Four years later, Sophie's FBI father, who is also Damon's mentor, is killed in a suspicious car crash after leaving Sophie a cryptic message to trust no one from the agency. When Damon shows up looking for her, she isn't sure if he's friend or enemy, but she knows he could easily rip apart what is left of her heart.
The last thing Damon wants is to get involved with Sophie again. It was hard enough to walk away the first time. But she's in trouble, her father's reputation is under attack, and the lives of his fellow agents are at stake if there's a traitor in their midst.
When someone starts shooting at them, they have no choice but to go on the run and off the grid. Everyone in their world becomes a suspect. They want to uncover the truth, but will it turn out to be the last thing they expect? Proving her father's innocence might just cost them their hearts…and their lives…
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"Why did you run away from your apartment, your friends, your father's coworkers? Why did you just disappear, Sophie?" Damon asked.
"Because someone killed my dad."
"It's possible it was an accident."
"You don't believe that any more than I do."
"Maybe not, but I think something specific spooked you."
"You mean like the two men I saw going into my apartment building?"
"You saw the men who broke into your apartment?" he asked in surprise.
"I don't know if they were the ones, but they could have been."
"What did they look like?"
"Law enforcement, maybe—I don't know."
Damon stared back at her, and she could see him running through her words in his head. "Why would you be afraid of law enforcement when your father is FBI?"
"Gut instinct," she lied, knowing she wouldn't have been afraid at all if her father hadn't told her to be. "And it looks like I was right to run. If I'd gone to my apartment, who knows what would have happened?"
His lips drew into a hard line. "Look, Sophie, I want to help you."
"Why? Why on earth would you want to help me?"
His gaze darkened, and the air sizzled between them as they found themselves back in a place probably neither of them wanted to revisit, but they were there all the same.
"We're not friends," she said quickly, needing to break the tension. "We're not anything. We haven't seen each other in four years. Why do you care where I am, what I'm doing? Is it because of loyalty to my dad? That has to be it, right? Nothing else could have made you drive all the way up here."
"I should have called you after that night," he said.
"I'm not looking for an apology."
"Aren't you?"
"No. Maybe. No," she said, hating to sound so uncertain. "None of that is important now. I have bigger problems."
"Then let's talk about now," he said, relief in his eyes as he changed the subject. "I respected your father. He was a mentor to me. I owe him for that, and I know that he would want me to help you. He trusted me, and I hope you can trust me, too."
"I don't know if my father trusted you," she said, shaking her head.
Surprise and anger flared in his eyes. "Why would you say that?"
"Because he told me not to trust anyone from the bureau, and since you're an agent, that includes you. Please, just go. Just leave me alone," she pleaded, desperate to get him out of the cabin before she did something even more stupid—like start to trust him. "I'll disappear. I'll go somewhere no one else knows about. You don't have to worry about me. You've done your duty. You came after me. You did that for my dad. Now do something for me—leave me alone. You've managed it for four years. You can keep going."
His mouth tightened. "I'm not leaving you alone. You won't be safe. You can't get help from a friend, because you'll put them in danger, and even if you are very careful, you'll make a mistake. You don't know how to stay off the radar, but I do. You're going to have to trust someone at some point. You're going to have to put your anger aside and let it be me."
Before she could answer, she was suddenly hit with a shower of glass from the nearby window.
What the hell had just happened?
Another pane blew out, and something whizzed by her ear.
Damon grabbed her arm and pulled down as a third window exploded.
Someone was shooting at her!
Barbara Freethy is a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of 60 novels ranging from contemporary romance to romantic suspense and women's fiction. Traditionally published for many years, Barbara opened Fog City Publishing in 2011 and has since sold over 7 million books! Twenty-three of her titles have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists, including one title, SUMMER SECRETS, which hit #1 on the NYT. In 2014 Barbara was named the Amazon KDP Bestselling Author of all time! She was also the first Indie writer to sell over a million books on Barnes and Noble.Known for her emotional and compelling stories of love, family, romance and suspense, Barbara is a six-time finalist and two-time winner in the Romance Writers of America acclaimed RITA contest for her novels DANIEL'S GIFT and THE WAY BACK HOME.
For more information, visit her website at www.barbarafreethy.com
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