Paula Graves - Secret Hideout

She’d watched them bury her partner.

They came after former FBI agent Isabel Cooper in her hotel room. Drugged and fighting for her life, she ran right into the arms of a dead man. But Ben Scanlon was very much alive, and now her life was in his hands, too.

Now he was back...and coming to her rescue.

His face was rougher and his hair longer than when they’d last met, but he still carried himself like a born Texan. Undercover with the same redneck mafia that was after her, Scanlon thought he could save Isabel without revisiting their past together. But when every step led to a trap, and every touch they shared had a consequence, he wasn’t going to waste a second chance—or another bullet.

His eyes darkened as his gaze leveled with hers. “I just want you safe. It’s what I’ve wanted from the beginning of this whole mess.”

Her heart contracted. “Scanlon—”

His head dipped. For a second, she was certain he was going to kiss her. But he froze in place, his gaze falling to rest on her parted lips. “Damn it, Cooper—”

It was a familiar point in time, she realized. A point of no return, when the tension buzzing between them could take on a new and dangerous tenor. They’d reached this point before, during long and harrowing cases when the whole world seemed to be spinning out of control. Moments when a little human connection provided a temptation almost too exquisite to resist.

But one of them always moved. Always backed away before they did something that couldn’t be undone. She waited for the inevitable retreat, for Scanlon to pull away and rise to his feet, putting distance and cold air between them.

That moment never came.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alabama native Paula Graves wrote her first book, a mystery starring herself and her neighborhood friends, at the age of six. A voracious reader, Paula loves books that pair tantalizing mystery with compelling romance. When she’s not reading or writing, she works as a creative director for a Birmingham advertising agency and spends time with her family and friends. She is a member of Southern Magic Romance Writers, Heart of Dixie Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America.

Paula invites readers to visit her website, www.paulagraves.com.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS

Isabel Cooper—Ambushed and drugged by masked men in the hotel where she’s staying, the former FBI agent gets away with the help of her dead partner’s ghost. But when she wakes to find him very much alive, how far will she go to help the man who deceived her into believing he was dead?

Ben Scanlon—The bomb meant for his partner came close to killing him instead. When his boss gave him the chance to “die” in order to go undercover to find the backwoods bomber who targeted his partner, he took it. Will the investigation also answer his lingering questions about his father’s death?

Adam Brand—The FBI Special Agent in Charge let Isabel believe her partner died. Does he have a hidden agenda now that he wants them working together again?

Addie Tolliver—The middle-aged store owner is the head of the Swain crime family now that her brother Jasper is doing life in jail. Is she as wily as her brother, or could she be the weak link that could help topple the whole family?

J. T. Swain—The mysterious new Swain seems to have links to a band of crooked mercenaries who have given Isabel’s family trouble before. Is the Swain family business looking to expand their criminal enterprise?

Dahlia McCoy—Despite Scanlon’s attempt to court her to take advantage of her brother’s connection to the Swains, the pretty accountant seems to be squeaky clean. But is there more to Dahlia than Scanlon thinks?

Opal Butler—Jasper Swain’s other sister has never shown any interest in the family business. So why is she back in town and what is her agenda?

For Jenn, my critique partner, who keeps me honest and keeps me writing. Thanks for everything you do.

Contents

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

Epilogue

Chapter One

The man down the hall was definitely watching her. And given how grubby she looked at the moment, Isabel Cooper didn’t think he was ogling her for the usual reasons.

Reaching for the handle of the ice machine door, she dropped her room key card on purpose, giving herself an excuse to shift position and sneak a better look at the man lurking at the end of the hall. He was lean and sandy-haired, wearing a simple black T-shirt and faded jeans. As her gaze rose toward him, he looked away. But she was certain he’d been staring.

Hair prickling on the back of her neck, she scooped ice into her bucket and headed back to her room. The carpeted hallway muffled even her own footsteps, so she couldn’t hear anyone moving up the hallway behind her.

But she could feel him.

Even though her room was straight ahead, she hooked a quick left into the elevator alcove. It was a dead end, but it gave her a chance to set herself for a fight.

She waited, her breath burning in her lungs.

But no one appeared around the corner.

The elevator dinged behind her, making her jump. The couple emerging from the elevator gave her a curious look. In the mirrored back of the open elevator, she caught a glimpse of her reflection, a wild-eyed brunette in a T-shirt and yoga pants, her feet stuck in a pair of fleece-lined house shoes and her unruly curls caught up in a lopsided ponytail.

The couple turned left, toward her own hotel room. She followed, darting a quick look down the hallway where she’d seen the loitering man. The corridor was empty.

Isabel released a puff of air. Wasn’t it time to stop looking for criminals around every corner? Six months had already passed since she’d resigned from the FBI and returned home to work for her brother.

Six months since she’d buried her partner and said her final goodbye to the man she’d worked with for years, since she was a snot-nosed green agent fresh out of Quantico.

God, she missed him.

Trudging to her hotel room, she pushed the painful thoughts of Scanlon from her mind, thinking about the man she’d seen in the hallway instead. He hadn’t looked familiar. And apparently she’d only imagined that he’d shadowed her up the hallway.

Tucking the ice bucket under one arm, she swiped the key card in the lock and let herself inside the hotel room. The door clicked shut, engaging the automatic lock. On instinct, she engaged the safety lock as well, waiting for the prickling sensation on the back of her neck to subside. But it lingered, the tingle of a thousand spider legs dancing across her skin.

She darted to the mirrored dresser, put down the ice bucket next to her overnight case and unzipped the bag, feeling inside for her Beretta 9 mm. She shouldn’t have left the room without her weapon, but there was nowhere she could hide it in her yoga pants, and she hadn’t wanted to alarm the other hotel visitors.