Ethan went first, carefully taking a step at a time. They seemed solid and, so far, no noise. As he climbed the stairs, he whispered, "Please God, let Anna be okay. I can't live without her now that I've found her."

A hand rested on his back, and he almost pulled his gun, before he realized Steele had caught up to him. Giving him the thumbs up, they continued climbing. Finally, they were on the second floor, the window was ajar, and he almost cheered. Voices. Anna's, a man who had to be Joe, and another woman. Fuck, no.

Ethan peered around the side of the window, hoping they weren't near enough to see him. He'd couldn't believe it. As the kids said, "mind blown." What the fuck was Jenny doing involved with this shit?

Backing away, he whispered to Steele, "Two perps, Joe and Jenny. Anna's tied to a chair, but I didn't see anyone else. She looks a little banged up but okay."

"Jenny? No fuckin' way. Are you sure?"

"I wish I wasn't. So how do you want to do this?"

"Did you see any guns?"

"No. I say let's go through the window and charge them. Two of us, two of them."

Steele nodded. "On three?"

"Yup."

Then all hell broke loose. He and Steele pushed the window open and charged in guns drawn, at almost the same time Mercier and Simmons hit the back stairs. His radio lit up, "shots fired, shots fired." Ethan didn't stop. The others could take care of the rest of the crew, he was going for Johnson or whatever his name was. Slamming in to the dirtbag and knocking him down gave him a certain satisfaction. But mostly he didn't want to give him a chance to pull a gun.

But he hadn't anticipated the knife. Joe's blade slid between his ribs, but it didn't stop Ethan. Backing up, he shot him in the arm, even though killing the asshole would have been more satisfying. He glanced over and saw Jenny handcuffed and sitting on the floor. He wanted to be the one to interrogate her and find out why the fuck she'd turned on Anna.

Racing over to Anna, he ripped the bloody blindfold from her head and smiled into her startled eyes. "Your knight is here to rescue you."

"Ethan!" Tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving trails in the blood and dirt.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"No, I mean I'm okay. I might have a concussion, and my face hurts where he punched me. But I'm okay."

"Thank God. I've never been so worried in my life."

"Me either. Oh my God, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine. It's merely a flesh wound." Then turning to Steele, he yelled, "Toss me that knife, I can't get these ropes untied." He never heard Steele's response or caught the knife. He'd fallen over unconscious.

Epilogue.

The sound of beeping woke him. Bright. Fuck. Where the hell was he? Then the harsh antiseptic hospital scent permeated his foggy brain. For a minute, he thought he was back in Iraq, until his eyes focused on Anna. She was sitting in a chair beside the bed.

"Good morning. How's my hero?"

"Morning? How long have I been out?"

"You needed surgery. Apparently the knife sliced through something important, and you almost bled out."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Yeah, so you're on R&R for a while. No chasing bad guys for at least eight weeks. At least, I think that's what the doctor said."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. A concussion like I expected, but after I begged they let me stay here. The nurse kept coming in to check on you and make sure I didn't fall asleep. But Steele's been keeping me company, and Adria." She nodded to the corner of the room where the two of them were sitting together, whispering.

"I guess you've been matchmaking?"

"Who, me? What is it they say about people who are happy and in love? That they want to share it with the world, or something like that."

"Yeah, something like that. So does that mean you're happy and in love?"

"Actually, I've been meaning to let you in on a little secret. Ethan Price, you've swept me off my feet, and I'm totally cow jumped over the moon in love with you."

About the Author.

Lynne St. James is a member of the Romance Writers of America and has been writing for as long as she can remember. Her lifelong dream to be published finally came true in 2012 when her first book was published through Siren Publishing. Since then she's written four different series.

She lives in the in the mostly sunny state of Florida with her husband and a small petting zoo. Okay maybe it's not a zoo, but sometimes it feels like it. With an eighty-five pound fluffy Dalmation-mutt horse-dog, a fourteen-pound Yorkie-poo, and two cats a tuxedo and and an orange tabby, she thinks it qualifies for zoo status. Lynne likes to pretend that her her office is her private domain, and you can usually find one or more of her furry babies keeping her company.

When Lynne's not writing, she's reading, taking pictures, and sometimes even cooking-to the great relief of her hubby. But mostly she's in her office with a huge mug of coffee and surrounded by books, stuffed animals, and post-it notes, while writing her next happily ever after.

Other Books by Lynne St. James.

Beyond Valor.

A Soldier's Gift, Book 1.

A Soldier's Surprise A Barefoot Bay Kindle World Novella, Book 2 A Soldier's Triumph, Book 3 (October 2016).

Willow Haven.

House Arrest Cuffed & Claimed Anthology.

Anamchara.

Embracing Her Desires, Book 1.

Embracing Her Surrender, Book 2 Embracing Her Love, Book 3.

Raining Chaos.

Taming Chaos, Book 1.

Seducing Wrath, Book 2 Music under the Mistletoe A Raining Chaos Christmas (Novella), Book 2.5 Tempting Flame, Book 3.

The Vampires of Eternity.

Twice Bitten Not Shy, Book 1 Twice Bitten to Paradise, Book 2 Twice Bitten and Bewitched, Book 3.

Seducing the Detective.

by Sherri Hayes.

When Detective Janey Davis is sent to the small town of Liberty to consult on a recently discovered John Doe, she's paired up with Deputy Kyle Reed. She's run into his type before-handsome, overly confident, and he has the ladies fawning all over him. It should be easy to resist her attraction to him. If only someone would have told that to her heart.

Thank you to all my loyal readers who continue to support me and the stories that float around in my head.

1.

"Daniels! Davis!"

Janey Davis turned her head in the direction of Captain Lane's voice. He was motioning for her and her partner, Paul Daniels, to come into his office.

Paul stood and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. "Uh-oh. What did you do now?"

Rolling her eyes, Janey pushed away from her desk. At twenty-eight, she was one of the youngest detectives, and she'd worked hard to gain the others' respect. For the most part she had. Then she'd gone and lost her temper with a suspect about a month ago. The rate things were going, Paul was never going to let her live it down. "Marrying Megan has made you a comedian."

Her partner smirked, not even bothering to deny it.

"Besides," Janey said as they made their way across the room, "who's to say you're not the one that's going to be in the hot seat? He wants to see you, too, remember?"

Paul chuckled, but didn't comment.

When they strolled into Captain Lane's office, he motioned for them to take a seat. "I got a call from the Warren County sheriff. Last night they discovered the body of a man who'd been tased and then beaten to death with some kind of metal pipe or bat."

That got her attention. But before she could speak up, Paul did. "You think it's connected to our cold case?"

"I think it's a possibility. So does Sheriff Jenkins, which is why I want you to head up there and check it out. If it's the same person, we need to know."

Paul shifted in his seat. She knew what was going through his mind. It was Friday afternoon and this weekend was his parents' fortieth wedding anniversary. They were having a big party in Cincinnati to celebrate.

Captain Lane noticed Paul's reaction. "Something wrong, Daniels?"

"No, sir. I just had plans with my family this weekend. It's my parents' anniversary." He hesitated. "But if it's the same person, we need to find that out. I'll call my mom. I'm sure she'll understand."

Janey was sure she wouldn't. She'd met Marilyn Daniels on several occasions. The woman was a great mother, very understanding from what Janey had observed, but she wouldn't be happy if her oldest son wasn't there for such an important event. "How about I go and check things out? It may be nothing, right? And I'm sure the captain wouldn't want you to miss your parents' anniversary party if it's just a coincidence. Right, Captain?"

Paul and Captain Lane both stared at her for several moments before the captain cleared his throat. "I suppose that would work."

"Great." Janey jumped up before anyone else could get a word in edgewise. "Do you have all the information I'll need?"

Captain Lane handed her a piece of paper. "Ask for Deputy Kyle Reed. He's expecting you."

She took the paper and went to leave.