Jason kept the grin off his face and walked a little farther upstream. “He tried again here—and threw up on the sand. Most of it washed away.”
Water lapped at a small pile of vomit, peas, carrots, and mucus swirling in an eddy nearby.
Megs bent to look. “Gross.”
When he found nothing more upstream, he went back to the spot where he’d found the vomit and crossed over. Almost immediately, he saw—unevenly spaced footprints rambling up the embankment, a palm print, and a slight indentation where someone had fallen onto one knee.
“Here.” He climbed up, moving his flashlight back and forth.
Two eyes stared back at him from the cover of a large bush ten feet uphill.
“Hank!” Eric shook his head. “Man, I thought you were beyond this now. You went to rehab, got clean. You’ve been driving to Boulder so that we won’t know you’re off the wagon, haven’t you?”
“I’m a weak man, Hawke.” Hank stood, stumbled out of his bush. He was a small, wiry man, his long, thinning hair pulled into a scraggly ponytail, a mustache on his face, his shirt stained with vomit. “I didn’t think you’d find me.”
“That’s because you’re drunk, Hank. Do you think you can run away from your vehicle without us knowing it was you? Did you forget you have license plates? You’re in serious trouble now.”
“Worse than when I blew up my house?”
“I think so.”
“Damn, Hawke. That kind of news would drive any man to drink.”
Megs called the news into dispatch, and a cheer went up around them.
Then Jason saw. “He’s bleeding from his temple.”
Jason climbed the embankment and helped Hank, who was unsteady on his feet, make his way down to the creek.
Hawke took hold of Hank’s arm. “Come on, buddy. Let’s get you checked out by medical before they take you to the pokey.”
Megs turned to Jason. “What do I have to do to get you on the Team?”
Didn’t Jason wish? “You’re welcome.”
Chapter 18
It was justafter ten in the morning, and Winona was still in bed, her head on Jason’s chest, her heartbeat slowing. He’d woken her with soft kisses and had then made long, slow love to her, carrying her over the edge twice before letting himself go. He was almost too good to be true.
She kissed a brown nipple. “I wish every weekday could start like this. I feel so decadent. Sleeping in, sex, and coffee.”
She tried not to remember that he would be leaving soon. He’d said he wanted to stay to see the eagle released into the wild. After that…
He raised his head, confusion on his face. “Where’s the coffee?”
“For the moment, it’s just in my imagination.”
“I can fix that.” He kissed the top of her head. “Just stay where you are.”
He got up, walked naked toward the kitchen, the twin mounds of his delectable ass shifting as he moved. When he returned five minutes later carrying two full coffee mugs, she got the reverse view, his cock swaying.
He handed her the mug of coffee with milk in it. “Here.”
“That is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen—you naked and bringing me coffee.”
Jason chuckled. “I can do it again if it turns you on.”
“It does.” She sipped, moaned.