Ana Leigh - Heart At Risk

Kurt lowered his head. His next move was as instinctive as it was inevitable. He had wanted to kiss her for days, but this time he intended the kiss to be light, gentle. A tender gesture meant to soothe her fears and give her the assurance of his protection. But the instant he felt the softness of her lips, the taste of her, he wanted so much more. With all the willpower he could muster, he broke the kiss.

Her surprise was as evident as his own as she stared up at him.

For ten years she’d nourished her memory of the father of her son with fanciful yearnings and wishful dreams. Now, under the pressure of his lips, the warmth and power of his embrace, divine sensation spiraled to the pit of her stomach in a degree of aroused passion she had never suspected existed within her.

“Maddie, I want to make love to you.”

Dear Reader,

It’s been business as usual for the men of the Dwarf Squad, so Kurt Bolen (Code name: Sneezy), on medical leave due to a wound he received on the last mission, decides to make a quick visit to the small Wisconsin town in which he was raised. He is unprepared not only for the greatest and most unexpected surprise of his life, but also to find himself involved with illegal organ harvesters who are out to harm him and those near and dear to him.

I have to admit I’ve grown very attached to these guys in RATCOM, the CIA’s Rescue and Anti-Terrorist Special Ops Squad, and the great gals they ended up marrying. If you liked Ann Bishop and Trish Cassidy, I’m sure you’ll find Maddie Bennett just as appealing. Her mundane daily routine of running her bookstore takes on a whole new perspective when Kurt Bolen comes back to town.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the thoughtful cards and letters so many of you have sent Don and me during this chapter in our lives. Nothing is more rewarding than knowing there are unknown faces out there offering their prayers and support.

With Valentine’s Day upon us, give that special person in your life a hug and kiss from me. And above all, have a happy and healthy winter.

My deepest love and affection,

Ana Leigh

USE TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

www.millsandboon.co.uk

is a Wisconsin native with three children and five grandchildren. From the time of the publication of her first novel in 1981, Ana successfully juggled her time between her chosen career and her hobby of writing, until she officially retired in September of 1994 to devote more time to her “hobby.” In the past she has been a theater cashier (who married the boss), the head of an accounting department, a corporate officer, and the only female on the Board of Directors of an engineering firm.

This New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author received a Romantic Times BOOKreviews Career Achievement Award nomination for Storyteller of the Year in 1991, the Bookrak 1995-1996 Best Selling Author Award, the Romantic Times BOOKreviews 1995-1996 Career Achievement Award, and the Romantic Times BOOKreviews 1996-1997 Career Achievement Award for Historical Storyteller of the Year. Her novels have been distributed worldwide, including Africa, China and Russia.

I dedicate this novel to Kurt Kelley, a family friend

who is as dear to my heart as a son, and

who kept asking, “How’s the book coming?”

Hey, here it is, Kurt!

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

Chapter 20

Colombia

The stillness was eerie. Black…noiseless…encompassing. No sound of distant voices, chirp of a cricket, chatter of a bird. Not a leaf stirred, nor a creature scurried as the six men hastened through the trees, their footsteps swathed in darkness and silence.

Suddenly the blackness was breached by a dim light filtered through the shutters of a window on the upper floor of a two-story stone building that stood like a monolith amid the scattered wooden shacks that surrounded it.

They had reached their target.

They’d been told that the local residents rarely ventured out at night, and despite the heat, kept their doors locked and shutters closed. Kurt could only hope tonight was no exception.

The strident bark of a dog split the stillness. Cassidy raised his hand, halting the squad. The barking ceased as quickly as it had begun and was too distant for their presence to have alerted the animal, so they moved on.

As they neared their objective, the squad pulled on their thermo night-vision goggles, casting the darkness into a surrealistic green that enabled them to read the H sign hung above the front entrance of the building. To Kurt, a hospital meant sanctuary, a place of healing.

So how come I have a knot in my gut and goose bumps on my arms?

A door slammed and the men froze. The faint glow of a cigarette indicated the presence of a man, an automatic weapon hung from a strap on his shoulder.

“Make him?” Cassidy whispered. Kurt nodded. “Take him out.”

Kurt raised the scoped sniper rifle and lined up the target. As soon as they heard the faint pop of the silencer, the squad moved quickly and entered the building.

Despite the wooden floor, the six men stole up the stairway without a sound and proceeded toward a lit room at the end of the hallway, halting to make sure each room they passed was deserted.

The final room had double doors that swung inward. Cassidy shoved up his goggles. The rest of the team did likewise, then waited as he peered cautiously through the glass in one of the doors. The wait seemed endless. He glanced at Don Larson beside him. Larson nodded, and tightened his hold on the weapon he carried. Cassidy and Larson would be the first two through the doors. The whole squad was tensed and wired. Ready to go. It was always like this right before the action.

Cassidy turned his head and mouthed the word eight, indicating there were eight armed men inside. The squad was outnumbered, but had the element of surprise—if not, all hell would have broken out by now.

He mouthed the word nine and made a slashing motion across his right arm to indicate there were nine unarmed people on the right side of the room.

They most likely were the six American hostages the squad had come to rescue, and probably three local medical people. Kurt could only hope that none of them would get hit when the gunfire started.

Cassidy stepped back, nodded then pushed open the doors.

Within seconds the shooting, shouting and cries of alarm had ended, and the fight was over. None of the team or hostages had been wounded and as the squad checked the bodies on the floor Cassidy announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re here to get you out. Please do exactly as told.” He repeated the same message in Spanish.

A slim, middle-aged man stepped forward. “I am Dr. Fernando Escobar, head of this hospital,” he said in accented but proper English. “We are grateful to you and your men, but I must offer medical assistance to any of those wounded men who require it.”

Kurt shook his head when Cassidy glanced at him.

“None require it,” Cassidy said succinctly.