Lost and Found Pieces 2
J.M. Madden
Acknowledgments
My readers are incredible! Thank you so much for being there, waiting patiently, to read anything I put out. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.
Sandie, as always, thank you for being the woman you are.
Mark, I love you dearly. Thank you for allowing me to follow my heart and put as much love into the world as I can. Happy 23rd Anniversary babe!
Copyright © 2020 by J.M. Madden
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Return of the Warrior
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
A Family Affair
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Oh, Louie
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
Christmas Raine
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Also by J.M. Madden
Return of the Warrior
When I write stories, I don’t like to think about it being the end of a couple. I prefer to dream that they continue on and everything is hearts and puppies and good stuff.
And sometimes I write about couples that I just can’t forget. After I finished Flat Line, which was more than 2 years ago, I immediately started Mac and Roz’s story. I knew it wouldn’t be a full romance but they needed…something. Some happy wrap-up because they’d been through so much. Maybe I just needed hope that all was not lost when it came to Roz. She had a harsh backstory but she was still fighting, so she deserved to have a light at the end of the tunnel.
Copyright © 2020 by J.M. Madden Return of the Warrior
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Chapter One
“Get off me, you damn cat.”
The super fluffy gray tortoiseshell cat went boneless when she tried to pick it up, and Roz let out a frustrated huff, on the verge of tears. Why wouldn’t anything go her way?
Leaving the cat on the end of the couch, she pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her head against the cushion. Tears burned at her eyes but she was determined not to cry anymore. She was so sick of crying. It had been three months since they’d left Columbus, and the replay of that night was just as clear now as it was the night after it had happened. The sudden wrenching of her body from the bed, the incredibly strong arm around her neck, and the paralyzing, choking fear as she felt the muzzle of the gun against her temple.
It had only taken a couple of minutes for the entire incident, but at the time the seconds had elongated into what felt like years as she waited for rescue, again. That incident hadn’t been the first time she’d been in danger.
She drew in a breath and forced her mind away from the first time she was attacked, while working her shift at Riverside Hospital. In the state she was in it would completely wreck her if she replayed it. In less than four hours she needed to head down the mountain and be productive, and replaying these traumas wasn’t going to help her do that. She’d begun working at the county health department, in the pediatric section. Just a few hours here and there to keep her certifications up, and the children weren’t threatening.
Working in the clinic forced her to get out and act like a human being. If she wasn’t careful, she would crumble into dust and waste away up on this mountain. No, Mac wouldn’t let her.
Even as she thought his name, she heard Mac leave his room, walk down the hallway, through the living room and into the kitchen. He moved softly considering how big he was, but she’d gotten used to every sound that this house and the surrounding mountain made. Mac had become a part of her security lexicon and she wondered if he had any idea how very important to her he was. She watched him walk through the dark living room and into the kitchen.
The tap turned on and she could tell he was filling the kettle. As he waited for the water to heat, he would get two mugs out of the cupboard and rest the tea bags inside. On nights like this she needed a calming herbal tea. No doubt he would go for his favorite orange ginger.
Mac had turned out to be an excellent roommate. He’d saved her life in Andromeda’s townhouse. Well, he and Parker Quinn, Andromeda’s former Navy SEAL flame. The four of them had been in Andromeda’s high-rise townhouse when the patriarch of the terror cell that had taken so many lives had broken into Andromeda’s home to kill her for prosecuting his son. Things hadn’t turned out the way the man expected, though. First, Roz had swung a fist down into his groin. Then Mac had punched him in the head so hard he’d sent the man into a coma. He’d been out for the count, but she couldn’t force herself to respond to her training and check on him. Fuck him.
Three men had broken into Andromeda’s place that night to kill them. Parker had killed one, Mac another, and the third had been taken out on a stretcher. The danger was gone. Literally. Same with the man that had attacked her years ago, who was now in prison and would be for a very long time to come. They were three hundred miles away from where the incidents had happened, but she still woke up every night feeling the gun pressed to her temple, or smelled the reek of Coughlin’s breath as he held her down
