Attention: Courage Bay Emergency Services personnel
From: U.S. Coast Guard
This is to notify all emergency personnel that a helicopter has been reported missing over Courage Bay near S-hamala Island. The helicopter is piloted by Dan Egan, fire chief of Jefferson Avenue Firehouse. Also on board is Dr. Natalie Giroux, a staff member of Courage Bay Hospital. The two were returning to the local airport after a successful emergency airlift of a male heart-attack victim from the mudslide on Courage Bay mountain. Reports indicate the fire chiefâs dog is also in the copter.
Final contact with air traffic control was made shortly after the helicopter took off from the hospital helipad late this afternoon. All reports indicate that the pilot changed course to avoid the approaching storm. Further attempts by air traffic control to contact Chief Egan have been unsuccessful, suggesting radio failure or a forced landing. Gale-force winds are reported in the bay area, along with twenty-foot swells. A large-and small-craft warning has been issued for the surrounding waters. All flights are grounded in and out of Courage Bay airport, and Coast Guard personnel were evacuated from S-hamala Island to the mainland earlier this afternoon. Given the current conditions, any search-and-rescue missions are on hold until further notice. Updates will be issued on an hourly basis.
TORI CARRINGTON
Multi-award-winning, bestselling husband-and-wife duo Lori and Tony Karayianni are the power behind the pen name Tori Carrington. Their more than thirty-five titles include numerous Harlequin Blaze miniseries, as well as the ongoing Sofie Metropolis comedic mystery series with another publisher. Visit www.toricarrington.net and www.sofiemetro.com and www.myspace.com/toricarrington for more information on the couple and their titles.
Dear Reader,
As steadfast fans of Harlequinâs continuity series, we were thrilled when we were invited to contribute to the CODE RED series. Actually, contribute is the wrong word, because, as we quickly discovered, these series are team endeavors in which every member plays an important roleâfrom editor down to the author of the last titleâmaking for a unique reading and writing experience weâll treasure always.
In Total Exposure, our hunky hero, Fire Chief Dan Egan, is every bit the alpha male with a chip on his shoulder that beautiful burn specialist Natalie Giroux only aggravates. Danâs wounds run far deeper than the burn he suffered three months earlier in a warehouse explosion. But when heâs stranded with Natalie on a deserted island during one of the worst storms in Courage Bayâs history, does this man of action have the courage to let the lady doc heal all his wounds so the two of them might forge a future together?
We hope you enjoy Dan and Natalieâs rocky journey to happily-ever-after! Weâd love to hear from you. Write us at P.O. Box 12271, Toledo, Ohio 43612 or e-mail us at [email protected]. And make sure you visit our Web site at www.toricarrington.com for info on coming attractions and to enter our latest online drawings.
Hereâs wishing you love, romance and heartfelt reading!
Lori and Tony Karayianni
aka Tori Carrington
We warmly dedicate this book to the extraordinary
Marsha Zinberg and her phenomenal support team, including Alethea Spiridon, Sasha Bogin and Margaret Learn, for helping us âexposeâ another facet of ourselves as writers and human beings. Thank you!
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
IN DR. NATALIE GIROUXâS experience, there were days that were great, others that were so-so and a handful of additional ones sheâd prefer to erase from the record books altogether. Unfortunately, this cold, rainy Friday in November fell solidly into the last category. Not so much because of the threatening storm system that had been parked over Courage Bay, California, for the past couple of days. It was, after all, the rainy season, and, well, rain was to be expected. Her sluggishness didnât stem from the long, hard week sheâd just gone through as Courage Bay Hospitalâs burn specialist, treating a wide variety of injuries she somehow never got quite used to seeing. Nor could her mood be blamed on nothing going according to plan, or the fact sheâd been misplacing things all day.
No. The source of her melancholy was far more personal and went much deeper than such simple matters. And as a result, the dark monster was much more difficult to battle.
Natalie blinked her examining room back into focus, then gently tousled the head of a four-year-old burn patient in for a follow-up appointment.
âThatâs it,â she said, helping the girl down from the table. âWeâre all done. Now, that wasnât so difficult, was it?â