Explosive Alliance

RACE AGAINST TIME

The last thing Krista Curry expected to find in a soccer stadium was a time bomb. When she alerts explosives expert Cash Dixon, she becomes a local hero. But the attention could expose her real name—and the infamous past she fought to escape. Cash promises Krista protection from the bomber’s retaliation. Yet she hesitates to trust him as she sees his suspicion about her grow with every question she dodges. She can’t expect Cash to continue to safeguard her unless she tells him the truth. Now Cash must decide if she’s an innocent woman or guilty accomplice. But the clock is ticking down—and the real bomber is still on the loose…

First Responders: Brave men and women alert and ready for danger and love.

He looked like a warrior, ready to do battle.

He downplayed the threat from the SUV he’d just chased off, his voice calm. But his body language said differently.

“If it’s the intruder from last night, he’s more of a danger.”

“How so?” Krista kept the mounting panic from her voice.

“Takes someone without fear to return right after the police were called. He doesn’t care who gets in his way.”

This guy was persistent. Breaking in. Attacking her. Perhaps killing her if Cash hadn’t arrived.

Panic threatened again but she fought it. Cash was here. Strong, capable Cash. The man she’d been fighting every step of the way.

“Thanks for being here.”

“It’s what I do.”

“You can’t possibly do this for everyone. So why me?”

He shrugged, but held her gaze, and she felt a change in him. Not the spark of attraction that clearly existed between them. Something softer. Something that made her forget the bomber.

“I can’t put my finger on it, but I know you need me.” His voice was low and husky.

The word trustworthy came to mind. A man of honor. Could she really believe he was everything he seemed to be…even if he discovered who she really was?

SUSAN SLEEMAN is a bestselling author of inspirational and clean-read romantic suspense books and mysteries. Awards include RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book for Thread of Suspicion; No Way Out and The Christmas Witness were finalists for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence. She’s had the pleasure of living in nine states and currently lives in Oregon. To learn more about Susan visit her website at susansleeman.com.

Explosive

Alliance

Susan Sleeman

www.millsandboon.co.uk

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

—Philippians 4:7

For the many law enforcement bomb squads

and military disposal technicians who risk their lives on a daily basis to rid our world of dangerous explosives. It takes a special person to do this job, and I hope I honor them in the way I have portrayed bomb tech Cash Dixon.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Epigraph

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

Dear Reader

Extract

Copyright

ONE

Murderer!

The word hung in the soggy air.

Krista Curry could feel it. Taste it. Smell it.

She hunched forward, hiding her face and holding her breath, waiting for someone in the crowd to recognize her. To shout out the horrific title she’d been branded with after her husband, Toby, was murdered four years ago.

She shifted on the hard stadium chair. Risked a quick glance around Providence Park’s open-air stadium. Rain flooded from dusky skies, the seats glistening, the players soaked as they slogged over a field shadowed with whispery swatches of fog.

“Watch the net.” Her grandfather’s shout mingled with the crowd’s cheers for the Portland Timbers. His cheeks were rosy from the cold, the pure joy of the sport widening his smile that was often marred from battling cancer.

Krista’s heart creased with concern for him. She didn’t know if he’d beat stage three cancer or how many more joyful days he’d have. She’d do anything for him. Including risking recognition and someone calling her out in public so he could attend the soccer match.

Oh, Opa. Her precious Opa.

She loved everything about him, including his insistence that she use the informal German name for grandfather. He was the one man she could count on. The man who’d helped her survive the loss of her mother. Who’d stood by her when her father had gone to prison for murder. Who’d believed in her when she’d been accused of killing Toby.

She couldn’t lose him to cancer. She just couldn’t.

“Did you see that save, Liebchen?” he asked excitedly, using his pet name that meant sweetheart. He placed a hand on her knee. She jumped, immediately regretting her startled response when concern wiped away his joy.

He eyed her for a long, uncomfortable moment. “What is going on in that mind that has you wound as tight as a spring?”

“Nothing that’s worth taking you away from your game.”

He watched her for another second before turning back to the match. The Timbers scored a goal. He whooped loudly. He suddenly clutched his neck and coughed, cleared his throat and coughed harder. He gasped for air, his chest heaving with the effort.