Cameron, Marc - Tom Clancy's Shadow of the Dragon

Meyer managed a small groan. Other than that, he couldn’t even close his eyes. It was painless, but absolutely terrifying.

“Anyway,” the old man said, giving him a friendly little pat on the shoulder before he stood up and walked away.

Jack Ryan, Jr., wanted to take the elevator, but Lisanne insisted on the stairs. She’d lost an arm, she reminded him, not her leg—and even then she’d have wanted to take the stairs as well, thank you very much.

Ryan could hear the chatter up above. The smell of lamb in the shepherd’s pie made his mouth water.

He smiled at Lisanne as they turned at the landing to start up again, taking it slow. It had been only a couple months. She was pale, sweating a little on that beautiful upper lip of hers. By all rights, she should have been dead. And she would have been, had she not had her spleen removed after a horseback-riding accident as a teenager. With no spleen to catch them, the bullets had proceeded through her body without clipping any major arteries but for the one in her arm. Adara had saved her life there, no question about it.

“You nervous?” Ryan said.

Lisanne looked at him with a mock scoff. “Why would I be nervous? Because this is our first date?”

“Not that,” Ryan said as they topped the stairs and made the corner into the West Sitting Hall.

Cathy Ryan met them at the door to the private dining room, across from the master residence. She was dressed in jeans and a USMC sweatshirt, a dish towel thrown cavalierly over her shoulder. Ryan’s old man came out behind her, carrying a copy of The Wall Street Journal .

“Mom, Dad,” Ryan said. “I want to introduce you to Lisanne Robertson. A good friend from work.”

THIS IS JUST

THE BEGINNING

Find us online and join the conversation

Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/penguinukbooks

Like us on Facebook facebook.com/penguinbooks

Share the love on Instagram instagram.com/penguinukbooks

Watch our authors on YouTube youtube.com/penguinbooks

Pin Penguin books to your Pinterest pinterest.com/penguinukbooks

Listen to audiobook clips at soundcloud.com/penguin-books

Find out more about the author and discover

your next read at penguin.co.uk

PENGUIN BOOKS

UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia

New Zealand | India | South Africa

Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

First published in the United States of America by G. P. Putnam’s Sons 2020

Published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph 2020

Copyright © The Estate of Thomas L. Clancy, Jr.; Rubicon, Inc.;

Jack Ryan Enterprises, Ltd.; Jack Ryan Limited Partnership, 2020

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Jacket design by blacksheep-uk.com

Images © Getty Images, © Shutterstock

© Plainpicture and © Alamy

Maps by Jeffrey L. Ward

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

ISBN: 978-1-405-94757-2

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.