Sneak Peek at the Ne xt Fire Lake Story

HARRIS

Someone had to do it.

Like Daniel being sent into the lions' den, only he was more of a sinner than a saint. It would be the only way of securing their plans with the certainty of bringing down this splintered division of the Noah Group.

But at what cost?

What were his options?

Allow himself to be caught or be forced to wait while the radicalized group formulated a new plan to lead the project into the future, posing a new threat at every turn. Where would it end? How many lives would be destroyed before they were stopped?

They couldn't sit back and wait. They might come for his sister or one of the children next. No matter how hard they tried, the Fire Lake team couldn't be everywhere at once.

Harris knew the odds weren't in his favor. Hell, he was a hacker with a high IQ. He knew his odds were close to a zero outcome. However, when he thought of the damage already done by the group, and their penchant for continuing at whatever cost, his choices were limited.

Do something or do nothing.

He wasn't the do-nothing kind of guy.

When he'd been faced with his sister's cancer diagnosis, he'd made a choice to break the law. To steal information and sell it to the highest bidder in order to pay for Jennifer's treatment. No one other than his sister knew the truth about his true intent with the information he would have handed over, and it no longer mattered. Suffice it to say those who bought the information would have been targeting not what they'd intended—US military installations—but rebel encampments. On the surface, the information would have looked legitimate, but it was amazing what changing a single number on a line of code could do for a targeting system.

Sure, they would have come for him, but the money and his sister would have been safe in an undisclosed location where her cancer treatment could begin. Though none of that came to fruition, he was marked as a criminal, untrustworthy, and condemned. His life may have been manufactured in a laboratory, but his future choices were his own, and he chose to make whatever existence he had left worth remembering.

Would he go? Yes.

Would he survive? Likely not, but his sister would, the children would, the innocent people would, and so would Woodley.

At the thought of the detective, Harris had to smile at his own failings. Never become attached to something or someone you can lose. When it came to Jennifer, it was natural to form those familial bonds. As twins, they were intrinsically entwined, but attachment to another person always brought a risk he chose to avoid because it could be used against him.

Woodley had gotten in under his radar, which was his fault. Harris had become complacent and comfortable, allowing normal, everyday emotions to grow. A lifetime was spent ensuring that such an event never happened nullified by one determined detective with a penchant for heroism and enough charm to disarm the most stoic of people.

A shame it would be all for nothing. Harris knew that once the opportunity presented, he would leave and allow himself to be captured again. Though this time, he wouldn't be striving to escape. Now that his mental link with Jennifer had surpassed the necessity to be within visual range, the information he could provide to the team was beyond comparison.

They were the only two with this particular skill set, and he'd damned sure not be sending his sister into the bowels of hell. As the always logical Spock said,The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.

Harris had to chuckle at his sci-fi nerdish love of a genre of fiction that had captivated him as a boy and into adulthood. His one guilty pleasure.

As the sun rose on another idyllic day on a ranch set in the picturesque Texas Hill Country, Harris had to wonder how many more he would be able to watch before his inevitable departure. Each sunrise seemed more beautiful than the one before. This was the life he wanted his sister and the others to have, and he was betting his life on ensuring that it happened. He would sorely miss this.

Strong arms wrapped around Harris from behind.

"It's early, come back to bed," Woodley said.

The detective's voice was so damn sexy when he first woke in the morning, all rough and deep.

"I will, just didn't want to miss this."

"I know how much you love seeing the sunrise."

"There's nothing quite like it."

"There's no one quite like you."

Harris spun to face the handsome detective. "You're not turning into some lovesick poet on me."

"Me? Never." Woodley grinned before kissing Harris like a starving man about to feast.

Yeah, there'd be many things he'd sorely miss.