Operation XOXO. Elle James

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      Tall, blond and incredibly handsome, Paul remained hard to ignore.

      “I have a proposition for you,” he said.

      Her gaze narrowed on Paul. “What do you mean a proposition?”

      “I could stay with you at night until we catch him.”

      Elise’s heart fluttered and her hands grew cold and clammy. She hadn’t lived in the same house with a man since she’d left North Dakota. Heck, she hadn’t trusted herself with another man since.

      The last time she’d been with Paul, he’d played with her children in the evacuation shelter. She’d been drawn to the sexy federal agent more than she wanted to admit. But that didn’t matter. She couldn’t get involved with anyone, not now or ever.

      Elle James

      Operation XOXO

      This book is dedicated to Texas.

       I loved all 20 lovely years I lived there. It’s rugged, it’s beautiful and it’s full of wonderful cowboys and heroes just right for Intrigue. God Bless Texas!

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Golden Heart winner for Best Paranormal Romance in 2004, Elle James started writing when her sister issued a Y2K challenge to write a romance novel. She has managed a full-time job, raised three wonderful children and she and her husband even tried their hands at ranching exotic birds (ostriches, emus and rheas) in the Texas Hill Country. Ask her and she’ll tell you what it’s like to go toe-to-toe with an angry 350-pound bird! After leaving her successful career in Information Technology Management, Elle is now pursuing her writing full-time. She loves building exciting stories about heroes, heroines, romance and passion. Elle loves to hear from fans. You can contact her at [email protected] or visit her Web site at www.ellejames.com.

      CAST OF CHARACTERS

      Paul Fletcher—The FBI special agent never met a woman he wanted to protect more than the brave and vulnerable ex-wife of a serial killer.

      Elise Johnson—he moved to Texas and changed her name to give herself and her sons a chance to start over without the stigma of being the wife and children of the Dakota Strangler.

      Luke & Brandon Johnson—Elise Johnson’s sons are also the sons of a serial killer.

      Stan Klaus—The Dakota Strangler supposedly died in a fire and flood two years ago. His body was never found.

      Melissa Bradley—The FBI special agent was also involved in the Dakota Strangler case.

      Gerri Finch—This cheerleader’s mom is out to get Elise fired for interfering with her daughter’s cheer competition.

      Colton West—The police officer assigned to high-school campus duty has access to Elise, and he knew Lauren and Mary. But is he a killer?

      George Slater—Luke’s mystery friend lives on the other side of the hedge. Some say he’s crazy. Crazy like a killer?

      Trevor Cain—This FBI special agent wanted the job Paul Fletcher got. Now he has to report to the man who stole his promotion.

      Caesar Valdez—An angry teenage bully, he’s bent on stirring up trouble in Elise’s high-school classroom.

      Alex Mendoza—Elise’s star student and class brainiac sticks up for Elise when the class bully gets rough.

      Kendall Laughlin—A teenager in a family of cops, she wants to be an FBI agent when she grows up.

      Contents

      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

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter One

      “Caesar Valdez, please return to your seat.” Elise Johnson struggled to look calm and keep her voice even. She pushed a hand through her damp hair and sighed. Why was the air conditioner on the fritz again? How could she teach in such stifling heat?

      Caesar glared at her and slumped into his assigned seat, grumbling, “I don’t know why we have to study history, anyway. It’s lame. Only losers care about history.”

      Elise couldn’t blame the students for being fractious. The temperature in the room had to be nearing the mideighties. Outside the South Texas summer had stretched well into the one hundreds and it was October, for heaven’s sake!

      A transplant from North Dakota, Elise suffered in anything above seventy degrees Fahrenheit. She sighed. If she could just make it another few minutes, the day would be done and they could all go home. “Can anyone tell Caesar why we study world history?”

      Ashley Finch flicked her straight strawberry-blond hair over her shoulder and looked down her perfect nose at Elise. “Because teachers like to torture teenagers?”

      The students laughed.

      Elise nodded, already used to the young people posturing in front of their peers. A cheerleader, Ashley liked to be the center of attention and had no trouble speaking up in class; it got her in trouble often. She never knew when to shut up. After several conferences with Ashley’s mother, Elise understood where the girl got her mouth and attitude.

      “Thank you, Ashley.” She stared around at the sea of bored faces, each watching the clock on the wall, waiting for the bell to ring and school to end for the day. “Anyone else know of another reason why we might want to study history?”

      Alex Mendoza glanced from left to right and inched his hand upward.

      As one, the entire class moaned.

      Alex was the brainiac of the class. He’d already blown the class curve, earning him the disdain of his less fortunate and less studious classmates.

      Elise liked him because he was voracious in his desire to learn and his ability to retain what he’d digested. “Yes, Alex?”

      “We study history so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of our past. If we don’t learn from the past, we are destined to do it all over again.” His words started out slow, tentative, and sped up as if he were afraid the class would pummel him with spit wads for being so verbose. “Who wants another Hitler or Hussein?”

      Before the class could bombard him with a barrage of answers to his question, the bell rang.

      Students grabbed their books and backpacks and scrambled for the door.

      Elise straightened her desk and gathered the quiz papers from a previous class. She liked to be home when the boys got off the bus. As a teacher, she had the latitude to be with her young sons when they got out of school. As a single parent, she liked to maintain a certain amount of stability in their lives. They’d been through so much.

      Alex Mendoza and Kendall Laughlin were the last to leave, as usual. The two were best friends and partners on the school newspaper. They went everywhere together—joined at the hip, as Elise’s mother would have said before she passed away last year.

      Kendall