LONELY IS THE NIGHT
A Shadow Force Novella
Stephanie Tyler
NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY
Published by the Penguin Group
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First E-Book Printing, March 2013
Copyright © Stephanie Tyler, 2013
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E-book ISBN: 978-1-101-59555-8
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Also by Stephanie Tyler Titles
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
About the Author
Praise
Excerpt from SURRENDER
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Discover Other Stephanie Tyler Titles
The Eternal Wolf Clan Series
Dire Warning
(A Penguin Special)
Dire Needs
Dire Wants
For all the fans of the Shadow Force series, who kept asking me for Reid and Grier’s story. This one’s for you, guys!
“All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, and to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.”
—Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”
Dear Reader,
You’ve been waiting for the final story in the Shadow Force series and I’m thrilled to bring you Lonely Is the Night: A Shadow Force Novella, which is technically book 5 in the series. It’s the story of Reid and Grier, who met in Night Moves and separated under terrible circumstances. Now Reid discovers Grier is in danger and puts his anger aside to help her.
If you’re interested in the other books in this series, please visit here for series order, excerpts and more! Or, go to this website: http://stephanietyler.com/connected-stories.php#shadow.
Best,
Stephanie Tyler
Chapter One
“He’s all yours.”
U.S. Marshal Grier Vanderhall looked at the sullen, dark-haired eighteen-year-old named Benji Warner and wanted to give a sarcastic “Yay.”
Instead, she nodded to the district attorney, a tall, mirthless woman, and motioned to Benji to follow her. Maybe spending time with that woman had sucked all the fun from the kid. Or maybe it had to do with being a reluctant witness with a bounty on his head.
It was broad daylight and she walked Benji out to the truck, which was directly behind the back door with her partner parked behind it. Jack nodded at her as she escorted Benji into the waiting truck. She preferred using her own car for transfers, but the marshal’s truck was appropriately bulletproofed, with tinted windows, an unfortunate necessity for this case.
Mr. Sullen was in the backseat, where there were no door handles. This wasn’t her first rodeo, and there were plenty of instances of a witness scared and running like a rabbit. She also cuffed one of his hands to the metal loops on the floor using a long chain. He couldn’t get to her in the front seat that way, but he wasn’t completely constrained.
He complained bitterly about it under his breath but he didn’t try to resist.
He was both a witness and a criminal—the reluctance of the first made the latter more of an issue than it might normally be.
She was looking at a minimum five-hour drive to get to the safe house. She fired the truck up, opened the window and waved for Jack to pull up.
“The place is all set—I vetted it myself this morning and Al will check on it right before you get there. Call him when you’re half an hour out. I’ll be there tomorrow night,” he told her. His dark hair was hidden under a Cabela’s baseball hat, his dark eyes hidden by the Ray-Bans he always wore. He would finish out their old case, handing off the witness to her new handler tonight. Watching Benji was their new twenty-four-seven gig for the next two months. This was without a doubt her most high-profile witness—Jack’s as well.
“Do what you have to. We’ll be fine,” she said.
“Watch yourself,” he mouthed before pulling away, and she took the truck in the opposite direction, heading down toward the freeway. She looked in the rearview mirror. “We’ll stop for lunch in a few hours.”
“Whatever.”
Awesome. She turned up the radio and zoomed along, determined to get there before nightfall. There had been ugly threats during this case aimed at Benji, the DA and anyone else involved, including the marshal’s office. The men who led the illegal fighting ring were both currently out on bail and purported to be trying to leave the country. The only evidence against them was Benji, and that had come late in the game.
Either way, it was going to get ugly.
She got them half an hour from their destination—this inconspicuous diner was the perfect place for a quick bite before they made it into town. Benji followed her, ordered an obscene amount of food and then stared out the window.
She didn’t press him. Didn’t say anything until the food came—she was hoping that made him semihuman.
After she finished half her own burger, she told him, “You’re going to be all right. You’re young. You can start over.”
He blinked. Frowned. And finally, he spoke more than a one-word answer. “They’re never going to just let me go like that. These guys . . . you don’t understand.”
“I hate to tell you this, Benji, but all my witnesses say that. It’s okay to be scared, but you have to not let it
