Liam Collins loved one woman all his life, not that he ever told her. In high school, Sherry Worthing was the girl of his dreams. Even now years of CIA training and multiple sting operations, every time he sees her in his hometown, he loses the ability to speak. He can stop terrorists but gets tongue tied near her still. However, he receives word that she is a suspect, he has to come face to face with the one woman that he could never approach.
Sherry Worthing is being chased. Her on-and-off boyfriend, the marriage proposal and then his death the day she wanted to give the ring back left a target on her back. She packs her dog and runs. Unfortunately she runs right into Liam, the guy who always hated her and could never even smile in her direction.
In this race against the clock, Liam and Sherry team up to find out who framed her. Can her dog also help the two fall in love?
“Black Falcon, in two days you walk out of the CIA forever? How?”
Liam’s coworker and close friend, Dwayne, leaned closer to his desk.
Liam cleared his throat as he stared at his computer. “I’m turning thirty.”
Sharing an office wasn’t always bad, just sometimes. In a few more weeks, no one would call him Black Falcon anymore. He’d simply be the billionaire without a job. He envisioned how he’d be home with his parents and be the doting uncle to his brothers’ children. He placed his feet on his desk and smiled at the ceiling.
“In two days, I’ll be vacationing on a beach and not caring about any missions. Then I’m moving home to Hyannis, and I plan to stay lost.”
“Time to give up what we both know you love this close to Valentine’s?” Dwayne nudged his shoulder. Liam placed his feet on the floor as Dwayne said, “I am not as privileged as you, but I couldn’t give this life up. There is no woman in the world worth it.”
“Let’s get loud. Are we sure these people aren’t Jennifer Lopez fans?”
They were sifting through the evidence that the NSA delivered, the phone and email records of potential threats on this stifling hot day in Atlanta.
“Boss want to know if they are using lyrics as code.”
“Pick a better singer, then.”
“Agreed, which is why I’m out.” Liam shifted in his seat. He didn’t want to be here anymore. “I need to stop living under the CIA rules and figure out what I want.”
He had the happy home life option, and lately that called to him. His married older brothers were having children, and Liam’s gut told him to stop chasing every bad guy out there and to let the younger crowd do the footwork. He brushed his blond hair off his forehead and stood up to go get water.
Skywalker called through the open door, “Boss wants to see you, Black Falcon.”
“I’ll head upstairs.”
Liam tied his necktie and pressed his lips together. The boss only summoned field agents when someone did something wrong. Liam hadn’t been in the field in weeks, though, and no known screw-ups surfaced in his mind.
“Dwayne, whatever happens upstairs, I’m closing up my casework and sending you the encrypted files tonight.”
“Good luck.” Dwayne said, then stared at his computer screen.
Liam’s spine was stiff. He straightened and stood taller. At the glass door, he knocked then opened it. He stood still for a second and then called in, “You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Black Falcon. Please sit. There is something we have to discuss.” His boss, code name Nebraska, motioned for him to come sit on the black leather seat opposite the desk. “I think you know this woman.”
The senior agent, with graying hair that made him look like George Clooney, twirled his monitor around. Liam’s eyes widened and his skin grew cold. He stared at the open file on the computer. Dark brown hair. Walnut eyes. Curves he’d never forget.
“Sherry? What about her?”
Sherry was the librarian in his small town in Cape Cod. She was also a high school obsession who featured in his teenage dreams, though he had never actually spoken to her. His pulse quickened. She shouldn’t be on the CIA radar. His muscles tensed as he pressed his lips together.
His boss tapped his fingers on the desk, and Liam turned toward him the moment he sat. “So you remember her from high school?”
He had joined the high school play for a chance to talk to her, but he’d struck out. He swallowed and nodded. “There were two hundred graduating seniors in my class. And she’s been friendly with my mom for years now.”
Liam lowered his gaze and told himself to not let any emotion show. Sherry should not be there. Sherry was always there, always smelled of ice cream sundaes, whenever he went home for a visit. She was the only person on the planet that made him tongue-tied. He swallowed, and his confidence returned to him.
“What’s going on?”
His boss turned the monitor to its original position on his desk.
“We’re not sure. She might be trading secrets with the North Korean government.”
He jerked in his seat.
“Impossible. Last time I saw Sherry was in a donut shop.”
“Sherry Worthing was engaged to Victor Kravenski.” Nebraska leaned closer onto his desk. “He is an intelligence dealer.”
No. How would he not know that?
“Intel says Victor died two days ago.”
Liam rubbed his chin and let his five o’clock shadow brush against his calloused hands.
“Rumor is one of the Russian outfits killed their own for selling government secrets. It seems he was making a deal with the Chinese.”
Nebraska shrugged.
“We were already tracking Kravenski. The secrets went missing, and less than a half an hour ago Ms. Worthing boarded a plane bound for Miami. It’s the gateway to South America. If she catches another flight, we might lose her…”
No. His mind was clear as Nebraska pronounced every syllable.
“Sherry wouldn’t sell government secrets.”
Nebraska raised his eyebrow. “Victor might have turned her.”
A shiver ratcheted up Liam’s spine. “Absolutely not.”
“I don’t have your faith in women. She might not even know what she’s doing.”
“I’m on it. Whatever it is, I’ll stop this and ensure whatever Victor had doesn’t leak. Sherry doesn’t have a secretive bone in her body.”
Liam stood up. The pressure in his spine became heavier. “She’s not a spy, and besides, she doesn’t speak Spanish.”
His boss’s lips curved into a pencil-thin line. “The files are missing. There are reports she has them, and we’re not the only agency investigating Ms. Worthing. As you know her, you’re on this case. I need you to bring her in for questioning.”
Liam stood and straightened his tie. “I’m going.”
“You should read her dossier, Black Falcon.” Nebraska slid the folder across the desk. “You’re the reason she met Victor in the first place.”
Resuming his seat, Liam flipped through the papers. He massaged his neck with the back of his hand as his eyes saw black stars. Sherry worked in a library. This was all a huge mistake. His mind reeled at the information.
“How did she meet Victor Kravenski?”
“Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. They were both there for a reception gala.”
Nebraska swiveled his seat and hit a few keys to bring up files on his computer. Liam read the brief. The night she met Victor was at his parents’ benefit at the museum. She must have been working for his mother as one of the usual volunteers. Liam could imagine Victor following Sherry into dark corners of the museum. His stomach twisted as he stared at a picture of Liam’s brothers next to her, three months ago.
Then he stared at the pictures of how Victor kissed Sherry’s hand and read the papers. He tapped his fingers on his lips.
“He was looking for me.”
Nebraska shrugged. “Possibly, but you never showed up that night. You were in Bulgaria for the pick-up, if I remember. It seems he spent the entire evening at her side. They became close quickly over the next few days.”
Liam’s fists clenched under the table. “There was also an art heist that same night. My sister-in-law took some heat as a false suspect.”
Victor would have no qualms about framing his sister-in-law, Kate. He’d also have no hesitation if Sherry ended up in front of the bullet intended for Liam. He continued reading, and then saw an image of the diamond ring. Numbness grew inside him.
“When did they get engaged?”
“Over a month ago.”
Nebraska pulled up a picture of New Year’s Eve. Liam stared at the star-studded picture of Sherry right next to celebrities and the ball in Times Square. Victor was down on one knee.
“At midnight. The same night the Federal Reserve lost four hundred million dollars out of various accounts.”
“Crimes and romance don’t normally mix.” Liam closed his eyes. “She would have no knowledge of any thefts.”
Nebraska’s chair squeaked as he turned toward his file cabinet. Picking up his water glass, he stared at it like he’d just found an old friend. “We have every reason to suspect both of them.”
Liam’s collar was tight. Sherry was a good girl and would never be involved with crime or Victor. Last visit he’d spotted her in the donut shop behind the counter, covering for her friend Angela.
“B-but four hundred million is not a lot of money to steal from the Fed. If you have access, they have so much more.”
“We all don’t have your trust fund, Collins.” Nebraska sipped his water. “I’ll send the case file to your tablet. Read it on the plane.”
Liam’s heart beat a mile a minute. “I’ll prove her innocent.”
“You’ll prove the truth. It’s what you’re required and expected to do.”
Nebraska didn’t glance at him as Liam bounced out of his chair. He’d have to finally speak to Sherry. He had to find her before anything else happened to her.