Julie Miller - Assumed Identity

KANSAS CITY HERO

Scarred inside and out by a past he can’t remember, Jake Lonergan doesn’t know if he’s a heroic undercover DEA agent or the hit man who killed him and assumed his identity. While he is determined to remain in the shadows, it’s Robin Carter and her baby girl who force him back into the light. When the gorgeous single mom is attacked, Jake comes to her rescue…and finds it impossible to walk away from this fragile little family. Now, with a dangerous stalker determined to get his hands on the only woman who got away, protecting Robin and her daughter becomes Jake’s priority. But with his memories still in question, Jake fears what will happen when the bad guy comes calling. Can he prove he’s the good guy Robin is convinced he must be?

“Robin. You don’t really know me. You shouldn’t automatically trust me.”

“I trusted you because I had to. You haven’t disappointed me yet.”

Oh, hell. That sounded like some sort of relationship had been forged between them.

Jake was relieved as much as he was on edge when he heard the sirens in the distance outside. He nodded toward the back door where they’d come in. “You stay here with the kid. I’ll wait outside and show the police in.”

Jake surmised the distance and direction of the approaching flashing lights. He paused for one shameless moment to admire the apple-shaped curve of Robin Carter’s backside, emphasized by the clinging dampness of her wet jeans, as she bent over the bassinet, tending to her sleeping baby again.

The cops were close enough. She’d be safe.

“Thank you again, Mr. Lonergan. By the way, you never told me your first name…”

He never heard the end of her sentence. By the time she straightened from the bassinet, he was gone.

Assumed

Identity

USA TODAY Bestselling Author

Julie Miller

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

USA TODAY bestselling author Julie Miller attributes her passion for writing romance to all those books she read growing up. When shyness and asthma kept her from becoming the action-adventure heroine she longed to be, Julie created stories in her head to keep herself entertained. Encouragement from her family to write down the feelings and ideas she couldn’t express became a love for the written word. She gets continued support from her fellow members of the Prairieland Romance Writers, where this teacher serves as the resident “grammar goddess.” Inspired by the likes of Agatha Christie and Encyclopedia Brown, Julie believes the only thing better than a good mystery is a good romance.

Born and raised in Missouri, this award-winning author now lives in Nebraska with her husband, son and an assortment of spoiled pets. To contact Julie or to learn more about her books, write to P.O. Box 5162, Grand Island, NE 68802-5162 or check out her website and monthly newsletter at www.juliemiller.org.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS

Jake Lonergan—Is he an undercover agent who barely survived his last assignment? Or the hit man who killed the agent and assumed his identity?

Robin Carter—A successful career woman who wants to be a mother more than anything. Does she dare trust her life and her daughter’s to Jake? If they survive, can she trust the mystery man with her heart?

Emma Carter—Robin’s adopted daughter. Is she the real target?

Mark Riggins—The assistant manager at the Robin’s Nest Floral Shop. He runs things his way when Robin’s not there.

Leon Hundley—Robin’s newest hire drives the delivery van…and doesn’t like answering questions.

Brian Elliott—Robin’s former beau is very protective.

Tania Houseman—Emma’s birth mother. She survived one suicide attempt. Will she try again?

William Houseman—Tania’s big brother has his sister’s best interests at heart.

Hope Lockhart—Owner of the Fairy Tale Bridal Shop and Robin’s friend.

The Rose Red Rapist—Is he getting careless? Or changing his M.O.?

For Maggie May McGonagall Miller,

my ace writing companion and champion PR pooch.

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

Extract

Prologue

Jake wouldn’t mind the nightmare so much if he only knew what it meant.

He thrashed in the bed, knowing he could wake himself in an instant. Instead of saving himself, however, he wrestled with the demons that had haunted his dreams on and off, from nowhere, Texas, to Kansas City, Missouri, for nearly two years now.

The violence and pain had him in their grips again, the sensations as vivid and terrifying as the images were vague and fractured—meaningless flashes of objects and people without a context. But the nightmare was the closest thing he had to a memory, the closest thing he had to understanding. So he let it steal into his bed and wash over him. He invited the torment to become a part of him.

He was hot. Sweat stung his eyes and rolled down his back. He was breathing hard, every inhale the jab of a knife in his side, every exhale a silent grunt of pain. He was hurting bad—the kind of hurt that sent men to hospitals...or the morgue.

Wheezing through the pain that seared him inside and out, he crouched behind a formless shadow in a world filled with ghosts and darkness. A voiceless command echoed in his head, forcing him to press on, demanding that he live. “You let him get away? He’ll destroy everything we’ve worked for if he escapes. You have to stop him. It’s up to you. You’re the only one who can.”

What did the words mean? Who said them? Why did he hurt like this? Where was he? When was he?

What was he?

One of the hazy apparitions moved, darting quickly from night to night. He pulled a hunting knife from a bag at his feet, flipped the blade into his hand as if he’d done the dangerous maneuver a hundred times before. He hurled the knife and the apparition sank into the darkness.

Another shadow rose from the swirling black mist. It took the shape of a man, faceless and unnamed.

He was digging through the bag again. He didn’t know where it had come from, why he had it. It was a heavy black satchel filled with things he couldn’t see, couldn’t identify, couldn’t remember. That’s when he saw the gun in his hand. It was a wicked, streamlined thing of black steel that felt comfortable there, like it was a part of him. Its shiny surface gleamed in the shadows. He knew that gun better than he knew his own name.

He squeezed the trigger and the shadow jerked. But it didn’t fall. He couldn’t see a face, but he could see the gun, pointed at him, and he dove for the ground at the flashes of gunshots exploding in the night.

All Jake knew was the driving need to hunt down prey that was getting away. The instinct to run cramped his sore, weary muscles. But somehow he knew he belonged to the darkness. He had to hide. And wait. And kill.

The barrage of deafening noise came next. Explosions. Thunder. The sounds pierced the darkness, filled it up. Guns and bombs and pain and death. He was stuck in the middle of it. Or maybe he was the cause of it.