Karen Whiddon - Wyoming Undercover

In need of redemption, a Wyoming rogue must free a woman from a deadly cult

Private investigator Jack Moreno lives and breathes for the riskiest missions. But not even his elite training can prepare him for his latest operation: going undercover to rescue a child from a cult. In the process, he meets Sophia Hannah, a young, vulnerable nurse, who is days away from a forced marriage to the cult leader.

Sophia doesn’t know life beyond the invisible walls around her—or that her searing attraction to a handsome stranger is built on lies. Desperate to escape her fate as the next wife to be used and discarded, she turns to Jack. But as they chase freedom, they’ll confront an even more dangerous threat: the truth.

“Did I frighten you?” Jack asked gently, cursing himself and his odd, compelling need to be near her.

“It’s okay.” She touched his arm—a quick, light touch, but it was enough to send a jolt through him. Just like before.

Staring at her, he wondered if she’d felt it, too.

“I saw you were out for a walk. Since I am, too, I thought I’d ask if you minded if I joined you.” He smiled at her, wondering why she didn’t smile back. They’d agreed to be friends, after all.

“We can’t hold hands,” she blurted, her face turning a becoming shade of pink. “I have to apologize for that before. I don’t know what I was thinking. I never should have...”

“It’s okay.” Interrupting her before he did something even worse, like kiss her, he hid his smile. “You’re a good person, Sophia Hannah. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

If anything, his praise made her blush even harder.

She muttered something under her breath that sounded like “If you only knew.”

Dear Reader,

For whatever reason, I’ve always been fascinated by cults. And one day, as writers do, I got to thinking, “What if?” What if a woman had been raised in a cult and knew nothing else? To her, that would be her reality, her life, her world. And then to have that world turned upside down, both by actions inside the only home she’d ever known, as well as by a handsome outsider...

The story was fun to write. I grew to love the characters, too, and exploring the various pathways to logic. When I’d finished writing the story, I wanted to go back in a year or two and see how the people of the cult were, what choices they’d made and how they’d continued on with their lives. Yes, I’d grown attached to many of them. But the one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt was that Jack and Sophia had found true love in each other. I’m quite confident the others would have found their own paths to happiness, as well.

I hope you enjoy this unusual story!

Happy reading!

Karen Whiddon

Wyoming Undercover

Karen Whiddon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

KAREN WHIDDON started weaving fanciful tales for her younger brothers at the age of eleven. Amid the gorgeous Catskill Mountains, then the majestic Rocky Mountains, she fueled her imagination with the natural beauty surrounding her. Karen now lives in north Texas, writes full-time and volunteers for a boxer dog rescue. She shares her life with her hero of a husband and four to five dogs, depending on if she is fostering. You can email Karen at kwhiddon1@aol.com. Fans can also check out her website, www.karenwhiddon.com.

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

Sophia Hannah loved her job working as an assistant in the Children of Eternity, or COE, medical clinic. They worked hard at matching their young adults with the perfect job. Sometimes there were false starts, but not in Sophia’s case. She’d truly found her niche assisting Dr. Drew, its main physician.

As COE grew, the medical needs of its members multiplied, and a few years ago Dr. Drew had finally brought in someone else to help Sophia. An older woman named Ana. She didn’t like to work too hard, using her age as an excuse to sit back and watch while Sophia bustled around. But Sophia didn’t really mind. Staying busy made the day go by fast. And since she hadn’t yet married or started a family, she wasn’t in a huge hurry to go home after the clinic closed, so she used that time to catch up.

Right now, Ana had disappeared again. A few times Sophia had seen her outside chatting with one of her friends. She figured Ana’s lack of a strong work ethic, something highly prized within COE, might be the reason why she kept getting moved between jobs. Ana had once boasted that she’d worked at ten different things.

The front door opened and Ana came in. Her normally pale skin looked pink and her faded blue eyes sparkled.

“Sophia, you’re not going to believe this! I have great news!” she exclaimed. Though she kept her wiry gray hair pulled back in a bun, some pieces had escaped here and there, giving her a slightly disheveled appearance. She wore COE’s typical golden band around her throat, a choker-like piece of jewelry that indicated she was married. Here in the COE compound, these necklaces were preferred over a wedding ring. Sometimes late at night, Sophia ached with the desire to wear one. But so far, no man had even showed interest in her, never mind claiming her as his wife.

“Sophia?” Ana prodded. “Don’t you want to know?”

Ana had clearly been gossiping, an activity that was frowned upon.

“Aren’t you even curious?” Ana asked. “You should be, because this concerns you.”

For whatever reason, possibly her innate stubbornness, Sophia didn’t want to give Ana the satisfaction of showing interest. Instead she tilted her head, eyed the other woman and waited.

“You’ve been claimed!” Ana exclaimed. “Great honor and prestige has been heaped upon you, lucky girl.”

“Claimed?” All Sophia could do was repeat the word. “But I haven’t even been courted by anyone.”

“Pfffft.” Ana waved away her concern. “This situation is different. You’ll need to begin preparations immediately, as your new husband-to-be is impatient. I was told that your wedding is to be in one month.”

One month? Sophia stared, her heart racing. “Are you playing a joke on me?” she asked. “Because if you are, this isn’t the slightest bit funny.”

“I’m not, I swear,” Ana said.

“Where did you get this information?” Sophia asked as she tried to figure out who among the many unmarried young men might have claimed her. The situation seemed strange, wrong somehow. She wanted to be courted, to fall in love. But this...

“Well?” Ana demanded, clearly annoyed at Sophia’s lack of outward reaction. “Aren’t you curious? Along with excited, ecstatic, thrilled? All perfectly reasonable reactions to news such as this.”