Katherine Garbera - Night Life

Whatever location had the best advantage for watching the dock.

Starting at the back, Sasha worked her way from office to office, carefully scanning each room. So far, empty offices with desks, but no sign of Kane.

Was she in the wrong place? The next two offices had closed doors. She put her shoulder to the first door and forced it open. In the room, the window was open a crack, just enough for the barrel of a rifle.

“I thing I’ve found something,” she muttered into her communicator as she studied the interior of the room. “I’m alone, but someone’s been here recently.”

Before she could react, a shadow stepped out from behind the filing cabinet and grabbed her, shoving the barrel of a gun under her chin and forcing her head back.

“Hello, lover,” Sasha murmured.

Dear Reader,

Like the fast-paced holiday season, Silhouette Bombshell is charged with energy, and we’re thrilled to bring you an unforgettable December reading experience. Our strong, sexy, savvy women will have you cheering, gasping and turning pages to see what happens next!

Let USA TODAY bestselling author Lindsay McKenna sweep you away to Peru in Sister of Fortune, part of the SISTERS OF THE ARK miniseries. This military heroine must retrieve a sacred artifact from dangerous hands. The last thing she needs is a sexy man she can’t trust—too bad she has to work with one!

Check out Debra Webb’s Justice, the latest in the ATHENA FORCE continuity series. Police lieutenant Kayla Ryan will risk everything to find her murdered friend’s long-lost child and bring down an enemy who is closer than she ever suspected….

In Night Life, by Katherine Garbera, a former spy turned mother and wife finds herself drawn back into clandestine games when her former agency calls her in to catch a rogue agent—her estranged husband.

And don’t miss Patricia Rosemoor’s Hot Case, the story of a detective who enters her twin sister’s dark world of wannabe vampires—and maybe the real thing—to find out why dead bodies are disappearing almost before her eyes.

As an editor, I am often asked what I’m looking for in a Bombshell novel. Well, I want to know what you’re looking for as a reader. Please send your comments to me, c/o Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.

Best wishes,

Natashya Wilson

Associate Senior Editor, Silhouette Bombshell

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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is an award-winning, bestselling author for Harlequin and Silhouette Books. Garbera started making up stories for her own benefit when she was on a competitive swim team in high school. Though she went to Florida State and usually medaled at swim meets, Katherine says her heart wasn’t in swimming but rather in the stories she created as she swam laps at practice. Katherine holds a red belt in the martial art of Tae Kwon Do and vows that there’s not a piece of plywood out there that can take her in a fair match! Readers can visit her on the Web at katherinegarbera.com.

In loving memory of Priscilla Tromblay, my paternal grandmother, who lived life on her own terms with a fierce and independent spirit.

Thanks for showing me that anything can be accomplished if you work hard enough at it.

Thanks to Rob Elser for answering my many questions about life in London and the U.K.

Thanks to Janet Justiss for helping me with the French dialogue—any mistakes are my own!

Thanks to Mary Louise Wells for helping with the initial polish of the proposal; Eve Gaddy for just always being there when I called; and Beverly Brandt for her helpful advice on writing a bigger story.

As always, thanks to my family, who are always supportive of whatever idea I have.

Prologue

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

Chapter 19

Epilogue

The fact that our task is exactly as large as our life makes it infinite.

—Franz Kafka

The wind shifted to blow from the north but no sound emerged from the surrounding woods. The silence was unnatural. Nightshade tensed, every sense on hyperalert.

Nothing was hidden from her vantage point. In the clearing near the chopper was a puddle of darkness. It could just be shadows from the clouds covering the moon, but she sensed a human presence there.

Townsend. As smart as he was lethal, Elias Townsend had once been a master spy for Her Majesty’s Intelligence Agency. Frustrated with agency bureaucracy, he’d crossed over to the life of a criminal and never looked back. A tall, thin man with a wiry build, Townsend was a challenging adversary.

Her father had taught her to respect the enemy. Because when you got cocky you got dead. Nightshade didn’t want to die—she was still young and had too much to live for. Her old man had learned that security was an illusion and had raised Nightshade to protect both herself and those weaker than she was.

Except she’d done a piss-poor job of saving her childhood pal, Senator Ellingham’s son, Perry. At least she had evened the score by killing Townsend’s right-hand man.

She shut out everything, narrowing her focus to that dark shadow. She waited. The Glock .9 mm automatic felt like a natural extension of her arm. And then he moved, quickly and jerkily. She’d hit him earlier in their exchange of gunfire. She sprang to her feet, a lethal predator sprinting to intercept Townsend.

He pivoted as she approached, leveling his own gun at her. Still in motion, Nightshade leaped in the air and used a forward kick to hit him solidly in the shoulder. A gunshot exploded and she felt the bullet graze her thigh. She cataloged the surface wound and promised herself she’d worry about it later. It wasn’t enough to stop her as she brought all her weight down on him. His head bounced against the concrete of the landing pad.

Nightshade twisted her heel in Townsend’s shoulder until he cried out and his fingers opened, releasing his weapon. Keeping her gun trained on him, she stooped and picked up his weapon, tucking it into the back of her waistband.

Leveling the Glock at him, she watched him squirm. Killing had never really been a part of the job she liked. In fact, it was the one thing she genuinely hated. But sometimes, the mission called for it.

This time, she wanted justice for Perry’s death. She wanted to exact the kind of eye-for-an-eye retribution that her father had always advocated.

She knelt beside Townsend and pressed the barrel of the Glock against his temple. A rage swam through her body, blinding her to everything except the desire to kill. Every instinct she had screamed for her to pull the trigger. Her finger trembled and she started to squeeze.