âI want you and Caleb to stay for as long as it takes.â
Grace stared at him, feeling the heat in his touch as it pulsed along her arm in an intimate connection she could feel growing between them.
âIâll find a way to neutralize the creep stalking you.â There was absolute seriousness in the set of Nickâs mouth and the slight narrowing of his intense blue eyes.
A blade of fear knifed through her. âBe careful, Nick. Heâs got friends with badges who donât seem to mind helping him. Heâs been able to trace me everywhere Iâve been for the past three years.â
âThatâs when you ran?â
âYes.â
âWho is he, Grace?â
Her emotions locked up, strangled with tension that wound tight like a cord inside of her. The whole truth could drive Nick away when she needed his help the most, but she couldnât live with herself if she let him walk into a trap because he hadnât been forewarned.
âHeâs my ex-brother-in-law.â
âYour ex-husbandâs brother?â
âMy dead husbandâs brother.â
Jan Hambright penned her first novel at seventeen, but claims it was pure rubbish. However, it did open the door on her love for storytelling. Born in Idaho, she resides there with her husband, three of their five children, a three-legged watchdog and a spoiled horse named Texas, who always has time to listen to her next story idea while they gallop along.
A self-described adrenaline junkie, Jan spent ten years as a volunteer EMT in rural Idaho, and jumped out of an airplane at ten thousand feet attached to a man with a parachute, just to celebrate turning forty. Now she hopes to make your adrenaline level rise along with that of her danger-seeking characters. She would like to hear from her readers and hopes you enjoy the story world she has created for you. Jan can be reached at P.O. Box 2537, McCall, Idaho 83638.
Nick CavanaughâA former army ranger and member of Corps Security and Investigations, Nick is grateful for the second chance he has been given by CSaI founder Bart Bellows. But the object of his special assignment, Grace Marshall, could prove to be his toughest mission yet.
Grace MarshallâGiven up for adoption as an infant, Grace is now desperate to find her birth mother in order to save her ill sonâs life via a bone marrow transplant. Can she locate the woman before time runs out for her little boy, Caleb, and before a maniac from her past threatens both of their lives?
Caleb MarshallâFour-year-old Caleb was born with aplastic anemia. He needs a donor, but his rare blood type has narrowed his chances of finding a suitable match. Can one be found in time?
Wes BradleyâThe soldier was reported killed in Iraq by an IED, but his name has surfaced in connection with some of the attacks against Governor Lila Lockhart. Could he still be alive?
Rodney MarshallâBent on vengeance, heâs determined to make Grace Marshall pay for what she did.
Governor Lila LockhartâTexas loves her, but a scandal from her past could destroy her chance of ever becoming the president of the United States. Only Nick Cavanaugh, her hand-picked CSaI agent, stands between the discovery of that truth and the highest office in the land.
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
Chapter Seventeen
Nick Cavanaugh rose from one of the park benches perched on the perimeter of Freedomâs town square, checked the traffic in both directions and jaywalked across Main Street, careful to keep his pace nonchalant.
Anticipation skated over his nerves, etching certainty into his brain. Heâd learned it hard and solid on the battlefields of Iraq: stay one step ahead of your enemies, or two steps back for a clear shot.
His heart rate notched up.
The door of Potterâs Drugstore swept open just as Nick made the curb half a block to the east.
Funny. His target didnât look like much of a threat. The observation gelled in his brain as he watched her step out into the early afternoon sunlight. She casually looped her arm in her purse strap and deposited it on her shoulder. She turned to her right and moved along the sidewalk, her blond ponytail swaying back and forth between her shoulder blades as she moved away from him.
Nick increased his rate of follow, backing off only when she paused in front of the Talk of the Town Café to study something in the window before proceeding due north again.
He knew her beat-up silver Toyota Camry was sucked up next to the curb half a block away.
Tension braided his muscles into a knot. Had he pegged her correctly? Or was he headed for an ambush? He wrestled the questions to the back of his mind and looked at his watch. Câmon, câmon, he thought. He had to get to Grace Marshall now. Another minute and sheâd make it to her car and escape.
Focused on her alone, he narrowed the distance.