Samantha Kennedy is the who to recognize the pattern of a serial killer. Male college students in their early twenties, who are from wealthy families, are being kidnapped and held for ransom. If daddy pays, the kid comes home. If daddy doesn't pay, the kid still comes home, only in pieces. Two young men have been returned and two have been killed, all in the Washington, D.C. area.
Samantha is out to prove that she can still do her job. She was almost killed herself by one of these serial killers and still has nightmares. The psychologists have approved her to return to work, but her boss and many others at the SSD don't think she is ready for field work.
Sam goes to one of the bars where these students are being abducted and does a little investigating on her own. At the bar, she meets Max Ridgeway. Samantha totally loses herself in Max's presence and has some incredible sex with him. She figures she'll never see him again. But something keeps yearning inside of her to find him. Their paths cross again at a party, not coincidentally, but she is called away when one more college student is left in pieces at his parents' front gate. When she and Max meet again at the bar, Max's own stepbrother, Quinlan Marlowe, is abducted right out from under them.
Max is not aware that Samantha is an FBI agent. When the kidnapper's call comes, she insists on being with Max and his family. She secretly sends text messages to the SSD about what is happening. Through her cover, she is able to help the SSD get leads on this serial killer for the first time.
Being an FBI agent is only one of the secrets that Samantha is keeping from Max. And Max is holding secrets of his own. Their relationship becomes very passionate as they work together to find Quinlan, hopefully alive. Cynthia Eden's character development is extraordinary, taking her serial killers to a whole new level. Don't miss this fast-paced thriller in the third book of her Deadly series.
She wants to hide the past
FBI Special Agent Samantha Kennedy is haunted by memories
of the serial killer who abducted her. To keep the
darkness at bay, she pretends to be a different, more
confident woman.This Samantha doesn't fear every unknown
face. So she throws caution to the wind and shares a night
of unbridled passion with a handsome stranger.
He needs to uncover the truth
One night isn't enough for successful entrepreneur Max
Ridgeway. He wants more of the sexy, smart, mysterious
woman who slipped away before dawn. When they meet again,
their attraction is undeniable-until his stepbrother goes
missing, and Max realizes that Samantha isn't who she
seems. But they must trust each other to trap a ring of
bloodthirsty kidnappers before the nightmares that
terrorize Sam become irrevocably real.
As a merciless criminal spins a web of . . . DEADLY LIES
Sam wasnβt normally the type for casual sex. She was the kind of woman who went for commitment, romance, and candlelight.
No, she had been that kind of woman. Now she was different, and she needed. Needed to forget who she was and just feel.
Canβt work the cases. Canβt sleep at night. Canβt even close my eyes without rememberingβ¦
Sam took a deep breath.
Forget.
Right then, sheβd do just about anything to forget.
Sam had left the crime scene hours before. When sheβd gotten back to her place, the invitation to this expensive party had been waiting on her porch, courtesy of her meddling mother. The woman thought Sam might find a potential mate at one of these boring society gigs.
Sam didnβt want a mate. She just wanted a screw. Hot sex. Hard and wild. And she knew the perfect man to give her everything she needed.
Her perfect man stood across the room from her, separated by the crush of bodies. The party was too hot and too noisy by far with the fake laughter and high voices and the people who were pretending to be interested in each other.
Pretending. She was so sick of pretending.
Sam snagged a drink off a waiterβs tray. She downed the champagne in two gulps and pushed her way toward her target.
Heβd know who she was. Sam didnβt doubt that. Well, heβd better know.
Theyβd had sex two weeks ago. Sex that had left her sore and aching and satisfied. Satisfiedβfor a time.
Until sheβd wanted more.
She really hoped that the man remembered her.
She sure remembered him.
Max Ridgeway. Tall, dark, and sexy. The man whoβd made her come in two minutes. The man whoβd made her scream.
The man whoβd turned her on to casual sex.
Max was lover number three in her lifetime, not that he knew that. Sheβd been sure to play the game. After all, she could pretend too. Sheβd acted cool and confident and made sure that she didnβt screw things up.
"You." His voice, deep and rumbling, caught her, and she looked up to see him striding toward her.
Game face, girl. Get it on. Sam lifted her chin and let her lips curl into a smile that was as fake as all the others in the room. Forget. Forget everything but him.
Why try to pick up someone else when he was there? Heβd be all she needed. Heβd beβ¦
Hot enough to banish the chill from her body.
Max caught her wrist and pulled her close. All around them, men stood in their perfect tuxedos and women smiled in their designer dresses. A high-end party. One packed with people who had too much money and too much alcohol.
His faceβreally not handsome, but sexy, so sexyβleaned in close to hers. At six foot three, Max was big and muscled with skin tanned a light brown. His midnight black hair curled just a little too long over the back of his collar.
The first time sheβd seen him, sheβd known that he would be the one for her. Sheβd gone into the bar, taken one look, and picked the strongest man in the place.
"You left without a damn word."
Huh. Anger hummed in his words. She wet the lips that sheβd carefully painted for tonight. Part of the mask. Normally, she didnβt care at all about makeup.
Sheβd come to this party for one reason. Him. She wanted more.
"Iβm here now." She rose onto her toes and whispered the words close to his mouth.
A muscle flexed in his jaw. "Baby, your timing is shit."
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