Code of Honor

by Radclyffe

  “There’s a lot of casualties on the mountain,” Loren said. “I’ll just have to be one.”

  Sky’s eyes fluttered closed. A second later they opened again. “All right. That will work. I’ll get in touch with some of my people. Put out a cover story.”

  “You’ll keep your ass in bed and get better.” Loren leaned down and kissed her. “Just worry about getting better.”

  Sky was quiet a long moment. “Can you do that again?”

  “Oh yeah.” Loren cradled her cheek, kissed her again. “Sky, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here until you get out.” She reached through the bars on the side of the bed and gripped Sky’s hand. “I meant what I said. I love you. When I thought I might lose you up there on that mountain, I about lost my mind. I’ve never been afraid of losing anything before, but I can’t lose you. You matter more to me than anything.”

  “You know,” Sky laced her fingers through Loren’s, “I wasn’t afraid to die. I would have been pissed, but I wasn’t afraid. The only thing I regretted was that I hadn’t told you how much I love you.”

  Loren caught her breath. “Yeah?”

  Sky nodded. “Oh yeah. I love you like crazy. I’m sorry I didn’t say so sooner.”

  Loren reached behind her, pulled a chair next to the bed, and kissed Sky one more time before sitting down. She gripped Sky’s hand again. “Then I guess you better get some sleep, because we’ve got some catching up to do. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

  Epilogue

  Russo stood on the patio at sunrise, watching the fiery sky break over the Bitterroots. A few days before, he’d watched flames rise in the mountains and had seen blurry images on the endless television loops of a “conflagration of uncertain origin” as reporters hypothesized about the events without any real facts. The most recent story proposed a local gun club had been storing weapons and ammunition against the day when gun regulation might become a reality, and their stockpile had exploded. He doubted everyone believed it, but the government was very good at spin, and new headlines quickly supplanted the story. And for his own purposes, the cover story would do.

  The door from the house opened and Derrick crossed the flagstone patio to join him.

  “Here’s your coffee, sir,” Derrick said, handing him a steaming mug.

  “Thank you,” Russo said.

  “Do you want your coat, sir?” Derrick asked.

  “No,” Russo said. “I’m fine.”

  And he was. The cold didn’t bother him. He was born with cold in his bones. And now that he’d put distance between himself and Graves’s organization, he felt confident that nothing would stand in his path to the White House.

  Why wouldn’t he be fine?

  *

  The motel didn’t have room service, and the diner down the highway was crowded with truckers at all hours. A lone woman who looked like she’d been in a fight might stand out. She’d stayed in the single barren room eating K-rations and cleaning the wound on her thigh three times a day with antiseptic, picking out the bits of metal as they worked their way to the surface. She barely limped at all now.

  The charred black duffel sat on the floor next to her bed, within easy reach. She slept with a Glock beneath her pillow. And she planned.

  When she’d seen Roberts gun down her father, she’d known that everything had changed. The compound was no longer a refuge, and she was now responsible for carrying out her father’s mission. She could have gone into the mountains after Roberts and Dunbar, but she would have been outnumbered, and had she failed, she would have failed her father. She could not do that again.

  She’d made a snap decision and run for the money. The biker who’d forced her at gunpoint into the back of the truck had gotten there first. He was just climbing out of the same truck with the bag in his hand when she pointed the gun at his forehead. “Why? Why attack the camp?”

  He’d shrugged, as if the answer should be obvious. The gun she’d held to his head might as well have been invisible. “It’s always better to strike first when you’re walking into an ambush.”

  Her finger tightened on the trigger. “What ambush?”

  “We had to hit you before you hit us. We got the word.”

  “Then you got it wrong. All we wanted were the guns.” She nodded at the bag. “We had the money.”

  His face in the firelight was a pale red mask, but she saw his eyes clearly and they registered confusion.

  “You were played.” Rage scoured her nerves and her hand shook. If he and his gang hadn’t started the firefight, she and the rest of FALA might have evacuated the compound at the first sign of the missile attack. Roberts might not have had the opportunity to escape. Roberts might not have had the chance to murder her father. Her father might still be alive. “Give me the money.”

  His gaze flickered to the right and relief passed over his face—a lethal tell. He thought rescue was at hand. She shot him between the eyes and dove to the ground, twisting in the air as she fell. She shot the other biker as she landed, then rolled onto her knees, grabbed the bag, and disappeared into the dark.

  On the sixth day after the firefight, she showered, washed her hair, and dressed in clean plain black BDUs from the bag she’d taken from one of the trucks on her way out of camp. The diner was crowded with men at the counter and booths, and no one gave her more than a passing glance. She ate breakfast, paid with a twenty from the roll she’d taken from the duffel, and asked for five dollars in coins. Outside, she walked to the pay phone. Most diners along the truck routes where cell service was sketchy still had them. She called the number in DC, and her brother answered on the second ring.

  “It’s me,” she said.

  “Thank God, I thought…when I saw the news…what happened?”

  “Someone gave us up to the feds. Dad’s dead.”

  Her brother caught his breath. After a second, his voice came back, hard and flat and steady. “You?”

  “I’m all right. Are you still secure?”

  “Yes. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to take care of the people responsible. I have a list.” Jane watched the trucks streaming out of the parking lot. She shouldn’t have any trouble getting a ride. “What about you?”

  “He’s getting ready to launch his first reelection campaign trip, and I’ve got a front seat on the bus.”

  “Good.” Jane smiled although everything inside her was as frozen as the snowcaps on the towering Bitterroots. “That will make it all the easier for me to find Cameron Roberts.”

  About the Author

  Radclyffe has written over forty romance and romantic intrigue novels, dozens of short stories, and, writing as L.L. Raand, has authored a paranormal romance series, The Midnight Hunters.

  She is an eight-time Lambda Literary Award finalist in romance, mystery, and erotica—winning in both romance (Distant Shores, Silent Thunder) and erotica (Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments edited with Stacia Seaman and In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip written with Karin Kallmaker). A member of the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame, she is also a RWA Prism, Lories, Beanpot, Aspen Gold, and Laurel Wreath winner in multiple mainstream romance categories. She is also the President of Bold Strokes Books, an independent LGBTQ publisher.

  Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series

  The Midnight Hunt

  RWA 2012 VCRW Laurel Wreath winner Blood Hunt

  Night Hunt

  The Lone Hunt

  “Raand has built a complex world inhabited by werewolves, vampires, and other paranormal beings…Raand has given her readers a complex plot filled with wonderful characters as well as insight into the hierarchy of Sylvan’s pack and vampire clans. There are many plot twists and turns, as well as erotic sex scenes in this riveting novel that keep the pages flying until its satisfying conclusion.”—Just About Write

  “Once again, I am amazed at the storytelling ability of L.L. Raand aka Radclyffe. In Blood Hunt, she mixes high levels of
sheer eroticism that will leave you squirming in your seat with an impeccable multi-character storyline all streaming together to form one great read.”—Queer Magazine Online

  “The Midnight Hunt has a gripping story to tell, and while there are also some truly erotic sex scenes, the story always takes precedence. This is a great read which is not easily put down nor easily forgotten.”—Just About Write

  “Are you sick of the same old hetero vampire/werewolf story plastered in every bookstore and at every movie theater? Well, I’ve got the cure to your werewolf fever. The Midnight Hunt is first in, what I hope is, a long-running series of fantasy erotica for L.L. Raand (aka Radclyffe).”—Queer Magazine Online

  “Any reader familiar with Radclyffe’s writing will recognize the author’s style within The Midnight Hunt, yet at the same time it is most definitely a new direction. The author delivers an excellent story here, one that is engrossing from the very beginning. Raand has pieced together an intricate world, and provided just enough details for the reader to become enmeshed in the new world. The action moves quickly throughout the book and it’s hard to put down.”—Three Dollar Bill Reviews

  Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction

  In 2012 RWA/FTHRW Lories and RWA HODRW Aspen Gold award winner Firestorm “Radclyffe brings another hot lesbian romance for her readers.”—The Lesbrary

  Foreword Review Book of the Year finalist and IPPY silver medalist Trauma Alert “is hard to put down and it will sizzle in the reader’s hands. The characters are hot, the sex scenes explicit and explosive, and the book is moved along by an interesting plot with well drawn secondary characters. The real star of this show is the attraction between the two characters, both of whom resist and then fall head over heels.”—Lambda Literary Reviews

  Lambda Literary Finalist Best Lesbian Romance 2010 features “stories [that] are diverse in tone, style, and subject, making for more variety than in many, similar anthologies…well written, each containing a satisfying, surprising twist. Best Lesbian Romance series editor Radclyffe has assembled a respectable crop of 17 authors for this year’s offering.”—Curve Magazine

  2010 Prism award winner and ForeWord Review Book of the Year Award finalist Secrets in the Stone is “so powerfully [written] that the worlds of these three women shimmer between reality and dreams…A strong, must read novel that will linger in the minds of readers long after the last page is turned.”—Just About Write

  In Benjamin Franklin Award finalist Desire by Starlight “Radclyffe writes romance with such heart and her down-to-earth characters not only come to life but leap off the page until you feel like you know them. What Jenna and Gard feel for each other is not only a spark but an inferno and, as a reader, you will be washed away in this tumultuous romance until you can do nothing but succumb to it.”—Queer Magazine Online

  Lambda Literary Award winner Stolen Moments “is a collection of steamy stories about women who just couldn’t wait. It’s sex when desire overrides reason, and it’s incredibly hot!”—On Our Backs

  Lambda Literary Award winner Distant Shores, Silent Thunder “weaves an intricate tapestry about passion and commitment between lovers. The story explores the fragile nature of trust and the sanctuary provided by loving relationships.”—Sapphic Reader

  Lambda Literary Award Finalist Justice Served delivers a “crisply written, fast-paced story with twists and turns and keeps us guessing until the final explosive ending.”—Independent Gay Writer

  Lambda Literary Award finalist Turn Back Time “is filled with wonderful love scenes, which are both tender and hot.”—MegaScene

  Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

  The Rarest Rose by I. Beacham. After a decade of living in her beloved house, Ele disturbs its past and finds her life being haunted by the presence of a ghost who will show her that true love never dies. (978-1-60282-884-1)

  Code of Honor by Radclyffe. The face of terror is hard to recognize—especially when it’s homegrown. The next book in the Honor series. (978-1-60282-885-8)

  Does She Love You? by Rachel Spangler. When Annabelle and Davis find out they are in a relationship with the same woman, it leaves them facing life-altering questions about trust, redemption, and the possibility of finding love in the wake of betrayal. (978-1-60282-886-5)

  The Road to Her by KE Payne. Sparks fly when actress Holly Croft, star of UK soap Portobello Road, meets her new on-screen love interest, the enigmatic and sexy Elise Manford. (978-1-60282-887-2)

  Shadows of Something Real by Sophia Kell Hagin. Trying to escape flashbacks and nightmares, ex-POW Jamie Gwynmorgan stumbles into the heart of former Red Cross worker Adele Sabellius and uncovers a deadly conspiracy against everything and everyone she loves. (978-1-60282-889-6)

  Date with Destiny by Mason Dixon. When sophisticated bank executive Rashida Ivey meets unemployed blue-collar worker Destiny Jackson, will her life ever be the same? (978-1-60282-878-0)

  The Devil’s Orchard by Ali Vali. Cain and Emma plan a wedding before the birth of their third child while Juan Luis is still lurking, and as Cain plans for his death, an unexpected visitor arrives and challenges her belief in her father, Dalton Casey. (978-1-60282-879-7)

  Secrets and Shadows by L.T. Marie. A bodyguard and the woman she protects run from a madman and into each other’s arms. (978-1-60282-880-3)

  Change Horizon: Three Novellas by Gun Brooke. Three stories of courageous women who dare to love as they fight to claim a future in a hostile universe. (978-1-60282-881-0)

  Scarlett Thirst by Crin Claxton. When hot, feisty Rani meets cool vampire Rob, one lifetime isn’t enough, and the road from human to vampire is shorter than you think… (978-1-60282-856-8)

  Battle Axe by Carsen Taite. How close is too close? Bounty hunter Luca Bennett will soon find out. (978-1-60282-871-1)

  Improvisation by Karis Walsh. High school geometry teacher Jan Carroll thinks she’s figured out the shape of her life and her future, until graphic artist and fiddle player Tina Nelson comes along and teaches her to improvise. (978-1-60282-872-8)

  For Want of a Fiend by Barbara Ann Wright. Without her Fiendish power, can Princess Katya and her consort Starbride stop a magic-wielding madman from sparking an uprising in the kingdom of Farraday? (978-1-60282-873-5)

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  Broken in Soft Places by Fiona Zedde. The instant Sara Chambers meets the seductive and sinful Merille Thompson, she falls hard, but knowing the difference between love and a dangerous, all-consuming desire is just one of the lessons Sara must learn before it’s too late. (978-1-60282-876-6)

  Healing Hearts by Donna K. Ford. Running from tragedy, the women of Willow Springs find that with friendship, there is hope, and with love, there is everything. (978-1-60282-877-3)

  Desolation Point by Cari Hunter. When a storm strands Sarah Kent in the North Cascades, Alex Pascal is determined to find her. Neither imagines the dangers they will face when a ruthless criminal begins to hunt them down. (978-1-60282-865-0)

  I Remember by Julie Cannon. What happens when you can never forget the first kiss, the first touch, the first taste of lips on skin? What happens when you know you will remember every single detail of a mysterious woman? (978-1-60282-866-7)

  The Gemini Deception by Kim Baldwin and Xenia Alexiou. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but lies. Book six in the Elite Operatives series. (978-1-60282-867-4)

  Scarlet Revenge by Sheri Lewis Wohl. When faith alone isn’t enough, will the love of one woman be strong enough to save a vampire from damnation? (978-1-60282-868-1)

  Ghost Trio by Lillian Q. Irwin. When Lee Howe hears the voice of her dead lover singing to her, is it a hallucination, a ghost, or something more sinister? (978-1-60282-869-8)

  The Princess Affair by Nell Stark. Rhodes Scholar Kerry Donovan arrives at Oxford ready to focus on
her studies, but her life and her priorities are thrown into chaos when she catches the eye of Her Royal Highness Princess Sasha. (978-1-60282-858-2)

  The Chase by Jesse J. Thoma. When Isabelle Rochat’s life is threatened, she receives the unwelcome protection and attention of bounty hunter Holt Lasher who vows to keep Isabelle safe at all costs. (978-1-60282-859-9)

  The Lone Hunt by L.L. Raand. In a world where humans and Praeterns conspire for the ultimate power, violence is a way of life…and death. A Midnight Hunters novel. (978-1-60282-860-5)

  The Supernatural Detective by Crin Claxton. Tony Carson sees dead people. With a drag queen for a spirit guide and a devastatingly attractive herbalist for a client, she’s about to discover the spirit world can be a very dangerous world indeed. (978-1-60282-861-2)

  Beloved Gomorrah by Justine Saracen. Undersea artists creating their own City on the Plain uncover the truth about Sodom and Gomorrah, whose “one righteous man” is a murderer, rapist, and conspirator in genocide. (978-1-60282-862-9)

  The Left Hand of Justice by Jess Faraday. A kidnapped heiress, a heretical cult, a corrupt police chief, and an accused witch. Paris is burning, and the only one who can put out the fire is Detective Inspector Elise Corbeau…whose boss wants her dead. (978-1-60282-863-6)