Gayle Wilson - Take No Prisoners

Despite his attempt to block them, images of Grace Chancellor had been bombarding his brain since Dalton had mentioned her name. Memories of the woman he had first met…almost ten years ago, he realized with a sense of wonder.

Grace Chancellor and Afghanistan. Two items of unfinished—and very personal—business.

Landon hadn’t made many mistakes since the years he’d been an operative. In his line of work he couldn’t afford them. What Cabot had set forth before him this morning was a chance to rectify the two most spectacular ones he’d made in his entire life. If Grace was alive, he’d find her. And if she wasn’t… Landon took a deep breath, thinking about what that loss would mean.

“Hang on, Gracie,” he whispered. “The bastards haven’t won one yet. They damn sure aren’t going to win this time, either.”

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

This July, Intrigue brings you six sizzling summer reads. They’re the perfect beach accessory.

* We have three fantastic miniseries for you. Film at Eleven continues THE LANDRY BROTHERS by Kelsey Roberts. Gayle Wilson is back with the PHOENIX BROTHERHOOD in Take No Prisoners. And B.J. Daniels finishes up her MCCALLS’ MONTANA series with Shotgun Surrender.

* Susan Peterson brings you Hard Evidence, the final installment in our LIPSTICK LTD. promotion featuring stealthy sleuths. And, of course, we have a spine-tingling ECLIPSE title. This month’s is Patricia Rosemoor’s Ghost Horse.

* Don’t miss Dana Marton’s sexy stand-alone title, The Sheik’s Safety. When an American soldier is caught behind enemy lines, she’ll fake amnesia to guard her safety, but there’s no stopping the sheik determined on winning her heart.

Enjoy our stellar lineup this month and every month!

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Senior Editor

Harlequin Intrigue

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For the guys and gals of my RWA chapter, Southern Magic. Thank you for your support and most of all for your friendship. You’ll never know how much you mean to me.

Five-time RITA ®Award finalist and RITA ®Award winner Gayle Wilson has written over thirty novels and three novellas for Harlequin/Silhouette. She has won more than forty awards and nominations for her work.

Gayle still lives in Alabama, where she was born, with her husband of thirty-four years. She loves to hear from readers. Write to her at P.O. Box 3277, Hueytown, AL 35023. Visit Gayle online at www.booksbygaylewilson.com.

Landon James—The only woman this ex-CIA agent has ever loved is being held captive in the mountains of Afghanistan. There is no question he’ll go after her. The only question is whether he can find her in time.

Grace Chancellor—She had risen quickly in the ranks of the CIA, but her fall has been even more spectacular. Now her life hangs in the balance. And the one person who has the skills to rescue her is the man she walked away from six years ago.

Griff Cabot—The leader of the Phoenix is willing to go outside his own organization if necessary to save Grace Chancellor’s life.

Mike Mitchell—Taken prisoner with Grace, the dying pilot teaches her a lesson that would change her life.

Rudolph Stern—Grace refuses to abandon her fellow prisoner, despite the price she may pay for her loyalty.

Abdul Rahim—No one is more eager for Landon James’s return to Afghanistan than this drug lord with a long memory and a thirst for revenge.

Steven Reynolds—Will this Special Forces operative drive a wedge between Landon and Grace? Or is it possible Landon isn’t the only one guarding secrets?

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

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

“The heroin is taken out of the country by routes established centuries ago. Most of it goes through Tajikistan or Uzbekistan and on to Russia and China.”

Despite the noise of the Kiowa’s jet engine, Colonel Rudolph Stern seemed determined to keep up the ongoing dialogue he’d begun as soon as he met Grace Chancellor’s car at his headquarters. In the close confines of the chopper, he was leaning against her, practically shouting in her ear.

Of course, Grace had been well aware of almost all the information he’d provided long before she’d left Langley. In spite of that, she nodded, having decided a couple of hours ago that the occasional gesture of agreement was the easiest way to deal with her gregarious military host.

It had been painfully obvious from the first he didn’t believe she was the right person for the job she’d been given. Just as obviously, he didn’t realize that his attitude was nothing new.

Grace had spent more than a decade climbing the ranks in the CIA, an agency that celebrated its old-boys network. And Grace Chancellor had never been one of the “old boys.”

“In spite of our presence here,” Stern went on, “massive shipments still make it though those mountains and into Pakistan.” He nodded toward the chopper’s open door and the rugged peaks that stretched below.

This trip along the Afghan/Pakistani border had been an afterthought. Stern had already shown her the vast fields of poppies that now covered the relatively fertile valleys of Afghanistan. In full bloom, their flowers had thrown a blaze of color across the otherwise monochromatic landscape.

With the disruption of the Taliban’s control, the country’s trade in heroin had once again grown to staggering proportions. More than one-fifth of the world’s opium was currently being produced here.

Although heavily backed by an American and British commitment of money and manpower, recent attempts by the Afghan government to rein in that very profitable business had led to deep resentment and even violence among the general population. In a country whose grinding poverty rivaled any in the region, people were dependent on the cash produced by the poppies to feed their children.

It was now Grace’s job to find a workable solution for all of those involved. And to do it before the antipathy generated by the attempts to control the drug trafficking boiled over into a full-blown rebellion.

No one at the CIA, including Grace herself, had had any doubt that her current assignment was a demotion. In her opinion at least, it had been intended as a punishment, as well, but she was determined that the people at the Agency who had made this decision would never have the satisfaction of hearing her complain.

Almost the only thing she could control in this situation was how she conducted herself. Despite her bitterness over the undeserved castigation, she was resolute in her intent to bring to this challenge the same degree of professionalism and all-out effort she had invested in everything else the Agency had ever asked of her.