Imagine being blown up in a bombing, spending three months in a coma, then having someone rip your hotel room apart and start shooting at you with an AK-47 rifle. And you really don't know why. That's what is happening to Claire Day, a former intelligence gathering DIA agent. After recuperating for almost a year, Claire sees a photo on a TV news show and recalls the face. She hasn't remembered a lot of things since the bombing -- doesn't even remember that.
Claire packs her bags, purchases a ticket, and flies to Washington D. C. to find Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Weston, USMC, retired. Perhaps he has some answers to her missing memory of the days prior to and following the attack. He was with her in the Embassy in Laka, West Africa, when the bombing occurred. He is also the face that keeps appearing in her many nightmares. She's afraid he'll think she was a crazy woman, just like she feels now and has ever since this journey back to reality began.
Claire is pleasantly surprised when Dan takes her in his arms and is so understanding of her need to find answers. He is now in the private security business and, being in the business, he notices that something is awry when they return to her hotel. After finding the desk clerk dead, Dan becomes suspicious of the light being on in her room. As he bursts through the door with gun in hand, someone fires an AK-47 right through the wall at Claire, and then escapes through the window.
Feeling that Claire is not safe, Dan takes her to his home to sort out all that is happening. Before the night is very old, five masked men make an attack on Dan's house. However, Dan and Claire get away, thanks to Dan's state-of- the-art surveillance and security system. Then their journey to seek answers begins.
Follow Claire and Dan to a remote cabin in Pennsylvania as they sort through the data, trying to understand why someone wants Claire dead. Then fly to West Africa where Claire finds the answer and begins to recapture her life. Elizabeth Jennings has written a riveting story of suspense with just the right amount of romance, a combination you will not want to miss.
U.S. intelligence agent
Claire Day and former Marine Sergeant Dan Watson must
solve a deadly conspiracy-or forfeit any chance of having
a future together.
EXCERPT
Did we kiss?
The question hung in the air. Claireโs pretty mouth was a
shocked O. She hadnโt wanted to ask the question, that was
clear. And the strong, controlled woman heโd kissed a year
ago would never have asked the question, sheโd have finagled
the info out of him, cleverly and casually.
But that Claire was gone.
In her place was this pale, shaking ghost. Man, she was in
bad shape. So thin he could feel bone when he touched her,
bruised-looking eyes with a lost look in them, the very
light tan sheโd had in Laka gone without a trace, though she
now lived in Florida.
This new Claire had had a panic attack when Stavrosโs waiter
started piling food on the table. Dan could have kicked
himself in the ass. It hadnโt even occurred to him that her
system simply wouldnโt be able to deal with it. And yet heโd
seen how thin sheโd become, held her briefly in his arms and
felt the fragility. Duh. It meant her system couldnโt handle
food.
Heโd seen that before. Heโd seen every manifestation of PTSD
there was. His gunner in Afghanistan, whoโd had both legs
blown off, had simply turned his face to the wall, unwilling
to live. Heโd had to be fed parenterally for a couple of
months to keep him alive.
Dan hadnโt thought of that. Heโd simply wanted to take
Claire to a place that was warm and welcoming, where the
food was good, and where she could relax. And Stavrosโs
place fit the bill. Except Stavros overdid the portions,
always had. Marines had hearty appetites. And
shit-for-brains Dan hadnโt thought of that.
Man, Claire had nearly fainted. Sheโd been pale before, but
as the waiter slid the dishes in front of her, sheโd turned
the color of ice. He was lucky she hadnโt fainted, or thrown up.
But sheโd had a panic attack. And in her panic, sheโd
blurted out her question and now looked as if sheโd
accidentally tripped a land mine.
This was going to be hard. But Dan was a Marine. He knew how
to do hard.
He picked up her cold, trembling hand.
โI donโt know why I said that.โ Claireโs shaking voice was
high, breathless. โItโs crazy. I am so sorry. I donโt know
where that came from, it justโโ
Dan laid a finger across her lips. โSh.โ He couldnโt stand
to see that lost look on her beautiful face. โHush. Itโs not
crazy. Youโre not crazy.โ Reluctantly, he lifted his finger
from her mouth. She had amazingly soft lips. He remembered
that, nightly. โAnd for your information, we did kiss. Just
before you left with Marie.โ
โWe did? We kissed?โ Claireโs huge, silver-blue eyes never
left his face, watching him as carefully as if he were a
grenade that could blow up at any moment. Or as if he would
kiss her again.
Which, well, he wanted to do. Badly. So badly he held his
right fist under the table, tightly clenched. It had taken
all his willpowerโand he had a lot of willpowerโto take his
finger away from her. He didnโt just want his finger against
her mouth. He wanted his own mouth there, too. He wanted to
be mouth to mouth, chest to chest, groin to groin, with
Claire Day. So close he could breathe for her. So close he
could feel her heartbeat.
โYeah.โ His voice was hoarse. He cleared it. โAnd then you
went out and got yourself blown up.โ
Her face lightened a little. It wasnโt a smile, but it was
the ghost of one. โIโm sure the two events were unrelated,โ
she said. The big chandelier in the middle of the room
reflected off her eyes as she searched his, bright lances of
silver. โHow did weโhow did we get to that point? Had we
beenโฆdating? That past week? Because I donโt remember you at
all.โ
โWe didnโt date.โ Dan pushed a small plate of baklava a
little closer. โEat some of that. You donโt have to finish
it, stop when you donโt want any more. But I want you to eat
a little. One. Just a bite or two of one, if you canโt
finish it. Please.โ
Because now Dan knew what his new mission in life was. Dan
had been intensely mission oriented ever since he joined the
marines. He focused on his goal and he achieved it.
And now his goal was to take care of this incredible woman.
She was magic. Smart and beautiful and strong, brought low
by thugs. Heโd almost lost her and by some miracle had found
her. He wasnโt losing her again. No way.
โYessir.โ A corner of her beautiful mouth lifted. For a
second, Dan had a flash of the woman that was, hidden
somewhere inside this frail, wounded creature. She wanted
out and he wanted to help her get out. โNobody disobeys the
Detachment Commander.โ
That was true. In times of danger, the Detachment Commander
was Commander in Chief. He was to be obeyed instantly. He
was God.
โDamn straight.โ Dan cut a corner of a piece of Stavrosโs
superb baklava. โNow put that in your mouth.โ
โYessir,โ she said again. He watched the forkful disappear
in her mouth, and envied it. โSo.โ She tilted her head to
one side, considering him. He knew what he was. A battered
34 year old with a metal knee, no spleen, half deaf in one
ear, whoโd had to start over from scratch. A man who owned
his own home and his own business, but who didnโt have looks
and didnโt have charm.
She smiled. โI guess it was that old classic. The moonlight,
the exotic locale, the gunfire...โ
โExactly.โ Great. A flash of the old Claire Day. โNow eat.โ
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