Susan Kearney - Out For Justice

The stance was too intimate, their bodies way too close. There was no way he could prevent his reaction to her as she wriggled to get into shooting position.

When her gun sagged in her hands, he clenched his teeth in frustration at their enforced proximity but reached around her to help hold the gun. “This time, don’t close your eyes. It’ll make it easier to see if you hit your target.”

“How will I know if I’m on target?” Kelly demanded and he realized she was playing word games with him. He didn’t know if he wanted to turn her around and kiss her or turn and walk away.

“You’ll know.”

She aimed again, and shot. And when the bullets rang out, she flung herself around in his arms, a pleased grin on her face. “I did it!”

“But you didn’t hit anything.”

“Not yet.” And that’s when she planted a kiss on Wade’s lips.

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

We have another month of spine-tingling romantic thrillers lined up for you—starting with the much anticipated second book in Joanna Wayne’s tantalizing miniseries duo, HIDDEN PASSIONS: FULL MOON MADNESS. In Just Before Dawn, a reclusive mountain man vows to get to the bottom of a single mother’s terrifying nightmares before darkness closes in.

Award-winning author Leigh Riker makes an exciting debut in the Harlequin Intrigue line this May with Double Take. Next, pulses race out of control in Mask of a Hunter by Sylvie Kurtz—the second installment in THE SEEKERS—when a tough operative’s cover story as doting lover to a pretty librarian threatens to blow up.

Be there from the beginning of our brand-new in-line continuity, SHOTGUN SALLYS! In this exciting trilogy, three young women friends uncover a scandal in the town of Mustang Valley, Texas, that puts their lives—and the lives of the men they love—on the line. Don’t miss Out for Justice by Susan Kearney.

To wrap up a month of can’t-miss romantic suspense, Doreen Roberts debuts in the Harlequin Intrigue line with Official Duty, the next title in our COWBOY COPS thematic promotion. It’s a double-murder investigation that forces a woman out of hiding to face her perilous past…and her pent-up feelings for the sexy sheriff who still has her heart in custody. Last but certainly not least, Emergency Contact by Susan Peterson—part of our DEAD BOLT promotion—is an edgy psychological thriller about a traumatized amnesiac who may have been brainwashed to do the unthinkable….

Enjoy all our selections this month!

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Senior Editor,

Harlequin Intrigue

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Susan Kearney used to set herself on fire four times a day. Now she does something really hot—she writes romantic suspense. While she no longer performs her signature fire dive (she’s taken up figure skating), she never runs out of ideas for characters and plots. A business graduate from the University of Michigan, Susan writes full-time. She resides in a small town outside Tampa, Florida, with her husband and children and a spoiled Boston terrier. Visit her at www.SusanKearney.com.

Kelly McGovern—The great-great-granddaughter of Shotgun Sally and Mustang Valley’s most infamous citizen. Kelly is determined to pierce the veil of secrecy around her brother Andrew’s death, even if it means moving in with the town’s bad boy to protect her.

Wade Lansing—Mustang Valley’s original bad boy and Andrew’s best friend.

Sheriff Ben Wilson—Honest law enforcer or man with his own agenda?

Jonathan Dixon—A law school colleague of Andrew’s with a chip on his shoulder and a grudge the size of Texas.

Mayor Mickey Daniels—He’ll do almost anything to win his reelection—but does that include murder?

Debbie West—Andrew’s fiancée and woman with a secret past.

Niles Deagen—Oilman extraordinaire or a man on the verge of bankruptcy?

Lindsey Wellington—New to Mustang Valley and Lambert & Church, she’s determined to get to the bottom of Andrew’s mysterious death, especially if it helps out her new friends Kelly and Cara.

Cara Hamilton—A fledgling reporter and Kelly’s best friend.

Andrew McGovern—Kelly’s brother lost his life much too soon. But was the fire that caused his death really an accident…or arson?

Shotgun Sally—The legendary frontierswoman influences the lives of Kelly, Lindsey and Cara in their quest for the truth!

For Phyllis and Sy Dresser

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

“Hi, short-stuff. What’s up?” Andrew McGovern answered his sister, Kelly’s, phone call with such enthusiasm that if she hadn’t known better, she wouldn’t have guessed he’d just worked an eighteen-hour day.

“It’s after midnight,” Kelly pointed out with sisterly affection. Andrew might amuse himself with his gadgets, like the caller ID that had told him she was on the line before he’d picked up the phone, but she’d bet her new diamond-bezel Rolex her parents had given her for a college graduation present that her brother hadn’t checked the time in hours.

Papers rustled. She pictured Andrew behind his battered desk in the annex of his law office of Lambert & Church, his tie and jacket thrown over the back of a spare chair, his desk a mountain of papers, his file cabinet half-open, his eyes bleary despite the numerous cups of black coffee he’d drunk to keep him awake.

“And?” he asked.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than work on Saturday night?”

“Nag. Nag. Nag.” Andrew chuckled. “Short-stuff, if you aren’t careful, you’ll start sounding just like Mom. And if, like her, you want to know if I’m still engaged to Debbie, I am. In fact, I’m bringing her to breakfast at the house tomorrow morning.”

Kelly sucked in her breath. Mom and Dad didn’t approve of Debbie West’s family and they certainly wouldn’t be pleased about his engagement. Andrew’s fiancée lived on an impoverished ranch just outside of Mustang Valley, Texas, about an hour north of town, with her alcoholic father and no-good brother. While Andrew seemed oblivious to his parents’ reservations about his current relationship, Kelly’s stomach knotted. She didn’t like discord. Doing what her parents expected of her was so much easier than butting heads.

She’d always enjoyed her parents’ approval, making straight As, being popular in school and avoiding trouble. Sure, sometimes she’d rather have been out partying than hitting the books on a regular basis, but she had discipline, something the brilliant Andrew, who often worked through the night but then didn’t go into the office for another two days, knew nothing about. And she’d never understood why her older brother seemed so intent on riling up the folks by choosing friends from the other side of Mustang Valley. Like Andrew’s best friend, that renegade Wade Lansing, who owned the Hit ’Em Again Saloon, and Debbie West, a high-school dropout who worked at a local diner.