Tyler Snell - The Negotiation

She’s fighting for her life.

He’ll risk everything to keep her safe.

When Rachel Roberts is nearly abducted, she makes a panicked call to the one man she can trust. Lawman Dane Jones will do anything to protect his best friend’s widow. Plagued by the guilt he bears over the man’s tragic death and his undeclared love for Rachel, Dane must confront his past in order to stop a madman. Their lives—and their futures—depend on it.

The Protectors of Riker County

TYLER ANNE SNELLgenuinely loves all genres of the written word. However, she’s realized that she loves books filled with sexual tension and mysteries a little more than the rest. Her stories have a good dose of both. Tyler lives in Alabama with her same-named husband and their mini “lions.” When she isn’t reading or writing, she’s playing video games and working on her blog, Almost There . To follow her shenanigans, visit tylerannesnell.com.

Also by Tyler Anne Snell

Small-Town Face-Off

The Deputy’s Witness

Forgotten Pieces

Loving Baby

The Deputy’s Baby

The Negotiation

Private Bodyguard

Full Force Fatherhood

Be on the Lookout: Bodyguard

Suspicious Activities

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Negotiation

Tyler Anne Snell

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07929-7

THE NEGOTIATION

© 2018 Tyler Anne Snell

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

This book is for Dianne. Not only are you the

best mama-in-law I could ask for, you’re also insane.

In the best way possible. Thank you for all of your help

with this series. And for creating my favorite human.

May all your days be blessed with pineapples.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

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

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Prologue

Dane heard the call the same time Rachel did.

Both were sitting in the belly of the sheriff’s department. They were two of several who heard what the men had to say.

“These men are sinners,” the man shouted, voice slightly distorted over the speakerphone. “Plain and true! Just like this town. Just like this county. Just like this state. Sinners, all sinners!”

Dane’s fists had already been balled. Now his fingers were eating into his palms. It wasn’t until Rachel silently covered one hand with her own that he loosened the tension. Her wedding band was cold against his skin.

“Then why take them? They were on their way to the prison,” Sheriff Rockwell said. “You’re the one who kept them from facing justice.”

The man on the other end of the phone call was fast to answer, like he’d rehearsed the whole thing beforehand.

“They represent corruption. A corruption that has taken over,” he said, voice still high and filled with unmistakable self-reverence. “And we, the Saviors of the South, represent the consequence to that corruption! The answer! We will show this town that this corruption will no longer be tolerated. These sinners will be the first of many demonstrations on how we will cleanse this place!”

Rachel’s hand tightened over Dane’s while he shared a look with the sheriff. Rockwell was a solid man who Dane had felt privileged to work alongside as his chief deputy for the past few years. He was fair, to the point and levelheaded. He was also a mean shot, and that didn’t count for nothing.

“But you didn’t just take prisoners,” the sheriff pointed out, “you also took two guards. Two good men through and through. What’s your plan with them?”

Dane held his breath. He knew Rachel was doing the same. One of those men was David Roberts. And he was one of the best of them.

That’s why Rachel had married him.

That’s why Dane was his best friend.

That’s why both were willing to do whatever it took to get him back.

“The men who protect sinners are no better than the sinners themselves,” the man answered.

Anger swelled in Dane’s chest but he kept his mouth closed. Popping off at an obviously unstable man wasn’t going to save David or the other guard. It wasn’t going to save the inmates they had been transporting, either. Good or bad, they’d undergone trials and received a sentence by their peers. Neither Dane, the sheriff nor the Saviors of the South had any room to change those sentences. Certainly not to make the decision of whether they should live or die.

And that’s really what the man on the phone was saying without saying it.

They aimed to kill the seven men they’d kidnapped that morning.

Dane knew it. The sheriff knew it. Even Rachel knew it.

She’d rushed to the department the moment she’d heard the transport van had been hit, ready to help in any way she could.

“I have money,” she’d told him. “Not a lot, but maybe we can exchange it.”

That had been before the call had come in. Before they’d realized the men didn’t want money at all. They wanted to be heard. They wanted attention. They wanted fame.

“I can’t just let you do what you want with them, no matter who they are,” Sheriff Rockwell said, stern. “So let’s find us a way to work this out where no one gets hurt.”

The man, who would later be known as Marcus the Martyr by his followers who found themselves in prison, laughed. Without realizing it, Dane locked that sound in his memory for life. It was cold and callous. It didn’t care about corruption, no matter how falsely perceived, and it didn’t care about justice. It, like the man, only cared about being louder than everyone else.