F-STOP by Desiree Holt

F-STOP by Desiree Holt

Book 4 in the Phoenix Agency series.

Kat Culhane hasn't seen Mike D'Antoni for two years until they run into each other in Texas. Time has passed but the heat between them hasn't diminished. Hello leads to lunch, lunch leads to dinner, and dinner leads to bed...and the most erotic sex they've ever had.

When Kat's sister disappears, along with her boss and his family, Mike and the Phoenix Agency roll into action, with Kat's remote viewing abilities playing a key role in the search. At night she loses herself in Mike's arms as his hands and mouth soothe and seduce her. In addition to finding her sister, it's obvious to Kat and Mike that this time around, they also have to find a way to hang on to each other.

Publisher’s Note: You just can't keep a good story down. Previously published as Freeze Frame with The Lotus Circle and then Cerridwen Press, this book has been revised and the bedroom door opened wide for Ellora’s Cave.

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An Excerpt From: F-STOP

Copyright © DESIREE HOLT, 2011

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Kat insisted on driving Mari to the airport, to the private terminal where the Wright International aircraft were kept. A sleek-looking Gulfstream G-5 stood on the tarmac waiting for its passengers to board while the pilot did his preflight check and took care of other last-minute business. Eli and Sydney Wright and their teenage daughter, Lissa, were already inside the small terminal building and greeted Mari warmly.

Kat had seen pictures of them and always commented on what an extremely good-looking family they were—the tall, muscular man with the wavy black hair and a dimple in his chin, the slim redhead looking up at him with affection and a younger female version with the same lustrous hair and slender build. She bet they looked good in magazine shots and newspaper publicity.

“I’m so glad you’re coming with us.” Sydney enveloped Mari in a quick hug. “I told the slave driver we need some girl time while we’re there.”

“Mom’s right,” Lissa added. “And where you guys go, so do I.”

Kat hung back a little, pleased to see how the Wrights treated Mari as a person, not just an employee. It was obvious they considered her almost a part of the family. At forty-two Eli was a self-made billionaire who conducted business in every corner of the world. It would be so easy for him to be arrogant and superficial, for Sydney to be a bitch and for Lissa to be a spoiled brat. But as Mari had told her many times, the man was well-grounded in good values and worked to keep his family the same way.

Now Mari reached out an arm and pulled Kat into the circle.

“I don’t think you’ve met my sister, Katherine. Kat, these are the Wrights. The best boss and the best family in the world.”

Eli’s handshake was strong and warm, Sydney and Lissa hugging her in what was obviously a natural gesture for them.

“It’s nice meeting you,” she smiled at them. “Mari can’t stop raving about either her job or the Wright family. It’s nice to see her in such a good position.”

“Your sister’s a real treasure,” Eli said. “This trip is a semi-reward for all her hard work.” He studied Kat. “Mari hasn’t said much about what you do. Are you in an office situation too?”

“Oh,” Mari broke in, “Kat is—”

“A consultant.” Kat cut her off smoothly. “I consult on various special projects.”

“Oh?” Eli raised an eyebrow. “What type? I’m always looking for consultants.”

“Maybe we can talk next time I’m in town,” she said smoothly. “Isn’t that your pilot beckoning to you?”

He glanced out the window. “Sure is. Well, nice meeting you, Katherine. Ladies? Our chariot awaits.”

Kat followed them outside, waiting while they boarded the plane and watching the smooth taxi and takeoff. Even though she knew they couldn’t see her any longer, she continued to wave until the plane was just a speck in the sky.

“Well,” a deep male voice said behind her. “This is probably the last place I expected to run into you.”

Kat turned and came face-to-face with Mike D’Antoni, her stomach doing a flip-flop at the sight of the tall, dark aviator with the bedroom eyes. For a long moment, shock paralyzed her.



At first Mike thought he was seeing things. Surely there were dozens of petite, blondes with sun-streaked hair in the world. Who also had the same habit of tilting their head to one side. It couldn’t be her, right here in the private hangar section of the airport. What would she be doing here anyway? He stared through the glass of the door, his brain bouncing in his head.

Then she turned around and every nerve and muscle in his body froze.

If anything, Katherine Culhane was sexier, more appealing, than the last time he’d seen her two years ago. Of course the last time he’d seen her she’d been a raging maniac, throwing everything she could get her hands on at him and screaming curse words that would make a sailor blush. The fact that she’d been absolutely right to react the way she did hadn’t made the episode any easier to take.

Back then the Phoenix Agency had been just the four of them—Dan Romeo whose idea it was, Troy Arsenault, Rick Latrobe and himself. They hadn’t even had an office, just a phone number with an answering machine. They flew low under the radar, taking missions that no one else would touch and excelling at it. Phoenix was a high-risk international security company, for all intents and purposes. They didn’t advertise. They had no website. Contracts were by referral only.

Then Rick’s little brother Joey had been shot in a blown mission assignment, Joey’s team leader Mark Halloran had been captured by a terrorist group and Faith Wilding, now wed to Mark, was at her wits’ end trying to find someone to rescue him.

The rescue mission was exactly the kind of thing Phoenix was originally created for—an assignment that politics blocked government agencies from attempting. He’d been with Kat the night he’d gotten the call to plan the mission. He’d been unable to give her an explanation, just…left. After the harrowing rescue in Peru something else had come up, then something else again.

He’d made one stupid attempt to see her, giving no thought to what her reaction might be, and didn’t realize until she’d shut the door on him what a mess he’d made of things. How important she really was to him.

Now, two years later, Phoenix had offices, a woman who juggled everything without a drop of sweat, an international reputation and more contracts than they could handle.

But three of the partners were also now married, a signal that as they’d expanded the agency and taken on more agents, each of them could find a way to have a private life. Maybe it was time for him to think of the same thing. The thought didn’t scare him the way it used to. His problem would be convincing the woman he was sure was the one that he was different, that he could be trusted.

He still got the same punch to the gut when he looked at Kat. The breeze lifted the strands of hair, fanning them around her face. He knew the green of her short sleeve sweater would match exactly the color of her eyes and when she smiled—if she smiled—her entire face would light up. Black slacks clung to rounded hips that his hands still itched to touch, the memory of her silken skin still imprinted on his brain.

For a moment he was tempted to walk through the other door, climb into the SUV waiting for him and forget he’d even see her. Not a day had passed since the last time he’d seen her that he hadn’t wished he could take everything back. That he’d made the time to see her between assignments, explain to her as best he could. Dan and Mark had both managed to handle it and now so had Rick. But he’d been scared of commitment. He’d run from what she represented—giving up his footloose life for one woman—so he’d done what he had to. Stayed away from her.

And cursed himself every day for what he’d thrown away.

He’d probably be smart to get the hell away from her now but his feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they carried him to the runway-side door and his hands automatically pushed it open. And then he was talking to her, the last thing he’d ever expected to do again.

From her reaction, she hadn’t planned on it either. Her face paled under its Florida tan, her eyes widened and although her mouth moved, no words came out.

“Yeah,” he managed. “Shocked me too. How are you, Kat?”

She swallowed twice and finally managed a response. “I’m fine.” Her voice, though trembling slightly, could have chipped ice. “I trust you’re the same?”

“Taking a plane somewhere?”

“Just seeing off my sister, her boss and his family.”

“Oh.”

Silence.

“She lives here in San Antonio and works for Eli Wright.”

That was interesting. “CEO of Wright International?”

Kat nodded. “Executive secretary. He’s taking her with his family on a combined business-vacation trip to Hawaii.”

“Very nice. So…you were visiting her?”

“Yes. So what are you doing here?”

“Business meeting with two of my partners. I just got in.”

More silence. Then they both spoke at the same time.

“Listen, Kat—”

“Mike, I’m not—”

He smiled. “Ladies first.”

“No, you go ahead.” Now her eyes were flashing. She’d gotten her equilibrium back, hidden behind an invisible wall. “I’d really be interested in what you have to say.”

He studied her carefully, seeing the same fiery woman who nearly set him ablaze in bed. A woman he’d treated very, very badly. A woman he still wanted more than his next breath.

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DELICIOUS DANGER by Desiree Holt

DELICIOUS DANGER by Desiree Holt

Book 3 in the Phoenix Agency series.

Kelly was shocked when her Caucasian Ovcharka Xena bonded with Rick Latrobe. The dogs are known for linking with only their owners. She's even more shocked at the intense sexual heat that sizzles between her and Rick. When she tumbles into bed with him at the very first opportunity, experiencing a night of erotic bliss in his arms, she knows they have something special.

But Xena is very much aware when an attempt is made on Rick's life, and the dog drives Kelly crazy with signals of danger as a shipment of arms is stolen in Iraq. Rick is nearly killed and Kelly and Xena are ferried to the secret clinic he's taken to. As Rick heals and they race to find the mastermind behind the plot, the sex between them heats to the boiling point.

Publisher's Note: You just can't keep a good story down. Previously published as Scent of Danger with The Lotus Circle and then Cerridwen Press, this book has been revised and the bedroom door opened for Ellora's Cave.

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An Excerpt From: DELICIOUS DANGER

Copyright © DESIREE HOLT, 2011

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Chapter One



“Granddad?” Kelly Monroe finished checking the air pressure on her truck tires and called out to her grandfather standing by the hangar. The vacation in Key West had been great and the visit here in Maryland with her grandfather even better. But now it was time to get home and back to work. Maine was still many long hours on the road away.

Harry Monroe disconnected the call he was taking, shoved his cell phone in his pocket and jogged slowly over to the truck. At seventy he was still fit and jogging didn’t even wind him. “I sure wish you’d stay longer,” he told her. “I don’t get to see you nearly enough.”

“I’d try to coax you up to Maine but I know being in charge of the Phoenix Agency airfield and running security on their craft doesn’t leave you much time for visiting.”

The Phoenix Agency, a top security agency that took jobs for both the government and private industry, was based in Maryland. Headed by the charismatic Dan Romeo, he and his four partners had built its reputation on the quality of their work. All former military, they each brought an area of expertise to the business. Harry had been recommended to them by Dan’s former commanding officer in the Marines and it had given the retired sergeant a new lease on life.

“They could spare me for a few days,” he protested.

She grinned at him. “We’ll see. You were there for me when Mom and Dad were killed but I wasn’t a kid, Granddad. And you needed to do something besides rock and read. I’m glad you have this.”

“Me too,” he chuckled. “And the guys are very good to me.”

“As well they should be.”

“You should stay the night,” he told her. “It’s late in the day. Too late to be starting out.”

“We’ll camp out about halfway there. No problem.”

“It’s a problem to me,” he grumbled.

“I promise we’ll be fine.”She turned to a large dog sitting quietly by the hangar, watching them intently. “Hey, Xena. Come on, girl. We’ve got to get going.”

Kelly had bought the Caucasian Ovcharka from a breeder seven years ago as a gift to herself on her twenty-first birthday. Unlike any other dog she’d ever seen, Xena had deep-set, dark eyes and ears densely covered with fur. The shoulders were slightly raised from the back and the tail had a heavy feathering of fur. With long forelimbs and large heavy paws, she looked exactly like what she was—a guard dog. And she guarded Kelly well, in many ways.

“Come on,” Kelly called again. “Quit stalling.”

“I think she wants to stay,” Harry said.

“Oh, honestly.” She started toward Xena at a slow trot, motioning to the dog as she moved. She hadn’t taken ten steps before the one-hundred-thirty-pound body flew through the air like a shot and landed directly in front of her.

Kelly pulled up short. “What the heck?”

“You nearly tripped over that hose you didn’t see,” Harry pointed out.

“Is that it, girl?” Kelly knelt and threaded her fingers through the dog’s fur. “Were you taking care of me again?” She fixed her gaze on the dog’s. “Yes, you’re right. I need to pay more attention.”

“I swear.” Harry scratched his head. “You and that dog read each other’s minds. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Don’t joke. Ovcharkas are known for certain psychic abilities. Xena’s have saved my butt more than once.”

“You were always like that with animals. Knowing what was wrong with them. What they wanted. Having silent conversations with them. But with Xena?” He shook his head. “It’s the weirdest thing. That’s just something else.”

“She’ll take good care of me on the way home too. Don’t you worry.” She kissed the dog’s black nose. “Come on, girl. Into the truck. Time to hit the road.”

“Don’t you even want to meet any of the guys? They always ask about you. The one time you show up they’re all busy with something.”

“Next time,” she told him. “I promise we’ll stay a little longer.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” But he said it affectionately.

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EXTRASENSORY by Desiree Holt

EXTRASENSORY by Desiree Holt

Book 2 in the Phoenix Agency series.

Mia battles with skepticism about her precognitive skills. But her visions about Carpenter Techtronics are so vivid she sends anonymous emails. She also has a vision of a gorgeous naked man who arouses her so vividly she is forced to satisfy herself. She is shocked when the man shows up in her office sending her silent erotic messages.

Dan is helping Chase track down whoever is threatening Chase's company. When he meets Mia he has a hard time thinking about anything but off-the-charts sex with this intriguing woman. But bodies begin falling. As Mia's visions escalate so does the explosive sex between her and Dan as well as an unexpected emotional connection. When Mia is shot and almost killed, Dan and his team race to find the killers before they can strike again.

Publisher's Note: You just can't keep a good story down. Previously published as VISIONS OF DARKNESS with The Lotus Circle and then Cerridwen Press, this book has been revised and the bedroom door opened for Ellora's Cave.

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An Excerpt From: EXTRASENSORY

Copyright © DESIREE HOLT, 2011

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Chapter One



Where was the damn helicopter? They couldn’t hold these bastards off much longer.

Dante “Dan” Romeo wiped his forehead on the sleeve of his camo shirt and slammed another magazine into his rifle. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to turn out, although they always had to prepare for it. A sign over his desk back in Baltimore read, “Nothing in life is ever simple.” In his business, Dan Romeo considered it a motto.

He was so sure their mission had been successful. Five days ago Drummond Laboratories had placed an emergency call to Phoenix, the agency in which Dan was the senior partner. Drummond’s CEO, Hank Nolan, had been captured by guerillas in Mexico, the kidnap capital of the world. They’d snatched him right off the street in Acapulco where he’d been vacationing with his family.

The people from Drummond made sure Phoenix understood the feds could not be involved. The guerilla group had threatened to cut off Nolan’s head if the feds were contacted. Cut their losses, so to speak. These kidnap-for-ransom groups were getting bolder every day, especially in Mexico.

Drummond didn’t balk for an instant at the fee Dan quoted him.

So Dan had put the team together and using bribes, snitches and other sources of information, they’d found the location of the guerilla camp. They’d suited up and Mike D’Antoni, pilot extraordinaire and another of the partners, dropped them into the humid, insect-infested Mexican jungle. Where they were going was definitely not a vacation spot.

They hiked to the camp location in stealth mode, using the sounds of the jungle animals as cover for their movements as often as they could. Then they concealed themselves in the surrounding jungle. Watching. Waiting. Timing the guards. Identifying where Nolan was being held. Learning the rhythm of the camp. For Dan, a former Force Recon Marine, jobs like this were no different from the missions he’d led in Afghanistan and Iraq. The same methods applied.

At last, when they’d gathered sufficient information, the men put their plan together. Waiting until full dark and with the covertness they’d learned from years in the military, they made their way to the rear of the camp. Silently, the team working like a well-oiled piece of machinery, all the parts moving as designed, they took out the two guards in front of the shack where Nolan was being held. Then, moving swiftly, they backed out of the camp, half-carrying Nolan, until they reached the safety of the surrounding flora and fauna.

As soon as they were far enough away to use the satellite radio safely, Dan had called in for extraction and Mike radioed he was on his way to get them. The two men set their coordinates and the team took off to meet the chopper. But Nolan had been tied up for two weeks and half-starved. In his deteriorated condition he had trouble keeping up, so they finally had to carry him. That delayed them and gave the kidnappers, when they realized their prize was gone, time to take off after the rescue team with AK-47s and other assorted weapons.

Now Dan and his group were pinned down at the extraction point and the guerillas were moving closer. Machine-gun bullets rained everywhere, punctuated by the screech of the howler monkeys and the squawking of tropical birds. Dan could only pray the kidnappers didn’t have rocket-propelled grenades with them. That could take down not just the team but the helicopter too. Disaster didn’t begin to describe what that outcome would be.

Then, at last, he heard the distinctive slap! slap! slap! of the helicopter blades and his comm unit crackled in his ear.

“I am above you and ready to extract,” Mike said. “Looks like you need a little covering fire.”

“No shit,” Dan answered. “Get that ladder down and have the shotgun riders start peppering these bastards.”

The chopper now hovered directly over them. Someone pitched the rope ladder from the open cabin door and it hung tantalizingly in the air. Two Phoenix men were balanced on the chopper skids, spraying the area around them with machine-gun fire. The occasional shrieks let everyone know that at least some of the bullets had found a target.

Dan hoisted Nolan onto the ladder and motioned for one of the guys in the cabin above just to pull the damn thing up. In seconds the man was inside the chopper and the ladder dropped again. Firing into the surrounding area as they climbed, aided by the gunners above them, each man scrambled up to the helo’s cabin, then reached to help the one behind him.

Dan was last, as usual, holding to the ladder with one hand and his machine-gun with the other. He was gratified to hear more screams of pain as hands pulled him through the opening to safety.

“Go now,” he shouted to Mike, who needed no urging to pull away and up. As they lifted into the sky, the two Phoenix gunners continued to fire until the chopper reached a safe altitude.

“Sorry to cut it so close, Danny boy,” Mike yelled at him. “We had to wait for some other air traffic to clear. They didn’t look like they wanted to invite us for afternoon cocktails.”

“These damn thugs are getting better equipped all the time,” Dan cursed. “We’re having to run our asses off just to stay ahead of them.”

He looked around him and studied the activity. The men were all checking their guns, making sure they had full clips just in case a surprise awaited them somewhere along the line. The medic on their team was attending to Hank Nolan, expertly starting an IV even under the extreme conditions and then cleaning his wounds.

“Mostly malnutrition,” he told Dan over the roar of the chopper’s blades. “And shock. He’ll be a long time forgetting this little trip.”

Dan leaned back against the cabin wall, regulating his breathing, checking again to make sure everyone else was okay.

“You earned yourself a little downtime after this,” Mike yelled from the cockpit. “Don’t you think? A break from the office? Maybe a little R and R?”

Dan gave his partner a lopsided grin. He knew what that meant. Get your ass out of town and get some rest before taking on another mission. Give your body some rest. He had to agree that Mike was right. At forty-three years old, he was getting a little past the age for this kind of activity.

“Chase Carpenter invited me to come to San Antonio,” he replied. “His company has created a sophisticated new robot that supposedly is undetectable and can do everything but sing and dance. He’s having a big unveiling next Friday, with lots of military brass, top cops and international corporations. He thought it might be something the agency could use.”

Mike grinned. “Knowing Chase it’s a high ticket item. Do we get a discount for being friends?”

Dan laughed. “I’ll ask him.”

“You ought to take him up on it,” Mike insisted. “And while you’re there, you could see Mark and Faith.” Mike chuckled. “And interrupt his vacation.”

Mark Halloran was the newest partner in Phoenix. He and his wife, a best-selling author of political thrillers, were both telepaths, and that psychic ability had been the single reason for Mark’s own rescue from terrorists in Peru. At the time he’d been a Delta Force team leader. A highly-placed defense department official, taking payoffs from the arms dealer Mark’s team was sent to take out, had blown the whistle on the mission. Only Mark and one member of his team survived the ambush they walked into.

Joey Latrobe, whose brother was a Phoenix partner, had managed to hide himself from the terrorists even though he was seriously wounded. The details of his rescue were yet another story.

Mark had been held in the terrorist camp and his only communication with the outside world had been the telepathic messages he exchanged with Faith. Like a raging virago, she’d taken on Washington and the Pentagon and when no one else would help her, had turned to Phoenix, even going along on the rescue mission.

Dan had to smile now when he thought of her courage. It would be nice to see her again.

“Maybe I’ll do that,” he said. “But not before taking the world’s longest shower and eating the biggest steak I can find.”


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JUNGLE INFERNO by Desiree Holt

JUNGLE INFERNO by Desiree Holt

Book 1 in the Phoenix Agency series.

For Faith and Mark, the telepathic connection they'd shared for years was nothing compared to the scorching physical connection they realized as adults. From the first moment they came together, erotic was too pale a word to describe their relationship. Together they explored each other’s deepest, darkest desires.

But now Mark, survivor of an ambush to his Delta Force team, is a prisoner of a terrorist group in the Peruvian jungle, and his telepathic communication with Faith is his only contact with the world. While she searches for help to save him, they survive on dreams that took them beyond all sexual boundaries.

Publisher’s Note: This story was previously published elsewhere under the title ALWAYS ON MY MIND and has been revised for Ellora’s Cave.

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An Excerpt From: JUNGLE INFERNO

Copyright © DESIREE HOLT, 2011

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Chapter One



Damn!

Faith Wilding stared at her computer monitor in frustration, the screen empty except for the annoying cursor winking at her. The first three chapters of her latest political thriller were due to her agent by the end of the month and she hadn’t even written the first word. Not once since she’d sold her first manuscript had she ever been stricken with writer’s block. Today, however, it seemed as if something had swept her mind bare, knocking out every word or phrase that might be taking root.

She looked around her den, usually a place of comfort and inspiration. The warm earth tones on the rug that had been her grandmother’s were an accent on the polished hardwood floor. The couch and chair, covered in navy denim, showed traces of wear from all the times she’d lain or sat there reading manuscript drafts. The walls were lined with family pictures, faces smiling down on her with encouragement and support.

Usually this room unlocked her mind and opened the gates for her thoughts to flow freely. Not tonight. She could have been sitting in a sterile room for all the good it was doing her.

She rotated her head, easing the tension in her neck and shoulders. Maybe she should fix another cup of her favorite chai tea. Its energy might kick-start her brain.

I need you.

The familiar voice blasted through her mind.

Mark! Oh God, Mark.

Stunned, she tried to focus her thoughts but a white-hot pain pierced her body, stealing her breath. She clenched her fists against it and as it faded an image of Mark’s face, bruised and lined with pain, flashed briefly and was gone.

Faith leaned back in her chair, using the skills she’d been taught to control her breathing and slow her racing pulse. Running her hands up and down her arms she discovered a fine sheen of perspiration on her skin.

Mark!

She tried to pull the image back but it was gone.

Need you…captured…

Captured! Dear God. He’d reached out to her from wherever he was. But how could she find him? He could be anywhere. She felt as if a part of her body had been severed. Closing her eyes and pushing everything else from her brain, she concentrated on sending a reply.

I heard you. Where are you?

She sat perfectly still, eyes still tightly shut, blocking out everything else, focusing as she’d been taught, to strengthen her message.

Mark?

She waited but the only thing that answered her was the heavy silence. Either his strength had given out or something—or someone—had blocked him.

Finally she pushed her chair away from the desk and headed to the kitchen on legs not quite steady. Tea was definitely in order.

The last time she’d heard from Mark Halloran was two years ago. That time she’d been sitting in a Starbucks drinking a mocha latte and checking her schedule on her PDA when the message hit her. Startled, she’d nearly spilled her coffee and looked around to make sure he wasn’t just standing two feet away.

Hello, darlin’.

That whiskey-smooth voice had warmed her blood and made her smile. And remember the one long weekend they’d had together before he’d left on a mission.

Hi. Where are you?

Far away.

An image of him in a helicopter danced before her eyes, helmet securely on his head, rifle and other gear strapped to his body. As a Special Ops soldier, a member of the famed Delta Force, he was always in some far corner of the world on a mission that no one could discuss. Usually he was concentrating so hard on what he was doing there was no opportunity to clear his mind and reach out to her.

Miss you, came the next message.

Me too. You’ll never know how much. You still have my heart.

The image had changed to one of him naked, grinning, his blue eyes laughing at her. Her body had heated and every pulse point had begun to throb. She’d looked around her carefully, sure every eye was on her but everyone had appeared to be attending to their own business. She’d carried that short message and those images with her for a long time.

And now, tonight’s message. Shocking in its pain. Mark, stolid and steadfast. Bastion of strength. A soldier with special skills who’d stared at death more times than she’d ever know about. Mark never asked for help. The anguish in his voice filled her with a sense of dread. Fear drenched her and a cold knot of it tightened in her stomach. For him to send her this message the situation had to be out of control.

But where was he? What had happened to him? And what was wrong that the only cry for help he could get out was telepathically to her?

Leaning against the counter, sipping the hot tea, she thought about the first time they’d discovered their telepathic ability to communicate.

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