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A battle-hardened marine and a driven NCIS agent join forces to survive…
Though survival training is Master Sergeant Tristan Michaels's specialty, one of his students has been murdered. And sharing quarters with the ravishing NCIS agent sent to investigate is a challenge his expertise hasn't prepared him for. Tristan has his reasons for distrusting NCIS agents, but Amber Dalton is stirring unwelcome feelings of a different kind…
Despite the fierce attraction between them, Amber is determined not to let it distract her from the mission. But when they're captured by the killers, escape means combining forces and daring to survive freezing mountain terrain.
- Sales Rank: #152880 in eBooks
- Published on: 2015-10-01
- Released on: 2015-10-01
- Format: Kindle eBook
About the Author
Karen Anders is a three-time National Readers’ Choice Award finalist and RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice finalist, and has won the prestigious Holt Medallion. Two of her novels made the Waldenbooks bestseller list in 2003. Published since 1997, she currently writes romantic suspense for Harlequin. To contact the author, please write to her in care of Harlequin Books, 233 Broadway Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279, or visit www.karenanders.com.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Sierra Nevada, California
One point six degrees is all that stands between us and death."
There was complete silence from the nine snipers USMC Master Sergeant Tristan Michaels was training on a mountaintop in the Sierra Nevada. They knew all this information, but there was nothing like driving it home.
"At 97.0 degrees there's mental impairment, poor judgment. One degree is all it takes to lead you to death's door. At 86.0 degrees, there's no more shivering—there's coma and lights out."
The frigid air and this trek into the clear, cold mountains drove home the truth of Tristan's lesson today. He exhaled, the heat from his breath fogging the air, and there it was again…that feeling, a heaviness in the pit of his belly and in his head, too, the backs of his eyes hot, a weight across the nape of his neck. As a member of Force Reconnaissance—known as both Force Recon and FORECON—Tristan heeded his gut feelings.
He'd felt this off-balance sense right before a battle, right before an explosion, as if the molecules of air were bracing themselves for conflict. With the snow-covered trees and the heavy snowfall, these training grounds were far from a winter wonderland.
All of those millions of lace-patterned water drops piling up on top of each other… The sound of it had a way of impeding hearing, just a bit, with a tone that came from everywhere and nowhere while creating a strange sense of urgency.
It felt like a pent-up breath.
It felt as if something was about to happen.
The only worry on his mind right now wasn't that these guys wouldn't hit their targets. It was about survival, as they were going to be out in these conditions for the next three days with no tents in the middle of January.
Crouching in the snow, Tristan said, "You all face a unique situation when you're sniping in this environment. The cold weather acts as an adversary that can be as deadly as an enemy soldier."
The intent young faces hung on his every word and he emphasized enough the first day of class how he would be their savior, his words were gold and he was the god of winter. Freaking Jack Frost had nothing on him and Old Man Winter was just blowing smoke.
"Every time. Every time you pit yourself against the elements, it's about survival. Regardless of the job you do, staying alive is all that matters. When we started out, it was clear and sunny—"
"Yeah, sir, it was downright balmy," one marine said down at the end of the line, and everyone chuckled.
"We can go skinny-dipping later," Tristan said, deadpan. "As I was saying, clear when we arrived, but always prepare yourself for blizzard conditions."
Jerking down his bark-colored cap covering his dark hair, he went to one knee and sighted his own scope across the tree-lined terrain. "Tell me why cold is a greater threat to survival," he said, his breath fogging the air.
"It decreases your ability to think," one marine replied. "It weakens your will to do anything except to get warm."
"It sucks moisture, and dehydration is a threat."
"Good answers," he said. "But remember this, if you forget everything else. Cold makes it very easy to forget your ultimate goal—to survive."
Tristan didn't have to instruct these men on how to shoot a target. They were all seasoned snipers, but there was still a 10 percent washout rate for this class. One shot, one kill was their motto. His job was to teach them how to shoot in this terrain and at steep angles and how to survive against the insidious cold. He'd done both numerous times.
"Your target is the normal one-thousand-yard distance. I want you to work out the coordinates and take your shot."
As five successive shots cracked across the white noise of the falling snow, Tristan put his binoculars to his eyes and scanned the targets below him. As he went to lower the field glasses, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
His breath backed up in his lungs as he stared and adjusted the clarity. It looked… Ah, damn! "Stay here," he ordered, and he took off at a run through the snow. Navigating the decline with the skill and ease of a pro, he slid slightly on the loose snow but got the traction he needed in his snowshoes. The cold air hurt his lungs as he loped, his muscles loose and pumping.
As he got closer, his heart slammed hard against his ribs and his mind froze in shock.
Memories assaulted him of another freezing-cold day, the snow splashed with blood.
He stopped at the foot of the slope, unmoving in surprise. He looked down to the ground, his mind clear as a bell, sure of what he was seeing.
So many shots and so many kills and he recognized it in an instant, as if he had been in slow motion and everything just went into real time. Real freaking time.
It hit him like it always did. As if a conscious thought was needed to drive it home every time. He was breathing his way into it like he'd done whenever he'd sniped. Settling his cheek against the stock, quieting his muscles, quieting his heartbeat and lining up his shot.
He was going to get only one shot, and like every shot he took, it had to be perfect, a cold zero.
It was the only truth he knew. It was the only one that mattered, and 2.5 pounds of pressure on the trigger later, a man's life would leave him in a vapor trail of pink blood and disintegrated flesh. Another millisecond, the shot would sound in the air.
A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his trance. "Sarge…what the hell…damn," one of his students said on a choking whisper. Then they all crowded around and that terrible heaviness he'd been feeling only moments ago deepened.
As his students all shuffled around, looking at each other, their faces contorting in compassion—shock, pain, anxiety—he crouched and brushed at the snow-covered face, revealing the fixed open eyes, the lashes thick with snowflakes.
Lance Corporal James Connelly, his missing marine student, who stared up at a frosty white sky from a face blue and stiff with cold, frozen in death. The kid had been at the top of his game, highly decorated in his tours in Afghanistan and the Middle East, dedicated to the corps with a recent reenlistment, and had been a complete jarhead through and through. One of his best students ever.
He liked this kid.
The body had been almost invisible, dressed in camo and deeply covered in snow. If it hadn't been for the flap of his jacket caught by the wind, Tristan might have glanced right over him.
He turned the body and saw it. A bullet hole, blood tingeing the snow beneath him.
His conscience kicked him hard and his throat burned from the deep breaths he took to mitigate the guilt that slammed heavy into him like a wrecking ball.
Lance Corporal James Connelly.
One shot, one kill—a cold zero.
* * *
Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Office, Navy Yard, Washington, DC
Hey, you okay?"
NCIS Special Agent Amber Dalton cringed at the sound of Beau Jerrott's voice behind her. Part of the NCIS team, Beau had recently found his true love and was getting married. She loved the guy like a brother, but he'd told her she shouldn't let Peter—Lieutenant Peter Savich, USN—make her his second priority. A woman should always be number one, and if she wasn't, said woman should move on. There wasn't anything that Amber hated more than coming in second. But in this case, she hadn't even been in the race.
She turned around and one look at her face had Beau taking her arm and dragging her to the conference room.
"What happened?"
Her shoulders drooped and she squeezed her eyes closed. "He dumped me right before this Aruba trip. My first vacation in a year."
"That slime. Why did he dump you?"
"He's…engaged." It should have been a little more painful to say it, but it wasn't. She just hated the idea of spending her vacation alone and was mortified that she hadn't seen the signs.
"Oh, damn," he murmured and pulled her into his arms, rubbing at her back. "I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, I never liked that guy for you. He was too…bossy."
"Oh, really," she sniffed. "Nothing like you."
"No, nothing like me," he said, squeezing her tight and letting her go.
"It's not the end of the world. There's—"
"If you say 'there's plenty of fish in the sea,' I'll slug you," she said.
"There's a silver lining."
"Nice save." She punched his arm lightly. "What exactly would this silver lining be?"
"You can go to Aruba and have wild, crazy sex." He waggled his brows.
She rolled her eyes. Because he was trying to cheer her up, she laughed. "All settled down and that is what you still think about?"
"Guar-an-teed. I have Kinley at home."
"I don't jump in the sack with just anyone. So I would rule out wild, crazy or any other kind of sex on a seven-day vacation."
"Ah, right, you're one of those. Well, buck up. This is a vacation. There will be no pining or moping over your jerk of an ex-boyfriend."
Hours later, after she'd filed her last report and shut down her computer, she was trying to dredge up some pain or even regret about the breakup and she couldn't. She just felt stupid for getting blindsided, for holding on to something that wasn't fulfilling or going anywhere. It was her competitive edge. She so hated losing.
Amber had spent most of her childhood playing second fiddle to her sister, Samantha, or as everyone called her, Sammy. Her older sister was outgoing and beautiful and took the lion's share of attention from their parents and relatives. Amber had to work twice as hard to get out of her sister's shadow. She excelled at sports and her studies, garnering scholarships. But no matter what she did, she got the sense her parents thought her second-best.
Sammy had married a very wealthy man while Amber went into the navy, then became part of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, or JAG, then finally left to become an NCIS agent.
She'd passed all her tests with flying colors, especially her PT tests. Because she was considered an athletic girl, Amber often found herself in the pal role with boys at school and was frequently used as a stepping-stone to her sister.
When Amber rose and grabbed her purse from the bottom of her desk drawer, Vincent Fitzgerald said, "Hey, why don't you come out for a drink with us?"
Damn Beau—he must have told Vin. "Us? Like you and Sky and Beau and Kinley?"
"Yeah, I'll buy you a drink."
"No, thanks. I've got more packing to do. Another time." There was no way she was going to be a fifth wheel to her happily engaged colleagues. It would make her feel ten times worse.
"Ah, come on," Beau said, stopping by her desk. "I'll let you win at darts."
Vin chuckled and turned off his desk lamp. "Right, Jerrott."
Amber brushed past Beau and laughed as she headed to the elevator. "Ha! First off, you won't let me win at anything. I would kick your ass!"
"Sounds like a challenge to me," Vin said, getting into the elevator after Beau.
"Another time," she said again firmly, and both men gave her sympathetic looks, which she hated. "Don't feel sorry for me," she said.
At the parking lot they both hugged her and wished her a safe and enjoyable trip. In her car, her cell rang. She looked to see who the caller was and her lips tightened. Pete. Really? What could he possibly say that she would have any interest in hearing? He probably just wanted to assuage his conscience.
She pulled into her driveway and entered the house.
It wasn't long before she was immersed in a hot bath up to her neck, her long blond hair piled on top of her head, sipping on a glass of wine and enjoying the time to indulge herself. It had been a week of ten-hour days and two difficult cases. She was officially off the clock.
Her phone buzzed again, but she ignored it. Tomorrow she would be arriving in Aruba and baking in the glorious sun on a beautiful beach.
She sighed. It would be wonderful.
After getting out of the tub and crawling into bed, she tossed and turned, waking up before her alarm clock went off. She got out of bed and assembled her luggage. Just as she was about to leave for the airport, her phone buzzed and this time she answered. "Pete, stop calling me, you complete jerk! I have nothing to say to you."
"Amber?"
Oh, damn. She recognized Supervisory Agent in Charge Christophe Vargas's voice. Her dismay at being an idiot to her boss dissipated when she realized there had been contrition in his voice. Oh, damn, he was calling her in. "Chris…no."
"Amber, I need your help on this."
She dropped her head back with a long, drawn-out sigh. "I haven't had a vacation in a year."
"I know. It's a potential friendly-fire incident. You'll be in and out. Done and on that beach in no time. I need you on this one. You've got the law-degree background."
"A year, Chris."
"In and out. I promise."
"Why can't someone else do it?" she whined. She wasn't proud of it, but she'd so been looking forward to this vacation, and not only was she going alone, but she had to postpone it for work. That just plain sucked.
"The only other qualified person—" he cleared his throat "—is on vacation with his spouse."
"What? That is not fair."
"I know, but he's already gone and he's a senior agent. It's the way it works, so that leaves you."
"You really are in a bind? That's the only reason you're assigning me?"
"The only reason."
Okay, that hurt. It was the only reason he was sending her. It wasn't because he trusted her or thought she was competent. It was because she was a junior agent and available. Well, then she would do as good a job as she could. This was a sensitive situation. Ruling a death as friendly fire wasn't a popular job and she would handle the family with care and compassion. Her heart already went out to the serviceman who had lost his life. Compared to a stupid vacation, there was no comparison. "I want the same number of days."
"Done."
"Where am I going?"
"California. I'll send the details to your phone. I'll pay for your flight to Aruba."
"And any fees that I am going to incur because of this detour."
"Yes, any fees."
"All right," she grumbled. "I'll do it, but you'll owe me."
"Thank you, Amber. You are a team player."
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Book #4: To Protect and Serve Series
By RoloPoloBookBlog
Her Master Defender by Karen Anders
Book #4: To Protect and Serve Series
Source: ARC from author
My Rating: 5/5 stars
My Review:
Amber Dalton just got dumped and before she could out the office door and start her now-solo vacation, she got an assignment dumped in her lap. As if there weren’t enough salt in the wound already, her boss quite frankly told her the assignment is hers only because the more experienced investigator isn’t available. Oh, good. She’s the second choice on every level at this point. Can it get any worse??
It can always get worse and it does in about a heartbeat. She was headed for sun and surf on vacation and now finds herself severely underdressed and under packed for the Sierra Nevadas. Her boss told her this is an open and shut case of friendly fire, it’s not. She was supposed to have a place to stay on base but it’s full and, she is stuck with the grumpiest man she has ever met, Master Sergeant Tristan Michaels. The cherry on top of the crap sundae, she is bunking with the Master Sergeant in his two-bedroom home off base and the attraction between them is thicker than the fog surrounding the mountain range.
Tristan Michaels has no love for the NCIS after a particularly terrible experience with them early in his career but one of his students is dead and there are procedures that must be followed. Unfortunately, one of those procedures is NCIS agent, Amber Dalton who happens to be occupying his home and more brain space than he cares to admit. Amber has no intention of taking any sh&t off Tristan and once he understands her commitment to her job and finding out the truth of the situation he finds himself in, even Tristan has to admit he is impressed. Amber is very much like a dog with a bone and the more questions she asks, the more convinced she becomes that Tristan’s student absolutely did not die as a result of friendly fire.
From the moment Amber and Tristan take up the case of the mysterious death, they know there is something really wonky going on. Every answer brings an avalanche of new questions and within a few days, there’s another death on the mountain and no one Amber and Tristan can trust. Every step closer to the truth brings them one step close to true evil and when they are both taken, they realize just how ugly and awful evil can be. Both Amber and Tristan are well-trained and capable of surviving in most conditions but the situation they find themselves in is nothing they could have ever, ever prepared for. It will take every ounce of their skill, instinct for survival, and budding trust in one another to survive the ordeal and bring down an evil that has been plaguing the mountains for years.
The Bottom Line: The deeper I get into this series, the more I like it. Tristan is a slightly damaged man whose personal experiences have very much informed his attitude. Though he really doesn’t want to like Amber, he can’t deny her intelligence, determination, courage, bangin’ body, and how his body, brain, and heart seem drawn to her. Amber has baggage of her own and though she tries to resist Tristan, it is hard to resist a man with such a large and powerful presence. I am generally very much a character over plot reader but this book had me switching it up completely. The plot for Her Master Defender is exceptionally twisted and I LOVED every second of it from start to finish. When the big reveal happens be sure you’re somewhere you can safely spout off a bad word or ten because you will probably need too The last third of this book is wretchedly awful and awesome all at the same time and I couldn’t put it down. I KNOW Karen Anders is all about the HEAs but this one had me questioning if she was going to go totally off script all the way through to the end. Well played, author lady, well played. As with many of her reads, there are clues to the continuation of the series and I for one am damn glad this series is going to keep going.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Enthralls with riveting suspense
By A. Richard
The fourth member of a dedicated NCIS team in Washington, DC gets to tell her own story, where a supposedly straightforward case turns deadly and tough decisions must be made. Being the only woman and the newest member in the group makes Amber Dalton try extra hard to prove she is capable of doing any assignment, but personal feelings cause numerous complications when she is sent to investigate a murder. Karen Anders makes her To Protect and Serve stories suspenseful with lots of action plus adds in plenty of genuine emotions to tug at the heart. HER MASTER DEFENDER is constantly gripping with realistic developments.
As a marine, Master Sergeant Tristan Michaels has been in some tough situations where he learned valuable skills. His current job is to train individuals how to survive when they are on missions in areas of extreme cold. With the exercises taking place in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the cold is shown to be just as lethal as an enemy. When a marine training at the Mountain Warfare Training Center is found shot dead, there are questions about what happened. Though Tristan will be looking into the matter, a NCIS agent will also be investigating the shooting.
Right before her vacation is to start, Amber Dalton is asked to look into a death thought to possibly be an accident. If all goes well, the NCIS agent can still enjoy time relaxing on an island beach in a few days. The only place to stay when she arrives at the center is with Tristan, and she wonders if his disposition is always so surly or if it is because of her. A prior incident made him wary of NCIS, and having to continuously be around the enticing female agent makes him even tenser. While Tristan and Amber agree to keep their relationship professional, as the sexual awareness is mutual, the longing each feels continues to simmer. Then the case unexpectedly turns much more difficult than first assumed.
The To Protect and Serve miniseries has had numerous obstacles to overcome, and none have been more frightening than the circumstances that Tristan and Amber must face. I felt their every fear about what might happen, and I definitely thought the situations could actually be true. Ms. Anders gives the couple not only someone very cunning to go up against, but Mother Nature is also an adversary. The way in which the author describes the harsh environment made me feel the chill of the frigid temperatures, plus she gave several great tips for surviving in these conditions. How events unfolded kept me in a state of anticipation, as I had no idea in what direction everything would play out.
There are some issues in the lives of Tristan and Amber that greatly affect their views concerning other people. His past contains a tragedy, and how he now interacts with people is a direct result of what took place so many years ago and NCIS is a big part of his lingering problems. To show she is not second best, Amber has worked hard to demonstrate her worth. Finding justice for the dead man is vital to her, but in the back of her mind she worries about doing something wrong. At odds with the other at first, Tristan and Amber must work toward the same goal without frequently snapping out comments. Part of their trouble is the tension caused by how tempted each is to explore the sexual attraction between them, and when it overwhelms them, the encounters are hotly heated. As they continue to work together, some helpful insight is learned. There are many more books in the To Protect and Serve miniseries proposed, and I hope each one gets contracted because of Karen Anders gift for creating compelling romantic suspense novels. HER MASTER DEFENDER is intriguing with unforeseen dangers and has heartfelt emotions.
Copy received from author for a CataRomance review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Great read
By mara Lee
I loved it. I wrote and posted my review on here, Good reads and Facebook. Please look me up or under the book.
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