The Last White Knight

by Tami Hoag

  Martha offered an understanding smile. “Because that’s what white knights do, honey,” she said gently. “Now you can either let him sweep you off your feet and go fight your battles together or you can go on alone, wondering for the rest of your life about what might have been. I’m not saying it won’t take courage to go with him, because it will, but do you really want to let this chance pass you by, Lynn? I don’t think you do.”

  “I want to be with him,” Lynn whispered, trembling with the conflicts inside her. “I miss him so much. That doesn’t make sense. I mean I only knew him for a few weeks, but I just feel like a part of me is dead inside without him. I want to be with him, but I don’t want to hurt him. I don’t want to hurt his chance at a future.”

  It was the argument Lynn had clung to from the first, but it made no impact on Martha. The older woman looked her in the eye. “And what do you think you’re doing by shutting him out?” she said. “His future is more than his career, Lynn. It’s his whole life, his chance at happiness and a family and the woman he loves. That could be the future for both of you. Don’t stop it from happening just because you’re afraid, honey. You’ve got a chance at the brass ring. Reach for it.”

  Easier said than done, Lynn thought. She got up from her chair and began to move restlessly around the cramped room, her arms wrapped around herself to hold body and soul together. Maybe Erik didn’t want her back. He could have sent the figurine for any number of reasons. Maybe he was ready to move on with his life and this was his way of closing the chapter that had included her. Maybe … Maybe she was just stalling. Maybe she was looking for excuses because she didn’t have the courage to try. That was what it all came down to in the end—did she have the courage to reach for her dreams and deal with the nightmare of her past?

  “I think I’ll go for a little walk by the lake and do some thinking,” she said.

  “Do that.” Martha put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “You’ll come to the right conclusion. I know you have the courage, even if you aren’t so sure yourself.”

  Lynn managed a fond smile for her friend. “How do you know that? Did your crystal tell you?”

  “This?” She dangled the piece of amethyst by its chain. “I wear this because it’s interesting and because it makes people think I’m a little off the beam. It doesn’t tell me anything I don’t already know in my heart.”

  “You’re something special, Martha,” Lynn said, chuckling a little. She felt better for having shared this time with Martha, even though she had avoided it. God bless Martha for her tenacity.

  Martha gave a snort and shooed her toward the door. “Don’t you forget it, sweetcakes. Go take your walk.”

  The path across from the power plant was less traveled than those around Silver Lake Park. Given the square, ugly buildings of the power plant and the heavily traveled street across the way, the scenery left something to be desired, but the solitude was worth it. The occasional bicycle passed her. An elderly man walking his cocker spaniel met her from the other direction and moved on by with a nod. The spaniel took a cursory sniff of Lynn’s sneaker, gave a bark, and dashed to catch up with his master.

  The sun had already gone down on the other side of town, leaving the summer sky glowing orange, with the taller buildings of downtown silhouetted against it. The evening breeze was warm. It was the kind of evening people lived through the freezing Minnesota winters for. The crowd in the park was a testimony of that fact. The place was alive with the sights, sounds, and smells of summer—children playing on swings, excited shouts and laughter from a group of teens playing Frisbee with a shaggy black-and-white dog. The aroma of grilled hamburgers lingered in the air.

  Lynn absorbed it all, but kept herself apart from it. She crossed Seventh Street and continued walking around the southeastern shore of the lake until she found a patch of ground no one laid claim to. There she sank to the grass, sat cross-legged, and stared across the shimmering expanse of water.

  This was what she wanted in her heart of hearts, she thought as she watched the activity going on in the park. She wanted to be a part of a family, not apart from one. Even if things didn’t work out between her and Erik, she still had a family back in Indiana, and it was time for her to try to mend the rift with them. She would never have the chance to be a mother to Justin. Rebecca was the only mother he had known. But she could be a good aunt, and she could be a good sister, and she could be a daughter. Cutting herself off from them had been a kind of punishment, but she was all through with that. She had made mistakes in her life, but Erik was right—she didn’t have to pay for them with her life.

  Erik. She closed her eyes and conjured his image in the private theater of her imagination—not Erik the Good, the button-down senator with a milliondollar smile and the golden aura of charisma, but Erik the man, standing at his bedroom door in rumpled jeans, his hair mussed, his beard shadowing the strong planes of his face. And her heart ached with a longing to see him in the flesh, to have him hold her, to have him love her. She hoped with every ounce of longing in her that she hadn’t missed her chance.

  “Wishing on the first star?”

  She started at the sound of his voice, her eyes snapping open. She was almost afraid to look over her shoulder for fear she had just imagined that warm, husky baritone. But there he was, big as life, sitting astride a white bicycle that was two inches too small for him, his feet planted firmly on the ground. He was in faded jeans and battered sneakers and a polo shirt that matched the incredible blue of his eyes, and Lynn thought she’d never been so happy to see anyone in her entire life.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be riding a horse?” she asked, standing up and dusting herself off.

  He shrugged as he tilted his head to one side and looked her up and down as if he were memorizing everything about her. “They’re hard to scare up on short notice. Besides, it’s too hot to wear armor.”

  “That’s okay. You look just fine to me.”

  “Do I?” he asked, his smile fading. “I took a look in the mirror before I left home and I saw a man who’s been lying awake nights wondering if he’d ever see you again.”

  Lynn curled her hand over his on the handlebar of the bike, her gaze intent on the contrast between them in size and strength and skin tone. “I guess we’re a matched pair, then,” she said softly.

  “Are we? I always thought pairs belonged together.”

  “They do.”

  Erik studied her profile. His heart was in his throat. His mouth was dry. Suddenly nothing that had happened in his adult life compared to the enormity of this moment. This was the moment of truth. This was the moment he would win Lynn’s heart or be sent away for good. He realized with no small amount of embarrassment that he was actually shaking.

  “Does that mean you’ll marry me?” he asked, afraid to hear her answer. He knew she loved him. That had never been an issue. The question was whether she would accept their love or sacrifice it at the altar of her past.

  She raised eyes that were leaf green and wide with uncertainty and met his gaze. “I may not be the best choice for you.”

  Erik turned his hand over on the handlebar and laced his fingers through Lynn’s. With his other hand he reached across and touched her cheek, so creamy and silky soft. “I told you before I wasn’t looking for any vestal virgins. I want a woman. I want you.”

  She smiled that wry smile that had haunted his memory these last few weeks, the right corner of her pretty mouth lifting up. “Yeah, well, just remember the vows say ‘for better or worse.’ ”

  “There couldn’t be anything worse than living without you.”

  He swung his left leg over the bike and let it fall as he pulled Lynn into his embrace. His lips found hers and he kissed her hungrily, all the need and loneliness he’d lived with rushing to the surface.

  Lynn kissed him back. She wound her arms around his neck and hugged him for all she was worth, trembling with the relief of feeling him next to her again, shaki
ng with the belated fear of what it would have been like to never have him hold her again. Whatever else might happen in their future, this was right. She’d never felt so complete, so safe, so loved as she did with Erik’s arms around her.

  “Let’s go home,” he murmured as he raised his head, a warm, intimate heat glowing in his eyes.

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “I need to make a phone call to someone in Indiana.”

  He smiled that warm, wise, wonderful smile that made her heart bloom like a rose in her chest. They would make it. She could feel it like a promise in her soul.

  “Come on, Sir Galahad,” she said, sliding a pointed gaze toward the abandoned bicycle. “Let’s go call a cab.”

  Dear Reader,

  Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I began my writing career with Bantam’s Loveswept line of romance novels. I had chosen to write for Loveswept long before Loveswept chose me to write for them.

  The books published by Loveswept spanned every kind of story, from romantic comedy to romantic suspense. Their authors were top of the genre—Iris Johansen, Sandra Brown—and they were given an autonomy not found with other publishers, allowing them to experiment with different styles and to push the boundaries of the genre.

  When I set my sights on becoming a published author, I decided Loveswept was the place for me. Lucky for me, they agreed. And so began my career in 1988 with a romantic comedy called The Trouble with J.J. In the span of a few short years I wrote more than a dozen books for Loveswept. One of the last was the book you are holding now—The Last White Knight—which was also one of the first books I wrote incorporating elements of suspense into a story of love and redemption.

  All these years later I’m in a very different place in my career, writing full-on, bestselling (thank goodness!) suspense novels. I am often asked by people who look down their noses at the romance genre if I am somehow embarrassed by my Loveswept past. I always tell them the same thing—that I worked and worried every bit as hard writing those small books and that I am every bit as proud of them as I am of the books that have landed on the bestseller lists.

  A good story is a good story, and at the heart of every good story are characters the reader falls in love with and wants to root for. I know you will find those characters in The Last White Knight—a heroine with a troubled past who has devoted her life to making up for her mistakes by helping others; a hero who wants to push past her emotional barriers to give her the love and forgiveness she would never give herself. Add to that the threat of danger from an unknown enemy, and you have a story that is still near and dear to my heart.

  I hope you enjoy The Last White Knight.

  All my best,

  Tami Hoag

  PRAISE FOR THE BESTSELLERS

  OF TAMI HOAG

  THE ALIBI MAN

  “Captivating thriller … [Elena] is a heroine readers will want to see more of.” —Publishers Weekly

  “Hard to put down.” —Washington Post

  “A superbly taut thriller. Written in a staccato style that will have readers racing through the pages … Will leave readers breathless and satisfied.” —Booklist

  “A suspenseful tale with a surprising ending; the author once again has constructed a hard-hitting story with interesting characters and a thrilling plot.” —Midwest Book Review

  “Elena Estes [is] one of Hoag’s most complicated, difficult and intriguing characters.… Hoag enhances a tight mystery plot with an over-the-shoulder view of the Palm Beach polo scene, giving her readers an up-close-and-personal look at the rich and famous.… The Alibi Man is her best work to date.” —BookReporter.com

  “An engrossing story and a cast of well-drawn characters.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

  “[Hoag] gets better with every book. One of the tautest thrillers I have read for a long while.” —Bookseller (UK)

  “Hoag certainly knows how to build a plot and her skill has deservedly landed her on bestseller lists numerous times.” —South Florida Sun-Sentinel

  “Hoag has a winner in this novel where she brings back Elena Estes.… Hoag is the consummate storyteller and creator of suspense.” —Mystery News

  “Tami Hoag weaves an intricate tale of murder and deception.… A very well-written and thought-out murder mystery. Hoag is able to keep you guessing and you’ll be left breathless until all the threads are unwoven and the killer is revealed.” —FreshFiction.com

  PRIOR BAD ACTS

  “A snappy, scary thriller.” —Entertainment Weekly

  “Stunning … Here [Hoag] stands above the competition, creating complex characters who evolve more than those in most thrillers. The breathtaking plot twists are perfectly paced in this compulsive page-turner.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  “A chilling thriller with a romantic chaser.” —New York Daily News

  “A first-rate thriller with an ending that will knock your socks off.” —Booklist

  “An engrossing thriller with plenty of plot twists and a surprise ending.” — OK! magazine

  “A chilling tale of murder and mayhem.” —BookPage

  “The in-depth characterization and the unrelenting suspense are what makes Prior Bad Acts an outstanding read. Gritty and brutal at times, Prior Bad Acts delivers a stunning novel of murder, vengeance and retribution.… Riveting and chilling suspense.” —Romance Reviews Today

  KILL THE MESSENGER

  “Excellent pacing and an energetic plot heighten the suspense.… Enjoyable.” — Chicago Tribune

  “Everything rings true, from the zippy cop-shop banter, to the rebellious bike messenger subculture, to the ultimate, heady collision of Hollywood money, politics, and power.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

  “Hoag’s usual crisp, uncluttered storytelling and her ability to make us care about her characters triumph in Kill the Messenger.” —Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

  “A perfect book. It is well written, and it has everything a reader could hope for.… It cannot be put down.… Please don’t miss this one.” —Kingston (MA) Observer

  “[A] brisk read … it demonstrates once again why [Hoag’s] so good at what she does.” —San Francisco Chronicle

  “Action-filled ride … a colorful, fast-paced novel that will keep you guessing.” —Commercial Appeal

  “High-octane suspense … Nonstop action moves the story forward at a breath-stealing pace, and the tension remains high from beginning to end.… Suspense at its very best.” —Romance Reviews Today

  “Hoag’s loyal readers and fans of police procedural suspense novels will definitely love it.” —Booklist

  “Kill the Messenger will add to [Hoag’s] list of winners.… This is a fast-moving thriller with a great plot and wonderful characters. The identity of the killer is a real surprise.” —Somerset (PA) Daily American

  “Engaging … the triumph of substance over style … character-driven, solidly constructed thriller.” —Publishers Weekly

  “Hoag upholds her reputation as one of the hottest writers in the suspense genre with this book, which not only has a highly complex mystery, multilayered suspense and serpentine plot, but also great characterizations … an entertaining and expertly crafted novel not to be missed.” —CurledUp.com

  DARK HORSE

  “A thriller as tightly wound as its heroine … Hoag has created a winning central figure in Elena.… Bottom line: Great ride.” —People

  “This is her best to date.… [A] tautly told thriller.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

  “Hoag proves once again, why she is considered a queen of the crime thriller.” —Charleston (SC) Post & Courier

  “A tangled web of deceit and double-dealing makes for a fascinating look into the wealthy world of horses juxtaposed with the realistic introspection of one very troubled ex-cop. A definite winner.” —Booklist

  “Anyone who reads suspense novels regularly is acquainted with Hoag’s work—or certainly should be. She’s one of the most consistently superior suspense and romantic susp
ense writers on today’s bestseller lists. A word of warning to readers: don’t think you know whodunit ‘til the very end.” —Clute (TX) Facts

  “Suspense, shocking violence, and a rip-roaring conclusion—this novel has all the pulse-racing touches that put Tami Hoag books on bestseller lists and crime fans’ reading lists.” —Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate magazine

  “Full of intrigue, glitter, and skullduggery … [Hoag] is a master of suspense.” —Publishers Weekly

  “Her best to date, an enjoyable read, and a portent of even better things to come.” —Grand Rapids Press

  “A complex cerebral puzzle that will keep readers on the edge until all the answers are revealed.” —Midwest Book Review

  “To say that Tami Hoag is the absolute best at what she does is a bit easy since she is really the only person who does what she does.… It is a testament to Hoag’s skill that she is able to go beyond being skillful and find the battered hearts in her characters, and capture their beating on the page.… A superb read.” —Detroit News & Free Press

  BANTAM TITLES BY TAMI HOAG

  The Alibi Man

  Prior Bad Acts

  Kill the Messenger

  Dark Horse

  Dust to Dust

  Ashes to Ashes

  A Thin Dark Line

  Guilty as Sin

  Night Sins

  Dark Paradise

  Cry Wolf

  Still Waters

  Mismatch

  Lucky’s Lady

  The Last White Knight