She’d fought for her life
but the terror continues.
For five years FBI agent Blake Garrett has fixated on a serial-killer case. Now the madman has attacked Marissa Lane. She escaped with her life...and some clues that could help Blake. Yet she is still the object of the killer’s obsession. And Blake is torn between the unquenching need to catch his prey and a deep desire to protect the woman he can’t possibly keep.
“You’re safe with me, and I’ll make sure to keep you that way.
“The team secured a room for us at the Blue Ridge Lodge outside of town. We know now that you were targeted. That makes you safer with us until we find Nash, and we will find him.”
She gnawed her bottom lip. “One room?”
“It’ll be crowded but secure. My team and brothers will come and go as the investigation moves along. And don’t worry, contrary to local legend, the Garrett men were raised to be gentlemen.”
She pinned him with a fiercely ornery smile. “I was raised to be a princess. Look how that turned out. I’m about to spend the night with a man I just met.”
He shot the ceiling another look and rearranged his ball cap. If the job didn’t kill him, protecting Marissa Lane might.
FEDERAL
AGENT UNDER
FIRE
Julie Anne Lindsey
Julie Anne Lindsey is a multi-genre author who writes the stories that keep her up at night. She’s a self-proclaimed nerd with a penchant for words and proclivity for fun. Julie lives in rural Ohio with her husband and three small children. Today, she hopes to make someone smile. One day she plans to change the world. Julie is a member of the International Thriller Writers (ITW) and Sisters in Crime (SinC). Learn more about Julie Anne Lindsey at julieannelindsey.com.
Harlequin Intrigue
Protectors of Cade County
Federal Agent Under Fire
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CAST OF CHARACTERS
Marissa Lane—Nearly abducted on her morning jog through the national forest in Shadow Point, Kentucky, this nature photographer is horrified to learn her attacker’s MO matches that of a serial killer whose trail went cold five years prior.
Blake Garrett—The FBI agent is thrilled to get a new lead on the killer he came face-to-face with during his rookie year. He’d hesitated then, and the man escaped. A mistake Blake hasn’t let go and one he’s determined to make right. That is if he can stay focused on the case and not on the killer’s latest target, a strong-willed beauty who may be Blake’s undoing.
Nash Barclay—A serial killer with a wedding fetish who slipped through the fingers of a young Agent Garrett. Nash had enjoyed the ensuing chase until recently, when Blake stopped looking for him. Now Nash is back and determined to regain Agent Garrett’s attention.
West Garrett—Cade County sheriff and younger brother of Blake, willing to do whatever it takes to support his brother and protect his hometown.
Kara Lane—Marissa’s little sister. A nature lover who went missing on her daily hike through the mountains shortly after Marissa identified Nash Barclay as her attacker on the local news.
Cole Garrett—Youngest of four Garrett brothers and a Cade County deputy, Cole is all in to back up his brothers and capture the serial killer stalking his hometown streets.
Dedicated to double-shot espressos.
Contents
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
Chapter Eighteen
Excerpt from Hero’s Return by B.J. Daniels
Chapter One
Marissa Lane knew something was wrong the minute she saw him. In the six months since she’d started her predawn ritual, she’d rarely seen anyone in the national park before sunup, save the occasional ranger, but there were no rangers today. Only him. A man nearly engulfed in shadows at the lookout where she watched the sunrise three days a week.
She slowed her pace before reaching the low wooden fence that separated hikers from a sharp plummet into fog-laced evergreens, angling her body to keep the man in her sights. Everything about the moment set her intuition on edge, but she forced the shaky feeling away. She’d met plenty of fellow hikers over the years, and they’d all been kind. Kindred spirits. Glad to be outdoors. It was the hour that threw her. She’d started to think of herself as the only one in town who enjoyed a good sunrise.
The rocky eastern face of the park’s tallest mountain was the best place in Cade County to watch a sunrise, maybe the best in Kentucky. Marissa had yet to find a better one, though it was her job to try, and she did four mornings a week. Normally, she’d have finished her water and enjoyed her apple before walking back to her ride, parked nearly five miles down the trail, but today every cell in her body said that whatever had brought this man into her path wasn’t good, and she didn’t want any part of it.
“Mornin’.” His voice was low and gravelly. The hood of his jacket was up, working in collaboration with the shadows to shield his face.
Marissa lifted her chin in acknowledgement. She moved her tired body another step away, feigning interest in the view closest to the trail. He’d probably come there to think and was feeling as intruded upon as she was. Courtesy said she should be on her way. Greedily, she dawdled for one more breathtaking look.
The fiery glow of daylight scorched a path across the sky, climbing the opposite mountain with vigor and bathing thousands of deciduous trees, already dressed in rich autumn colors, with luminous shades from amber to apricot and everything in between. These were her favorite seconds of the day; when an ordinary forest became an inferno, and the world was backlit by Mother Nature’s glory.
The man broke free from the shadow and took a few casual steps in Marissa’s direction, setting her intuition into overdrive. The light scent of
