Cort Wesley shot her a look that was strangely warm and reassuring. “That storm broke up your marriage and damn near broke us up too. It’s like you can’t let yourself get too close out of fear the same thing’ll happen again. Anything not to become that little girl hiding from monsters in the thunder again. But I’m here to tell you they’ll have to get through me first from now on.”
Caitlin felt the breeze rustling through her hair and the sun warm on her neck. “Something tells me I won’t be seeing that little girl anymore, Cort Wesley.”
She’d started to reach for his hand, when her eyes shifted suddenly to the old fence line.
“What you looking at, Ranger?”
Cort Wesley followed her gaze to find, of all things, old Leroy Epps leaning against a rickety post still supporting some strings of wire.
“You can see him too, can’t you?” he heard himself ask her.
But it was someone else Caitlin was seeing: Earl Strong standing against a different fence post, pearl-handled Colts and all. She watched her grandfather stoke a match off the heel of his boot and light up a cigar, while Cort Wesley watched Leroy Epps drink out of a frosty bottle of the same root beer he’d smuggled into The Walls for the old man.
They started toward the fence line only to find Earl and Leroy gone by the time they got there, the smells of tobacco and soda pop lingering until the wind brushed them away.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
STRONG JUSTICE
Copyright © 2010 by Jon Land
All rights reserved.
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN 978-0-7653-2336-1
First Edition: June 2010
Printed in the United States of America
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Forge Books by Jon Land
Note: Within series, books are best read in listed order.
CAITLIN STRONG NOVELS
Fifth-generation Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong pursues justice the Ranger way in this thriller series from critically acclaimed author Jon Land.
Strong Enough to Die
Strong at the Break
Strong Vengeance
Strong Rain Falling
Strong Darkness
BLAINE MCCRACKEN SERIES
Rogue agent Blaine McCracken and his seven-foot Native American right-hand man Johnny Wareagle will do anything it takes to keep the country safe in this action-adventure series.
Day Of The Delphi
Kingdom Of The Seven
The Fires Of Midnight
Dead Simple
BEN KAMAL AND DANIELLE BARNEA SERIES
Palestinian-American detective Ben Kamal and Israeli detective Danielle Barnea fight for justice in the volatile Middle East.
The Walls Of Jericho
The Pillars Of Solomon
A Walk In The Darkness
Keepers Of The Gate
Blood Diamonds
The Blue Widows
The Last Prophecy
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www.tor-forge.com