Colleen Thompson: Relentless Protector

A RUTHLESS ARMY RANGER

Former army ranger Cole Sawyer reacts on instinct when he sees beautiful young widow Lisa Meador pull a gun at the bank. He foils the robbery, but when Lisa screams as the real robbers take off with her son, he realizes that things aren’t what they seem. Driven by a painful secret, Cole makes the split-second decision to join forces with Lisa and trail the criminals across Texas.

A DESPERATE SINGLE MOTHER

Haunted by his failure to save Lisa’s husband in Afghanistan, Cole is determined to help her rescue her son. But he’s even more determined not to give in to his growing attraction to her. As they untangle clues and face the potentially devastating loss of their quarry, they soon realize that the kidnappers’ motives run deeper—and darker—than they ever expected....

A LITTLE BOY’S ONLY HOPE

“I swear to you,” he promised, “they aren’t taking me alive. I’m sorry, Lisa—sorrier than you’ll ever know.” And sorrier still for what I haven’t told you.”

“Don’t. Please.” She raised herself onto her toes and brushed the fullness of her warm lips across his. The kiss was soft and fleeting, yet somehow it sent a jolt that blazed through his brain and body as if he’d never experienced a woman’s touch before. Desire gripped him, a searing need to turn and claim her mouth in earnest, to find out what it was about her that had somehow stirred that pile of cold ash that was once his beating heart.

“I’ll come for you,” Cole managed, his voice rough. “And, Lisa, if there’s any way—any way at all—to make it happen, I’ll be bringing your son with me.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After beginning her career writing historical romance novels, Colleen Thompson turned to writing the contemporary romantic suspense she loves in 2004. Since then, her work has been honored with a Texas Gold Award, along with nominations for a RITA® Award, a Daphne du Maurier Award and multiple reviewers’ choice honors, along with starred reviews from RT Book Reviews and Publishers Weekly. A former teacher living with her family in the Houston area, Colleen has a passion for reading, hiking and dog rescue. Visit her online at www.colleen-thompson.com.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS

Captain Cole Sawyer—Leaving his elite army ranger unit wasn’t easy, but turning his back on a fellow soldier’s gorgeous widow in her hour of need is impossible—as impossible as his growing attraction to the courageous young mother who threatens to take his combat-hardened heart by storm.

Lisa Meador—When an ordinary afternoon errand goes terribly wrong, this determined young widow will stop at nothing—including the kidnappers’ demands that she commit bank robbery—to free her only child. When a handsome stranger interferes, she enlists his help—never guessing the devastating secret that binds them.

Tyler Meador—Determined to be as brave as his soldier father was in combat, Lisa’s five-year-old son relies on his imagination, and his trusty stuffed octopus, to keep his fears at bay.

Lee Ray Hardy—Despite a long rap sheet and a bad drug habit, this career criminal has a soft spot for the kidnapped boy. But will that be enough to save him from his partner’s schemes?

Evie LeStrange—A violent sociopath with an ax to grind, Evie wants to get rid of her incriminating encumbrance—but only after inflicting as much pain as possible on a woman she didn’t choose at random.

Deputy Trace Sutherland—This by-the-book deputy still loves the ex-wife he’s been assigned to ride with, but will either of them survive her reckless disregard for safety?

Deputy Jill Keller—A near-death experience has done little to temper her gung-ho attitude toward law enforcement. But will her lingering love for her ex-husband finally make her see the light?

To those who serve and sacrifice...

and the no-less-courageous families who love them.

Contents

Prologue Prologue In a grimy motel room somewhere in Oklahoma, a woman picked up a newspaper left behind by the last occupant. No shock there, considering the general state of this dive, but the face staring up at her sent the room whirling around her and nausea squeezing in her stomach. It was her, a brat in her arms, a brave smile on her face. A face the woman in the motel room would know anywhere, no matter how many years had passed. Because she never forgot any of those who had destroyed her. Most of them, she’d paid back in spades already: the sadistic bitch who’d called herself a mother; the foster father who had raped her, brutally and often; even the juvenile detention officer who’d been such a hard-ass later—every one of them lying in an unmarked grave. But not the one who’d set it all in motion, the one she’d sworn on the memory of all she’d lost to repay—if she could ever find her. A glance at the photo’s caption gave her the bitch’s married name, and a line in the article revealed the town where she was living. The town where she would die—but not before she’d learned what real suffering was all about.

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

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Excerpt

Prologue

In a grimy motel room somewhere in Oklahoma, a woman picked up a newspaper left behind by the last occupant. No shock there, considering the general state of this dive, but the face staring up at her sent the room whirling around her and nausea squeezing in her stomach.

It was her, a brat in her arms, a brave smile on her face. A face the woman in the motel room would know anywhere, no matter how many years had passed. Because she never forgot any of those who had destroyed her.

Most of them, she’d paid back in spades already: the sadistic bitch who’d called herself a mother; the foster father who had raped her, brutally and often; even the juvenile detention officer who’d been such a hard-ass later—every one of them lying in an unmarked grave. But not the one who’d set it all in motion, the one she’d sworn on the memory of all she’d lost to repay—if she could ever find her.

A glance at the photo’s caption gave her the bitch’s married name, and a line in the article revealed the town where she was living.

The town where she would die—but not before she’d learned what real suffering was all about.

Chapter One

Lisa Meador was running late again, ridiculously late thanks to the passive-aggressive front office manager, who had scheduled her for yet another dental cleaning way too close to school dismissal.

Still in her scrubs following her long afternoon, she was wound up in knots and already thinking about her next errand when she swung into what ought to be the line of parents waiting in cars at her son’s elementary school.