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    Fly By Night: The Sundown Saga, #5
    Fly By Night: The Sundown Saga, #5
    Fly By Night: The Sundown Saga, #5
    Ebook144 pages2 hours

    Fly By Night: The Sundown Saga, #5

    By KC Kendricks

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    About this ebook

    Lieutenant Fallon Roxbury has a few secrets. His lover Sundown is a shapeshifter, and his entire Clan is under Fallon’s protection. He can usually handle the job but the universe has conspired to align a few unusual events. A body was found at the old rail yard where the shapeshifters once had a village, the clan’s nestlings are about to mature, and his lover and his police partner are suddenly behaving like best friends.

    When the clan elders confirm the identity of the murderer, Fallon has more trouble. The suspect is one of the city commissioners and the evidence points to him killing more than once. It’s up to Fallon to find legally admissible evidence to connect his cold case to the more recent murder. He’ll need some specialized help for that, the kind only Sundown can provide.

    Bit by bit Fallon gathers evidence, not only about the murders, but about the secrets Sundown has kept. It’s a sobering reminder that looks can be deceiving, and the shapeshifter he shares his life with isn’t human. 

    ****

    Sundown looked puzzled. “Was I not thorough?”

    “I think you did swell. Is the body all you found?”

    “Was a corpse not enough, Fallon?”

    I heard a note of wry disbelief in his voice. He’d been around me too long.

    “It was plenty. I’m just checking in case you noticed something Chal you didn’t want to mention to anyone else but me.”

    He set his soup aside and sighed. “I knew I should’ve conducted a more comprehensive search.” He went still, his eyes focused on something outside the room as he telepathically spoke to another of his kind. “I’ve instructed the Watchers to inspect the area.”

    “Oh, great. Now Klun and his minions will meddle with anything they find.”

    “No, they will not. I was very clear they should touch nothing without my permission, even if it is from before.”

    I knew it. He’d tried to hide it from me but our bond continued to deepen, growing stronger. I had sensed something, and while I knew it didn’t touch directly on me, he didn’t want me to know about it.

    “Before, huh? How about you explain that, shapeshifter.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWhite Deer Enterprises/White Deer Books
    Release dateApr 1, 2016
    ISBN9781524252724
    Fly By Night: The Sundown Saga, #5
    Author

    KC Kendricks

    KC Kendricks calls herself an accidental writer. After completing her first novel writing as Rayne Forrest, she was urged to submit it to a publisher, and everything snowballed from there. Today, the author has had over seventy books published. In July of 2021, she tried to retire but her employer offered her a deal to work at home. She accepted. Now she balances work, writing, and hearth and home in a controlled chaos. A native of scenic western Maryland, the author enjoys most activities that don’t include snow. In warm weather she might be found walking the dog, biking on the C&O Canal towpath, planting delicacies in her garden for the deer to munch on at night, playing in the creek, or lazing on the patio with her Kindle reader or laptop. She recently began to research her family history and can't drive past a cemetery without stopping to search for family sites. Her mission is to photograph old tombstones before the elements erode the stones and the names are lost to time. For more about KC Kendricks and Rayne Forrest’s writing life, please visit the Between the Keys blog at http:kckendricks.blogspot.com . If you’d like to know more about the author’s country lifestyle and her daily activities full of simple country pleasures (and a lot of work), please visit the Holly Tree Manor blog at http://hollytreemanor.blogspot.com . KC can be reached through her blog, Between the Keys. All comments are strictly moderated by the author and personal messages are treated as such. Follow the author on Twitter for up-to-date announcements at Twitter.com/KCKendricks.

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      Book preview

      Fly By Night - KC Kendricks

      The Sundown Saga by KC Kendricks

      The Back Stairs

      Beneath Dark Stars

      River Walk

      Moon Dances

      Fly By Night

      Praise for KC Kendricks’ Sundown Saga

      The Back Stairs

      5 Kisses for The Back Stairs...I completely applaud KC Kendricks for coming up with a character twist that kept me guessing till the last page was turned. – Two Lips Reviews

      Intriguing and compelling, The Back Stairs makes for some thrilling reading and excitement. The Back Stairs is another electrifying tale from the pen of KC Kendricks. – Sensual Reads Reviews

      Beneath Dark Stars

      The inexplicable connection between Fallon and Sundown is what sets Beneath Dark Stars apart from other romances.  Their love story is fiercely satisfying. – Joyfully Reviewed

      If you like something a little rare in your m/m romance, then this series is for you. With its distinctive characters, amazing world-building and sexually charged love scenes, Beneath Dark Stars is a great read and hopefully we will get more from the author in this universe. – Dark Divas Reviews

      River Walk

      This fascinating and very enjoyable detective series. – Literary Nymphs Reviews

      I completely believe in their connection – no suspension of disbelief required here...I am really looking forward to my next meeting with Fallon and Sundown. – Jessewave Reviews

      Moon Dances

      This is an intriguing romantic mystery series. The characters are creditable. Fallon is a Special Police Consultant, working cold cases along with his partner Juny. Also key in solving the murder cases is Fallon’s alien lover Sundown, who has the ability to shape shift. KC Kendricks’ Moon Dances is a fascinating as well as a very enjoyable installment to the series. – Literary Nymphs Reviews

      About the Book

      Fly By Night

      Lieutenant Fallon Roxbury has a few secrets. His lover Sundown is a shapeshifter, and his entire Clan is under Fallon’s protection. He can usually handle the job but the universe has conspired to align a few unusual events. A body was found at the old rail yard where the shapeshifters once had a village, the clan’s nestlings are about to mature, and his lover and his police partner are suddenly behaving like best friends.

      When the clan elders confirm the identity of the murderer, Fallon has more trouble. The suspect is one of the city commissioners and the evidence points to him killing more than once. It’s up to Fallon to find legally admissible evidence to connect his cold case to the more recent murder. He’ll need some specialized help for that, the kind only Sundown can provide.

      Bit by bit Fallon gathers evidence, not only about the murders, but about the secrets Sundown has kept. It’s a sobering reminder that looks can be deceiving, and the shapeshifter he shares his life with isn’t human. 

      CHAPTER 1

      I hate the cold of February. I hate its grey, dreary days with their dearth of sunshine. I especially hate the icy mist that freezes on everything it touches. The chill of February permeated every facet of my life, save one.

      I tried to scrunch deeper into my black leather jacket. My left hand was in a pocket, and cold, but the fingers of my right hand were buried in the warm, thick fur of my lover’s ruff. Nothing would make those digits cold unless he moved away from me and I knew he wouldn’t budge.

      A car approached. I recognized it and knew my police partner, Sergeant Frederick Walter Mack, Jr., otherwise affectionately known as Juny, was behind the wheel. My companion whined as I stroked the top of his silky head.

      Maybe Juny brought coffee.

      He sneezed.

      Sorry. I know it won’t make your paws warmer.

      The sleek black wolf stood in a patch of snow but I doubted he felt the chill. He seemed to be impervious to lower temperatures even though he loved heat. While I wilted in the midst of last summer’s scorching stretch of days, he was energized. Was it a Chal thing, or a Sundown thing? My best course of action was, as always, to watch and learn.

      Juny didn’t disappoint me. He climbed out of his car and handed me a Styrofoam cup with a thin stream of aromatic steam rising from the sippy-hole.

      Coffee to keep you from freezing your butt off, Lieutenant Roxbury. He absentmindedly scratched Sunny behind his ear.

      I sensed the wolf’s surprise even as Juny jerked his hand away.

      Um, sorry, Sunny. It was a reflex.

      Did I think it odd he apologized to the wolf? No.

      I snorted. He’s as surprised as you are. Hell, I’m surprised. I slurped some coffee. It was the right temperature to not scald my throat so I gulped down a healthy swallow before I started with my questions.

      So why are we here, Junior? You said bring the wolf and here he is.

      Remember the case with the body at the roundhouse?

      I never forgot the ones we couldn’t solve. Several months ago, the property on which the old locomotive roundhouse had stood on had been sold. The Environmental Protection Agency demanded soil remediation to be completed before any new construction would be approved. When that work began, skeletal remains had been found.

      Juny and I had leads, but we’d yet to find anything to connect our prime, albeit circumstantial, suspect to the bones. My heart rate kicked up a notch.

      Do you have something that ties Butch Esler to the remains from nineteen seventy-six?

      Juny pointed at Sunny. That’s what the wolf is for. I need him to sniff the perimeter of the property and tell me if Esler has been here.

      Sunny nudged my hand. We shared a telepathic bond, the shapeshifter and I, but he didn’t need to send me a thought for me to know his question.

      And just how is he to know if it’s Esler he’s detecting? He’d have to go sniff the man to positively identify a match. And then what? His nose isn’t admissible evidence.

      Juny downed a few swallows of his coffee before he turned to face me.

      I planted a camera.

      I rolled my eyes. And that’s not admissible, either, is it?

      Nope. I’m working an angle.

      You’re fucking fishing, that’s what you’re doing. Hell, this is like ice fishing. We couldn’t wait for a warmer night?

      Juny ignored me but I knew he would. My lover’s mental voice whispered in my mind.

      ::We are here so I will go learn what there is to learn.:: Sunny bounded off into the darkness.

      Juny, you’re lucky he likes you. So what exactly did the camera pick up?

      It’s grainy, but a man matching Esler’s general build has been in and out of here every night for the past two weeks. He goes to a different section of the property each time.

      Looking for something. It was stating the obvious, but I said it.

      He nodded. So that begs the question of ‘what’. If it were a homeless person, they’d have a secure hidey-hole in one of the caves and go to it, not wander about for an hour and then leave. Empty-handed, by the way. He doesn’t take anything with him that I can see.

      I held up my hand to silence him and listen to the voice in my head.

      He found something, Juny. That way.

      I didn’t wait for him as I jogged in the wolf’s direction. I needed to know my lover wasn’t in any danger. He might be wearing the skin of the big, bad wolf but a bullet had the potential to do him serious harm. Every hair on my body stood on end when I found Sunny staring at the ground. Damn Juny and his witch senses.

      I hunkered down beside Sunny, my arms draped over his shoulders. What is it, wolf?

      ::Something buried. Very shallow. It smells quite foul.::

      Juny trotted up beside me. I didn’t give him a chance to ask. Hell, even a human nose could smell this so Juny didn’t need to ask.

      It’s another body, and it’s fresher this time, I said.

      Fuck.

      Did I mention Juny was also frequently eloquent?

      * * *

      With dawn approaching I sent Sundown home. He’d hopped into the back seat of my old car on four paws and climbed out on two feet, fully dressed and intent of sucking down what was left of my coffee. I handed him the empty container.

      Why don’t you take the car and go home, babe? It’s going to be a long, cold morning.

      He’d only recently acquired a valid driver’s license and he knew the offer of driving the car on his own was a blatant bribe.

      You must really want me away from this. His green eyes gleamed with mischief. Think of me at your apartment. My feet will be resting in your slippers and my hands warmed by a full coffee mug.

      Yeah, yeah. I hear ya. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a quick kiss. It’ll make me very happy to think of you safe, warm and waiting for me. So scat.

      His head sorta jerked at the new-to-him word. He blinked at me. I grinned.

      It means to leave in a hurry without asking more questions, babe.

      You like to deliberately use these slang words I don’t know, Fallon. Do not seek to deny it amuses you.

      I laughed as I handed him the car keys. You’re correct. You’d better go before the crime scene guys block the exits.

      You’ll hurry?

      Juny joined us and handed Sundown his empty cup.

      Take this for me, will ya? Thanks. Fallon’s right. You’d better scram. Now that it’s daylight, we’re about to get all sorts of company. The local television station might even show up.

      Sundown nodded. He rarely argued with anything Juny said. He held Juny in high esteem, almost awe. He also knew the level of respect I had for my police partner and echoed it as an extension of his feelings for me. Sundown was an alien on this world but it was his similarities to humans that often spooked me.

      I will go now. Sundown squeezed my hand.

      Being a shapeshifter, a Chal, he needed to avoid the news media like the plague. I watched him start the car, carefully turn the old sedan around, and drive away. Maybe someday he’d drive it into the river and I could get a new one.

      Or not. Juny

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