Lyn Stone - Against the Wall

Jack’s hand on her arm gripped with increased intensity. Solange realized he was afraid for her. Really afraid, to the point where he might abandon the mission if she seemed reluctant.

“I know what to do,” she assured him, putting more conviction into her answer than she truly felt.

In a surprising move, he put his arms around her and held her close. “I wish to God I had left you where you were. You’re not cut out for this.”

She pushed against his chest until she could look him straight in the eye. “Don’t underestimate me, Mercier.”

He smiled down at her, still holding her in his arms. “My mistake.” Then he lowered his head and kissed her.

Solange felt it to her soul.

Dear Reader,

Once again, Silhouette Intimate Moments has a month’s worth of fabulous reading for you. Start by picking up Wanted, the second in Ruth Langan’s suspenseful DEVIL’S COVE miniseries. This small town is full of secrets, and this top-selling author knows how to keep readers turning the pages.

We have more terrific miniseries. Kathleen Creighton continues STARRS OF THE WEST with An Order of Protection, featuring a protective hero every reader will want to have on her side. In Joint Forces, Catherine Mann continues WINGMEN WARRIORS with Tag’s long-awaited story. Seems Tag and his wife are also awaiting something: the unexpected arrival of another child. Carla Cassidy takes us back to CHEROKEE CORNERS in Manhunt. There’s a serial killer on the loose, and only the heroine’s visions can help catch him—but will she be in time to save the hero? Against the Wall is the next SPECIAL OPS title from Lyn Stone, a welcome addition to the line when she’s not also writing for Harlequin Historicals. Finally, you knew her as Anne Avery, also in Harlequin Historicals, but now she’s Anne Woodard, and in Dead Aim she proves she knows just what contemporary readers want.

Enjoy them all—and come back next month, when Silhouette Intimate Moments brings you even more of the best and most exciting romance reading around.

Yours,

Leslie J. Wainger

Executive Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

loves creating pictures with words. Paints, too. Her love affair with writing and art began in the third grade, when she won a school-wide prize for her colorful poster for Book Week. She spent the prize money on books, one of which was Little Women.

She rewrote the ending so that Jo marries her childhood sweetheart. That’s because Lyn had a childhood sweetheart herself and wanted to marry him when she grew up. She did. And now she is living her “happily ever after” in north Alabama with the same guy. She and Allen have traveled the world, have two children, four grandchildren and experienced some wild adventures along the way.

Whether writing romantic historicals or contemporary fiction, Lyn insists on including elements of humor, mystery and danger. Perhaps because that other book she purchased all those years ago was a Nancy Drew.

This book is dedicated to

retired Special Agent Frank Hudson, Dorothy and Jim.

We miss you guys!

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

Epilogue

“I don’t see how we’re gonna be much help to Jack fifteen clicks away,” Joe Corda said. He immediately lowered his voice when he heard the echo bounce off the old masonry walls. “That’s lethal stuff he’ll be dealing with. Not like bullets. One hit and he’s dead. If he were going in alone, I wouldn’t worry so much, but he’ll have that doctor along. And the kid.”

“He’ll need tickets and they’re it. I’d have gotten us closer, but we’d stick out like M&Ms on a sushi plate anywhere else around here,” Holly Amberson argued. “As it is, the locals won’t even blink at us. They’re used to weirdos renting this place. Artistes!” she hissed with a flourish of her fingers.

He looked around as he put down two of the suitcases. “This dump looks like something out of a really bad French novel.”

“Oh, yeah, like you’ve read so many of those,” she muttered. “But I will admit a Bela Lugosi butler wouldn’t be out of place.”

He leveled her with a look. “We are the help, remember?”

“Not you, slick.” She smirked. “You are the gigolo. Man, I do hate that shirt. Which pimp’s closet did you raid anyway?”

Just outside, Martine Duquesne Corda was busy issuing imperious instructions to her bodyguard, Eric Vinland, and chauffeur, Will Griffin. Holly laughed. “Martine’s really getting into her role. You let her boss you around like that?”

“Sure.” Joe shrugged, hands on his hips, preoccupied with taking in the rustic, old-world charm of the faded mansion in France’s Lorraine region. “She does have an image to maintain. How do you like her disguise? She’ll be just that beautiful when she does reach sixty, I bet.”

In an abrupt change of topic, Holly commented, “Where the heck are the outlets in this barn? I need a place to hook up.” She hefted the case containing assorted gadgets and her laptop and set it on a scarred marble-topped table near the door.

They both moved aside as the others entered. She waited until Will had closed the door. “All the rooms been swept?”

“Clean,” Eric assured her. “We’re good to go.” He turned to Martine, clicked his heels and bowed, looking more like a muscle-bound kid on spring break than the bodyguard he was supposed to be. “Our reclusive Madame D’Amato may proceed with her work uninhibited.” He peered over his wire-rimmed glasses and winked at Joe. “As well as her play, of course.” Caught off guard, Martine laughed and blushed.

Holly pointed to the mound of luggage now piled near their feet. “You guys cut the bull and set up the global positioning system. Let’s check Jack’s location. We need to know exactly when to expect him.”

Will, quintessential agent, the quiet man, finally spoke. “His ETA’s eleven-thirty, give or take five. He’ll be here.”

“Verify.” Holly was running this end of the mission. Joe reached for the case with the GPS instruments. His duties consisted of whatever Holly ordered him to do. And also protecting his wife, not an official member of the Sextant team but a contract language specialist who was central to their cover. Holly, Will, Eric and he were masquerading as her entourage. Clay Senate was maintaining Stateside control while the boss, Mercier, had assumed the lead.

The Sextant team consisted of agents recruited from various government organizations expressly for the purpose of preventing terrorist activities around the globe. This suspected bio-terror threat was the first of its kind for Sextant.

Identify, Infiltrate, Analyze and Eliminate. That first part, they had all had a hand in. The second and most difficult order of business was about to go down within the next few hours if all went as planned. The primary agent was about to insert.

Joe looked up at the peeling paint on the fancy plaster ceiling and—seriously lapsed Catholic that he was—uttered a devout prayer that they would all survive. He was known for his hunches, and he had a really bad feeling about this.