Danger in Deer Ridge

My newest Blackthorne, Inc. novel, DANGER IN DEER RIDGE, is now available as a digital release. I especially like the cover, because we took the pictures in our new home in the Colorado mountains. The cover model came into our yard to pose!




The blurb: What do you do when your life turns upside down? Whatever it takes. Elizabeth Parker, with the help of Blackthorne, Inc., has a new identity and a new home, which she hopes her husband will never find. She will never let him lay a hand on her son again. Blackthorne's covert ops team is back, with orders from the boss himself. They're protecting their assignment, as well as one of their own.

Excerpt - the first meet.

She popped the trunk and reached in for the red metal case. The sound of footfalls behind her had her jerking upward, slamming her head into the edge of the trunk. She forced herself to move slowly.

Ignore the pain. Keep both hands free. Did she have time to open the chest and grab something heavy? Wasn't there one of those tire-changing things lying in the trunk? Trying not to be obvious, she groped along the carpet-lined space.

"Ms. Parker?" A deep male voice conjured images of a linebacker-sized hit man. But why would a hit man use her new name? Her mind whirled. The voice wasn't Victor's. If Victor sent some thug, wouldn't he be asking for Julie Ann? Who other than Grace and a Realtor she'd never met face-to-face knew she was here? The Realtor was a woman. Should she admit to being Elizabeth Parker?

And then a thought surpassed all others.

Will's alone in the house.

Her fingers wrapped around cool metal. Barely registering its four-sided shape, she hefted it. Heavy enough to do some damage. Awkward to conceal. She half-turned, keeping her head down.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry I'm late. I'm here to turn on the gas."

Relief supplanted some of the fear. Warily, her makeshift weapon at her side, she searched for a gas company vehicle. She saw a pickup at the far end of her steep, winding driveway, but she couldn't make out a company logo. Was he blocking her in? If he was from the gas company, where was his toolbox? She hated this life, having to be your-life-might-be-at-stake careful instead of the normal-woman-alone careful.

"Got a flat?" the man asked.

She dared to look at him directly. Not a linebacker. Baseball player, maybe, although the dirt-streaked blue coverall he wore hid his shape. But there was no denying the underlying muscular build. A rugged face, jaws shadowed with stubble. Snapping her gaze from his face, she looked more closely at his uniform, seeking some gas company identification. Instead, a red-and-yellow embroidered patch with a helicopter and "Life Flight" stood out against the dark fabric. Beneath it was a small green cartoon logo, but she wouldn't step close enough to see exactly what—or be caught staring. He kept looking up the driveway toward his truck, then back at her, his expression more questioning than menacing. Did he have a partner there? Was he signaling him?

He cleared his throat. "I can change your tire if you need it."

"What?" she said.

"A flat." He tilted his chin toward her arm. "You're holding a lug wrench. Assumed you needed to change a tire."

His expression said he knew damn well what she'd planned to use it for.

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