Capitol Offense (Texas Heroines in Peril) (17 page)

They shot each other simultaneously.

Although he'd lost a good bit of blood, Mike
managed to get Jim's gun as the latter fell to the ground, his
bloody hands splaying over the wound to his chest.

Jim lost consciousness.

Lacy's gaze shifted to Pete. A bullet had
pierced his forehead. She quickly looked away.

Mike dropped to one knee and felt for Jim's
pulse, fingering it for a few minutes. Then he looked up at Lacy.
"He's gone."

The whole bloody scene had put her almost in
a daze. Her glance fanned from Mike and Jim to the McNallys.

Vivian had rushed to her husband's side, but
he was unable to talk. He lay in a pool of his own blood. Seizing
her hand, he tried to speak. Vivian gripped his hand firmly and
sobbed. Soon, his hand went limp.

Vivian screamed a horrible wail as if the
life had been pulled from her own body.

The two agents helped her to the sofa where
they wrapped a blanket around her. "She's in shock," Jacob said,
his voice low and reverent.

Lacy had sprung to her feet to help Mike.
"Could you guys get something to help stop Mike 's bleeding?" She
squatted beside him and lifted his wounded arm.

Eddie came and examined Mike's arm. "Can you
get me a couple of towels?" he asked Lacy.

Seconds later she was presenting him with
two. He used the first to wipe away the blood while telling her to
tear the second into strips.

"Here, I'll help," Jacob said, removing a
Swiss Army knife from his pocket.

After Eddie cleaned the wound, he used the
strips Jacob had cut to bind the arm. "I hope this will stem the
flow of blood." He stood and looked at Mike. "Well, Talamino, you
won't be pitching in any softball games for a while." His glance
darted to Lacy. "You better get him to a hospital."

Then he addressed Jacob. "Call Austin and
have them send us help."

Eddie helped Mike to his feet. "You're going
to be OK."

Before Lacy and Mike left, Lacy silently
embraced Vivian. What words could she possibly utter?

Lacy and Mike walked out into the dawn arm
in arm.

"I'm driving," Lacy announced. "For once,
I'm going to take care of you."

"Maybe this once, but from now on, I'm
planning to take care of you."

Her heartbeat stampeded. "Like a policeman
or--" She faltered and gazed at his moonlit face, the face of the
man she loved. "Or a husband?"

"I thought--I hoped--as your husband."

Tears stung her eyes as she nodded. "For the
record, I love you. I never stopped loving you. And I'll never let
you get away from me again, Michael Talamino. My hero."

The End

Win a $50 Gift Certificate

I hope you enjoyed
Capitol Offense.
If you
did, would you please consider posting a review by the book's
listing at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Smashwords or a
site where you might have read it? If you do, please send me an
email at
[email protected]
and I will enter your name in one of my quarterly drawings
for a $50 gift certificate to Amazon, Barnes & Noble or
I-Tunes. Each time you review one of my books, let me know, and you
will get another entry for each review. This promotion will last
all of 2012, with a drawing each quarter.

Thank you from Cheryl Bolen

Texas Heroines in Peril

You have just read
Capitol Offense
, part of
the Texas Heroines in Peril series. Other installments
are:

Protecting Britannia

Antiques dealer
1
Britannia Hensley's first day
back in London after a seven-year absence seems like an audition
for a Survivor in the City episode. Her plane arrives two hours
late; she sloshes through blinding rain without an umbrella; her
purse is snatched; her hotel room ransacked; some slimeball jabs a
gun into her back and tries to abduct her; and every bobby in
London's after her for a murder she didn't commit. What's a girl to
do when she has no passport, no money, no means of getting any
money, and no one she can call? Well, actually there is someone . .
. but surely after all these years a handsome guy like Graham's
been snatched up by some lucky girl.

* * *

"Drawing on her real-life expertise as a
dealer in British antiques, Cheryl Bolen pens a fast-paced,
fascinating tale of modern-day romantic suspense."

—Colleen Thompson, Rita finalist romantic
suspense

Murder at Veranda House

Lovely young widow Annette Holcombe is forced
to turn her Veranda House on Galveston Island into a B & B
after the recent death of her husband, a man she'd known only a
short time. Upon his untimely death, she learns that the only thing
she really knew about him was that everything she knew about him
was a lie!

And if being penniless wasn't bad enough, now
Annette's got to contend with threatening letters, suspicious
guests, fears for her daughter's safety, an impending hurricane –
and murder! If only there was someone to trust. Someone like Dr.
Grant Garrison, a personable, good-looking guest who's teaching at
the island's medical school.

But Grant, too, isn't what he seems.

* * *

Murder at Veranda
House,
an installment in the Texas
Heroines in Peril series, has it all--sizzling romance, an
intriguing tale of who done it, a fun cast of oddball characters
(some of them, anyway), and a historic home that becomes a major
player in the suspense. –
In
Print

A Cry i
n the Night

The child she gave up for adoption eight
years ago is missing, and Ava Simpson is convinced his life is in
danger. Only one person can help her find the boy: Blake Tranowski,
the birth father of the child. If only she can forge the courage to
tell him of the existence of their son. . .

The anger Blake felt toward Ava when she
dumped him nine years ago can't touch the fury he experiences when
she makes her shattering revelation. Even more shattering is
Blake's discovery that the boy really has gone missing. Why hasn't
the adoptive father contacted the police? How is the man involved
with a Mexican drug cartel? Is their son even alive? As Blake and
Ava race against the clock to find their son, others are intent on
stopping them. Even if it means killing them.