Turbulence

E-mail from: Mitch Kannon, fire chief, Turning Point, Texas,

To: Dan Egan, fire chief, Courage Bay, California

Hurricane Damon is revving up and evacuees are pouring into the emergency shelters here. We just got a call in about some Boy Scouts and their leader trapped in a van. Seems they had a little run-in with some cattle on the road a ways from here and ended up upside down in the ditch. Injuries don’t sound serious, but we want to get them help as soon as we can.

That gal EMT you sent down—Dana Ivie—had her hand up in the air the moment I asked for volunteers. She looks as fiery as that red hair of hers, and knowing she’s one of your firefighters, I felt sure I could count on her. I also figured she could hold her own with our pilot Micky Flynn.

I don’t think Dana was too darn happy when she found out she’d be heading to the rescue on a plane, but they’ll be able to spot the van a lot better from the air. I know it’s dicey going up with a hurricane on the way, but I’d trust Flynn with my life. The guy loves a challenge, but he’s the best pilot around. I know he thinks taking a woman along is a liability, but I’d bet money that by the end of this stint, Dana will have made him change his mind.

JESSICA MATTHEWS

first fell in love with romance books when she read Laurie McBain’s A Devil’s Desire and Kathleen Woodiwiss’s The Flame and the Flower. The idea of writing a romance of her own didn’t come until years later, and now she happily combines storytelling with a career in clinical laboratory science. When she’s not at the hospital or tied to the computer, she attends her son’s high school sporting events, visits her daughter in college and takes trips with her husband.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

I’m delighted to be a part of the Code Red series and am thrilled to share Dana and Micky’s story with you as they travel down their “stormy” road to romance!

Working with other authors on a continuity series was a wonderful experience. Not only did I have an opportunity to branch into something a little different writing-wise, but I also learned a lot about air travel, hurricanes and the great state of Texas! I met some wonderful authors during the course of working on Turbulence, including Kathryn Shay, Julie Miller, Darlene Scalera and Carol Marinelli. Arranging series details to mesh with our individual stories was both challenging and fun as we tugged on our thinking caps and played “what if?”.

I hope you’ll find Turbulence as much fun to read as it was to write, and may all the storms in your life be minor.

Best wishes,

Jessica

www.jessicamatthews.com

Dedicated to First Responders everywhere. Your selfless dedication has changed potential tragedies into second

chances for the people you’ve touched.

I would like to express my deepest appreciation for all those who patiently answered my endless questions: Battalion Chief John Stettinger (Great Bend Fire Department); Martin Miller (Great Bend Airport Manager); Ed Weatherford (Midwest Aviation Sales); Charles Schmitt and Wendy Douglas for airplane tips, Day LeClaire, Theresa Gaus and my brother-in-law, Mike Berkley, for telling me about hurricanes, especially the Texas variety! Your help was invaluable and any errors are my own. Thanks, guys.

PROLOGUE

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

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, Alex?”

Crouched near a pile of her turnout gear inside the small Courage Bay airport, firefighter Dana Ivie stared up at her childhood friend and team captain, Alex Shields, and tried not to read more into his presence than she should.

“I came to see you off. Isn’t that what friends do for other friends who are going away?”

“This isn’t a vacation,” she said as she checked one final strap before rising to meet his amber gaze. “This is a working trip.”

The Courage Bay Fire Chief Dan Egan had asked for volunteers to shore up the faltering Emergency Services in his hometown of Turning Point, Texas. Hurricane Damon was due to hit in about twenty-four hours, and his old friend Mitch Kannon had requested his help. Without hesitation, she’d answered Dan’s call, along with Nate Kellison, one of their paramedics; Cheryl Tierney, a trauma nurse from the local hospital and Amy Sherwood, an emergency physician.

“I know, but you don’t have to do this.”

“No, I don’t,” she agreed. “But I want to.” Actually she needed to, but she didn’t feel comfortable telling him that. Ever since he’d fallen in love with her twin sister, Lauren—the twin she hadn’t known about until last year—she’d been struggling to keep her distance. The ring on Lauren’s finger shouted that his loyalties were to her, not Dana, and while Dana’s learning curve had been slow at first, she’d gradually stopped leaning on him for moral support. At first, it had helped to have a sister to share confidences with, but she and Lauren were complete opposites, and because of that, Lauren didn’t always understand what made Dana tick.