In Shadows

by Sharon Sala

  To protect her, he must remain a ghost...

  Jack McCann has been in love with Shelly since they were teens. They married just out of college and right before he went to work as an undercover agent for the FBI. When he can, he slips away from his assignments to see her.

  Jack has been undercover on his latest case for months, investigating a weapons-smuggling business. But just as the FBI is set to make the bust, Jack’s cover is blown. The last thing he feels as he crashes through a warehouse window and into the open water is a bullet piercing his back. The last thing he hears is Adam Wu promising to destroy everyone Jack loves.

  Shelly’s worst nightmares come true when the FBI arrive at her doorstep to bring her the news. But she doesn’t know the truth: Jack survived the shooting and will do anything to keep his beloved wife safe—even if it means hiding in shadows...

  Praise for the novels of New York Times bestselling author Sharon Sala

  “Drama literally invades the life of an A-list Hollywood star, and the race is on to catch a killer.”

  –RT Book Reviews on Life of Lies

  “A wonderful romance, thriller, and delightful book. [I] recommend this book as highly as I can.... Exciting...and will keep you glued to the pages until you reach the end.”

  –USATODAY.com’s Happy Ever After blog on Life of Lies

  “In Sala’s latest page-turner, staying alive is the biggest challenge of all. There are appealing characters to root for, and one slimy villain who needs to be stopped.”

  –RT Book Reviews on Race Against Time

  “[An] emotional thriller, packed with action, love, regrets, and criminal activity that will make your blood boil.... A phenomenal story.”

  –FreshFiction.com on Race Against Time

  “[T]he Youngblood family is a force to be reckoned with.... [W]atching this family gather around and protect its own is an uplifting tribute to familial love.”

  –RT Book Reviews on Family Sins

  “[A] soul-wrenching story of love, heartache, and murder that is practically impossible to put down.... If you love emotional tales of love, family, and justice, then look no further.... Sharon Sala has yet another winner on her hands.”

  –FreshFiction.com on Family Sins

  Also by Sharon Sala

  LIFE OF LIES

  RACE AGAINST TIME

  FAMILY SINS

  Secrets and Lies

  DARK HEARTS

  COLD HEARTS

  WILD HEARTS

  Forces of Nature

  GOING GONE

  GOING TWICE

  GOING ONCE

  The Rebel Ridge novels

  ’TIL DEATH

  DON’T CRY FOR ME

  NEXT OF KIN

  The Searchers series

  BLOOD TRAILS

  BLOOD STAINS

  BLOOD TIES

  The Storm Front trilogy

  SWEPT ASIDE

  TORN APART

  BLOWN AWAY

  THE WARRIOR

  BAD PENNY

  THE HEALER

  CUT THROAT

  NINE LIVES

  THE CHOSEN

  MISSING

  WHIPPOORWILL

  ON THE EDGE

  “Capsized”

  DARK WATER

  OUT OF THE DARK

  SNOWFALL

  BUTTERFLY

  REMEMBER ME

  REUNION

  SWEET BABY

  Originally published

  as Dinah McCall

  THE RETURN

  Look for Sharon Sala’s next novel

  DARK WATER RISING

  available soon from MIRA Books.

  Sharon Sala

  In Shadows

  I dedicate this book to the faceless, nameless, quiet heroes who remain in shadows to keep us and our country safe, and to their families, who sacrifice so much to help them do it.

  I will never know your names, but I pray for you every night to complete your missions.

  And one day, when it’s time for you to come out of hiding, I pray for the rest of your life to be full of happiness and sunshine.

  You have earned it.

  Contents

  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

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  One

  The showerhead was still dripping when Shelly McCann walked out of the master bath into the bedroom. Her steps were slow and measured as she dropped the dirty clothes in the hamper and glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight. She was going to hate herself in the morning when the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., but it was hard to sleep alone.

  She turned down the bed and was just getting ready to crawl between cool sheets when she heard a beep, beep, beep, beep and knew someone had just turned off her security alarm.

  She spun toward the doorway, her heart hammering so hard she could barely breathe as she heard the solid thud of footsteps moving toward her. Someone was running down the hall!

  All of a sudden the dark silhouette of a tall man with long hair filled the doorway of her bedroom. Her legs went weak.

  “Oh my God, oh my God.”

  Seconds later she was in her husband’s arms, returning kiss for kiss, pulling off his jacket as he removed his shoulder holster, unbuckling his belt so he could push the jeans down his legs. At the same time, he ripped the snaps open on his shirt, then reached for her nightgown and pulled it over her head.

  Shelly was trembling. It had been so long since she’d seen Jack. At least a month. And when he sat down on the bed, she pulled off his boots so he could take off his jeans.

  There was no foreplay and no need. He wrapped his arm around her and fell backward onto the bed, taking her with him.

  Shelly was hot and wet and crying, “Hurry, Jack, hurry,” when he slid between her legs and began a steady, rhythmic thrust.

  “Love you, baby, love you, love you. Ah God, you feel so good,” Jack whispered, and then tunneled his fingers through her long curly hair and kissed her.

  It was always like this. The first time in hunger and desperation with no way to control what was happening. Sex lit the fuse, and the fuse was short.

  Shelly was riding that glorious heat when the climax exploded within her. She screamed, which broke what was left of Jack’s control. He tensed, shuddering from the power of the climax rolling through him. Their ragged breathing filled the space around them, and for a few minutes more they held on to the afterglow, lying motionless in each other’s arms.

  Then Jack finally raised up on both elbows and smiled at the well-loved look on her face.

  “Hey, baby.”

  She sighed. “Hey, yourself,” she said, and put her hands behind his neck and pulled him close.

  “I missed you so much,” Jack said, as he leaned down and kissed the hollow at the base of her throat. “Are you okay at work? Nothing happening that’s causing you trouble?”

  “It’s all good. Being a CPA is smooth sailing. Nu
mbers don’t argue and they don’t lie. Only people.”

  He was running his hands along her body, and it was making him hard again. He knew she could feel it, because she shivered.

  “Again?” he asked.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him deep inside her. And so the dance began again, only this time slower. By the time they hit detonation again, she was out of her mind.

  * * *

  Two hours later, Jack was getting dressed while Shelly watched from the bed.

  “How much longer is this assignment going to last? It scares me,” she said.

  He sat down beside her, aware of the fear in her eyes, and thought she became more beautiful to him with each passing year. He’d loved her since he first saw her in ninth grade—a tall, skinny blonde with wild, flyaway curls and braces on her teeth. By the next year they were inseparable, and nothing had changed after all these years except the ring on her finger and his job.

  “I’m sorry, Shelly. I promised you this assignment will be my last undercover job and I meant it. I can’t give you a time line, but I can keep that promise. Can you give me that much?”

  Shelly crawled into his lap and put her arms around his neck.

  “I would wait for you forever,” she whispered, and leaned into his kiss, shivering from the touch of his hands on her bare body.

  It was Jack who finally called the inevitable halt as he grasped her by the shoulders.

  “I love you so much, but I have to leave. I’ve already been gone too long. I don’t know when I’ll get to see you again,” he said, then made himself get up and finish dressing.

  Shelly was trying to distract herself from dissolving into tears. “You do know all that long dark hair is kinda sexy.”

  He grinned as he stomped his feet down into his boots and then pocketed his car keys.

  “Not nearly as sexy as you sitting naked in that bed.”

  She laughed.

  He blew her a kiss and was gone.

  She heard the security alarm being reset and then nothing, which meant he had parked somewhere else and came to their house on foot. One of Jack’s first concerns with every undercover job he’d been on was to make sure the perps never found out Shelly existed.

  She glanced at the clock. Three hours of sleep. Oh my God. But he was worth it.

  She lay back down, pulled the covers up over her bare body and cried herself to sleep.

  * * *

  Five blocks over, Jack was standing in the shadows only yards from his car, searching the area to see if he’d been made. He stood motionless for a good ten minutes until he was satisfied there was no one awake in his vicinity, then walked out of the shadows, got in his car and drove away.

  The city streets of Houston were never devoid of traffic, but it was sparse compared to what it would be after the sun came up. He drove straight toward the Port of Houston, to a warehouse on Morgan’s Point owned by his current boss, a man named Adam Ito, who ran an import/export business.

  Ito had been on the Feds’ watch list for at least three years, a suspect dealing in black market weapons to whatever country was willing to pay his price. So far, they’d never been able to pin anything on him, which was Jack’s latest assignment. Find the evidence to take him down. But four months undercover was getting old.

  By the time he got back to the warehouse it was nearing 4:00 a.m. He parked up near the building, pocketing his keys as he reached the entrance, then knocked. The door swung inward, bringing Jack face-to-face with Mahalo Jones, the man who ran Ito’s work crew.

  Mahalo frowned. “Where da fuck you been?”

  “Chasing tail. Get out of the doorway,” Jack growled.

  Mahalo’s frown deepened, but he stepped aside, then yelled at him as he was walking away.

  “It’s a good thing you didn’t turn up late for the shipment comin’ in. Boss man would have had your ass.”

  Jack turned on one heel and in seconds was in Mahalo’s face, jamming a finger into his chest.

  “I chased ass because it’s my damn life, and I’m here because a shipment isn’t due for hours, which means I am not late, and I don’t take crap from anyone, so save your damn opinions for someone who cares. Got it?”

  Mahalo looked like he wanted to punch Jack in the face just to watch him bleed, but he didn’t. Judd Wayne—Jack’s alias—was known as the kind of guy who would fight until one of them was unconscious...or dead.

  When Mahalo didn’t say anything, Jack nodded. “That’s what I thought,” he said, and headed for the crew’s lounge area.

  All he wanted was one of the cots to grab a couple hours of sleep, but the hair was standing up on the back of Jack’s neck as he walked away. He could feel Mahalo’s hate, but that went both ways. When he got to the lounge area, he eyed the cots scattered about the room.

  There were seven other men sleeping in this room, and two empty bunks. One empty bunk was at the back of the room, and one at the front. He chose the one closest to the door, giving him a quick exit should the need arise. He pulled the nine-millimeter Glock from his shoulder holster and laid it beside the pillow.

  The airless room reeked from the varied odors of unwashed bodies and the remnants of week-old pizza slices, but discomfort was all part of the job. He hung his jacket over a ladder-back chair against the wall beside the bed, took off his boots and then rolled over onto his side facing the door. With the Glock held loosely in his hand, he thought of Shelly and closed his eyes.

  * * *

  Adam Ito was buck naked, facedown on a massage table, slick with essential oils and groaning from the footsteps of the tiny Asian woman named Ling, who was walking down the length of his back. Every time he felt something pop in his spine, he moaned. When she dropped off the side of the table in a single, catlike motion and told him to turn over, his pulse reacted.

  He knew what was coming next and held his breath as she climbed back up, straddled his legs and slowly lowered herself down onto his very slick, very hard erection. She was tight and hot and he came inside her before she was all the way down.

  After a leisurely shower together, and a blow job that sent him to his knees, he sent Ling on her way and got dressed, before leaving his playhouse to head home.

  It was nearing 1:00 a.m., and Tommy, his limo driver, was waiting in the driveway when Adam exited the small, unassuming house on the outskirts of Pasadena. The night sky was clear, but the lights of a city as vast as Houston made stargazing difficult.

  Adam took a deep breath, imagining he could almost taste the salt air of the seaport city, and then went down the steps to go home. Tommy opened the door to the limousine without speaking. As soon as Adam was seated, the driver shut the door and quickly left the area.

  Adam Ito felt good all the way to his bones. He was pleased with his very perfect, very orderly life.

  * * *

  The next morning, Tommy was again waiting beside the limo for his boss, but this time it was at Adam’s estate in the Memorial area of Houston. When he saw him coming toward the limo, he jumped out to open the door.

  Despite the heat, Adam was wearing a white suit and shirt along with snakeskin shoes in a silver-gray leather. The only bit of color about his person was a Gucci necktie in robin’s egg blue. He led with his chin as he approached, indicative of how Adam also lived his life.

  “Good morning, sir,” Tommy said, and bowed as he opened the car door.

  Adam acknowledged the deference with a nod. “Good morning, Tommy. Straight to the office today.”

  “Yes, sir,” Tommy said. “Ginger tea with lemon in the bar,” he added, and quietly closed the door as his boss settled into his seat and poured himself a cup of hot tea to enjoy on the ride downtown.

  Within twenty minutes, they were caught in a traffic snarl on the 610 Loop and waiting for it to clear when Adam’s cell signaled a call
. He glanced down at caller ID and immediately closed the window between him and the driver before he answered.

  “Yes?”

  “There is a very hot shipment of long-range missiles available. They are prototypes. Are you interested?” the caller asked.

  “Prototypes? Do they work in existing launchers and how long range are we talking about?” Adam asked.

  “Yes, to the launchers, and five hundred kilometer range. They came straight off an assembly line. The lot needs to move, ASAP.”

  Adam frowned. “How many?”

  “A thousand...in twenty crates,” his contact said.

  Now it was time to get down to business. “What’s the price?” Adam asked.

  “Twenty million.”

  Adam snorted softly. “Granted that’s a good price, but for untested missiles?”

  “That’s the going rate and they are not untested, just yet to be used in warfare. Think of the surprise effect of being three hundred miles away from an attack target. Launch at night...and unless they have high-tech radar on the ground, you’re golden.”

  “What’s the accuracy?” Adam asked.

  “Testing shows a seventy-five percent success rate right now. You know you’ll be making ten times over the buyout when you sell.”

  Adam didn’t hesitate. “Delivery date?”

  “Today is Wednesday. You will receive delivery at 3:00 a.m. Friday morning. They’ll produce the products, if both parties are satisfied, you will make the money transfer into his chosen account, then they will unload at your warehouse. It’ll be up to you to get the crates inside a shipping container. Once you’re good to go, one of those ship-to-shore cranes will do the rest.”

  “And your cut?” Adam asked.

  “The usual one percent of your cost.”

  “I want you on-site for this one,” Adam said.

  The caller’s voice sharpened. “You know that’s not going to happen. Ever. If this business model bothers you, it will be simple to offer the goods to other buyers.”

  Adam frowned. He didn’t like to feel controlled in any way, but he chose not to push the issue. “Fine,” he said, as the line went dead in his ear.

  He dropped the phone into his jacket pocket and glanced up. They were moving again.