Laura’s Truth, a Cypress Security romantic suspense novel, is an action-packed read filled with big doubts, shocking truths, old flames, and a race to find the real killer!
About the book:
Can an undercover bride breathe life into a man presumed dead?
All reports label CIA officer Andrew Garner as an enemy of the state, responsible for the ambush that ended his life and the lives of three innocent soldiers.
The reports are dead wrong.
Andrew survived. Barely. Living under the radar, without any support, he’s finally tracked down the real killer and he’s ready to clear his name.
Army counterintelligence officer Laura Talbot’s investigation settled on Garner as the cause of the horrific ambush. When rumors surface that he might be alive and operating in the shadows, she follows the trail to separate fact from fiction.
What she hoped was a case of mistaken identity quickly turns far more sinister. In searching for justice, Laura and Andrew must find a way to trust each other – or they won’t survive the powers determined to silence them.
Sneak Peek!
Prologue
Cypress Security office, Haleswood, SC
“This looks serious,” Ross Carpenter said, joining his partners Rick Dryer and Eva Battaglia in the Haleswood office of their private investigations firm.
Rick’s new wife Nicole stood near the window, her gaze on the street below. They rarely had reason to either exclude or involve their respective spouses, so naturally Ross wondered if this meeting involved any of the skeletons rattling around in Nicole’s past.
“It is,” Eva replied, waving him over to her side of the desk. “Nicole caught these during Rick’s last case.”
“The bank bag thief in Charleston? We closed that and turned it over a week ago,” Ross said. “Did we miss something?”
“Nothing related to the case we were hired for,” Rick answered. His head tilted toward his wife. “But she found a connection to us that I’d overlooked.”
Ross couldn’t remember a time when Rick had overlooked anything. Not during their military service and definitely not since they’d all transitioned to the civilian life. “Why call me up here just to dance around the issue? You’re all acting as if you’re afraid to tell me something.”
Rick’s somber face twisted into something resembling sympathy. “It’s Andrew Garner,” he stated. “In Charleston.”
“That’s impossible,” Ross denied it immediately. “No. Garner…” Had turned traitor on the other side of the world and been ripped apart with shrapnel courtesy of an improvised explosive device. He didn’t survive his injuries. Ross had seen the remains. The scorched clothing, the blood. “Garner is dead.” His voice turned hard under the onslaught of the grim memories.
“Take a look, boss,” Eva said.
He bristled. She was using the unflappable, utterly calm voice she used with irate or panicked clients. He was neither. Garner was dead.
Eva enlarged a segment of the picture, zeroing in on a man seated near the garden wall of a sidewalk café. In Charleston, South Carolina. No way.
“A doppelganger,” Ross said, ignoring the sarcastic laugh Rick couldn’t smother. “One of Garner’s strengths was his common, forgettable face, remember?”
“Have you forgotten his face?” Eva hit a key and the entire series of Nicole’s surveillance photos filled the screen.
He bit back the harsh retort. The rage bubbling in his system wasn’t Eva’s fault. They’d nearly lost the entire team out there thanks to Garner’s greed. Over Eva’s monitor, he met Rick’s gaze. “What do you want from me?”
“Permission to pursue and verify,” Rick began. “Nicole and I can—”
“Permission denied.”
Eva sucked in a breath. Ross had never been a dictator. They’d come to this venture as a team and though they might disagree, they always discussed. Oh, well, first time for everything.
Garner was dead. This lookalike couldn’t become a distraction.
Ross felt Rick’s glare biting into the top of his head as he bent low for a closer look at the pictures. Damn, the resemblance was uncanny. If it was Garner—highly unlikely—a miraculous survival only made him more dangerous.
“You see it too,” Eva stated.
He swore. Striding to the window, he forced himself to think rationally, like a leader. A leader who wanted to keep his people alive.
“Yeah. I see it,” he admitted. “Let me call in a favor.” He had to smooth the feathers he’d ruffled.
“Who would that be?” Rick demanded. “I know you’ve got connections all over, but who would you trust besides us to verify someone like Garner?”
“It’s not Garner,” Ross insisted. It could not be. The man was dust, barring some deceptive and perfectly executed plan. Either way, Ross would not expose anyone on his team to the bastard again. Once had been more than enough. He turned to Nicole. “Why is this man familiar to you?”
Nicole swiveled, her expression a mask of endless patience. “I saw that man a few times when I was with the pharmaceutical company. I’m sure Allie would remember him, too. She might even know his name.”
“A few times.” Ross clenched his teeth. Having spent so much of her life looking over her shoulder for enemies, Nicole had a gift for remembering faces. He couldn’t ignore her opinion. “And he sticks out in your memory because?”
“Because he felt dangerous.” She confirmed his suspicions. “When I mentioned seeing him before, I thought Rick would pass out.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Rick muttered.
“So says your pride.” Nicole turned to Eva. “He went white.”
Eva nodded, understanding. “I was glad to be sitting down when you pointed him out to me. And I only heard the stories after the fact.”
Nicole glanced at her husband. “Rick told me I didn’t want to know what happened.”
“You don’t,” Eva agreed.
“She’s right.” Ross raked a hand through his hair. “Was he ever in contact with anyone involved with the case we just closed in Charleston?”
“No,” Rick replied.
“This was the only time he showed up during our surveillance,” Nicole added. “I went through all the photos. Best I can tell it was just a fluke encounter.”
Ross wished he believed in those. “This is crazy,” he insisted, trying to believe it, and failing. “I was there,” he muttered. “I saw him die.”
Rick stepped forward. “Then why can’t I look into it?”
On another oath, Ross rubbed at the tension gripping the back of his neck. He came around and sank into one of the empty chairs in front of Eva’s desk. Looking up at Rick and Nicole, his stomach clutched with worry about the potential fallout. Together Rick and Nicole had found an unexpected happiness. He refused to put that in jeopardy.
“I believe the bastard is dead. Everything we saw, every after-action report, agrees with that conclusion. But if anyone could find a way to cheat the Grim Reaper and cause problems, it’d be Garner. I won’t take that chance with any of you. It was too close the first time.”
Rick bobbed his head. “If he recognizes one of us, you think he’d shoot first and ask questions later.”
Gun, knife, or improvised weapon, Garner wouldn’t hesitate to kill. “That’s how he works. Worked.” Ross rapped the knuckles of his clenched fists on the arms of the chair. “He wouldn’t have a choice. You and I pose a major security risk to a surviving Garner. How old are those photos?”
“Forty-eight hours,” Nicole replied.
“He might be long gone already,” Rick said.
“The man who looks like him might be long gone,” Ross corrected. “I’ll make a call and let you know what I hear. Odds are this is one bizarre misunderstanding.” God help them if it wasn’t. If Garner had survived it wouldn’t have been due to the divine intervention of a benevolent god.
“All right.”
“Promise me you’ll stay away from this.” Ross looked first at Rick, then Eva, and finally Nicole. He didn’t want anyone using her as a loophole to poke around in this situation. “I mean it.” The vice grip squeezing the air from his chest loosened as each of them reluctantly gave their word.
Ross pushed himself up and out of the chair feeling a hundred years older than he had when he’d walked into the room minutes ago.
“One thing, boss,” Rick stopped him when he reached the door.
“What’s that?”
“Promise us you’ll do the same. I need to know you’ll stay away from this too.”
“I promise,” Ross said. “We all have better things to do than search for a ghost who wants company in the grave.”
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