by Kaylea Cross
Heitor on the other hand had targeted Ann that first night, trying to get her by herself. Then when she’d shown up the next day with the team, he’d tried to just back out. Ethan remembered the man being agitated about seeing the three men with her. He should have known then that something was up.
Honestly, when he thought about it, the whole thing had been his fault. If he’d just been better at his job, he would have seen through the man during his interview. He’d accounted for the man’s nerves as fear of being found out.
Spending a lot of his time in the hospital bed, his mind wandered over the whole adventure. If he had a chance to go back and change anything, he knew he wouldn’t.
He replayed images of Ann standing under the waterfall, smiling. Of her leaning against a tree with a shocked look as he sliced the snake in half. Her smiling as she lay in the sun in Lima. Of her laughing with his parents on the beach.
He looked over at her now as she talked to her father across the small hospital room. No, he wouldn’t change a thing.
* * *
Ann had had a lot to deal with over the last few days. With Ethan in the hospital she had taken time off from work. Even after everything that had happened, Dave had wanted to run her story. Of course they had edited the tapes and used footage of the shooting along with an exclusive interview from her father. She had done the interview personally. Usually she didn’t mix her personal life with interviews, but Dave and Anthony had asked her, and her father had wanted her to do it. Especially since it was such an important interview.
Her father’s running mate had dropped out in light of some new information brought to their attention by her father’s old assistant, Paul. Heitor had yet to talk, but Paul was chatting away. He actually wanted an exclusive interview with Ann, where he promised to tell all. She turned it down.
After the interview aired, she told Dave and Anthony that she was taking a month off. They’d both smiled at her and agreed that she deserved it.
She enjoyed seeing Ethan’s family again and since they were there, she had enlisted them to help her out. His mother almost jumped for joy when Ann explained her plans. Roberta had laughed and eagerly joined in the coup.
Next she had some planning to do. She’d found out some other important information and had set up a schedule. Now all she needed to do was kidnap an ex-Special Forces agent.
* * *
Over the next few days, Ethan still couldn’t find the right moment to talk to her. There were plenty of times they were alone, but it just didn’t feel right.
Every time he’d open his mouth to say something, she’d look at him a certain way and he’d shut his mouth again. Or he’d end up saying something completely different.
The nurses had wrapped his ribs tightly and frequently checked his incision where they’d removed the bullet.
He was tired of being poked and checked. All he wanted to do was go home with Ann. To start their new lives together.
His family stayed for two days, and he enjoyed seeing everyone again, though being stuck in a hospital room wasn’t really his idea of enjoying a visit from them.
After they left to go back home the place almost felt empty. Finally, a day later, he was released from the hospital. He was so excited to get away from all the needles and nurses, he hadn’t quite thought about what was next.
A nurse had wheeled him out of the hospital and right into Ann’s car, so he found himself sitting in her car on the way to her condo. Since he was still very weak from all the pain medications they had him on, he rested his head back and thought about his plans.
Maybe he’d ask her over dinner? Maybe when they were lying in bed? He thought of a million words he wanted to say to her, a million different ways to ask her to take a chance on him. Could someone like her ever be happy with someone like him? Sure, he’d had his share of adventure, but now he was looking forward to a future minus all the running and guns. Would she still find him worth it?
He could just imagine them sitting in front of the fireplace in Washington. Snuggling up on the couch watching movies. Or her cooking in the kitchen while he sat and watched. Maybe having a family barbeque. Then, maybe in a year, they’d have children. Images flashed through his mind of kids running in the fields. Of him teaching a son or a daughter how to fish.
They would have her blue eyes and her smile. He smiled thinking about it. Maybe their kids and Rose would be close. Cousins. He smiled again. Yeah, he could get used to the idea of kids with Ann.
He knew he still had a few loose ends to tie up, but he’d tried to take care of most of them over the phone before he’d left the hospital.
Running his own security business from home was going to be a lot different than what he’d been doing over the last few years. He was lucky the only jobs that he’d lined up had already been assigned out to one of his teams.
He’d given Javan the lead so he could sit back and enjoy some of his time alone with Ann. And his business wasn’t hurting for jobs. He’d actually had to turn several down. Now his five-man crew was booked solid for the next year. Just because he was sitting on the sidelines didn’t mean he couldn’t control everything. He was actually looking forward to being a real boss and not just the lead in a job.
He knew it was going to be a big change for him, but he was up for the challenge. He just wondered if Ann was up for having him around full time.
Since he’d met her a few months ago, he hadn’t really let her out of his sight. And now he realized he’d enjoyed having her there. She’d changed so many things in him that he realized he was no longer the same person he’d been three months ago. Oh, he still felt the need for adventure. But the adventure he was seeking wasn’t the bullets and bad guy kind. The adventure he wanted was waking up next to Ann and seeing how many ways he could make her smile. How often he could make her laugh.
He knew he’d always want to travel, but he also knew that he wanted to be home. And he thought of home as being wherever she was. Maybe she’d want to stay in Austin. Maybe they’d call Washington home. The place didn’t really matter to him anymore. What mattered was that he’d be able to be with her.
When he felt the car slowing, he opened his eyes and was shocked to see where they were. The private jet sat ready for takeoff. He looked over to Ann, who was smiling back at him.
“What are we doing here?”
“Well, the doctor said three weeks of rest, so I booked us a flight somewhere where I know you’ll get all the rest you need.”
She got out of the car and walked around to help him out. It wasn’t that he couldn’t get out himself, it was just that she liked to help, so he let her.
“Where would that be?”
“Oh, no! You’ll just have to wait and see.” She walked around and pulled out two large bags and handed them to the luggage handler, who quickly whisked them away to the waiting jet. He did a double take and realized it was his private jet sitting there, the one they’d used on the way back from Peru.
So, some of his secrets must have gotten out of the bag. She turned and smiled at him.
“Yes, I found out who you had to rescue to get that,” she said, pointing over her shoulder at his jet. Then she held out her hand, waiting for him to take it. He took it and pulled her close, ignoring the sharp pain in both of his sides. He hugged her, enjoying the rich smell of her dark hair and the feel of her in his arms.
“Ann?” He leaned back and looked down into her face.
“Oh, no. Not until we get inside.” She pulled back further, smiling at him. Did she know what he was going to ask? How did she know?
He nodded his head and followed her onto the plane.
When they were finally in the air, he looked over at her and decided it was now or never.
“I know what you’re going to ask, but I want to say something first,” she interrupted.
“Fair enough.” A million excuses she might give him for saying no ran through his head.
“Ethan, I’ve known you
for over two months and in that time we’ve been shot at, blown up, chased through a jungle, and so much more. But I’d like to think that in that time we’ve become closer than two other normal people would have ever gotten. Our relationship may have started with a lie, but I hope it will never end. So, whatever it is you have to say, just know that you will always have my heart.”
He pulled her closer and kissed her nose. “Ann, will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?”
She smiled. “Yes, of course I will.” She reached up and kissed him deeply.
“Now, will you tell me where it is that we are going?”
She laughed, “No, just because you are retiring and getting married, doesn’t mean you don’t still need a little excitement left in your life.”
Epilogue
Ethan sat on the beach and watched his wife run out of the surf, heading for him. Her dark hair was a little shorter in a bob around her face, but he still enjoyed the rich color. As did he enjoy her new curves that showed nicely in the bright white bikini she wore.
Her wet, toned body could still excite him, even when she was eight months pregnant. It had been almost a year since his incident and he was still enjoying his retirement and marriage. Life with Ann was anything but boring.
They’d jetted off to his home in southern France so he could recover. They had stayed almost two months and while they were there they visited Ric’s sister, Katie, and her husband, Jason. They’d also visited Katie’s brother Dante and his wife, Airlea, in Italy. But mostly they just relaxed and enjoyed each other.
Then they had come back home and had the lavish wedding of her dreams where his family and hers came together in Austin to celebrate. Of course the ceremony included a bunch of his old buddies who had been very rowdy. Then they had flown to Peru to spend their honeymoon there.
And now Ann was planning on retiring herself, after the baby was born. They had plans to move to Washington to live in the house he’d built. He knew they’d still travel since they both enjoyed it so much, but maybe after the baby came, they would settle down even more.
He still had calls for jobs every now and then; he’d even gotten a few repeat customers begging for his personal help. So far his team was doing a great job of dealing with anything that came up. He’d even hired a few other guys to deal with all the jobs that had come up after he’d saved the senator.
Ann had been a huge help in getting his business switched over to actually being a business. Sometimes he thought that she enjoyed helping him out more than being a journalist. She talked about running the business full time afterwards.
“What are you thinking about?” She sat next to him in the sand. It took some doing, and some help from him, but finally she settled next to him.
He smiled and pulled her close. “You. Us.”
He ran his hand over his son, inside her belly. He looked forward to his next big adventure. Becoming a father.
* * * *
About the Author
Jill Sanders survived 80′s pop music, and life as an identical twin in a chaotic family of nine. A feat by any standard! She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, relocating to Colorado for college and a successful IT career at IBM in Boulder.
Narrowly escaping before all creativity was squashed, she jumped at the chance to trade the mundane world of computers for the sexy, exciting world of her own imagination. She now lives in charming rural Texas writing wonderful novels such as the Pride series.
Her debut novel, Finding Pride, was shortlisted in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards 2013, and has since climbed to #1 on Amazon Bestsellers – Contemporary Romance & Romantic Suspense. Each Pride Series novel has spent time on bestseller lists for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple. Watch out New York Times, here she comes! You can find Jill through her website at http://jillmsanders.com/.
Table of Contents
DEATHSCAPE
A Romantic Suspense Novel
Dana Marton
with contribution by A.G. Devitt
* * *
Copyright © 2012
Dana Marton. All rights reserved.
Overview:
After a near-death experience, artist Ashley Price is compelled to paint visions of the dead. Then she paints a man buried alive and, recognizing the surroundings, she rushes to save him. Instead of being grateful to her for rescuing him, Detective Jack Sullivan accuses her of being in league with a serial killer. He swears he will put her behind bars. Except, the more time he spends with her, the more he falls under her spell. Can he trust her, or is he walking into another deadly trap?
Heat Level:
Sensual
Chapter One
The fox behind the hundred-year-old Pennsylvania farmhouse inched forward in the withered grass as it stalked the meadow vole. Gray winter clouds rolled above, forcing their way across the sky, large brutes that had been twisted into violent shapes by the winds of the troposphere. The fox paid little mind to the weather, its eyes on its prize.
At the other end of the farmyard loomed a dilapidated barn, filled with the scent of moldy hay and rotting wood—the sweet scent of decay. A man crouched in the shadows of the hayloft, looking out through a gap in the boards to watch the fox.
Some hunters stalked their prey; others baited their trap, then lay in wait for the ambush. He preferred the challenge of setting up the right trap, drawing his victim to him. He liked to think his way, since it required more finesse, was the nobler way.
Anyone could follow a guy into a dark alley and shoot him in the back. But a quick death was not what he had in mind for today. Detective Sullivan had dogged him for too long, had caused too much trouble. Outsmarting the guy over the years might have provided some amusement, but not enough to let him live. He’d reached too close this time.
The man glanced at the tool case at his feet. He couldn’t allow the detective to jeopardize his legacy. His masterpiece had to be preserved for all the ages, for the generations that would be evolved enough to understand and appreciate it.
Outside, the fox pounced; then, a second later, it allowed the wriggling rodent to escape for a few staggering steps before pouncing again. A quick kill left no time to savor, gave the hunter no chance to improve his skills. Then the fox’s ears flicked, and in the next instant, it snatched up the vole and darted into the stand of barren bushes.
Sullivan’s black sedan rolled down the dirt road at last.
The detective had come alone. He would. He was that cocky.
A good hunter knew his prey and used its weaknesses.
The man in the hayloft pushed to his feet as the car rolled to a silent stop. Sullivan got out, surveyed the buildings and the surrounding barren fields, his right hand staying close to the weapon in his holster. He started for the house, crossing the yard in careful strides.
He almost walked past the chunk of bone, damn near tripped over it before he froze mid-step. Judging by the way his expression darkened, he realized pretty fast that the broken section of femur was human.
He squatted and bagged the piece of bone as evidence, by the book, called it in just as the first heavy, half-frozen raindrops crashed out of the sky. Instead of going back to wait in the safety of his vehicle for reinforcements, he kept going.
Jack Sullivan waited for no one. He worked with no one. He trusted no one. He asked for no quarter and didn’t give any.
Anticipation of the pleasure of taking down a man like that, taking him apart piece by piece, gave flavor to the hunt. The man in the hayloft adjusted the rubber gloves on his hands.
He had at least twenty minutes before Sullivan’s backup would show—he’d driven the distance on a half-dozen occasions in various traffic conditions and measured the time.
They would be too late.
* * *
3 days later.
“Can I stay?”
The question broke Ashley Price’s heart as she crouched in her messy foyer with her daughter in her arms. She clutched her f
ive-year-old tighter as skinny little arms wrapped around her neck. “Very soon, okay?”
Maddie—pink coat, pink boots, pink hat, pink gloves—pulled back and put on her poor-lost-puppy look. “Mo-om, you always say that. I’ll be good. I’ll be quiet when you paint. You won’t even know I’m here.”
And it broke Ashley’s heart a little more that her daughter thought she couldn’t come home because she wasn’t good enough.
“I know, Peanut. It’s not about that. You could talk all you want.” She missed her daughter’s sweet chatter, had come to dread the dead silence of the house. “I’ll be better soon, and you can come home. I promise.”
“You don’t look sick. You look better now.” Maddie pouted.
Ashley forced a smile. “Would you like to take your picture back to Grandpa’s place?”
They’d spent part of their day together making art, putting thin paper over various textures and making graphite rubs, then cutting and fitting the pieces together to create a new image. Maddie loved searching for different surfaces: a rough tile, sandpaper, money, the lemon grater, whatever she could find. They’d turned the rubbings into dolls and flowers and even did a giant, scaly dragon.
“You can keep them,” her daughter said, the pout quickly disappearing. She wasn’t one to keep grudges. “Then you won’t be sad when I’m gone.”
Ashley blinked hard. She wasn’t going to cry in front of her daughter. And not in front of her father either.
William Price was coming back into the house, wiping his Italian leather shoes on the mat. He was tall and handsome, in his late fifties and in excellent shape. He played both tennis and golf weekly, belonging to some fancy club in Philly where he and his business partners gathered to conduct informal business.
If he was more comfortable at his club than with a five-year-old drenched in pink, he didn’t show it. He doted on Maddie in a way Ashley didn’t remember him doting on her when she’d been little. Of course, back then the man had still been in the process of building his empire, while now he had the luxury of making time for family.