Sedona Suspect
Sedona Suspect
BOOK #7 OF THE SEDONA PACK SERIES
BY LISA KESSLER
Sedona Suspect – Copyright © 2021 by Lisa Kessler
EPUB Edition
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Visit Lisa’s website: Lisa-Kessler.com
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Edited by Double Vision Editorial, Danielle Poiesz
Cover design by Fiona Jayde Media
Interior Design by – BB eBooks
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition June 2021
Other Novels by Lisa Kessler
The Muse Chronicles
LURE OF OBSESSION
LEGEND OF LOVE
BREATH OF PASSION
LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT
DEVOTED TO DESTINY
DANCE OF THE HEART
SONG OF THE SOUL
The Night Series
NIGHT WALKER
NIGHT DEMON
NIGHT NOVELLAS
NIGHT CHILD
The Moon Series
MOONLIGHT
HUNTER’S MOON
BLOOD MOON
HARVEST MOON
ICE MOON
BLUE MOON
WOLF MOON
NEW MOON
The Sedona Pack
THE LONE WOLF’S WISH
SEDONA SIN
SEDONA SEDUCTION
SEDONA SCANDAL
SEDONA SURRENDER
SEDONA SERENITY
SEDONA SACRIFICE
SEDONA SUSPECT
SEDONA SANCTUARY
The Sentinels of Savannah
MAGNOLIA MYSTIC
PIRATE’S PASSION
PIRATE’S PLEASURE
PIRATE’S PERSUASION
PIRATE’S PROMISE
Summerland Stories
ACROSS THE VEIL
FORBIDDEN HEARTS
Standalone Works
BEG ME TO SLAY
FORGOTTEN TREASURES
Dedication
This one is for all the Wordmakers.
Thanks for inspiring me and staying up late with me to write!
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Other Novels by Lisa Kessler
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Other Novels by Lisa Kessler
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
Natasha
Judge Mitch Jones might pretend to embody blind justice from the bench, but under that robe, he was sweating. The scent of his anxiety permeated my nostrils as I studied his aura. I’d been able to see auras around people since I was a small child. All living beings were made of energy, and their auras reflected that energy in colors, constantly changing depending on emotions and sometimes even people’s health. They were like technicolor shadows that helped me gauge their current state of mind.
Right now, Judge Jones was surrounded by a combination of angry red rage, sparks of yellow fear, and a streak of flickering violet that whispered power. Or at least perceived power. His eyes kept searching the audience, as if he was looking for someone.
Possibly me.
But there was no way he could know a jaguar shifter was in the audience unless…
Oh shit. He must’ve taken the super soldier serum.
Evolution Defense, a top-secret government contractor, had found a way to mutate shifter DNA in order to give humans the heightened senses and strength of a werewolf without having to shift into a wolf once a month. If Judge Jones could recognize that there was a jaguar shifter in this room, it had to be due to a newly enhanced sense of smell.
My lips quirked as I bit back a smile. In the crowd of humans, he’d never discover which one of us was a shifter, but he knew he was being watched.
I filed out of the courthouse with the rest of the audience. I’d seen all I had needed to see. Now it was time to put together a plan. I walked toward my car, enjoying the sound of the sharp, rhythmic clacks of my black pumps against the pavement. As a jaguar shifter, I had the ability to move without making a sound so the loud click of my shoes was a deliberate choice. I wasn’t trying to hide. In this case, I wanted my prey to hear me coming.
As my car came into view, I caught a familiar scent. I narrowed my eyes behind my sunglasses, scanning the lot until I found him.
Gil.
I cursed under my breath as he headed toward me.
“Natasha, wait.” He jogged over to my black Lexus.
“I’ve got nothing to say to you.” I pressed my key fob to pop the locks.
“We need to talk.” He wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Just a few minutes.”
I glanced up at the fireball in the sky and back to him. “It’s a hundred and fifteen degrees. I’m not giving you a minute.” I opened the door and waited for the gust of even hotter air to dissipate before I got in.
He slipped in through the passenger-side door before I could hit the “lock” button. “It’s important,” he said. “You can drive me to my car.”
I rolled my eyes and checked my mirror. “You’re lucky I don’t just shoot you.” I started the engine and the AC roared to life, blowing more hot air against my face. I’d spent most of my life in New York and Washington DC, far from the desert. This was my third summer in Arizona, and I still wasn’t used to the damned heat. Maybe you never really adjusted to it. I glared over at my unwanted passenger. “Does your boss in the robe know you’re talking to me?”
“No.” He scanned the parking lot before glancing at me. “I can’t stay long.”
I frowned. “What’s so important?”
He looked over at the courthouse. “The judge took the serum.”
“Tell me something I don’t already know.”
That got his attention. Gil met my eyes. “How did you know?”
“Because I just sat in that courtroom and watched him almost lose his shit trying to figure out which person in the audience was a jaguar shifter. He probably thought I was there to kill him.”
“Were you?”
Fair question. I was a damned better assassin than Gil would ever be. “He wouldn’t still be breathing if I were.” I waited for him to meet my eyes. “The human trials that Evolution Defense conducted on the serum were far from promising. The judge is probably already paranoid, maybe having headaches?”
A muscle clenched in his jaw as he broke eye contact. His aura sparked with yellow. Fear. Interesting.
The judge had hired Gil and Ray, another jaguar assassin who came to Arizona with me after Nero fell, as bodyguards a few months ago. After General Miller Sloan had retired from the military and surfaced in Phoenix, the
judge was worried Sloan might know about his secrets. Was Gil regretting taking the judge’s money? I must’ve been pretty close in my assessment of his boss. The courthouse had his full attention again.
“He’s sure that General Sloan is after him, and it’s clouding his judgment.” Gil faced me again.
After the wolf pack in Reno had blown up Nero’s headquarters and killed its leader, Antonio Severino, factions had risen from the ashes and tentatively joined forces to become the four emperors of the Transparency Collective. The Sedona Pack had already killed Duane, the emperor from our jaguar shifter ranks, as well as Dr. Harlow from Evolution Defense.
Gil checked the mirror. “Judge Jones knows he’s next. It’s making him…aggressive.”
I shook my head, staring into the distance and wishing I could just leave. I wasn’t beholden to anyone or anything, so why was I sticking around this desert?
Well that was a loaded question.
“Why are you still taking his money?” I asked Gil. “The Transparency Collective doesn’t give a shit about jaguar shifters. We’re just the lesser of the two evils to them. They think they can use us to defend them from the werewolves. But how’s that going so far?” I shook my head. “Duane’s already dead. Are you willing to be next?”
“The Sedona Pack killed Duane, not the Collective.” His aura darkened. “You kill for money too. You’re no better than me, so spare me your judgment.”
“I’m not judging you.” I adjusted my rearview mirror. “I’m warning you. He’s going to expose us. He’s not going to protect jaguars the way Duane had negotiated. If the Collective succeeds and the world finds out people can shift into wolves, we’re next. Don’t you see that?” I looked over at him. “Tomorrow is the new moon. We’ll be jaguars. You can take him out of the equation, and it’ll look like an animal attack. No one will be the wiser.”
“It’s not that simple.” He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact again. The color drained from his aura. Something bad was going down, and he was obviously conflicted about it, maybe even regretful.
“I don’t have time to play these games with you.” I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. “Either tell me what you wanted to say or get the hell out of my car.”
“I overheard him on the phone with the other emperor of the Collective, the one in the Senate. They were talking about General Sloan and moving up the timetable. They’re planning to expose shifters to the world. Soon.”
“How?” I pulled out of the parking space while he pointed to his car across the lot.
“I’m not sure, but you should watch your back.” He cleared his throat and added, “Maybe warn the wolf pack to do the same.”
I raised a brow. “Since when do you care about the wolves?”
He grunted. “I don’t.”
I stopped next to his car, and he got out. He bent down, meeting my eyes. “The final two emperors of the Transparency Collective are the most powerful, and they’re getting desperate. If they can’t expose a werewolf to the world, they’ll expose the next best thing.” He licked his chapped lips. “I think the agreement we had with them is off the table.”
I sighed. Duane had made a bargain with the Collective before he’d been killed. In exchange for our helping them prove to the world that werewolves were real, they would shield our kind. They dangled plenty of money in front of us too. We needed the funds at the time, but I’d fought Duane on the deal. As far as I was concerned, there was too much at stake if the Collective turned on us, but Duane had overruled me.
And now he was dead.
I frowned. “If that’s true, you and Ray aren’t going to be safe shifting at his place tomorrow night.”
“We’re taking precautions.” The colors around him swirled faster, agitated. He was lying about something. He met my eyes. “Be careful.”
He slammed the door and turned to get into his car.
It was deadly hot outside, but a shiver shot down my spine. Our secret existence in this world was on the brink of ending.
My tires squealed against the pavement as I spun around to leave the lot. The wolf pack had a ranch on the outskirts of Sedona. I could be there in two hours.
Was I really going to warn the wolves? They wouldn’t be happy to see me. In fact, they might try to kill me.
Deadlier people had tried.
There was something Gil wasn’t telling me, though. His aura had been off, changing colors rapidly as we talked. It was miles out of character for him to suggest warning the wolf pack about anything. I drummed my nails on the steering wheel as I replayed our conversation in my mind. I’d suggested Gil eliminate the judge tomorrow night so it would simply look like he’d been mauled by a mountain lion. But Gil had refused. Why?
And why send me to the wolf pack?
Unless he thought I might need them…
I took a deep breath. Too many questions and not enough answers. Maybe I’d find some in Sedona.
Once I got on the freeway, I adjusted my grip on the wheel and gave the Lexus some gas. Ever since the Nero Organization had been destroyed, the other jaguar assassins struggled to make their way in the human world. We’d been trained to kill efficiently and work alone, and some of us had done better with the transition than others.
I’d originally thought my small group of assassins would continue working, business as usual. It wasn’t that I enjoyed my work, but it was all I knew. I’d been sent to a boarding school for girls and had never attended college. I couldn’t exactly put assassin on a résumé, and I’d never even worked at a fast-food restaurant. My career choices were very limited.
We had made it to one of Nero’s satellite facilities in Flagstaff, Arizona, to regroup, but by then our cash reserves had been depleted. It hadn’t taken long to realize I’d been naive about our future. When we lost Nero, and Severino with it, we had lost twenty years’ worth of contacts, and now those clients had no central way to reach us, as everything had been arranged through the Nero Organization.
I had volunteered to be our de facto leader. Since I used to be Severino’s assistant, it had made sense to me, but Duane Clarkson had beaten me by two votes. His first order of business had been to negotiate that deal with the Transparency Collective for some much-needed cash. Unlike our usual assignments, they weren’t hiring us to kill but to kidnap. And our target hadn’t been an adult; it had been a werewolf child.
Duane had been so desperate to refill our bank accounts, he’d accepted the work with very few questions. After doing my due diligence, I pieced together that our new clients’ ultimate goal was to use werewolf DNA to “enhance” humanity and then out werewolves to the world as dangerous monsters to be hunted and destroyed. By the time I brought the intel back to Duane, it had been too late.
Lost in the memories, I was surprised when I realized I was already pulling up to the six-foot-high, rust-colored wall that surrounded the front of the ranch where the Sedona Pack’s Alpha lived. A massive arch connected the two sides of the wall over the wide driveway. If the house were within the city limits or owned by some human millionaire, there would probably be some kind of electric security gate, but between the remote location and their keen sense of smell and hearing, no one was going to be able to sneak up on a pack of werewolves.
When I reached the ranch house, I spotted a white pickup truck in the driveway. On the door was a logo of a wolf howling, a full moon in the background—Stewart Brothers Construction. I parked beside the truck and turned off my car. Maybe the Alpha was doing renovations or the Stewart Brothers were pack members. I checked the clip on my gun and slid it into my shoulder holster.
I had a knife strapped to my thigh and a small Ruger tucked against the small of my back. It wasn’t that I expected trouble, but I also recognized I was no friend to this pack. I got out and scanned the area. The desert wind whistled off the Red Rock mountains and into the vast, empty valley. I tossed my thick braid over my shoulder and started for the main house.
Their sce
nts were strong. They were definitely home. A werewolf’s sense of smell was even stronger than mine so they would already know I was there, too. If I had waited until nightfall, I would’ve had the advantage with my night vision, but I didn’t think this could wait.
The front door opened, and I fought the urge to draw my gun. I needed to talk to the Alpha. Killing any of his pack members wouldn’t aid my cause.
I ground my teeth. Some days I really wished I could put all the fighting and death behind me.
Two tall, broad-shouldered men with dark-brown hair and bright-blue eyes stepped out. Twins. The shifter gene was only passed down through the Y chromosome, and with werewolves, the males were always born in sets of twins.
I took off my sunglasses. Their auras were identical, too.
One of them came down the steps, his shoulders tense. “What the hell are you doing here?”
I raised a brow. “Have we met?”
Standing this close, I noticed one of his eyes was a darker blue than the other, almost teal. The other twin’s eyes were both light blue. It was the only way I’d be able to tell these men apart.
“You’re the only female jaguar shifter in Arizona. I don’t need to know your name to know you’re the one who held Naomi prisoner last year.” His fingers twitched at his sides.
I’d bet money he had a gun on him and that his hands were aching to grab it. “I need to talk to your Alpha.”
A muscle tightened in his cheek. “That’s not going to happen.”
I crossed my arms. “There’s a judge in Phoenix who took the super soldier serum, and he’s unraveling. If we work together, we might be able to stop him before he proves to the world that shifters exist.”
His twin brother stopped beside him. He glanced at his brother and back to me. “We don’t need your help.”
The door opened again, and the Alpha and his wife came out onto the porch. Naomi jogged down the steps. I lifted my chin as she approached. We had history. I’d fought her once before. She was strong.
But I was deadly. I chose to let her live.
Naomi stopped next to the brooding, blue-eyed wolves. “You’re not welcome here, Natasha.”