At the age of ten, Ethan witnessed a brutal murder. He vowed when he grew up, he’d protect people in danger. Protecting Olivia is difficult when she won’t trust him. He soon realizes his desire to protect her goes beyond doing his job, but if his judgment becomes clouded by emotions, her safety could be jeopardized.
Can Ethan and Olivia learn to trust each other when they uncover secrets that will change their lives forever?
The footsteps drew closer. Her breathing quickened. The intruder paused outside the door and she held her breath, a death grip on the pepper spray. The barrel of a gun appeared through the doorway, followed by a man. In that split second, she blasted him with a steady stream.
“Shit!” he yelled, snapping his head away from the line of fire.
Unsure if she’d made a direct hit, she flew past him, still spraying the air behind her. Although it wasn’t a blanket mist, she couldn’t help but inhale some of the toxic vapors in the air. Her eyes burned slightly and she coughed, racing down the hallway and across the open foyer.
She was almost to the door when the guy yelled out in a raspy voice, “Touch that door handle and I’ll shoot it off.”
She came to a screeching halt, unsure if he planned on aiming for the handle or her hand. The blood pulsating in her ears muffled the roar of the lawn mower as it passed by near a window. Nobody would hear her scream. She eyed the security alarm keypad on the wall by the door. Two quick steps and she could hit the panic button. Two quick steps and she might get shot. She slowly turned around, her gaze locking on the gun pointed at her from the opposite side of the foyer. Sheer panic pressed against her chest, and she sucked in a deep breath.
The guy cleared his throat. “I’m not gonna hurt you.” He cautiously lowered the gun, but didn’t holster it. “Unless you spray that crap again.” He blinked rapidly and ran a hand up over the top of his head, sweeping back a clump of wet hair. Her aim had obviously been off. It was impossible to spray straight when her body was shaking uncontrollably.
The guy’s dark hair was just shy of touching his shoulders and he had a five o’clock shadow. A black T-shirt covered his broad chest and faded, relaxed fitting jeans contradicted his rigid stance. A scar across his cheekbone, and a thin one slashing his eyebrow, added to his don’t mess with me look.
“I’m Ethan Ryder with the U.S. Marshals.” The man flashed a badge, then slipped it back in his pants’ pocket.
If the mob had hunted down her dad, who was to say it hadn’t been through a U.S. Marshal snitch? He’d trusted Roy Howard, not Ethan Ryder. Maybe he wasn’t even with the U.S. Marshals. Rather coincidental that he showed up right after a robbery.
“I assume you’re Olivia Doyle?”
At the back of her mind she heard her dad’s voice. Don’t trust him, Livvy. Be leery of people you know and certainly don’t trust someone you don’t know.
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Eliza Daly’s first attempt at creative writing was in fourth grade. She and her friends were huge Charlie’s Angels fans and she would sit in her bedroom at night writing scripts for them to act out at recess the following day. She was Kelly Garrett. Fast forward to the present, she’s still writing stories about beautiful women who always get their men. The journey from fourth grade script writer to published author wasn’t an easy one, but it was always an adventure and the final destination was well worth it.
When Eliza isn’t traveling for her job as an event planner, or tracing her ancestry roots through Ireland, she’s at home in Milwaukee working on her next novel, bouncing ideas off her husband Mark, and her cats Quigley, Frankie, and Sammy.
Ways for you to find Eliza on the web:
Eliza will be awarding a one $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card, winner's choice, to four (4) randomly drawn commenters during the tour.
It sounds great to me!
ReplyDeletelyra.lucky7 at gmail dot com
Thank you so much for having me here today to celebrate the recent release of my romantic suspense, Identity Crisis!
ReplyDeleteHi Eliza,
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
Okay all, I don't know what I was thinking.... I should have interviewed or had Eliza do a guest post for this book. If you haven't been following her around during her Identity Crisis tour, you REALLY should! Eliza is funny and charming.
~Kim
Ah, thanks so much Kim. I'd love to pop by any time for a post. :-)
DeleteI will take you up on that offer soon! Thanks. :)
DeleteBook sounds good, thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeletemagic5905 at embarqmail dot com
have not read a story about witness protection program yet so this is exciting
ReplyDeletelilypondreads at gmail dot com
I've read some of Eliza's guest post from around blogosphere (is that an actual word? Anway...). She's so funny.
Delete