Wednesday’s Words – Coyote Law #wednesdayswords

So I thought I’d share a snipped from Coyote Law as well as the cover. I’m almost done polishing this up and when I do it’ll be off to my editor. I don’t have a release date yet but I’ll be sure to shout about it when I do.

*disclaimer – totally unedited 🙂

“I’ll be back. I need to find Tatum.” Dale held his gun in front of him even though his gut said he wouldn’t need it. Instinct told him Marcus worked alone.

Back in the hall, a few feet deeper into the clinic, a sound behind had him spinning around, aiming his weapon. Registering old Doc Monroe and Mrs. Monroe, Dale lowered his gun and nodded toward the morgue. “In there.”

Satisfied, Steve would get the help he needed Dale moved through the clinic toward the front door, checking each room as he went. Other than the morgue nothing was disturbed. The only noise came from the rear of the clinic where Steven and the Monroe’s were taking care of Doc.

Stepping into the reception area the sight of Tatum crumpled against the far wall had Dale sprinting across the room and dropping to his knees. “Tay!” Placing his gun on the floor beside him, he searched for possible injuries.

“S-okay. Fainted.” She moaned, her head rolling toward him.

He pulled her up into his arms. “Fuck. Tay.” Cradling her against his chest, he rocked, his heart pounding against his ribs—inside his skull—hard enough to hurt.

“Doc?” she mumbled.

“Steve’s with her.” He wasn’t telling her anything else. Not that he knew Doc’s condition, but Tatum didn’t need to concern herself with that just yet. Not when she went limp in his arms and her head flopped to the side.

Holding her close, he climbed to his feet, and made his way back to the morgue and medical help. His basic first-aid training wasn’t enough for this situation.

Entering the room, Dale couldn’t stop his voice from quivering when he spoke. “Doctor Monroe?”

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph. What went on here?” The old man turned to his wife. “Jackie, go with Dale and see about that one for me. I’ll bring Gordana in a minute.”

Brogan and Quinn came through the back door as Dale reentered the hallway.

“What do you need us to do, Sheriff?” Brogan asked, coming toward him.

Dale hadn’t even thought about his role as sheriff. And right now he didn’t care if his lack of professionalism got him fired. All that mattered was the semi-conscious woman in his arms.

“A couple of deputies pulled up as we came inside,” Quinn offered.

He needed to think… “They’ll need to secure the scene…collect evidence.” There was something else he needed to tell them… Why was it so hard to think? “Oh. My gun. It’s on the floor where I found Tatum. Out front. In reception.”

Quinn moved around them saying, “On it,” as he passed.

Brogan gripped Dale’s shoulder, gave him a squeeze. “Take care of Tatum. We’ll take care of everything else.”

He nodded and let Mrs. Monroe guide him into an exam room. Lowering Tatum to the bed in spite of every instinct screamed not to let her go, Dale reluctantly moved out of the way. He had to so she could get the attention she needed. But he didn’t leave her side, he remained close, his hip pressed to the bed, his hands holding one of hers.

Mrs. Monroe seemed to understand his need to be near because she worked around him when she needed to, checking Tatum’s limbs for possible breaks, her head for bumps, her eyes with one of those tiny lights.

It seemed like years but was probably not even a minute before Tatum roused enough to talk to them. Mrs. Monroe asked questions and Tatum answered, her voice growing stronger with every word.

As Tatum revealed what had happened he became more and more glad Marcus was dead. If he wasn’t Dale couldn’t be sure he’d be able to stop himself from grabbing his gun and shooting the man.

“How’s Doc?” Tatum asked.

Mrs. Monroe’s gaze met his. “Her dad is taking care of her.” The non-answer seemed to appease Tatum.

“And…” She swallowed, licked her bottom lip. “Marcus?”

“Dead,” Dale growled, his hands tightening around hers.

She glanced up at him, a world of emotion in those green eyes of hers. “Dead?”

Mrs. Monroe distract Tatum from further questions by saying, “All right, let me check on that baby.”

“Babies,” they said together.

Dale stared down at his wife. It was a small thing, except they’d done that all the time in the past—spoken the exact same thing at the exact same time—back when they weren’t this fractured version of themselves. The smile gracing Tatum’s lips delivered another bubble of hope.

They could do this. They could find their way back to each other, could learn to be a duo instead of a trio.

He’d do anything—everything—to make it happen.

A thump thump thump beat broke the silence in the room.

“There now, that’s one…” Mrs. Monroe moved the instrument she pressed to Tatum’s bare belly to the other side.

Thump thump thump.

The older woman smiled. “And there’s two.”

“They sound fine,” Tatum said, her words filled with certainty.

“They do.” Mrs. Monroe switched off the device and reached for another. “I’m going to take your blood pressure now you’ve had a chance to settle some. All that excitement could lead to a false reading.”

She went to work but Dale couldn’t pay attention. All he could think about were those little beating hearts inside Tatum. He knew they were real. He’d felt them moving the other night except hearing them…

He closed his eyes. Thanked the universe they were okay—that Tatum appeared to be okay.

“Dale?”

Opening his eyes he found Mrs. Monroe looking at him with a knowing smile. “You can take Tatum home whenever your ready. I’ll have Doctor Monroe give you a call later but other than a couple of bruises, she and the babies are fine.”

He swallowed, the lump in his throat all but chocking him. “T-thank you.”

She patted his arm, her smile growing wider. “You’re welcome.”

Together they helped Tatum to her feet and Dale wrapped an arm around her waist to be sure she stayed on them. She didn’t argue and he hoped that meant she’d be as compliant when he took her home.

***

So, what do you think? Ready to dive back into the Coyote Hunger world? And if you missed the first three books in the series they’re available now and the first one is FREE! You can get all the info HERE!