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Agent-in-Charge
Leigh Riker
SECRET AGENT MAN…AND WIFE?He'd led everyone to believe he was a mild-mannered civil servant who'd shamelessly neglected his ex-wife. In actuality, Graham Warren was part of an elite team of undercover agents who fought to prevent a catastrophic attack on the United States. Then, in the blink of an eye, the mission turned personal when Graham's beloved former bride was caught in the cross fire. Blinded in an apparent hit-and-run and fleeing from a predator, Casey Warren put her fragile life in Graham's hands. He'd battle till the end to protect Casey from a trigger-happy traitor who leaked government secrets to a terrorist network. But can this stealthy secret agent regain his footing after he plummets head-over-heels in love?
Casey fell into his arms when the elevator doors opened.
“Oh, God, thank you. I was so scared!”
Graham held her tight. He rested his cheek against the silk of her hair. He breathed in, deeply, of her scent: soft, feminine, clean. No artificial perfume. He smelled a trace of shampoo that hinted of coconut, but mostly he inhaled the aroma of Casey herself—female pheromones and fragrant skin and just…Casey.
For a long moment, he couldn’t speak.
The hit-and-run. The revolving door. The subway threat. Now someone had rigged the elevator doors to jam. If he’d ever had doubts about her first “accident,” they were history.
Someone wanted Casey dead.
Now it was his job to find out why.
Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And we have six breathtaking books this month that will make the season even brighter….
THE LANDRY BROTHERS are back! We can’t think of a better way to kick off our December lineup than with this long-anticipated new installment in Kelsey Roberts’s popular series about seven rascally brothers, born and bred in Montana. In Bedside Manner, chaos rips through the town of Jasper when Dr. Chance Landry finds himself framed for murder…and targeted for love! Check back this April for the next title, Chasing Secrets. Also this month, watch for Protector S.O.S. by Susan Kearney. This HEROES INC. story spotlights an elite operative and his ex-lover who maneuver stormy waters—and a smoldering attraction—as they race to neutralize a dangerous hostage situation.
The adrenaline keeps on pumping with Agent-in-Charge by Leigh Riker, a fast-paced mystery. You’ll be bewitched by this month’s ECLIPSE selection— Eden’s Shadow by veteran author Jenna Ryan. This tantalizing gothic unravels a shadowy mystery and casts a magical spell over an enamored duo. And the excitement doesn’t stop there! Jessica Andersen returns to the lineup with her riveting new medical thriller, Body Search, about two hot-blooded doctors who are stranded together in a windswept coastal town and work around the clock to combat a deadly outbreak.
Finally this month, watch for Secret Defender by Debbi Rawlins—a provocative woman-in-jeopardy tale featuring an iron-willed hero who will stop at nothing to protect a headstrong heiress…even kidnap her for her own good.
Best wishes for a joyous holiday season from all of us at Harlequin Intrigue.
Sincerely,
Denise O’Sullivan
Senior Editor, Harlequin Intrigue
Agent-in-Charge
Leigh Riker
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Like many readers and writers, Leigh Riker grew up with her nose in a book—still the best activity, in her opinion, on a hot summer afternoon or a cold winter night. To this day, she can’t imagine a better combination than suspense and romance.
The award-winning author of ten previous novels, she confesses she doesn’t like the sight of blood yet is a real fan of TV’s many forensics shows—a vicarious “walk on the wild side,” not to mention great research for her own novels. And when romance heats up the mix? It doesn’t get any better than that.
Born in Ohio, this former creative writing instructor has lived in various parts of the U.S. She is now, with her husband, at home on a mountain in Tennessee with an inspiring view from her office of three states. She loves to hear from readers! Write to Leigh at P.O. Box 250, Soddy Daisy, TN 37384 or visit her Web site: www.leighriker.com.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Casey Warren—The former art gallery owner’s hit-and-run wasn’t an accident. Someone wants her dead. Can her ex-husband keep her alive—but will he also steal her heart again?
Graham Warren—Does this mild-mannered civil servant have another, more dangerous, side? Graham isn’t talking about his own agenda—or his tangled feelings for the woman he’s sworn to protect.
Jackie Miles—Is Graham’s sometimes incompetent co-worker part of the solution—or the problem itself?
Sweet William—An aging golden retriever, he is Casey’s loyal guide dog. Who just may need her more than she needs him.
Anton Valera—Casey’s elderly, and sometimes forgetful, neighbor could be the link to a vicious killer.
Ernest DeLucci—Graham’s boss at Hearthline Security, the new government agency. Is he selling secrets to the enemy?
Eddie Lawton—A scrawny techno-wizard with a stubborn cowlick and a nose for other people’s business.
Rafe Valera—Anton’s son. Friend or foe?
Marilee Baxter—The girlfriend of the hit-and-run driver is filled with remorse. If she’s not careful, she could also be dead.
David Wells—This ex-counterterrorism task force member lives beyond his means.
Holt Kincade—The D.C. cop may be moonlighting elsewhere—as a traitor.
Tom Dallas—Graham’s former partner. What’s a nice guy like him doing in a job like this?
With love
for Don,
Hal,
Kimberly and Tim,
Scott and Linda…
My family, old and new,
who make the world so bright.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Prologue
Casey Warren didn’t hear the car at first.
From somewhere above her in the otherwise silent parking garage, its whisper-soft engine made barely a sound. She paid little attention.
At well after five o’clock on a typically hot and muggy summer day in D.C., it was just a car winding its way down the ramp toward the Washington street, its driver eager, as she was, to get home.
Her arms aching from the burden she carried, Casey hurried toward her compact sedan. The sound of her heels echoing on the concrete floor in the almost-deserted garage caused her heart to pound for no reason. Clearly, she’d watched too many movies. Psycho had given her an innate fear of the shower curtain being ripped back, a knife flashing in an assailant’s hand, and now, the vague sense of uneasiness when walking through a barren garage to her car. Like the film, her fear was unfounded. Silly, to imagine herself as someone being hunted, the innocent prey of a crazed killer.
A half-remembered face flashed through her mind. In the elevator earlier, she’d seen a man who had looked familiar, yet she couldn’t place him. Casey had felt uneasy ever since.
Nothing new. Her usual distrust of other people could be bad news or good, depending on the circumstance. From the age of five she’d learned to be self-sufficient to the core. That was the good.
The bad? With her divorce just final, at thirty she was on her own again. Alone.
In the silent garage, that very isolation seemed even worse to her than her recent break from Graham. She didn’t need to be surrounded by people, Casey told herself. People she could never quite trust.
For instance, Graham. And—the thought surprised her—the stranger in the elevator who, having caught a passing glimpse of Casey had found her familiar, too. Forget it. Forget them both.
Casey frowned and shifted the box in her arms. Bringing the small carton of Graham’s belongings to his office had been something she’d been dreading. He always worked late, and she’d braced herself for a face-to-face encounter. But luck was on her side. She hadn’t gained admittance at Hearthline Security once she got there, and she’d seized that excuse to run from the newest government agency.
She didn’t really want to see him.
Couldn’t risk her heart this soon.
So why had she come in the first place?
Obviously, it was like worrying a sore tooth. Instead, she should have mailed his stuff. Certainly Graham, ever the unflappable civil servant workhorse, would have done that in her place. Just as he’d coolly written The End to their marriage. What had happened to them?
Yet despite her own misgivings, she had come, and the nonevent seemed so…final. Too bad she still had the box and all her memories of Graham, with his thick, dark hair, his devil’s dark eyes and that quick slash of a grin that always surprised her. Like the way his slightest touch could heat her blood. As if it ever would again.
On level three of the garage Casey turned the corner and spied her car at the end of the row, in the farthest spot from the elevator.
All she heard now was the approaching growl of a big, well-tuned engine.
In that instant the air seemed to fill with sound. The throaty purr of an expensive motor and the shush of tires on pavement reverberated through the quiet parking garage when a long sedan squealed down the ramp, around the curve from the upper level, and screamed onto the third floor.
Inches from Casey’s heels.
Too close. Too close.
In her peripheral vision, she barely saw it coming. Frozen in shock, Casey felt the big automobile graze her body. Disbelieving at first, she tried to twist aside, but there was no room, nowhere to go except the wall.
The car bumped hard against her side. She bounced off the rear door, spun into the right front fender, then the force of impact lifted her off her feet and she slammed against the hood. For a second her head hit metal. Hard.
Then Casey was thrown back onto the concrete floor.
The car sped away, tires shrieking.
Casey saw a quick blaze of stars.
I’m dead, was her last thought. I’m dead.
Then everything went dark.
Chapter One
Total darkness obliterated Graham Warren’s senses. Disoriented, he felt his heartbeat kick into overdrive. The acrid scent of burning ash invaded his nostrils, and in the smoky haze he struggled not to cough, even to breathe hard. Any sound might be his last.
Just like Casey—almost—a few weeks ago.
Pushing his way forward into the bombed-out building, he kept his grip tight around his Uzi. His 9-millimeter Glock, tucked into the back of his waistband, would be his backup. Lose that, and he lost himself. His life.
In the blackness he crept forward, keeping his partner behind him. An advance team had already scouted the old apartment building on the fringes of D.C.
Any nagging fears he felt for Casey would have to wait. He had a job to do.
Focus.
Complete the mission.
Deliver the remnants of the terrorist cell to the proper federal authorities—
“Psst.”
