Carol Ericson - Green Beret Bodyguard

The unknown soldier

He may have lost his memory, but not his mercenary skills. And once Jack Coburn learned his real name, he sought out the woman who could help him piece together the rest of his past. Lola Famosa had hired the green beret months ago to find her missing brother. And that mission had nearly cost him his life.

But locating the lovely doctor presented new dangers. Someone was determined to keep Lola from her quest, and her life hung in the balance. Jack’s first concern might have been regaining his memory, but now it was all about protecting Lola. For she was the one thing this loner was determined to keep.

“Nothing’s ringing any bells.” Except Lola in those jeans as she bent over the drawer. That rang his bells.

She spun around, pinching a card between two fingers. “Got it.”

“It’s a start. Maybe this guy can tell me if I have a home, a family…a wife.”

Lola’s long, dark lashes fluttered. “I doubt it.”

He plucked the card from her fingers and slipped it into his back pocket. “You doubt I have a home, a family and a wife?”

“You may have a home and a family, but no self-respecting wife would allow her husband to go gallivanting around the world saving other people’s families.” Her jaw formed a hard line as if daring him to dispute her logic.

“I don’t know about that.” He held up his left hand. “But I don’t feel married.”

Could he be lusting after this hot doctor if he were?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carol Ericson lives with her husband and two sons in Southern California, home of state-of-the-art cosmetic surgery, wild freeway chases, palm trees bending in the Santa Ana winds and a million amazing stories. These stories, along with hordes of virile men and feisty women, clamor for release from Carol’s head. It makes for some interesting headaches until she sets them free to fulfill their destinies and her readers’ fantasies. To find out more about Carol, her books and her strange headaches, please visit her website at www.carolericson.com, “where romance flirts with danger.”

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CAST OF CHARACTERS

Jack Coburn—He has a name on a piece of paper and a million bucks in a suitcase, but no memory. He turns to a beautiful Cuban-American doctor to help him find his way, but ends up bringing danger to her doorstep…in more ways than one.

Lola Famosa—Her brother is missing in Afghanistan and now the man she hired to negotiate his release is back in Miami with no recollection of his mission and a target on his back. She jumps at the chance to help him regain his memory, but fears that his old life will torpedo their growing attraction.

Gabriel Famosa—A research scientist, he was kidnapped to further a terrorist plot. Will the man his sister sent to rescue him regain his memory in time to save him? Or will he be complicit in a plan to hold the world hostage to terrorist demands?

Emilio Diaz—A shady associate of Lola’s crime-boss father, he may just hold the key to Jack’s identity…if he’s not killed first.

Eddie Hidalgo—This young boy is Dr. Famosa’s favorite patient, but being close to Dr. Famosa has its risks.

Dr. Lesley Jerome—A psychiatrist at Miami Hope Hospital, Dr. Jerome is willing to help Jack try to regain his memories by any means necessary.

Hector Villagrande—The man who murdered Eddie’s mother has a grudge against Lola, and getting out of jail on a technicality allows him plenty of opportunity to get even.

Farouk—Prospero’s former nemesis has expanded his business model and taken his terror worldwide, and this time it’s personal.

Colonel Scripps—Prospero’s coordinator, the colonel knows he can summon all of the former team members with one call. He just hopes it’s not too late to save Prospero’s leader, Jack Coburn.

For Margery. Thanks for keeping me company in “The Lounge”.

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

Epilogue

Prologue

An invisible net tightened around Jack Coburn.

His gaze flicked to the black suit with the dark shades. Was he speaking into his lapel? A man at two o’clock straightened his shoulders and reached beneath his jacket. Was he going for a gun?

Adrenaline spiraled through Jack’s body, and the hair on the back of his neck stood at attention. He’d arrived in Miami under an assumed name. Did the suits know that fake name? Had they given him that name?

Shifting his eyes to the left, he marked another suspicious person, this one dressed in a loud aloha shirt and talking to himself. Jack picked them out with the ease of a bloodhound on a scent…only he was the prey.

Hanging back a moment, Jack slipped his hand through the arm of a pretty blonde who’d given him a dazzling smile in the coach section of the airplane. She let out a little gasp and Jack ducked his head, his lip close to her ear.

“Can you pretend you’re with me? I’m trying to avoid someone, and if she sees me with you she’ll back off.”

The blonde recovered quickly and a pretend pout hovered at her lipsticked mouth. “Pretend all you want. I’ll help you out, even though you ignored me on the flight.”

Jack twisted his lips into a semblance of a smile. “I noticed you, but I’m kind of…involved.”

He pulled the cap lower on his forehead and scanned the crowd for more agents or government officials or whoever else had him on their radar. Someone jogged past him, and Jack coiled his muscles, preparing for a fight. The man swept up a child in a hug, and Jack released a long breath.

The woman at his side nudged his shoulder with her head. “You’re not involved with the woman you’re trying to hide from, are you?”

“No. She’s the one causing me trouble.”

“How long are we an item?”

“Just until we get through the baggage claim area.” Once he took off with the black duffel that contained everything he knew about his life, he’d be safe…at least for now.

The woman squeezed in front of him on the down escalator. Pointing to the right, she said, “Baggage claim’s over there. It’s been a memorable two minutes.”

Her bright, hard words pierced the brittle barrier of tension encasing his mind. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. I can pay for your taxi or…”

She held up her hand, a white card with gold lettering pinched between her manicured nails. “That’s okay. Maybe you can give me a call sometime if things don’t work out with your…involvement.”

He glanced at the card before slipping it into the pocket of his jeans. “Thanks, Rebecca.”

Jack merged with the crowd as it surged into the baggage claim area, his shoulders tense, his body still sore from the tumble he’d taken down the side of a mountain somewhere in Afghanistan. He shoved his hands in the pockets of the cheap jacket he’d picked up at the airport in Frankfurt, acting as if he belonged when, in truth, he belonged nowhere.