She had an identity to protect. He had to make sure it wasnt exposed.
Since leaving the CIA under questionable circumstances, Amanda Caldwell has been living a quiet, uneventful life in a sleepy mountain town. But when Rick Cooper, her former partnerand former lovermakes an unexpected reappearance, she senses things are about to get a lot more interesting....
Ricks mission is to protect Amanda and her identity from an assassin whos picked up her trail. It isnt long before working together stirs up all the passion and energy theyd once shared on the job. And in Ricks bed. Still, theres more to Ricks assignment than he can share with his partner. Revealing the truth wouldnt be smart. But keeping his secret could be deadly.
Maybe I should check to see if someones outside. She sat up on her knees, preparing to stand.
Where are you going? He caught her arm, holding her in place. She bit back a soft gasp as his fingers tightened on a sore place on her arm. Had she injured herself during her mad dash through the woods?
His fingers loosened and fell away. Did I hurt you?
No, she said, but the burning in her arm hadnt subsided. She lifted her fingers, pressing the sore area. She felt a rip in her jacket and a sticky wetness. I think I cut myself
She heard a rustling noise, then a snick. Light cut through the gloom, making her squint.
Let me see. Rick pointed his flashlight at her arm.
Looking down, she saw a ragged furrow in the arm of her olive-drab jacket, just above the elbow. The edges were singed and damp with drying blood. She knew exactly what it was, even before Rick spoke.
Youve been shot.
Secret Identity
Paula Graves
www.millsandboon.co.uk
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alabama native Paula Graves wrote her first book, a mystery starring herself and her neighborhood friends, at the age of six. A voracious reader, Paula loves books that pair tantalizing mystery with compelling romance. When shes not reading or writing, she works as a creative director for a Birmingham advertising agency and spends time with her family and friends. She is a member of Southern Magic Romance Writers, Heart of Dixie Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America.
Paula invites readers to visit her website, www.paulagraves.com.
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CAST OF CHARACTERS
Amanda CaldwellAfter suffering torture at the hands of a brutal injury, the former CIA agent has gone into hiding. But a ruthless foe has found her, and shes forced to put her life in the hands of a man she never thought shed see again.
Rick CooperThe former security contractor knew the consequences of falling for a spy, but that hadnt made walking away from her any easier. Now his lover is in danger, and hes willing to risk his life to save her. But is he willing to risk his heart?
Alexander QuinnThe CIA master spy was instrumental in tearing Rick and Amanda apart three years ago. Why is he working so hard to bring them back together?
Jesse CooperRicks brother owns a security agency and hired his brother after Ricks former employer, MacLear, collapsed under the weight of an international scandal. But does he have an ulterior motive for helping Rick protect Amanda?
The TigerThe man who tortured Amanda during her spy days has never been identified, much less captured. Is he behind the attempts on her life?
Security Services Unit (SSU)MacLear Securitys secret unit scattered after allegations that the unit acted as a private army for a corrupt State Department official. But are some of the agents still selling their services to the highest bidder?
Damon NorthAn undercover agent whod once infiltrated the SSU, hes been trying to work his way back into their trust. How far is he willing to goand who is he willing to riskto get what he wants?
Maddox HellerThe wealthy former marine seems to be working his own angle in his attempts to help Amanda. Can she and Rick trust his motives?
For my wonderful editor, Allison.
Thank you for your invaluable input and your belief in me. I hope I live up to it.
Contents
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
Prologue
Gazing across the bleak gray waters of the Tidal Basin at the Jefferson Memorial, Barton Reid tugged the lapels of his coat up to cover his exposed neck. Snow fell in halfhearted showers that mostly melted as they hit the concrete walkway extending along the bank to accommodate the tourists.
Strange to think in a few short weeks, the cherry blossoms would be in bloom. And if he played his cards right, hed be here to watch them bloom for years to come.
Footsteps thudded toward him, too swift and determined to be a tourists. He didnt turn right away. He didnt want to look desperate. Play it cool. Stay in control. Thats how a kid from the streets of Philly had made it into the highest echelon at the Department of State. It would take those skills, and every favor he could call in, to stay out of prison.
The footsteps slowed to a stop a few feet from him. Only then did he glance down the railing to see the stocky, dark-haired man hed contacted a day earlier.
Youre taking a chance calling me here. Salvatore Beckett had changed his look in the past couple of years, letting his dark hair grow out until it curled around the collar of his turtleneck sweater. Hed bulked up, and the definition of his muscles was obvious even through the layers of clothing he wore to ward off the mid-March cold snap.
You know theyre looking for you, yet here you are.
I was led to understand there was a great deal of money involved.
There is. And a favor to an old associate who may be in a position to help us in the future. He waited for Beckett to ask the obvious question, but the man just shrugged.
Youll pay what was offered?
Absolutely. More accurately, his associate would come up with the exorbitant fee. Reid was merely a middleman.
Anybody sees you with me, its going to blow your defense.
Reid didnt have to be reminded of that troubling fact. But he had to weigh the potential for discovery against the certainty that his associate meant every word of his threat. He would connect Reid to the uprising in Kaziristan in a way that could put him in prison for the rest of his life, if he wasnt executed for treason first.
Then lets waste no more time, Reid said aloud. How do you feel about a trip to Tennessee?
Is it warmer than here?
I believe so.
Beckett smiled. Im in.
Youll need men.
I have them. Becketts voice rang with confidence.
Then here are your orders. Reid reached into the inner pocket of his coat and handed Beckett a single sheet of paper. On it were terse instructions for carrying out the job hed just agreed to do.
Becketts eyebrows rose slightly. I play this my way?
Get it done, and you can play it any way you want.
Beckett nodded. Nice talking to you again, Mr. Reid.
Reid turned his gaze back to the water. Along the path from the Jefferson Memorial, a young woman approached, her dark hair whipped by the icy wind into a silken halo. One hand was wrapped firmly around the hand of a little girl of three, who was laughing happily as she gazed up at the falling snow.
Your daughter? Beckett murmured.
Reid didnt answer.
Ill be in touch. Beckett turned and walked slowly away.
Reid watched Merediths approach, saw her smile as she spotted him across the distance. Anyone watching would assume hed been waiting here for his daughter and his granddaughter.
It was mostly true.
Adrianna spotted him as they neared. Her face spread in a smile of delight that made Reids heart crack and bleed. Papi! Papi! She tugged hard at her mothers hand, and Meredith let her go. Adriannas chubby little legs churned as they ate up the distance between her and her grandfather.
He caught the little girl as she flew at him and lifted her high in the air, delighting in her giggles.
Hello, Addie my love! He kissed her cold cheeks and smiled at his daughter as she approached at a more leisurely pace. She was still smiling at him, but he could see the worry in her green eyes.
His life was still in flux, and unless Salvatore Beckett and his friends were able to accomplish the task hed given them, his life was about to get more complicated still.
But he still had cards to play, even if Beckett and his men failed. He just hoped hed never have to play them.
Chapter One
Her name wasnt really Amanda Caldwell.
She hadnt gone by her real name since she was twenty-two, fresh out of college and looking for adventure. Shed found her adventure in a very covert section of the CIA and had become a different person.
A lot of different persons.
Over the years, shed learned never to trust a strangeror a friend. Never sit with her back to the door. Never take the same route home twice in a row.
In a place like Thurlow Gap, Tennessee, population 224, that last rule was hard to live by. Bypassed by the major state highways, the picture-postcard mountain hamlet had never become a tourist trap like other towns bordering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, much to the chagrin of the towns tiny chamber of commerce.
But the seclusion suited Amandas needs very well.
Today shed chosen a scenic route through Bridal Veil Woods behind the towns water tower. It added a few minutes to the normal ten-minute walk from town to her cottage in the foothills, but the sense of control was worth the extra time.
From the woods she emerged onto Dewberry Road two hundred yards north of the small cottage shed bought two and a half years ago. As she headed up the road, a warbly voice called out her name. Hey there, Miz Caldwell, did you get the job?
Amanda turned to smile at the curly-topped little girl wobbling up to her on a bright pink bike. Shed grown up in a small town, but all the years and experiences since then had erased the memory of just how little privacy there could be in a town the size of Thurlow Gap. Everybody knew your business, even six-year-olds with scabby knees and gap-toothed grins.
Hey there your own self, Lizzie Jean. She fell easily into the Southern accent shed spent a couple of years losing when she joined the agency. I did get the job.
Starting Monday, shed be putting together the fall print ads for Gruver Hardware. It was freelance, like all the rest of the jobs she took these days, but it would pay a few months worth of bills, sparing her from having to dip into her emergency funds.
Lizzie Hawkins slid off the bike and started walking next to Amanda. Hey, some fella come lookin for you earlier. He left a box on your porch. Is it your birthday or somethin?
Amanda kept smiling, but inside, her heart rate ratcheted up just a notch. She hadnt ordered anything, and it wasnt likely anyone in town had sent her something when they could have easily dropped it by in person.
These days, she didnt much like mysteries.
What did the fella look like? she asked.
He had on a brown shirt and shorts, and he smelled sweaty. Lizzie wrinkled her nose. He looked a little like Mr. Fielding, only a lot younger.
John Fielding was a Cherokee of indeterminate age who ran a produce stand on the edge of town. So the man whod dropped off the package was dark-skinned and dark-haired. Maybe American Indian. Maybenot.
Amandas muscles tensed. Just a little. What about his voiceanything strange about it?
Lizzies forehead wrinkled. No, maam.
So no accent, foreign or otherwise. Maybe a local hired to deliver the package. Did you see what he was driving?
A big brown truck.
Could be legit, she thought, letting herself relax a little more. Maybe someone in town had ordered her a book or something as a thank-you for a freelance design job well done.
Thank you, Lizzie, for lettin me know. Now you run along home, okay? Ill see you later. Amanda stayed still, watching the little girl ride away. When Lizzie was at a safe distance, Amanda turned up the gravel drive to her house. Towering pines in the front sheltered the house from the road, but as she reached the cobblestone walk to her front porch, she caught sight of the box lying on the welcome mat in front of her door.