelner said, supporting himself against the gate and sipping noisily at his coffee.
    “He doesn’t like to spread that particular bit of information around,” she admitted.
    “Why the hell not?” Zoelner asked. “What happened to the proud part of The Few, The Proud, The Marines ?”
    “Because of his age.” Just breathe, Delilah. Just…breathe. “When he tells people he was a Marine, they all assume he did a tour in Vietnam.”
    “He didn’t?” Zoelner lifted a brow.
    And, okay, it was that expression right there that made her understand why her uncle preferred to keep his stint in the military on the DL. So many good men had died in that war—or else come home irreparably changed or damaged—that to admit he was a Marine who never saw any action seemed somehow worse than saying he’d never been in the Armed Services at all.
    “No. He was an analyst or an engineer or something,” she said, grateful when Mac suddenly interrupted their conversation with, “I seriously doubt her uncle’s combat status of thirty-some-odd years ago has anything to do with his disappearance today. So, let’s get back to the point, shall we?” Yes. The point. Of her uncle missing… Dear God! “Delilah, I need you to take me step-by-step through the last day.”
    And perhaps it was the fact that his electric-blue eyes never wavered from her face, or maybe it was the grounding effect of seeing the soft summer breeze ruffle his thick brown hair over his brow, but the sharp edges of the fear she’d been carrying around all afternoon and evening seemed to smooth out. Just a bit.
    “Uncle Theo and I rode down to Marion