Saving Amber - Zoe Dawson Page 0,13

smoothly handsome. She was almost nose to nose with him; he was shorter than the master sergeant, coming in just about at six feet tall. She reached out her hand and he squeezed it just a bit too hard.

“Sean,” he replied with a soft smile, his gaze capturing hers the way an eagle captured a small mouse, his eyes an odd, striking shade of pale blue and set deep beneath a strong, straight nose. “I can see why you’ve got special in your title, Amber.”

But Amber wasn’t a small mouse, and the tingle of wariness buzzed at the base of her neck. Just like Tristan, she’d dealt with these kinds of alphas all of her working life. She kept her face implacable, ignoring his patronizing and intimate tone. He still held her hand and, with a concerted tug, she pulled it free.

“Your assessment would be valuable,” she murmured, moving away from him and turning in time to see Tristan’s eyes narrow. So, he didn’t like Garza, either. She wondered why and what his assessment was of the man who would have conducted this investigation if NCIS hadn’t been involved.

Tristan’s gaze held hers, steady, unblinking, calm—flat calm, like the sea on a windless day. He would be a formidable adversary if he wasn’t on their side. She knew it instinctively, could feel the power of his personality in his gaze even while he kept his thoughts shuddered behind his unusual eyes.

Her attention returned to Garza as he said, “I’m sure my input would be valuable.” He smiled. “There are plenty of accidents that happen on that mountain with the weekend warriors and skilled hunters roaming around. As I told Colonel Jacobs though, we could have handled this. Looks pretty clear-cut to me.”

She brought her chin up a notch and looked at Garza hard in the eye. There were issues with this case already that were telling. It was anything but clear-cut to her. “Marine Criminal Investigation Division has jurisdiction over any Marine Corps personnel anywhere on the planet. NCIS is here on their behalf,” she said flatly, far from under what he thought was his charming spell. “Thanks for your help, but I’ll make my own judgments and come to my own conclusions.”

Her tone didn’t faze the man a bit. His smile curled a little deeper at the corners of his mouth. “I’m just a deputy in a small town, so we’ll defer to you, Amber.”

Damn right he would.

“Officer Mendez can accompany you up there as well. He was also on the scene. He is the one who is working with Deputy Garza on the death. We are ready to fully cooperate with NCIS,” the chief said.

Tristan’s phone rang and he answered it and talked for a few minutes. “The helo is secured, Special Agent Dalton,” he said. “I would suggest that we go now while the weather is good.”

She nodded and rose, following Tristan out of the office. Deputy Garza and Officer Mendez followed behind her, and they got into Tristan’s jeep and drove over to the airfield.

A medium-sized gray helicopter with its single rotor blade whirring waited for them.

When she went to step into the aircraft, Tristan clasped her arm to help her inside. She settled into one of the seats and he sat beside her, buckling himself in.

As soon as everyone was seated, the helicopter lifted off and powered toward the mountains. As they flew, Amber looked down into the snowy meadow that gradually gave rise to tree-covered inclines and craggy, jutting rocks. The helo passed over a slew of Marines digging out snow and setting up camp.

Tristan leaned over to be heard above the rotor, his mouth close to her ear, his breath feathering her skin and sending tingles downward. “Let me know if you get a headache or feel nauseous. Some people can get altitude sickness. We’re not giving you enough time to ascend, but we should only be up here for less than half an hour. The site is about 8K up. Some people don’t experience any symptoms below 10K.”

His face was close, so close to hers that she suspected her shortness of breath had nothing to do with the altitude. His cheek brushed hers as the helicopter banked and started to descend.

He pulled away immediately, but the place where his skin had touched hers tingled. The scent of him lingered in the air.

He pulled on his cap again and she followed suit. As she got out of the helo, she saw that the snow