Julie Lindsey - Federal Agent Under Fire

She’d fought for her life

but the terror continues.

For five years FBI agent Blake Garrett has fixated on a serial-killer case. Now the madman has attacked Marissa Lane. She escaped with her life...and some clues that could help Blake. Yet she is still the object of the killer’s obsession. And Blake is torn between the unquenching need to catch his prey and a deep desire to protect the woman he can’t possibly keep.

JULIE ANNE LINDSEY is a multi-genre author who writes the stories that keep her up at night. She’s a self-proclaimed nerd with a penchant for words and proclivity for fun. Julie lives in rural Ohio with her husband and three small children. Today, she hopes to make someone smile. One day she plans to change the world. Julie is a member of the International Thriller Writers (ITW) and Sisters in Crime (SinC). Learn more about Julie Anne Lindsey at www.julieannelindsey.com.

Also by Julie Anne Lindsey

Federal Agent Under Fire

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Federal Agent Under Fire

Julie Anne Lindsey

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07875-7

FEDERAL AGENT UNDER FIRE

© 2018 Julie Anne Lindsey

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedicated to double-shot espressos.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

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

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Marissa Lane knew something was wrong the minute she saw him. In the six months since she’d started her predawn ritual, she’d rarely seen anyone in the national park before sunup, save the occasional ranger, but there were no rangers today. Only him. A man nearly engulfed in shadows at the lookout where she watched the sunrise three days a week.

She slowed her pace before reaching the low wooden fence that separated hikers from a sharp plummet into fog-laced evergreens, angling her body to keep the man in her sights. Everything about the moment set her intuition on edge, but she forced the shaky feeling away. She’d met plenty of fellow hikers over the years, and they’d all been kind. Kindred spirits. Glad to be outdoors. It was the hour that threw her. She’d started to think of herself as the only one in town who enjoyed a good sunrise.

The rocky eastern face of the park’s tallest mountain was the best place in Cade County to watch a sunrise, maybe the best in Kentucky. Marissa had yet to find a better one, though it was her job to try, and she did four mornings a week. Normally, she’d have finished her water and enjoyed her apple before walking back to her ride, parked nearly five miles down the trail, but today every cell in her body said that whatever had brought this man into her path wasn’t good, and she didn’t want any part of it.

“Mornin’.” His voice was low and gravelly. The hood of his jacket was up, working in collaboration with the shadows to shield his face.

Marissa lifted her chin in acknowledgement. She moved her tired body another step away, feigning interest in the view closest to the trail. He’d probably come there to think and was feeling as intruded upon as she was. Courtesy said she should be on her way. Greedily, she dawdled for one more breathtaking look.

The fiery glow of daylight scorched a path across the sky, climbing the opposite mountain with vigor and bathing thousands of deciduous trees, already dressed in rich autumn colors, with luminous shades from amber to apricot and everything in between. These were her favorite seconds of the day; when an ordinary forest became an inferno, and the world was backlit by Mother Nature’s glory.

The man broke free from the shadow and took a few casual steps in Marissa’s direction, setting her intuition into overdrive. The light scent of cigarette smoke plumed from his clothes, tainting the crisp morning air. This man wasn’t a hiker, wasn’t a runner, and he was definitely not getting a second of Marissa’s time.

She turned away with a frustrated sigh and headed down the mountain on tired, burning legs and a heart full of injustice. Anger churned in her gut with each forced step. She’d made the run in record time. She’d pushed her body for results and had gotten them. These few fleeting moments of sunrise were supposed to be her reward, but this man, whoever he was, was stealing those from her. She hated herself for letting him. For fearing him when she didn’t know him. For denying herself the hard-earned prize because she was a woman and he was a stranger. All feminism aside, wrong or right, she’d promised her parents long ago to make safety paramount while she was on her adventures. It was her duty to hold to that, even now, when he had her sunrise and she had a long walk back to where she’d started.

The return trip was always a slower, more methodical process. A pleasurable cooldown, normally preceded by rest on the lookout. She massaged the warm muscles in her neck and shoulders as she moved, swinging her arms across her body for an added stretch. Her legs were rubbery beneath her, but the brisk autumn breeze was invigorating as it rushed over the sheen of sweat on her skin. If she could sell everything and live in the wild for a year, at one with nature, part of the beautiful multicolored kingdom around her, she’d do it in a heartbeat. But only for a year. Eventually she’d miss her crazy family, except for her little sister. Kara would probably be swinging in the hammock beside hers.

Back at the trailhead, the lot was empty except for her old Jeep, and Marissa couldn’t bring herself to make the drive home without enjoying the moment of reflection she’d worked for. She checked the empty trail behind her, then hooked a left onto the short path toward Shadow Valley Lake. A hundred yards later, she slid onto the ground at the base of an ancient tree and pulled her knees to her chest. The lake was beautiful, peaceful and full of history.