He was a man of action—especially when it came to protecting his new undercover partner…
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Man of Action
Omega Sector: Critical Response #4
Janie Crouch
Releasing June 21st, 2016
Harlequin Intrigue
He was a man of action—especially when it came to protecting his new undercover partner…
At nineteen, Andrea Gordon's life was forever changed. After proving herself instrumental in a bank hostage crisis, she became one of Omega Sector's top agents. Four years later, her skill at reading people is unrivaled—until she meets fellow profiler Brandon Han. Paired together to track a serial killer who has been targeting at-risk women, the two become entangled beyond the case. Their mutual attraction deepens as they get closer to the truth. But when Andrea's own sordid past surfaces, they will both be forced to question everything about the assignment…and each other.
This whole thing was a terrible idea. Going back to
Buckeye? Terrible. Going back with the likes of Brandon Han? Even worse. The
plane hit some turbulence at thirty-five thousand feet, as if nodding in
agreement with Andrea’s conclusion.
Brandon didn’t want to work with
her on the case. He’d made that abundantly clear in Steve’s office. She wanted
to assume it was her fault, that he knew about her shortcomings and lack of
education as an Omega consultant, but forced herself to stop. He’d mentioned
liking to work alone. She could understand that, too. Andrea liked working
alone, but for different reasons.
Brandon’s irritation had been
pretty tangible when she’d sat down next to him at the airport. It had just
grown as they waited for their flight, first when she’d mentioned him being
complicated, then when they were both looking through the case files.
By the time they got on the plane,
about an hour after their scheduled departure time, Brandon was hardly even
talking to her. He was mad—she had no idea why—and she was awkward—as usual
around someone she was so attracted to. Good times.
Andrea tried to pretend she was
reading the files when he handed them to her, but she wasn’t. She knew better
than to even try. Her dyslexia made reading simple books difficult, although
she had learned some exercises to help with that. But reading handwritten notes
and case files often written in different fonts and sizes—that pretty much just
led to a headache and frustration.
She’d had an extra hour at her
apartment so she’d used the special software on her computer to scan a few
pages so they could be converted into audio clips. She’d found that listening
worked much better for her than trying to read. Unfortunately she hadn’t had
enough time to scan all the files as she normally would.
Listening to the files on audio
clips had just made Brandon more irritated. Andrea had no idea what to do about
that, so she ignored it. She would listen to the clips she had, then spend this
evening—all night if she had to—reading through the files in her room, when she
was alone and it was quiet. She refused to go into that meeting with the local
police tomorrow unprepared.
She didn’t want to go back there
at all. If it wasn’t for Steve asking her to go, Andrea wouldn’t have done it,
serial killer or not.
Maybe they wouldn’t run into
anyone she knew. Or maybe the people in Buckeye wouldn’t recognize her. She’d
gone to great lengths to look nothing like the girl who had worked at Jaguar’s.
Her blond hair was shorter, cut in a flattering bob; her makeup was tasteful.
She’d learned how to dress and present herself in a professional manner.
She doubted her own aunt and uncle
would recognize her. Not that she planned to drop in on them. She hadn’t seen
them since the last time her uncle, in a drunken stupor again, had awakened her
with a backhand that had sent her sprawling from her bed to the floor when she
was seventeen. Another punch had sent her hurling into a glass table. She’d
gotten away from him and hidden that night, wrapping her cut arm in a T-shirt.
The next morning she’d told her
aunt, who’d looked the other way again during all the commotion, that
she was going to school.
Andrea hadn’t gone to school. And
she hadn’t gone back home. Ever again.
She hadn’t gone far, just to the
other side of the town she’d only ever known as home, but they hadn’t come
looking for her. Had probably been relieved that she’d left.
So yeah, no joyous homecoming in
Buckeye.
Nominated for the 2014 & 2015 Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, and a finalist in multiple other Romance literary awards, Janie Crouch loves to read – almost exclusively romance – and has been doing so since middle school. She cut her teeth on Harlequin (Mills & Boon) Romances when she lived in Wales, UK as a preteen, then moved on to a passion for romantic suspense as an adult.
Janie recently relocated with her husband and four children to Germany (due to her husband's job as support for the U.S. Military), after living in Virginia for nearly 20 years. When she’s not listening to the voices in her head (and even when she is), she enjoys traveling, long-distance running, movie-watching, knitting and adventure (obstacle) racing.
She teaches online communication classes for an American college part time, and writes full time. Most of all, she loves to laugh and smile and count her blessings. And her blessings are many.
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