Cade Creek 11 - Race Against Time Read Online Free PDF Page A

something was on his mind.
    “Ari?”
    “Huh?” The man still kind of seemed out of it when he turned. “What?”
    “What are you thinking?”
    “I don’t know.” Ari shrugged and went back to looking out the window.
    Vinnie waited.
    “How could someone do something like that?”
    Vinnie smiled to himself when Ari started speaking. He knew the man would say something when he was ready. “Some people are just evil, Ari. You know that.”
    “It’s wrong.”
    Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Vinnie reached over with the other one and patted Ari’s leg before turning his hand over. He wasn’t much for displays of affection, but Ari seemed a little freaked at the moment. He needed the connection.
    It was a sign of how upset Ari was that he didn’t look away from the window when he turned his hand over and laced his fingers with Vinnie’s.
    “Dorian will call us if he needs us,” Vinnie said. He didn’t like the rigid set to Ari’s jaw. The man was thinking hard and that was never a good idea. Ari could get moody at times, especially when he spent too much time in his head.
    “I hope that’s enough,” Ari whispered.
    Vinnie swallowed the tight knot in his throat. He hoped it was enough as well. He didn’t exactly know what had happened to Race, but he had a very bad feeling about it. “I think we should have a little impromptu meeting at the firehouse tomorrow, fill the guys in. A few more eyes wouldn’t hurt.”
    Ari turned to look at him, a worried little frown pinching the skin between his eyebrows. “You don’t think we’d be stepping on Dorian’s toes if we did that?”
    Damn .
    Vinnie tapped the phone icon on his steering wheel. “Call Dorian James.”
    “Calling Dorian James,” came the automated reply before the sound of a phone ringing filled the cab of the truck. God, he loved modern technology.
    “Hello?” said a voice a moment later.
    “Dorian, it’s Vinnie. Ari and I were talking and we had a thought, but we wanted to check with you first. Without putting too much out there, mainly because we don’t know much, we’d like to have a meeting with the guys at the firehouse tomorrow and ask them to keep an extra eye out for strangers in town. I don’t know who did this to Race, but if they decide to try to finish the job…”
    “No, no,” Dorian said, “I hear where you’re coming from and any additional help you can give us would be greatly appreciated.”
    “Okay, I’ll talk with the guys tomorrow. If Race gives you any more information on who is after him, and he doesn’t mind you sharing, give me a call. The more we know about who we are looking for, the better.”
    “Will do, and thanks, Vinnie. I appreciate it a lot and I know Race will, too.”
    Vinnie refused to admit how much that thought warmed him. There was a protective streak unfurling in his gut that Vinnie was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be able to squelch. It had sparked to life the second he laid eyes on the bruised and broken Race, and it was growing stronger with each passing second.
    Vinnie wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
    His relationship with Ari was rock solid. He knew that. But he also knew something was missing. They both knew that. They had actually discussed it at length when they found themselves acting on the attraction that had been instantly between them since the moment they laid eyes on each other.
    Considering the way he had reacted to Race, Vinnie was beginning to wonder if he was what had been missing all of this time. As much as he wanted total honestly between him and Ari, and he wanted to discuss Race, there was a part of him that was hesitant to upset the balance they had found in their relationship.
    Ari Malik Kadin was a breathtaking man to behold. His masculine grace astounded Vinnie every time he looked at the man. Ari carried himself with a confidence of a man who knew what he wanted out of life and wasn’t afraid to go after it.
    He had a welcoming grin for all