When Darby O'Roarke wakes up in a strange house with a dead man - with no memory of what happened - she knows who she has to call: FBI Supervisory Special Agent Eban Winters...the man she fell for, and who rejected her, last summer.
A negotiator isn't supposed to get involved with kidnap victims, and Eban has been trying to avoid the temptation that is Darby O'Roarke ever since they met. One frantic phone call has him racing to Alaska to uncover the truth, but he faces stubborn opposition from the local police, and a growing media frenzy.
Getting Darby released from jail and keeping her safe is his first priority. When another woman is brutally slain, evidence emerges that suggests Darby is being framed, and that the culprit is a vicious serial killer who has eluded the FBI for more than a decade...and, now, the killer has Darby in their sights.
Toni Anderson writes award-winning, bestselling, FBI Romantic Thrillers. She is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, RITA® finalist, science nerd, professional tourist, dog lover, gardener, mom. Anderson's books have won the Readers' Choice Award, Aspen Gold, National Excellence in Romance Fiction, Book Buyers' Best.
Originally from a small town in Shropshire, England, Toni studied Marine Biology at University of Liverpool (B.Sc.) and University of St. Andrews (Ph.D.) with the intention she'd never be far from the ocean. Well, that plan backfired and she ended up in the Canadian prairies with her biology professor husband, two kids, a rescue dog, and a laid-back leopard gecko.
Toni started writing while pregnant with her first child and never stopped. Her greatest achievements are mastering the Tokyo subway, climbing Ben Lomond, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, and surviving fifteen Winnipeg winters (fingers crossed). She loves to travel for research purposes and was lucky enough to visit the Strategic Information and Operations Center inside FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. in 2016. She also got to shove another (police) car off the road during pursuit training at the Writer’s Police Academy. Basically she has way too much fun!
For more information about Toni and her books, please visit her website: https://www.toniandersonauthor.com
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EXCERPT
She did not regret what she’d done last summer. She’d kill that monster again to save herself, Quentin and Haley.
Her mind flashed to the image of martin from earlier that morning, and bile rose in her throat. That crime had not been committed in the heat of the moment. It has been cold and calculated.
She thought about the short conversation with Eban on the phone that morning and his insistence that she didn’t talk to the cops without a lawyer. He’d sounded serious and a little bit desperate. Presumably, he believed a lawyer could help. She didn’t think Eban would do anything except try to uncover the truth, but what if she was the killer? How would she live with herself then?
The detective caught her watching and turned away to switch on the recording equipment in the corner of the room. She calmly stated everyone’s names for the record. That brought Darby’s situation sharply into focus. The only person in the room facing potentially life-changing consequences from this interview was her.
Elliot put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a squeeze of reassurance.
It was a silent message of support, but she wondered if he genuinely believed in her innocence, especially now he knew the whole story. Sure, he’d fight for her, if only to protect his success rate and billable hours, but did he care she might actually be innocent?
The death of her naivety and growing cynicism were products of her recent life experiences. She longed to be the old Darby who saw the world as wide open for adventure and exploration without the inherent danger. Since her kidnap, her world had shrunk to her work studies, her friends, Eban, and her immediate surroundings.
Her outlook had become purely defensive.
She wanted her hope back. Her optimism. She wanted her freedom. It was an epiphany that might have come at exactly the wrong moment in her life.
The clock on the wall ticked and Darby felt the inexorable passage of time with each quiet click. What happened if she wasn’t released? As in, ever…
She understood his concerns even though she knew he was mistaken as to why she was attracted to him. Maybe he’d been right at the beginning. She’d been a mess. Too raw to make important decisions. But lately her attraction was all about the man himself. His dark liquid eyes, his quiet strength, his voice, his unending support…
Well, maybe unending wasn’t quite accurate under the circumstances.
Eban was a good man who’d always kept her at arm’s length—except that one brief moment long ago when he’d kissed her back.
The world had lost a great scientist, a good man, because of her. She was a monster. She was a murderer. Locking her up made perfect sense. Protect other innocent people from her level of psychosis.
How could she live with what she’d done?
She squeezed her eyes closed. She’d killed a man. A man who had always been kind and friendly toward her. A man she’d laughed and danced with and had once contemplated kissing.
She held her hands out in front of her and stared at them in disbelief. How could she have done it? Killed someone in cold blood and managed to freak herself so badly she’d blocked the memory from her mind?
If felt as if an alien had inhabited her body and wiped her memories. Was this insanity? Was she genuinely mentally ill? All those hours of therapy. All the “progress” nothing but wishful thinking.
She stared into the distance. She had survived Indonesia. She had no idea how she would survive this.
Despite the stress of the day and everything that had happened over the last two days, she wasn’t tired. Her body was strung tight from being alone with Eban. Her mind abuzz with possibilities.
Last night they’d both been too tense to think about anything except decompressing and staying safe. Now all she could think about was the fact Eban seemed open to the two of them moving beyond friends, something she’d craved for so long.
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