Going to Extremes. Amanda Stevens

      

      He had the look of a man who could turn a woman inside out, and Kaitlyn’s stomach fluttered with awareness when their gazes met

      A dozen images flitted through her head. His blue eyes staring intently into hers. His deep voice commanding her not to panic as she clung to the edge of the cliff. His calloused hands moving skillfully over her bare skin to warm her up.

      “Kaitlyn…are you up to answering a few questions?”

      The sound of her name on his lips sent another shiver up her spine. “You sound like a cop.”

      He shrugged. “I’m just curious as to what you were doing out in the middle of nowhere alone in a rainstorm.”

      “I can’t remember what happened after the storm hit,” Kaitlyn muttered. “I only have a vague recollection of the rescue. If you hadn’t come along when you did…”

      “Actually, we were already out there searching for fugitives when we got the call that a woman was missing…”

      Kaitlyn frowned. “But…you said you’re not a cop.”

      “I’m not.” His gaze met hers. “I’m a bounty hunter.”

      Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

      Summer’s winding down, but Harlequin Intrigue is as hot as ever with six spine-tingling reads for you this month!

      * Our new BIG SKY BOUNTY HUNTERS promotion debuts with Amanda Stevens’s Going to Extremes. In the coming months, look for more titles from Jessica Andersen, Cassie Miles and Julie Miller.

      * We have some great miniseries for you. Rita Herron is back with Mysterious Circumstances, the latest in her NIGHTHAWK ISLAND series. Mallory Kane’s Seeking Asylum is the third book in her ULTIMATE AGENTS series. And Sylvie Kurtz has another tale in THE SEEKERS series—Eye of a Hunter.

      * No month would be complete without a chilling gothic romance. This month’s ECLIPSE title is Debra Webb’s Urban Sensation.

      * Jan Hambright, a fabulous new author, makes her debut with Relentless. Sparks fly when a feisty repo agent repossesses a BMW with an ex-homicide detective in the trunk!

      Don’t miss a single book this month and every month!

      Sincerely,

      Denise O’Sullivan

      Senior Editor

      Harlequin Intrigue

      Going to Extremes

      Amanda Stevens

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Amanda Stevens is the bestselling author of over thirty novels of romantic suspense. In addition to being a Romance Writers of America RITA^® Award finalist, she is also the recipient of awards in Career Achievement in Romantic/Mystery and Career Achievement in Romantic/Suspense from Romantic Times magazine. She currently resides in Texas. To find out more about past, present and future projects, please visit her Web site at www.amandastevens.com.

      CAST OF CHARACTERS

      Kaitlyn Wilson—An ambitious reporter who unwittingly stumbles upon the story of a lifetime.

      Aidan Campbell—An adrenaline junkie with a savior complex.

      Colonel Cameron Murphy—He intends to get Boone Fowler by using any means necessary.

      Boone Fowler—An escaped convict who has a new boss…and a new agenda.

      Dr. Phillip Becker—His bedside manner could use some work.

      Eden McClain—Kaitlyn’s childhood friend has important connections and her own ambitions.

      Allen Cudlow—A rival reporter with a chip on his shoulder.

      Governor Peter Gilbert—A charming man with big plans for his political future.

      Prince Nicholai Petrov—Rebuking his father on a world stage has turned him into a rock star.

      Big Sky Bounty Hunters—Their search for the fugitives leads them back into the world of international intrigue.

      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

      Chapter Fifteen

      Prologue

      It was done.

      He’d killed the woman and buried her body in a shallow grave in the Montana wilderness. The wolverines would be at her soon enough, and then the vultures. By the time her body was discovered by some errant backpacker or trapper, her face would be gone, and if luck held, her fingerprints.

      A DNA analysis would be required for a positive identification, and that could take days…sometimes weeks in this part of the world. Even if the authorities were able to trace her to the Montana Militia for a Free America, it would be too late. She could not tell them anything now.

      Jenny Peltier had paid the ultimate price for her betrayal, and as Boone Fowler followed the stream through the woods back to his encampment, he felt no elation or remorse at what he’d done. He didn’t particularly enjoy killing, although he was good at it.

      In war, people died. It was as simple as that.

      And they were at war. A war to take back the country from the corrupt bureaucrats who contaminated the American way of life as surely as the pathetic junkies who infested the American street.

      They would all be dealt with in time, those soft, greedy ingrates who knew not the meaning of honor and sacrifice. They would have to learn the hard way.

      The bombing of a government building by the MMFAFA had shocked the nation, but that would be only one of the many “shots” that would soon be heard around the world.

      The day of deliverance had dawned over Montana, and the winds of liberty would sweep down in triumph across the prairie states and march, like Sherman’s army, through the South, conquering nearly sixty years of malaise, apathy and moral decay. The avenging angel of freedom would stand victorious on the squalid doorsteps of the eastern cities and level, in God-like fury, the modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah to the West.

      Fowler drew a deep, quivering breath. No matter how many times he delivered that sermon to the faithful, the message never failed to stir him. He had a gift and he knew how to use it. His mother used to say that when he spoke with such passion, he could make people follow him to the ends of the earth. He was counting on that.

      Pausing, he knelt at the edge of the stream to wash the blade of the hunting knife he’d used to slit the woman’s throat, and then he scrubbed his hands, even though they were already clean. His soul was clean, too. Virtuous.

      He was so caught up in the righteousness of his mission that he almost missed the telltale rustle of dead leaves upstream and to his right. The sound was slight, a mere whisper in the wind, but it sent a chill up his spine just the same.

      And