by Fiona Quinn
“I don’t want anything about us to be a lie,” Finley whispered.
“Too late for that. Everything about us from the very beginning was a lie,” Anna said as she moved over to his bed and crawled in next to him, hoping that Prescott didn’t find the orderly, and she could just sleep here in Finley’s arms. She might anyway, even if they brought a cot.
From the very first night in the creek bed, when Finley had held the blanket wide and invited her to sleep in his arms, she found more than warmth, but comfort and solace, a naturalness to being with him. She belonged in Finley’s arms with her ear nestled against his chest, listening to the strength of his heartbeats.
Finley wrapped his arms around her, and she settled in. “Not everything,” he said.
“No, not everything,” she agreed.
“You didn’t answer me before. Can we do this? I don’t mean play a role for the Zorics. I mean, can we have a real relationship An us? Can we fall in love and possibly have a future?”
Anna wrapped her hands around Finley’s arms and pulled them tighter around her as she moved herself against him. “We can try.” She tipped her head back to catch his eye. “That sounded tired. I feel so tired. But the truth is our kind of lives aren’t shiny and bright. We live life with sand in our teeth and bad guys in our scopes.” She let out a heavy sigh. “Do you think that trying is good enough?”
“I’m full of hope,” he said and kissed her.
“Yeah,” Anna said as their eyes met. “I’m full of hope, too.”
This is not the end.
Follow along as the men and women in the World of Iniquus
fight for the greater good.
Readers, I hope you enjoyed getting to know Anna and Finley. If you had fun reading Cold Red, I’d appreciate it if you’d help others enjoy it too.
Recommend it: Just a few words to your friends, your book groups, and your social networks would be wonderful.
Review it: Please tell your fellow readers what you liked about my book by reviewing Cold Red on Amazon and Goodreads. If you do write a review, please send me a note at [email protected] so I can thank you with a personal e-mail. Or stop by my website www.FionaQuinnBooks.com to keep up with my news and chat through my contact form.
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to Patricia King who believed in Finley when he was just making everyone else mad in my novel In Too Deep. Through her generous eye, I could see his redemption. She is to be credited with the seed of this story.
Anna Brown who inspired the Anna of this story. She is as at home in the woods as a chipmunk. She is as steady and skilled as they come. Lost in the woods, I’d always choose to be on Anna’s team.
The idea for this story came to me during a training mission when our team tracked Anna into a swamp. I thank Rob Speiden for his tracking expertise and for laughing at/with me as I yipped and flailed in the swamp. He made that a fun and very educational adventure. I, also, thank him a thousand-fold for knowing how to circumnavigate that swamp on our way out of the woods after the sun went down.
My great appreciation ~
To my editor, Kathleen Payne
To my cover artist Melody Simmons
To my Beta Force, who are always honest and kind at the same time.
To my Street Force, who support me and my writing with such enthusiasm. If you’re interested in joining this group, please send me an email. [email protected]
To H. Russell for creating the Iniquus Bible – so I can keep all the details correct
Thank you to the real-world military and FBI who serve to protect us.
To all of the wonderful professionals whom I called on to get the details right. Please note: this is a work of fiction, and while I always try my best to get all of the details correct, there are times when it serves the story to go slightly to the left or right of perfection. Please understand that any mistakes or discrepancies are my authorial decision making alone and sit squarely on my shoulders.
Thank you to my family.
I send my love to my husband, and my great appreciation. T, you are my rock and my resting place. You are my encouragement and my adventure. Thank you.
And of course, thank YOU for reading my stories. I’m smiling joyfully as I type this. I so appreciate you!
About the Author
(I thought this was an appropriate picture for COLD RED – at a mid-winter outdoor book signing Brrrrrr)
Fiona Quinn is a four-time USA Today bestselling author, a Kindle Scout winner, and has been listed as an Amazon Top 100 author in: Romantic Suspense; Mystery, thriller, and suspense; Mysteries, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.
Quinn writes suspense in her Iniquus World of books including: Lynx, Strike Force, Uncommon Enemies, Kate Hamilton Mysteries, and FBI Joint Task Force Series.
She writes urban fantasy as Fiona Angelica Quinn for her Elemental Witches Series
And, just for fun, she writes the Badge Bunny Booze Mystery Collection with her dear friend, Tina Glasneck.
Quinn is rooted in the Old Dominion where she lives with her husband and children. There, she pops chocolates, devours books, and taps continuously on her laptop with Little Bear sleeping near her feet.
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest: Fiona Quinn Books.
Copyright
Cold Red is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
©2018 Fiona Quinn
All Rights Reserved
Cover Design by Melody Simmons from eBookindlecovers
Fonts used with permission from Microsoft
Publisher’s Note:
Neither the publisher nor the author has any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites and their content.
No part of this book may be scanned, reproduced, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without the express written permission from the publisher or author. Doing any of these actions via the Internet or in any other way without express written permission from the author is illegal and punishable by law. It is considered piracy. Please purchase only authorized editions. In accordance with the US Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected].
Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
ISBN 978-1-946661-13-5