Deadly Relations (30 page)

She heard movement in the back seat then felt something hard slam against her face. The candy bar flew out of her hand and landed on the floorboard.

“
Drive.”

She looked in the rearview mirror and gasped; a sliver of panic cut through her. A man in a black ski mask was slammed against her seat thrusting a gun in her face.

Turn the page for more sizzling romantic suspense from

Alexa Grace

Book Two of the Deadly Trilogy

Available Now

Is she able to forgive him,
so together they can catch a killer?

In
Deadly Deception,
the second book of Alexa Grace's
Deadly Trilogy
, enter the disturbing world of illegal adoptions, baby trafficking and murder with new detective Lane Hansen and private investigator Frankie Douglas.

Lane Hansen has a problem. He needs a woman to portray his wife in an undercover operation and the only females on his team are either very pregnant or built like linebackers. Then he remembers gorgeous P.I. Frankie Douglas — a woman who could take his breath away by her beauty and take him down in 2.5 seconds. Unfortunately, she’s the same woman he treated like a one night stand six months before.

Frankie Douglas has a problem. She wants to rid the world of one baby trafficking killer. The only way to do that is to partner with Lane Hanson, the man who hurt her by disappearing from her life after a night of mind-blowing sex.

They’ve been warned! Getting personally involved with a partner can put cases and lives at risk. Going undercover as husband and wife, Lane and Frankie struggle to keep their relationship strictly professional as their sizzling passion threatens to burn out of control.

Excerpt
from
Deadly Deception

“
Lane, I know you’re ready to do undercover work, but with this case I need two cops who can pose as a married couple. Unfortunately, we’ve got three women on the team. One is built like a linebacker and the other two are pregnant."

“
Sir, for this case, why don’t we go outside the department? I know a Private Investigator who can handle herself on a job like this."

Newly appointed Sheriff Tim Brennan’s brows drew together in a suspicious expression. “What’s the PI’s name?”

“
Frankie Douglas. I worked with her last year on the Charles Beatty serial killer case. She’s a former sharpshooter for the Army.”

“
Is this the same Frankie Douglas you shot?”

Lane’s face flushed with the guilt he still felt about the shooting. “Yes, sir. It was an accident. We were heading down the stairs of Beatty’s cellar to apprehend him when one of the steps gave way and when I fell my gun went off and hit Frankie.”

“
Has Frankie Douglas done police work before?”

“
I heard she’s a former detective.”

“
I think I’ve heard about her. Isn’t she a pretty tall blonde woman?”

“
Oh, she’s smokin’ hot. Think Victoria Secret hot.”

“
Is that right? Do you have a personal thing going with Ms. Douglas?”

“
No sir. Strictly professional.” Of course, if he’d had a chance, he’d have made in personal in 2.5 seconds.

Brennan glared at Lane then picked up his phone and dialed a number. “Hello, Frankie, this is
Uncle
Tim. I may have a job for you. Would you please drop by my office?”

Available in the
Spring 2013

Book One of the Profile Series

Carly Stone is a brilliant FBI agent who's seen more than her share of evil. Leaving the agency, she becomes a consultant for Indiana County Sheriff Brody Chase. He needs her help to catch a savage killer who is luring teenaged girls to their death in his community.

The two are determined to stop a dangerous predator before he takes another life — at any cost.

Excerpt
from Profile of Evil

He pulled up in front of a two-story gray house in a nice neighborhood with palm trees lining the streets. Flicking on the interior car light, he checked the address he'd been given. It was the correct address so he parked his rental car in the driveway. There were lights on inside the house which was encouraging, for he had a critical need to talk to the resident.

Impatiently, he rang the doorbell several times then pounded his fist against the front door. Damn it. He had not come all the way from Indiana to Florida to miss talking with this guy. He had to be home. He desperately needed his help before another teenaged girl lost her life. Sheriff Tim Brennan had written to him about how good this guy was. And if Brennan recommended him, he had to be excellent. He hammered at the door again, and then peeked into the front window. There was no one inside, but from his position he could see open sliding glass doors leading to the backyard.

From the side yard, he opened the iron-gate to the back of the house. The second he entered the backyard, he noticed a woman diving into an Olympic-sized pool. Transfixed, he watched her as she swam to the far end of the pool, and then kicked-off to swim to the other end, this time on her back. Her body, slick from the water, glowed in the moonlight. The tiny glittering lights surrounding the pool made her look ethereal as she sliced through the water.

He should do the gentlemanly thing and leave, but he couldn't move. His frozen legs seemed attached to the ground. He could barely breathe as she lifted herself out of the water. With long black hair as shiny as glass, she had an athletic build, with full, uplifted breasts, curved hips and endless legs. His jeans grew tighter as his arousal strained against the zipper.

Moving to a deck chair, she wrapped a white towel around her body — then picked up a serious-looking handgun that she pointed straight at his chest.

"I don't know who you are or why you're in my yard, but I've got a little secret I'd like to share with you," she began. "In the past two years, I've shot two men. Neither man is here to talk about it."

He stiffened as a wave of apprehension hit him full-force. He'd been shot before, remembered it well, and had no desire to repeat the experience. He cleared his throat and said, "I apologize if I frightened you. I pounded on the front door but no one answered."

"That doesn't tell me who you are and why you are here," she returned, assuming one of the best shooting stances he'd ever seen.

He hesitated for a second, and then responded, "I'm Sheriff Brody Chase from Morel, Indiana in Shawnee County. I'm here to see Carl Stone."

She quirked her eyebrow questioningly, and asked, "Who told you Carl Stone lived here?"

"A fellow Indiana county sheriff gave me your name and address in an email. Tim Brennan's his name," he replied.

She slowly lowered the gun. "Sounds like Sheriff Brennan made a typo. It's Carly Stone that you're looking for. Why do you want to talk to me?"

Alexa's journey started in March 2011 when the Sr. Director of Training & Development position she'd held for thirteen years was eliminated. A door closed but another one opened. She finally had the time to pursue her dream of writing books — her dream since childhood. H
er focus is now on writing riveting romantic suspense novels.

Alexa earned two degrees from Indiana State University and currently lives in Florida. She's a member of Romance Writers of America (national) as well as the Florida Chapter. Her first books
Deadly Offerings
and
Deadly Deception
has consistently been on Amazon's Top 100 Bestselling Romantic Suspense Books. She was recently named one of the top 100 Indie authors by
Kindle Review
. A chapter is devoted to her in the book
Interviews with Indie Authors
by C. Ridgway and T. Ridgway.

Her writing support team includes five Miniature Schnauzers, three of which are rescues. As a writer, she is fueled by Starbucks lattes, chocolate and emails from readers.

For more information on her upcoming releases:

Check out her website at http://www.alexa-grace.net/

Visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAlexaGrace

Email her at
[email protected]

Follow her at
http://twitter.com/#!/AlexaGrace2

The Alexa Grace Street Team helps spread the word about my current and new releases so I can devote more time writing books.

In exchange for tweeting, re-tweeting, Facebook posting and sharing, and other means of spreading the news, my team will get swag items and will be the first to know about upcoming books, win autographed books, get a chance to get a character named after him/her, sneak peeks at cover art and more. I’ll also do monthly giveaways for the Team members only.

For more information, visit my website at www.alexa-grace.net.