Official Escort. Jean Barrett

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      She was all his until Christmas…

      Madeline must have heard their approach. She swung around to face them, and looked immediately wary to see Mitch with Neil, the officer who’d brought her to him. He tried to feel no emotion as they took each other’s measure.

      Her admirers hadn’t exaggerated. She was everything he had heard—a tall, leggy beauty with amber eyes and a mane of dark red hair. What surprised him, though, was her youth. She couldn’t be more than in her early twenties. Still, there was a self-possession about her that he had to respect, considering she must be terrified.

      “Madeline.” Neil introduced him. “This is Mitchell Hawke.

      “Looks like I’ve been elected to take care of you,” Mitch said.

      “Thank you,” she said simply.

      If she was conscious of her looks and how they might be affecting a man she was meeting for the first time, she gave no indication of it. But Mitch was fully aware. And he didn’t like his reaction. Not one bit.

      Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

      Deck the halls with romance and suspense as we bring you four new stories that will wrap you up tighter than a present under your Christmas tree!

      First we begin with the continuing series by Rita Herron, NIGHTHAWK ISLAND, where medical experiments on an island off the coast of Georgia lead to some dangerous results. Cole Hunter does not know who he is, and the only memories he has are of Megan Wells’s dead husband. And why does he have these intimate Memories of Megan?

      Next, Susan Kearney finishes her trilogy THE CROWN AFFAIR, which features the Zared royalty and the treachery they must confront in order to save their homeland. In book three, a prickly, pretty P.I. must pose as a prince’s wife in order to help his majesty uncover a deadly plot. However, will she be able to elude his Royal Pursuit of her heart?

      In Charlotte Douglas’s The Bride’s Rescuer, a recluse saves a woman who washes up on his lonely island, clothed only in a tattered wedding dress. Cameron Alexander hasn’t seen a woman in over six years, and Celia Stevens is definitely a woman, with secrets of her own. But whose secrets are more deadly? And also join Jean Barrett for another tale with the Hawke Family Detective Agency in the Christmastime cross-country journey titled Official Escort.

      Best wishes to all of our loyal readers for a “breathtaking” holiday season!

      Sincerely,

      Denise O'Sullivan

      Associate Senior Editor

      Harlequin Intrigue

      Official Escort

      Jean Barrett

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      If setting has anything to do with it, Jean Barrett claims she has no reason not to be inspired. She and her husband live on Wisconsin’s scenic Door Peninsula in an antique-filled country cottage overlooking Lake Michigan. A teacher for many years, she left the classroom to write full-time. She is the author of a number of romance novels.

      Write to Jean at P.O. Box 623, Sister Bay, WI 54234. SASE appreciated.

      CAST OF CHARACTERS

      Madeline Raeburn—On the run after witnessing a murder, she can trust no one, including her protector—a man who assaults her senses on every level.

      Mitchell Hawke—Madeline Raeburn is the last woman on earth the hard-bitten P.I. wants to be responsible for. Though he will protect her with his life, he doesn’t have to like it—or her. But he does.

      Griff Matisse—He is determined to destroy the woman who betrayed him—Madeline Raeburn.

      Gloria Rodriguez—Without Madeline Raeburn, the worried assistant district attorney has no case.

      Neil Stanek—The cop needs Mitch to protect a vital witness.

      Angel—He is a killer without mercy.

      Morrie Swanson, Dave Ennis and Hank Rosinski—The three San Francisco officers were Neil’s trusted friends. But could one of them be a cop gone bad?

      To Chad

       Here’s the one you asked for. May it bring you the same

       luck in your career as in your card playing—

      except when I’m in the game, of course.

      To Connie

       Mach’s gut immer.

      And to Rebecca

       May lucky horseshoes hang always

       over your doorways.

      Contents

      Prologue

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Prologue

      San Francisco

      She knew the risk in coming here. It would be the first place he’d look for her. But she couldn’t disappear without the collection that it had taken her years to accumulate. The precious objects could mean her survival in the months ahead.

      But she must hurry, hurry. Take what she had come for and run before it was too late.

      Madeline worked feverishly, thrusting the treasures one by one into the canvas satchel. She selected only those that were essential. The larger pieces weren’t easily portable and, regrettably, would have to be left behind.

      One of the items slipped through her fingers and clattered on the bench. She retrieved it with a shaking hand and stuffed it deep into the satchel.

      This is no good. You’re letting panic rule you. And, anyway, you’re probably exaggerating the danger. It was dark out in the hall. Griff couldn’t have had more than a fleeting glimpse of an unrecognizable shadow, before you turned and fled.

      But Madeline wasn’t able to shake the image of his victim sinking to his knees with a bullet through his head. Horrifying!

      The velvet pouch was the last of the collection to go into the satchel. She placed her purse on top. It contained the funds she had cleared out of her checking and meager savings account this afternoon. Thank God she’d had the sense to do that before going to the club.

      Nothing else mattered in the apartment. Not her furniture, not even her clothes. All of it was expendable. Time to leave.

      You’re going to make it.

      She kept telling herself this as she picked up the heavy satchel and hurried toward the door. She made herself remember how lucky she had been that a cab had been cruising by when she’d burst out of the club. She had grabbed it and rushed straight to the apartment. That meant no wasted minutes. A comfortable head start on any pursuit. But she couldn’t shake her alarm, her awful sense of urgency.

      After