Chapter One
“Son of a bitch!”Honor Davison hopped around on one foot, grabbing her big toe.It throbbed since she’d slammed it against the desk in her rush to gather her stuff.She didn’t have much time, so she forced her foot back down and did her best to shake off the pain.She couldn’t afford a delay.She needed to move.Now.
Vince Towner wasn’t who she’d thought he was.He wasn’t the “nice” guy he’d led her to believe.He was a cold-hearted bastard who didn’t help people.No, he used them for his own means.Now, Honor was the next person he planned to use.No fucking way.She would say over her dead body, but she was afraid that was exactly what he had in mind.
As if that wasn’t enough, he’d accessed her computer.How had he breached her firewalls?Hers?She was the best.Period.But there was no denying it.Not only had someone hacked into her system, but they’d managed to open some of her zipped files.Files no one should ever see.Even worse, he knew where she lived, had been a welcomed guest in her home.Correction, where shehadlived.Because in two more minutes she was out.And she knew just where she was going.Stace.
Her current situation had all begun with her friend, Stace Anders, a little over a year ago.Stace had come back from her last rescue and discovered her baby sister, Chloe, was missing.Kidnapped, to be precise.Honor should have worked with her to find Chloe, but Honor’s dad, Zachariah Davison, had nixed that.Instead, he’d advised Stace to call in help from a local group, Midnight, Inc., a security company owned and operated by former military personnel.Apparently, her dad knew the owner and respected him, which was a rare thing as far as Honor was concerned.
She snorted as she grabbed the zippered pouch that contained her flash drives then disconnected the hard drive, tossing both carefully into her backpack.If everything were still the same, Stace would have continued working with Honor as she always had.But Stace had told Honor’s dad she was ready to quit, and the crafty bastard had used it as an excuse to force out Honor, as well.
He should have left well enough alone.Then none of this would have happened because Honor would have been too busy to search for the “normal” life her father said he wanted for her.All she could think to say was, since fucking when?She’d walked away before he could answer, then he’d left on a mission shortly after.
Now, she’d be on the run until she figured out how to clean up her mess, a fact that thoroughly pissed her off.She wasn’t a fucking amateur.She could do this shit in her sleep.Until her dad had given her the boot.Why had Stace’s decision to retire from the rescue business made Honor’s dad decide it was time for his little girl to retire from the handler business?Bullshit!He raised her to be one of the guys.Then suddenly, he’d wanted her to date, get married, settle down, and maybe have a grandkid or two?What the fuck?The old man was getting batshit crazy in his twilight years.His desire to see her ‘settled’ had definitely been a failure.
She hit the door running, not bothering to lock up behind her.Vince would only break in when he realized she was gone.She’d never be able to come back now, anyway.The location had been compromised.Her Jeep was already packed with essentials.She put her backpack, laptop case and a duffel, which held the few personal mementos she allowed herself, in the passenger seat, then hurried around to the driver’s door.
She was headed to some small city named Legacy.
Legacy?Really?What the hell kind of name was that for a city?
Didn’t matter since it was the only place Honor felt she could find help.Stace was living with a man named Donavan Shepard, a former Ranger.Six-feet-four-inches of pure muscle.He looked like a fucking Viking.Plus, Stace was working with him at the security firm now.The company seemed legit.Apparently, they had pretty good firewalls, as well.She’d only been in their system for two minutes forty-five seconds before they’d kicked her, infecting her desktop with a virus that had hard killed it.Pretty nice.She’d like to know the mind behind that baby.
The old man had called her afterward and said one sentence before hanging up on her.
“Leave Midnight alone, Honor.”
He hadn’t even asked her what she was doing or why.He’d given a command and expected her to heed it.But Stace was there, and old habits died hard.Honor had been gathering intel since she’d been old enough to operate a computer.If Stace was going to work for Midnight, Inc., then Honor would know them as well as she knew herself.Stace was important to her, more like a sister than anything else.And she was the only female friend Honor had.
Plus, the powers-that-be behind the firm where Stace worked knew Honor’s dad.At least, they knew him well enough to call and tattle on her.Sons of bitches.Not cool, using the Dad Card.So, she’d gone a more roundabout route to find out what she wanted to know.She had files on everyone who worked for Midnight, complete with photos and as much background intel as she could manage.There was only one she’d had a hard time finding anything on.Michael Chetan Brown.The man was like a ghost, which she found incredibly interesting.
She found all of them interesting, more so than she’d ever imagined.Jack Madigan chose his people well.She was eager to meet them in person, to put personalities to the faces and facts.Yet, she felt anxiety, as well.She wanted to make a good impression.These were Stace’s new people, and she didn’t want to lose Stace completely.She also didn’t want to put her friend in danger.The mix of emotions created a tornado in Honor’s stomach that only grew with every mile bringing closer to her destination.
She glared at the GPS and took a left turn.It would take her almost the entire day to get to Legacy.Which just pissed her off more.She should be back at her cabin, perfectly safe, digging into a new case.But no.She was running from some fucking psycho who apparently had a hard-on for her dad based off the part of Vince’s conversation she’d overheard.As first, she’d been pissed at her dad.He should be here, saving her ass.But he was in the wind, just as he’d been for most of her life.
She’d have to see if she could manage to speak to the clairvoyant, Allison St.John, aka Ally Samms, soon to be Ally Summers.Maybe, Ally would be able to help Honor the same as she’d helped Stace find Chloe.Honor had a few things of Vince’s, and it would be great to spy on him from a distance, a very safe distance.It would depend on how things went when she arrived.
From what Honor had found, Ally’s fiancé, Blake Summers, who was a fire marshal, was extremely protective of her.He was another six-feet-four-inch behemoth.What the hell did they feed the guys in Legacy to grow them so big?Honor had to admit she was intrigued, though.It would be nice to be around people she didn’t tower over like the Jolly Green Giant.Men always seemed to get their dicks in a twist when she came around.It wasn’t her fault she was close to six feet.It was genetics, plain and simple.Genetics she both loved and hated, depending on if they were from the father who loved her or the mother who’d abandoned her.
She also blamed her father for her personality, or at minimum, for her lack of tolerance when it came to bullshit.She’d learned everything by dogging at her father’s heels when he was home, and she mimicked him in many ways.It had never mattered when she was eyebrows deep in his work.Then Stace had left, and her father had decided it was a great time for Honor to step away, as well.
It made her angry, adding to the emotion soup churning in her gut.She’d been angry with her father when she’d met Vince.Angry enough to throw caution to the wind and wallow in the attention Vince had shown her.He’d been smooth, saying and doing all the right things, pulling her in with every suave word and soothing touch.She’d allowed him to sink beneath her shields with absolutely no resistance.
If it was too good to be true, then it usually was.Her dad had drilled that into her head.So how had she forgotten?Vince had been suave, a perfect gentleman.She’d thought about having sex with him.She shuddered.It was bad enough that she’d kissed him and done some heavy making out.Now, it just made her feel dirty and used.Which was exactly what he’d done.Used her.
She would have remained completely clueless, too, if she hadn’t overheard one of his private conversations.He’d stepped outside to take a call.She’d gone out front to water a freaking plant and decided to walk around the cabin instead of going through it.She’d heard him mention her father.Vince had said the old man would learn he didn’t get to call all the shots.Then he’d laughed at whatever the other person had said.
“Nah.I’ve found his weakness.When I’m done playing with her, she’s going to die nice and painfully.Let him see what it’s like when you’re not around to protect the ones who mean the most to you.”
Those words would haunt her for the rest of her life.She hoped that life would be long.She wasn’t stupid, though.She’d been cautious, but not cautious enough.He knew about her connection to Stace.She should be running as far in the opposite direction as she could.But damn it, Honor’s dad was gone, and she needed someone she could trust to have her back.Vince had others helping him, and she didn’t know who.
She was smart enough to know she needed help.She couldn’t do everything.Besides, her strength was gathering information.She’d been taught how to handle and fire a gun, the proper use of a knife, and hand-to-hand combat.But she’d never been in a life-threatening situation.Shit tended to go wrong when the scenario was real.
Her hands shook.Stace was all she had—and hopefully, her new pals would step in, too.Honor would be willing to assist them in any way she could if they’d help her with this mess.Obviously, they knew her dad, and she’d done enough research to believe they were decent guys.
She should have done the same with Vince.But, no, she’d been trying to benormaland go with the flow.Fuck that.She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.The bottom line was her normal was different from most people’s.She’d been lonely, and apparently, that made her a far too easy mark.He’d probably had someone put together a file on her.
The thought had her seething as she drove.She purposely turned her thoughts to Stace’s new friends and co-workers.One guy had caught her eye and made her catch her breath.
