by Jordan Dane
Zoey didn’t know if that translated to having a future together, but in that moment, she felt certain of one thing—she wanted more ‘nows’ with this extraordinary man.
***
Laramie Mountains
Dusk
Mercer knew the day would come when he’d have to let go. He’d put if off because his heart wasn’t ready. It would never be ready. Grief kept him living in the past and punishing himself for what had happened. He thought his work would be enough to shove his pain deep, but his missions had become walls to keep anyone from getting too close.
It took a stranger to flail at those walls until they cracked. Zoey had broken through to him—a straightforward woman with a big heart. She made him want more and she opened his eyes to a life he never would have glimpsed without her.
Mercer drove his F-150 truck into the Laramie Mountains as the sun spread its molten fire across the sky. Karl sat in the passenger seat as the truck jostled over ruts, following a winding trail Mercer had a hand in creating, before tragedy had changed him forever. When he reached the spot he came to find, he parked his vehicle near a lookout point and got out.
The view always took his breath.
Mercer had discovered the panoramic cliff with his wife, Keara. He’d proposed to her at dusk, standing on this very spot.
A lush basin of rolling hills had spires of evergreen trees dappling its hillsides. A river cut through the gorge, rippling over rocks, with its rushing water glistening in the waning sunlight. When he closed his eyes, he heard the faint whisper of the water. In the upper elevations, sharp, jagged ridges towered over the valley and jutted into a bank of low clouds, to touch heaven.
His eyes misted and his throat tightened when he thought of what he came to do. He returned to his truck and let Karl out. The dog would usually roam, but today his partner sensed something in him and stayed at his side. On the floorboard was a canvas bag. He pulled out its contents and stared down at it.
“One last time, my love.”
In his hands he held a wooden box he had carved. He hadn’t touched it in a very long time, but it was never far from his mind. Inside the ornate container were the ashes of his wife, Keara, and the remains of his only child—his four-year old son, Braeden.
Mercer had been on a covert assignment with the CIA when his wife and child were brutally murdered four years ago. The police never found the killer. That’s when he realized the brittle nature of justice.
He opened the box and cut into the two plastic bags with his pocket knife as tears trailed down his cheeks. In the dying light, his hands sifted through the silken ashes of his beloved wife and child as he stood on the cliff.
“You still are everything to me. My sun, my moon, and the air I breathe. I don’t know how I can do this without you, but in your name, I will try to honor our love.”
He broke down as he pictured their sweet faces. On the wind he smelled his wife’s skin and his little boy’s hair after a bath. He remembered the sheer joy of hearing Braeden giggle and how he’d counted Keara’s breaths as she slept next to him after she’d told him he would be a father—when she breathed for two—those memories swelled through him in the evening stillness.
“I thought our time together would last forever, but I was deeply and painfully wrong. Please forgive me for—”
They died alone, without him, in utter fear. Mercer shut his eyes, making his fragile peace with a sin that could never be forgiven.
When the last of the precious dust wafted into the wind and carried down into the valley, the sun vanished on the horizon. He pictured the spirits of his wife and child lifted by the unearthly breath of God over an eternity until his soul could join them and he’d see them again.
He would not hate in their name. He’d remember their love instead.
After his emotional bloodletting ended, Mercer sat on the ground and put his arm around his dog, running his fingers through the scruff of his neck. When Karl licked a salty tear from his cheek, the dog whimpered in commiseration.
“Yeah, I know,” Mercer said. “I love you, too.”
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Hot Target
Tough Target
An Omega Team Novella Series – Desiree Holt Amazon Kindle World
2 Novellas with connected storylines
By Jordan Dane
Redemption for Avery
A Special Forces: Operation Alpha Novella – Susan Stoker Amazon Kindle World
(Crossover with Jordan Dane’s new Ryker Townsend – FBI Profiler series)
By Jordan Dane
Coming 2017
Jordan Dane will be writing for these great Amazon Kindle Worlds:
Sable Hunter’s – Hell, Yeah! (May 2017)
Elle James’s Brotherhood Protector Series (June 2017)
Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue Series (July 2017)
Susan Stoker’s – Special Forces: Operation Alpha (Fall 2017)
About the Author
Bestselling, critically-acclaimed author Jordan Dane’s gritty thrillers are ripped from the headlines with vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. Publishers Weekly compared her intense novels to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag, naming her debut novel NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM as Best Books of 2008. She also pens young-adult novels for Harlequin Teen. Formerly an energy sales manager, she now writes full time. Jordan shares her Texas residence with two lucky rescue dogs.
Connect with Jordan Dane:
Social Media Links:
Website http://www.JordanDane.com
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/JordanDane
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JordanDaneAuthor
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/jordandane/
Thriller/Crime Fiction Blogs:
The Kill Zone http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/
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Bibliography
Avon/HarperCollins Titles:
NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM – No One Standalone
NO ONE LEFT TO TELL – No One Series Book 1
NO ONE LIVES FOREVER – No One Series Book 2
EVIL WITHOUT A FACE – Sweet Justice Series Book 1
THE WRONG SIDE OF DEAD – Sweet Justice Series Book 2
THE ECHO OF VIOLENCE – Sweet Justice Series Book 3
RECKONING FOR THE DEAD – Sweet Justice Series Book 4
The Omega Team Novella Series – Desiree Holt’s Amazon Kindle World:
HOT TARGET (Novella 1 of 2)
TOUGH TARGET (Novella 2 of 2)
IN THE EYES OF THE DEAD (Crossover: Jordan Dane’s Ryker Townsend Series-Book 3)
The Special Forces: Operation Alpha Series – Susan Stoker’s Amazon Kindle World:
REDEMPTION FOR AVERY (Crossover: Jordan Dane’s Ryker Townsend series-Book 2)
Mercer Broderick Series:
MR. JANUARY (Feb 2017) – Mercer’s War Book #1
Harlequin Teen Young Adult Novels:
IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS
ON A DARK WING
INDIGO AWAKENING – The Hunted Series Book 1 of 2
CRYSTAL STORM – The Hunted Series Book 2 of 2
YA Anthologies:
NYX IN THE HOUSE OF NIGHT–“The Magic of Being Cherokee” essay: Smart Pop Books
Cosas Finas Publications – Crime :
BLOOD SCORE (A Gabe Cronan Novel)
THE LAST VICTIM (A Ryker Townsend Novel-Book 1)
Cosas Finas Publications – Short Story Anthologies
SEX, DEATH and MOIST TOWELETTES
Cosas Finas Publications – Non-fiction
ONE AUTHOR’S AHA MOMENTS – Author Craft Book with a Focus on Writing YA
Ryker Townsend – FBI Profiler Series – In Order
THE LAST VICTIM (A Ryker Townsend Novel-Book 1)
REDEMPTION FOR A
VERY (A Ryker Townsend Novella-Book 2)
IN THE EYES OF THE DEAD (A Ryker Townsend Novella-Book 3)
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About the Author
Bibliography
