“It’ll be dark soon.”
Isabella cast her eyes upward, where the first hints of fiery gold touched the horizon, and set flame to her auburn hair.
“All the more reason to put some miles between us and our new friend,” Jacob replied.
She glanced back toward the cavern and the swept-bare sand between them. The black helicopter could return at any moment.
Jacob turned to assess the back exit of the cavern, toward the low, rocky escarpment. He tried to picture the land as he’d seen it in those last few minutes before the crash. His mental map, along with what he remembered from the flight charts, said that if they headed west and slightly north, a stiff three-day hike would bring them to civilization.
And between the crash site and civilization?
He would deal with the hit man as best he could. Capture him if lucky. Kill him if necessary.
Whatever it took to keep Isabella safe.
Bullseye
Jessica Andersen
For Kim Nadelson,
an editor who knows how to make a story sing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Though she’s tried out professions ranging from cleaning sea lion cages to cloning glaucoma genes, from patent law to training horses, Jessica is happiest when she’s combining all these interests with her first love: writing romances. These days she’s delighted to be writing full-time on a farm in rural Connecticut that she shares with a small menagerie and a hero named Brian. She hopes you’ll visit her at www.JessicaAndersen.com for info on upcoming books, contests and to say “hi”!
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Jacob (Bullseye) Powell—The sexy ex-Special Forces airstrike pilot is now a Big Sky bounty hunter and a confirmed bachelor. But does an old college flame have the power to change that when she finds herself in danger?
Isabella Gray—The no-nonsense Secret Service agent is all about her duty…until her protectees are abducted and she is forced to turn to the one man she’d hoped never to see again.
Louis Cooper—The U.S. Secretary of Defense will not negotiate with hostage takers. Or will he?
Boone Fowler—The head of the Montana Militia for a Free America has no problem with kidnapping Cooper’s family…or killing an interfering Secret Service agent.
Hope Cooper—When she and her twin daughters are abducted, Louis’s wife has only survival on her mind.
King Aleksandr of Lunkinburg—The despotic ruler of a small former Soviet bloc country has no apparent ties to Boone Fowler and his men.
Prince Nikolai—Denounced by his father for his patriotic ideals, the prince finds an ally in Louis Cooper, until the Secretary abruptly reverses his position on sending troops into Lunkinburg.
Lyle Nelson—After Isabella shoots him in the leg, Lyle wants revenge—the more painful, the better.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Prologue
Early September in Montana was chill and damp, like fear.
Derek Horton paused at the dark, rocky opening and a shiver crawled down his back. It’s just the drizzle, he told himself, but it was more than that.
The mouth of the abandoned mine beckoned with the promise of safety, of supplies and a place where the eight fugitives could light a small fire undetected. But the darkness beyond seemed to shift with something else.
A tall man with slashing scars on his face, a scruffy beard and his hair drawn into a warrior’s ponytail paused at Derek’s side. “Problem?”
Derek shook his head quickly, lest Boone Fowler think him weak or disloyal to The Cause, both of which could be fatal. “No problem. Just taking a quick breather.”
“Well, take it inside.” The leader of the Montana Militia for a Free America—MMFAFA—jerked his head at the six men strung out in a quiet line behind him. “We need to get out of sight. Those bounty hunter bastards might not be looking in the right places yet, but you can bet they’re looking.”
Boone’s command overrode Derek’s dislike of the cavern they had hidden in since their escape from The Fortress—the Montana State Penitentiary. He stepped through the gaping rock maw, into the strange warmth the cave seemed to ooze like sweat.
Rough hands grabbed him the moment he crossed into darkness.
Derek shouted and struck out, but missed. His brain shouted, Bounty hunters!
“Get in here, all of you!” a man shouted. “Now!”
His accent was clipped and foreign. Not the bounty hunters, Derek realized as dark-clothed men swarmed around Boone and the others.
Something far worse.
“Let me go!” Panicked, Derek thrashed, then gargled when his captor tightened the arm across his throat, cutting off his breath. His vision grayed, but not before he saw that the others had been similarly subdued.
Boone stood in the center of the small cavern, hands held away from his sides. Two black-clad figures held automatic weapons on him, according him the respect of a leader. Six other ninja types surrounded the remaining MMFAFA members. Derek saw Lyle, Boone’s second-in-command and the hothead of the group, spit at one of the gunmen.
The bastard rammed the muzzle of his weapon into Lyle’s stomach, sending him to his knees.
Another dark figure stepped into Derek’s view, this one unarmed, though he radiated power and grace. Leadership.
Derek held still, heart pounding. This had to be the man Boone had made a deal with, the man who had helped break them out of The Fortress in exchange for…favors.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Boone said, staring the cloaked figure in the eye and speaking leader to leader, even though he was being held at gunpoint. “We were unable to complete our first mission. But I have an idea about—”
“Your ideas don’t interest me,” the black-cloaked man interrupted with a vicious hiss. “I am here to tell you what you will do next. This time it will be done correctly, do you understand?”
After a cold, frozen moment, Boone nodded. “I understand. Tell me what you want us to do.”
“Not yet. First, I believe a lesson is in order.” The figure nodded toward the man behind Derek.
“No. Don’t…please don’t!” Icy fear splashed in Derek’s veins when the dark man’s cold gaze fixed on him. He struggled, but to no avail. His captor remained immovable, like the stone surrounding them. Derek reached toward the other militiamen, toward his leader. “Boone, don’t let them! Don’t!”
But