by Radclyffe
Table of Contents
Synopsis
Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction
Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series
By Radclyffe
Acknowledgments
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
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
About the Author
Books Available From Bold Strokes Books
Heart Stop
Jay "Flash" Reynolds has a brilliant future as a trauma surgeon until a truck on a rainy night changes her life. Assistant chief medical examiner Olivia Price is more at ease with the dead than the living—at least the dead never lie. All she needs to do is listen to their stories. What she doesn't need is a surly new resident who would rather be somewhere else.
Two women, one with a damaged body, the other a damaged spirit, challenge each other to dare to live again.
Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction
Secret Hearts “delivers exactly what it says on the tin: poignant story, sweet romance, great characters, chemistry and hot sex scenes. Radclyffe knows how to pen a good lesbian romance.” —LezReviewBooks Blog
Wild Shores “will hook you early. Radclyffe weaves a chance encounter into all-out steamy romance. These strong, dynamic women have great conversations, and fantastic chemistry.” —The Romantic Reader Blog
In 2016 RWA/OCC Book Buyers Best award winner for suspense and mystery with romantic elements Price of Honor “Radclyffe is master of the action-thriller series…The old familiar characters are there, but enough new blood is introduced to give it a fresh feel and open new avenues for intrigue.”—Curve Magazine
In Prescription for Love “Radclyffe populates her small town with colorful characters, among the most memorable being Flann’s little sister, Margie, and Abby’s 15-year-old trans son, Blake…This romantic drama has plenty of heart and soul.”—Publishers Weekly
2013 RWA/New England Bean Pot award winner for contemporary romance Crossroads “will draw the reader in and make her heart ache, willing the two main characters to find love and a life together. It’s a story that lingers long after coming to ‘the end.’”—Lambda Literary
In 2012 RWA/FTHRW Lories and RWA HODRW Aspen Gold award winner Firestorm “Radclyffe brings another hot lesbian romance for her readers.”—The Lesbrary
Foreword Review Book of the Year finalist and IPPY silver medalist Trauma Alert “is hard to put down and it will sizzle in the reader’s hands. The characters are hot, the sex scenes explicit and explosive, and the book is moved along by an interesting plot with well drawn secondary characters. The real star of this show is the attraction between the two characters, both of whom resist and then fall head over heels.”—Lambda Literary Reviews
Lambda Literary Award Finalist Best Lesbian Romance 2010 features “stories [that] are diverse in tone, style, and subject, making for more variety than in many, similar anthologies…well written, each containing a satisfying, surprising twist. Best Lesbian Romance series editor Radclyffe has assembled a respectable crop of 17 authors for this year’s offering.”—Curve Magazine
2010 Prism award winner and ForeWord Review Book of the Year Award finalist Secrets in the Stone is “so powerfully [written] that the worlds of these three women shimmer between reality and dreams…A strong, must read novel that will linger in the minds of readers long after the last page is turned.”—Just About Write
In Benjamin Franklin Award finalist Desire by Starlight “Radclyffe writes romance with such heart and her down-to-earth characters not only come to life but leap off the page until you feel like you know them. What Jenna and Gard feel for each other is not only a spark but an inferno and, as a reader, you will be washed away in this tumultuous romance until you can do nothing but succumb to it.”—Queer Magazine Online
Lambda Literary Award winner Stolen Moments “is a collection of steamy stories about women who just couldn’t wait. It’s sex when desire overrides reason, and it’s incredibly hot!”—On Our Backs
Lambda Literary Award winner Distant Shores, Silent Thunder “weaves an intricate tapestry about passion and commitment between lovers. The story explores the fragile nature of trust and the sanctuary provided by loving relationships.”—Sapphic Reader
Lambda Literary Award Finalist Justice Served delivers a “crisply written, fast-paced story with twists and turns and keeps us guessing until the final explosive ending.”—Independent Gay Writer
Lambda Literary Award finalist Turn Back Time “is filled with wonderful love scenes, which are both tender and hot.”—MegaScene
Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series
The Midnight Hunt
RWA 2012 VCRW Laurel Wreath winner Blood Hunt
Night Hunt
The Lone Hunt
“Raand has built a complex world inhabited by werewolves, vampires, and other paranormal beings…Raand has given her readers a complex plot filled with wonderful characters as well as insight into the hierarchy of Sylvan’s pack and vampire clans. There are many plot twists and turns, as well as erotic sex scenes in this riveting novel that keep the pages flying until its satisfying conclusion.”—Just About Write
“Once again, I am amazed at the storytelling ability of L.L. Raand aka Radclyffe. In Blood Hunt,she mixes high levels of sheer eroticism that will leave you squirming in your seat with an impeccable multi-character storyline all streaming together to form one great read.”—Queer Magazine Online
“The Midnight Hunthas a gripping story to tell, and while there are also some truly erotic sex scenes, the story always takes precedence. This is a great read which is not easily put down nor easily forgotten.”—Just About Write
“Are you sick of the same old hetero vampire/werewolf story plastered in every bookstore and at every movie theater? Well, I’ve got the cure to your werewolf fever. The Midnight Hunt is first in, what I hope is, a long-running series of fantasy erotica for L.L. Raand (aka Radclyffe).”—Queer Magazine Online
“Any reader familiar with Radclyffe’s writing will recognize the author’s style within The Midnight Hunt, yet at the same time it is most definitely a new direction. The author delivers an excellent story here, one that is engrossing from the very beginning. Raand has pieced together an intricate world, and provided just enough details for the reader to become enmeshed in the new world. The action moves quickly throughout the book and it’s hard to put down.”—Three Dollar Bill Reviews
Heart Stop
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Heart Stop
© 2017 By Radclyffe. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-900-6
This Electronic Original
is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: July 2017
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editors: Ruth Sternglantz and Stacia Seaman
Production Design: Stacia Seaman
Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])
By Radclyffe
Romances
Innocent Hearts
Promising Hearts
Love’s Melody Lost
Love’s Tender Warriors
Tomorrow’s Promise
Love’s Masquerade
shadowland
Passion’s Bright Fury
Fated Love
Turn Back Time
When Dreams Tremble
The Lonely Hearts Club
Night Call
Secrets in the Stone
Desire by Starlight
Crossroads
Homestead
The Color of Love
Secret Hearts
Honor Series
Above All, Honor
Honor Bound
Love & Honor
Honor Guards
Honor Reclaimed
Honor Under Siege
Word of Honor
Code of Honor
Price of Honor
Justice Series
A Matter of Trust (prequel)
Shield of Justice
In Pursuit of Justice
Justice in the Shadows
Justice Served
Justice For All
The Provincetown Tales
Safe Harbor
Beyond the Breakwater
Distant Shores, Silent Thunder
Storms of Change
Winds of Fortune
Returning Tides
Sheltering Dunes
First Responders Novels
Trauma Alert
Firestorm
Oath of Honor
Taking Fire
Wild Shores
Heart Stop
Rivers Community Novels
Against Doctor’s Orders
Prescription for Love
Love on Call
Short Fiction
Collected Stories by Radclyffe
Erotic Interludes: Change of Pace
Radical Encounters
Edited by Radclyffe:
Best Lesbian Romance 2009-2014
Stacia Seaman and Radclyffe, eds.
Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments
Erotic Interludes 3: Lessons in Love
Erotic Interludes 4: Extreme Passions
Erotic Interludes 5: Road Games
Romantic Interludes 1: Discovery
Romantic Interludes 2: Secrets
Breathless: Tales of Celebration
Women of the Dark Streets
Amore and More: Love Everafter
Myth & Magic: Queer Fairy Tales
By L.L. Raand
Midnight Hunters
The Midnight Hunt
Blood Hunt
Night Hunt
The Lone Hunt
The Magic Hunt
Shadow Hunt
Acknowledgments
One of the pleasures of writing a First Responders romance is the chance to investigate and incorporate interesting professions into the story. Even more satisfying, though, is the chance to bring back characters from previous books in supporting roles. First responders, be they military, law enforcement, medical, firefighters, environmental protectionists, search and rescue, or any of a host of others, never work alone. Teamwork is the foundation of care, and at the heart of all these books is the dedication to caring for the welfare of others and the world we live in. If not us, then who shall we look to for that?
I especially enjoyed writing this entry in the First Responders series as I had a chance to revisit Philadelphia and the worlds of the Justice series and Trauma Alert (a spin-off of that series, one of the first I started). While this work stands alone, I hope those who are familiar with the setting will enjoy revisiting a few favorite characters, and of course, that everyone enjoys the romance at the heart of the story.
Many thanks go to: senior editor Sandy Lowe for her continued expertise in support of BSB’s authors and operations as well as her invaluable personal support, editor Ruth Sternglantz for knowing my work so well I can count on her to keep me on the right road, editor Stacia Seaman for never missing the errors large and small, and my first readers Paula and Eva for taking time out of their busy lives to send invaluable feedback.
And as always, thanks to Lee for a heart that knows no bounds. Amo te.
Radclyffe, 2017
To Lee, from the heart
Chapter One
Olivia Price walked into the Graveyard at six a.m. Every autopsy bay she’d ever worked in had a similar nickname, and this one was actually on the tamer side—not to be repeated to civilians, of course. True, this was where the bodies rested until they moved on to some other place, claimed by families or relegated to a nameless plot marked only by a number in a potter’s field, or what passed for that in the modern era. Her job was to help them find their way to wherever their journeys ended. She laughed at herself and the whimsical thought. She was a scientist, a doctor, not a priest. She dealt with corpses, the remains of a human being, whose spirit or essence, or whatever it was that made them unique individuals, had long since deserted the flesh. All the same, every body that came under her care was unique and special. Each still carried the outward and inner signs of a lifetime of living, no matter how brief that lifetime might’ve been. She was trained to read those signs, to take note of the evidence of disease or injury or injustice. She was the observer, the chronicler, the last biographer of those who ended up in the medical examiner’s office—victims of accident, illness, or merely the passage of time.
She had always known she’d be a doctor to the dead, and she was never happier than at this hour of the morning, when she was alone, before the inevitable interruptions from colleagues, students, and trainees disturbed the peace. Of course, she could still work through the inevitable chaos—the dead didn’t keep to a schedule or any other form of social convention—but she needed, relished, the peaceful solitude. She did her best work then, all thoughts orderly, efficient, and logical.
In the antechamber, she hung her white lab coat, a fresh one pressed and laundered every day, on the first hook inside the door, donned disposable booties over her flats, placed the gold ring with central opal on the thin gold link chain around her neck, and scrubbed her hands with the hexachlorophene-impregnated sponge. After drying off with the industrial blue paper towels, she tied on an impermeable green apron that draped from chest to knees, covered her hair, and entered the space that was more home than her own brownstone. Surprisingly bright and spaciously airy for a room underground, the twenty-by-sixty-foot suite held four stainless steel autopsy tables lined up down the center, leaving an aisle on either side and in between, each large enough to easily maneuver the gurneys. The floor-to-ceiling thermoregulated steel cadaver storage cubicles, each four feet square with a slot for the index card bearing the identifiers in black Magic Marker, occupied the far rear wall. Each long wall held waist-high counters with shelves and cabinets for equipment, extra-deep sinks, and several hoods for venting noxious fumes from chemically or naturally induced decomposition. Overhead cables, pulleys, and mechanical arms allowed cameras, spray washers, and X-ray devices to swivel into place above the tables. Wireless voice-activated recorders hung down above the tables, and computer monitors sat on shelves suspended from the ceiling at eye level.
The tables themselves were
eight feet long and four feet wide, slanted at twenty degrees from head to foot so bodily fluids could drain through thin horizontal slats into the stainless steel basin below and from there into the special drain system designed to collect biological effluent for disposal. At the head of each table, a large hanging scale swung above an adjustable shelf equipped with a power saw and large-bore suction lines. In most respects, the autopsy suite resembled any other operating room.
Olivia checked the printout on the intake board next to the door, noting that another body had been delivered during the night, case 17A290-1: UM, TOA 0321. Unidentified male, time of arrival 3:21 a.m. Jane and John Does were denizens of the past, each body now being assigned an identifier that took precedence over their name, if that was even known. In this case, it wasn’t. No one had been assigned to the case yet. She would take care of that before morning review. Right now, she intended to begin the autopsy on a case delivered late the day before, a young male victim of a drive-by shooting. Undoubtedly the homicide detective assigned to the case would be calling for information once shift changed at the police station.
She checked the file number against the intake sheet, typed in her password and the file number on the computer adjacent to her table, and activated the voice recorder. As the assistant chief, she had her own work space that no one else used unless they were overwhelmed with casualties. Once the file came up and she’d double-checked that all the identifiers matched, she printed a series of labels that included the case number and her ID number. Done with the critical documentation to secure chain of evidence, she opened the corresponding storage cubicle, slid out the tray holding the body bag, engaged the hydraulics to lower it to stretcher level, and transferred it, after years of practice, without difficulty. If the diener had been present, he or she would have insisted on doing the transfer. They were the official Graveyard techs, after all, but she rarely actually needed an assistant and had to remind herself to let them do their jobs. She pushed the gurney to the side of her table, quickly unzipped the bag, and in several practiced moves, settled the body onto the stainless steel table.