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The Outsider's Redemption
Joanna Wayne
“I don’t know what you’re up to, Sarah, but even if I slept with you, even if I made love to you until sunup and it was the best I ever had, it wouldn’t change anything.”
“Make love? Is that what you thought I was asking you to do?”
“It sure sounded that way to me.”
“Then you don’t listen too well, cowboy.” Sarah sat up straight, this time holding the sheet so that all Cody could see was her face. “I was having a bad case of nerves and thought you were feeling down yourself. A little closeness sometimes helps, but I had no intention of—of being intimate with you.”
Cody stared at her, his mouth open, his ego slammed down a peg or two.
“But just for the record,” she continued, so angry she couldn’t bite back her words. “If I had made love with you, it would have been the best you ever had!”
Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,
The holidays are upon us again. This year, remember to give yourself a gift—the gift of great romantic suspense from Harlequin Intrigue!
In the exciting conclusion to TEXAS CONFIDENTIAL, The Outsider’s Redemption (#593) by Joanna Wayne, Cody Gannon must make a life-and-death decision. Should he trust his fellow agents even though there may be a traitor among their ranks? Or should he trust Sarah Rand, a pregnant single mother-to-be, who may be as deadly as she is beautiful?
Another of THE SUTTON BABIES is on the way, in Lullaby and Goodnight (#594) by Susan Kearney. When Rafe Sutton learns Rhianna McCloud is about to have his baby, his honor demands that he protect her from a determined and mysterious stalker. But Rafe must also discover the stalker’s connection to the Sutton family—before it’s too late!
An unlikely partnership is forged in To Die For (#595) by Sharon Green. Tanda Grail is determined to find her brother’s killer. Detective Mike Gerard doesn’t want a woman distracting him while on a case. But when push comes to shove, is it Mike’s desire to catch a killer that propels him, or his desire for Tanda?
First-time Harlequin Intrigue author Morgan Hayes makesher debut with Tall, Dark and Wanted (#596). Policewoman Molly Sparling refuses to believe Mitch Drake is dead. Her former flame and love of her life is missing from Witness Protection, but her superior tracking skills find him hiding out. While the cop in her wants to bring him in, the woman in her wants him to trust her. But Mitch just plain wants her back….
Wishing you the happiest of holidays from all of us at Harlequin Intrigue!
Sincerely,
Denise O’Sullivan
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin Intrigue
The Outsider’s Redemption
Joanna Wayne
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joanna Wayne lives with her husband just a few miles from steamy, exciting New Orleans, but her home is the perfect writer’s hideaway. A lazy bayou, complete with graceful herons, colorful wood ducks and an occasional alligator, winds just below her back garden. When not creating tales of spine-tingling suspense and heartwarming romance, she enjoys reading, golfing or playing with her grandchildren, and, of course, researching and plotting out her next novel.
Joanna loves to hear from readers. You can request a newsletter by writing her at P.O. Box 2851, Harvey, LA 70059-2851.
Books by Joanna Wayne
HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE
288—DEEP IN THE BAYOU
339—BEHIND THE MASK
389—EXTREME HEAT
444—FAMILY TIES* (#litres_trial_promo)
471—JODIE’S LITTLE SECRETS
495—ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
505—LONE STAR LAWMAN
537—MEMORIES AT MIDNIGHT
569—THE SECOND SON* (#litres_trial_promo)
573—THE STRANGER NEXT DOOR* (#litres_trial_promo)
577—A MOTHER’S SECRETS* (#litres_trial_promo)
593—THE OUTSIDER’S REDEMPTION
The Confidential Agent’s Pledge
I hereby swear to uphold the law to the best of my ability; to maintain the level of integrity of this agency by my compassion for victims, loyalty to my brothers and courage under fire.
And above all, to hold all information and identities in the strictest confidence….
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Cody Gannon—Being a Texas Confidential agent meant everything to him until he learned why he’d been selected.
Sarah Rand—Has she sold out to the enemy or is she just an innocent woman running for her life?
Penny Archer—The Confidential agents’ right-hand woman has a secret longing to get into the action.
Daniel Austin—A Texas Confidential agent for fifteen years, he was killed by Calderone. Or was he?
Tomaso Calderone—A ruthless criminal whom the Confidential agents have been trying to stop for years.
Elmore Cochran—The man whose office Sarah broke into to steal classified information.
Mitchell Forbes—The crusty, dynamic leader of Texas Confidential and Cody’s hero—until he learned the truth about the man behind the badge.
Brady Morgan, Jake Cantrell and Rafe Alvarez—The other members on the Confidential team. Their allegiance is to Mitchell, and Cody is not certain he can trust them with details of his current mission.
Grover Rucker—Sarah’s previous boss, recently retired.
Peter Rucker—Grover’s son, but his sudden appearance at their hideaway has Cody and Sarah wondering if he doesn’t know more than he claims.
Maddie Wells—A neighboring rancher and a widow who’s been trying to get Mitchell Forbes to pop the question for years.
This book is dedicated to my friend Virginia, who not only lives the life of a romance heroine but is a true friend who makes me laugh, even on my worst days. And to Wayne, always.
Contents
Prologue (#ue15ee118-f5f3-593c-852b-fbf0f1f02a26)
Chapter One (#u32f20b05-4eb9-516d-9e6a-00c3aafda3d0)
Chapter Two (#ue1924b79-88e5-5e29-a096-3b650b4b40e8)
Chapter Three (#ue6f56859-ebc9-55ba-aeab-a3b7b0617e1a)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue
Cody Gannon’s boots clicked against the hospital’s polished tile floors as he hurried toward Mitchell Forbes’s room. The old warhorse was recovering and already raising cane with the doctors to let him go back to the Smoking Barrel. Not that anyone was surprised. A mere heart attack could never keep a man like Mitchell down.
Still, Cody had been scared to death when Mitchell had been rushed to the hospital with chest pains. The depth of his emotion had surprised him, especially since he was convinced he wasn’t quite the man Mitchell had hoped for when he’d hired him on to work with Texas Confidential. The other three guys on the undercover team did no wrong. Cody seldom did anything right, at least in the critical eyes of Mitchell Forbes.
But the cantankerous old rancher-lawman had recruited Cody himself, offered him a position based strictly on his one brush with fame and heroism. He’d said he had faith in Cody’s ability to handle the job in spite of his trouble-plagued past.
So Cody was living at the Smoking Barrel, had been for two years. The rest of the Texas Confidential agents weren’t all that impressed that he’d foiled a bank robbery attempt and saved a young girl in the process. They knew it was more instinct than bravery that had spurred him into action, but they’d welcomed him all the same and taught him what they could about working for the most exciting covert operation in the whole state of Texas.
No doubt about it, he owed Mitchell Forbes a lot for giving him the chance to be part of Texas Confidential and to finally make something of himself. He was going to make sure Mitchell knew that, and he was going to work twice as hard in the future to make the man proud of him. He picked up his pace, anxious to see for himself that Mitchell was doing as well as the others had reported.
He heard a female voice as he approached the room and recognized it at once. Maddie Wells, a neighboring rancher. He wasn’t close enough to eavesdrop, but he could tell from her tone she was in her lecturing mode. Probably reading Mitchell the riot act about smoking his cigars. She was the only one who could jump him about his bad habits and get away with it. One day Mitchell was going to slow down a tad, and Maddie would snare him.
The door to Mitchell’s room was open just a crack. He started to barge in but thought better of it. It was always a good idea to knock when a man was entertaining a woman, even if it was in a hospital room. He touched his knuckles to the door.
“Cody deserves to know the truth, Mitchell.”
He hesitated, not sure he wanted to know any truth that brought that kind of seriousness to Maddie’s tone. And if he was about to be canned, he sure didn’t want to hear that.
“Give it up, Maddie.”
Mitchell’s voice was scratchy and Cody could picture him in the bed, his muscles tight, his face drawn into stubborn lines. He waited silently, torn, knowing he shouldn’t be listening in on a private conversation but knowing he couldn’t turn away until he knew what Maddie was talking about. After all, this did concern him.
“Suppose you had died when you had that heart attack,” Maddie said, her voice far softer than usual.
“You would have gone to your grave without Cody’s ever knowing the truth.”
“That’s the way I intend for it to be.”
Cody’s muscles tightened. He’d had his share of ugly secrets in his life, but he’d thought they ended when he’d buried Frank Gannon.
“Are you telling me that you have no intention of talking to Cody about this?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. My biggest mistake was in ever telling you.”
“No, your biggest mistake, Mitchell Forbes, was in walking away from your own flesh and blood in the first place. Cody Gannon is your son, and he deserves to know it.”
Cody backed away from the door, but the words echoed in his mind, growing louder and louder until he wanted to scream at them to stop. He ducked into the stairwell and fell against the wall. He felt as if someone had slammed him in the gut with a two-by-four.
Maddie was wrong. He wasn’t Mitchell Forbes’s son. His father was Frank Gannon. He had the scars to prove it.
He took the steps two at a time, rounding one level and flying down the next. Scenes from his past reared up in his mind. Dark, ugly images that filled him with a dread so real he could taste it. Could taste the blood. Taste the fear.
But as quickly as they’d come, they were replaced by new images. Mitchell Forbes and his mother. He’d gotten her pregnant and walked away. Left her to marry Frank Gannon. Left her to die in her misery.
Cody reached the first floor and pushed out the door and into the stifling Texas heat. But it was not the sweltering heat that crawled over his skin and sucked away his breath. It was a bitterness so strong it destroyed his ability to reason.
All he knew was that if he never saw Mitchell Forbes again, it would still be eons too soon for him.
Chapter One
Cody Gannon picked up the glass and downed the bourbon. He seldom touched hard liquor, but tonight was special. A hard ball of emptiness had settled in the spot where his heart should have resided, and he needed the burn in his throat and the pain-numbing sting of the drink as it plunged into the pit of his stomach.
