All Chapters of Solid Muscle (Unseen Enemy 5): Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The truth was that without Chantal, Cordelia wouldn’t even be able to begin to manage. Single parenthood was challenging enough, but throw in Sean’s doctor’s appointments, radiation sessions, blood tests, days off school when he wasn’t doing well, trips to the drug store to pick up his steroids… if she’d had to handle all of that on her own, Cordelia would never be able to hold down a job. And it was her job with Dallas Foreman that provided them with medical insurance and a steady paycheck. She wandered into her bedroom and grabbed her towel and bathrobe, headed down to the miniscule bathroom. She turned on the shower and stepped in, sighing with pleasure at the warmth. She just stood still for a minute, enjoying the silence and privacy.As so often happened when she was alone and actually relaxed, her thoughts turned to Hunter Sullivan. She’d heard at work that he’d killed Michael Ferguson that day, and despite the fact that he always acted as though that was no big deal, she imagi

“Damn right there’s not, and thank Christ for that.” King leaned forward a bit. “They were all angling for plea bargains in exchange for information, but the D.A.’s been pretty uninterested. I mean, me and my team caught ‘em red-handed and dead-to-rights. I found the baby in the goddamn hideout they were hunkered down in, you know?”“So not much leverage to deal,” Dallas commented.“Not until just now.”“What happened?”“One guy started talking about another kidnapping ring… a major one based out-of-state that he keeps referring to as their former ‘competition’. Like they were a restaurant chain or something.”“Urgh.” Dallas’ blue eyes were hard. “Fucking dickheads.”“Right? But the thing is, this guy told the D.A. about a place in Kansas that this other ring used to house the kids. The local cops raided it, and the tip was damn good.”“What’d they find?”“Fifty kids.”Dallas was thunderstruck, horrified. “Fifty?”“Fifty-three, to be pedantically correct.”“Fuck. All kidnapped from ho

Selena signed the ‘request for leave’ form and bit her lip. God, she hated this – hated everything to do with this. She’d been expecting it for years, of course, but now that it was here, she realized that she hadn’t been totally prepared after all.She got to her feet and headed down to Dallas’ office, tapped at the door. He answered and she popped her head in. He was standing and staring out the window at the Rockies. He turned.“Hey, Selena. Perfect timing. Come on in.”“Oh.” She clutched the form a bit tighter. “Sure.”They sat down and as always, Dallas just launched right into it. The man was nothing if not straight-up, and it was one of the many, many reasons that Selena loved working for him.“I’m sending you and Griff to Kansas to pose as a married couple looking to adopt,” he said in his gravelly voice. “You’re gonna be breaking up a child kidnapping ring aimed at selling babies to adoptive couples.”She blinked, totally taken aback. “When?” “You’ll spend the next three day

“So where are we staying?” Sully asked.“You’re wealthy, successful people with high standards, so we opted to not have you stay in a hotel,” Dallas said. “We found you a rented house in a high-end neighborhood in Lawrence.”“Is that where the meet is?”“Yeah. The middleman is based in Lawrence.”Cordelia didn’t know much about the geography of Kansas, and she made a note to do some research into Lawrence that afternoon. She also tried to avoid thinking about staying in a fancy house with Hunter. Not staying in a hotel room took the whole ‘playing a married couple’ thing up several levels somehow, and she wasn’t sure that she liked it at all. Then again, the Bakers would most definitely stay in a massive house so with a bit of luck, she’d never run into Hunter once they entered the front door and he disappeared into his man cave or whatever he was going to do.Dallas turned his attention to Cordelia. “Millie Baker is a rich woman, Cordelia, one who is totally desperate for a baby. She

Sully stood off to the side of the indoor shooting range, watching Cordelia load her gun. He wasn’t at all surprised at her choice of personal weapon: a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield. Compact and light, it was a popular choice with women with smaller hands... but it had a quick reset triggered by the striker-fired action, so the gun made it possible for multiple rounds to be fired quickly. The gun was sleek and slim – but it was fucking fast and lethal. Sully got the feeling that it was the perfect gun for this tough, sweet woman.She never stops surprising me, does she?He adjusted the earmuffs and lowered his safety glasses. Cordelia looked over her shoulder at him and he gave her a thumbs-up. She nodded back at him, turned and spread her feet apart, finding her position. Right away, he saw that her hips weren’t square and her shoulders were too tense. He waited, though, curious how she’d do on her first try.Cordelia tried to ignore the fact that Hunter Sullivan was looming behind her,