Carol J. Post - Fatal Recall

Booklist Also By Carol J. Post Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Bible Verse Acknowledgments ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN Extract About the Publisher Love Inspired Suspense Midnight Shadows Motive for Murder Out for Justice Shattered Haven Hidden Identity Mistletoe Justice Buried Memories Reunited by Danger Fatal Recall Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk .

Title Page Fatal Recall Carol J. Post www.millsandboon.co.uk

Copyright ISBN: 978-1-474-08456-7 FATAL RECALL © 2018 Carol J. Post Published in Great Britain 2018 by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher. ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk Version: 2020-03-02

Introduction “What are we waiting for?” Paige looked at Tanner. “The eighth round.” A shot hit the water near them. “Now.” When she hesitated, he gave her a push. “Go, go, go.” She sprang from the water and scrambled up the bank, back itching for the bullet she expected. By the time the gunfire resumed, she’d left the river behind and entered the safety of the trees. But she didn’t slow down. Tanner was somewhere behind her. She could hear him crashing through the forest. Finally, he closed the distance between them. “I think we’ve lost him.” She bent over and sucked in several gulps of air. Tanner seemed as winded as she was. He looked over at her. “So, who are these guys?” “I don’t know.” He lifted one brow, the gesture filled with doubt. “What are you doing out here? Who are you?” She searched for an answer. It was there somewhere, but her head hurt too badly to pull it out. “I…I can’t remember.”

Dear Reader Dear Reader Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Bible Verse Acknowledgments ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN Extract About the Publisher , I hope you’ve enjoyed reading Paige and Tanner’s story. This is the first book in a new series set in Murphy, North Carolina. I love the area, and it’s been fun moving to a new setting. Paige and Tanner both had very dysfunctional pasts. Paige’s path to healing began when she heard about Christ’s love from an unlikely source. But she still had to learn to view herself the way God sees her, as cherished and forgiven. Tanner’s only exposure to Christianity was through rules-oriented religion, and he believed he could never measure up. My church has a new mission statement, one that is very simple and to the point—Love God, Love Others. God demands holiness, but that message apart from love and forgiveness paints an incomplete picture of what the gospel is all about. I hope you will be on the lookout for the second book in this series, where Bryce reconnects with his first love and they both find their happily-ever-after. Love in Christ, Carol J. Post

Bible Verse For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:38–39

Acknowledgments Acknowledgments Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Bible Verse Acknowledgments ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN Extract About the Publisher Thank you to all the people who support me in this career I love: My wonderful critique partners, Karen Fleming and Sabrina Jarema, my eagle-eyed beta reader, Martha “Mom” Post, my awesome editor, Giselle Regus, my lovely agent, Nalini Akolekar, my sister, Kim, for all her help on research, my sweet, supportive family, and my loving husband, Chris. You all are the best!

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ONE

The sharp crack of gunfire split the silence.

Tanner Brody froze, his paddle hovering a few inches above the water. A second crack came right after the first.

He released a pent-up breath and shook off the tension. This wasn’t one of the scariest areas of Louisville, where he’d grown up. Or even the rough neighborhood there where he’d spent the past eight years as a beat cop. He was on the Nantahala River, at the edge of the Smokies. Someone was hunting—shooting at whatever happened to be in season in North Carolina in early April.

He resumed paddling, adjusting course in time to avoid careening into a rock protruding from the center of the river. Water surged around him, gentle swells tipped in white.

Another shot rang out, and tension spiked through him again. He rolled his shoulders. It would be a while before the pop of a rifle didn’t send him into action mode.

Eight weeks ago, when his life in Louisville imploded, his friend Colton talked him into moving to Murphy, North Carolina. Six weeks ago, he drained his savings account and made a down payment on a house on two wooded acres. A few days ago, he stuffed everything he owned into a U-Haul and rolled into the drive at almost midnight. He had three weeks to enjoy his freedom. Then he’d start the job he’d landed with Murphy PD.

He wasn’t regretting his spur-of-the-moment decision. If there was anyone he trusted, it was Colton. They’d been friends since age thirteen, three of them—him and Kevin and Colton. They’d all shared the same nightmare. Except Colton had gotten out sooner than he and Kevin had.

Tanner reached a calmer section of the river and stopped paddling to take a swig of water. It was still early in the season. Other than a couple sitting at a riverside picnic table some distance back, he hadn’t seen another human being.

But rather than feeling lonely, he found the solitude therapeutic. The river flowed around him with a steady shh that drowned out all but the calls of the loudest birds and the occasional rumble of a truck moving down the highway a short distance to his right. The firearms had even fallen silent.