Bear Meets Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

wore.
                Angela’s
face flushed as she caught his stare, and she tossed her coppery curls
defiantly. “And just why is that?”
                “I
think you’d better show her the ransom letter,” the Captain said quietly.
                “What
ransom letter?” Angela’s head whipped around to look at Captain Fitzsimons.
                The
Captain picked up a file on his desk and withdrew a letter. He handed it off to
Angela to read, and Cole looked over her shoulder, wanting to get a look at it
in person though he knew the contents of the missive already.
                “This
is a ransom demand,” Angela said after a long moment. “Raina’s life, in
exchange for Commander Madison’s. It says here that if he doesn’t turn himself
in, they’re going to kill her... and that she’ll be the first of many.” She
looked up at the Commander, aghast. “When did you receive this?”
                “Not
twenty minutes ago.” The Commander pressed his lips into a thin line. “Your
brother’s people work fast.”
                Cole
watched as a muscle flexed in Angela’s jaw. Clearly she wasn’t happy about the
fact that a member of her own family was responsible for her partner’s
kidnapping. “The fact of the matter is,” he said, drawing her attention back to
him, “your Commander could order a manhunt for Raina’s kidnappers and involve
the whole precinct, but that’s going to create a hell of a lot of mess and
publicity that he wants to avoid. Since the Commander’s running for office next
year, I imagine he wants to avoid all that.”
                Barely
leashed fury flared in Angela’s green eyes as she rounded on the Commander. “So
you’re hiring a mercenary to rescue your daughter instead of relying on the
proper channels because you want to improve your chances of getting a seat on
the council ?” she hissed, balling her fists at her sides in a way that
Cole knew meant she was itching to deck the Commander in the face. He felt his
respect for her go up another notch – though he was getting paid for the
job, he too found the Commander’s choice of priorities to be just a hair away
from despicable.
                Commander
Madison’s face reddened. “There is absolutely no reason why you and Cole won’t
be just as capable of retrieving Raina as a task force would,” he growled.
“That’s why I hired Cole – because he’s the best, and my daughter
deserves the best. Now if you want to have any part in finding her, I suggest
you stop arguing with me and get on it. Unless you’d rather I find someone else
to help Cole?”
                Angela
face blanched with fury, and for a moment Cole really did think she was going
to deck her Commander. But then the moment passed, and she nodded stiffly.
“We’ll find her. You have my word.”
                “Good.
Now get out of my sight, and don’t come back until you have something to
report.”
    * * *
                Angela
stormed out of the building, with Cole just a few paces behind her. If she’d
been a mage, the air around her would have been crackling with magic, her hair
whipping around her face as her entire body glowed with the need for
retribution. As it was, she settled for the stiff wind pushing her hair out
behind her, which in turn cooled some of the heat that was scalding her from
the inside out.
                “Hey
there,” Cole called from behind her. “Why don’t you slow down for a second and
tell me where exactly we’re going?”
                Angela
took a deep breath as anger sparked from within her, then waited for it to
fizzle out before she turned to speak to him. It infuriated her even more that
he was standing there so calmly with his hands in his pockets, as if he didn’t
have a care in the world, and part of her wondered if maybe he hadn’t felt
that same spark