Man Of Action. Janie Crouch

      

       He walked up to Andrea, careful to come at her slowly and from the side so he didn’t sneak up on her in any way.

      “Hi.” He kept his voice even, calm. “What are you doing out here? Everything okay?”

      She looked at him, then back at the parking lot. Without being obvious about it, Brandon withdrew his weapon from the holster at his side. Had she seen something to do with the case?

      “Andrea.” His voice was a little stronger now. “What’s going on? Is it something to do with the murders? Did you see something or did someone threaten you?”

      She kept staring.

      “Andrea, look at me.”

      She finally turned to him, hair plastered to her head from the rain, makeup beginning to smear on her face.

      “I need you to tell me what’s happening so I can do something about it.”

      Man of Action

      Janie Crouch

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      JANIE CROUCH has loved to read romance her whole life. She cut her teeth on Mills & Boon Romance novels as a preteen, then moved on to a passion for romantic suspense as an adult. Janie lives with her husband and four children overseas. She enjoys traveling, long-distance running, movie watching, knitting and adventure/obstacle racing. You can find out more about her at www.janiecrouch.com.

      MILLS & BOON

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      To Anu-Riikka, because you talk me down from the ledge with almost every single book. Thank you for listening to me for hours on end and for offering a fresh perspective when I can’t see clearly any longer. You’re the greatest buddy a writer could have.

      Contents

       Cover

       Introduction

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

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

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Chapter Twenty-Three

       Chapter Twenty-Four

       Extract

       Copyright

Prologue

      Andrea Gordon huddled inside her car in the bank parking lot as pandemonium reigned all around her. Cops, SWAT, ambulances and other emergency vehicles she didn’t even recognize flooded the area. Blue and red lights flashed in a rhythm that drummed brutally against her eyes. Officers pointed assault rifles toward the building. People ran back and forth.

      Just behind the roped-off section, news crews formed the next layer of people, their lights and cords and equipment adding to the chaos.

      Beyond that were the witnesses, the gawkers, hoping to catch something exciting. Andrea wasn’t sure what would pacify them. A chase? Bullets? A dead body? Smartphones recorded the scene from every angle.

      Three men had taken sixteen people hostage after an attempted robbery had gone wrong in a bank just outside Phoenix, Arizona. Andrea would’ve been one of those sixteen, but she had seen the signs on the robbers’ faces when they’d first walked in.

      Danger. Violence.

      Andrea was only nineteen years old, but she was an expert at spotting the approach of danger. Maybe she should be thankful for all the times she’d had to discern it in her uncle to avoid his fists. Either way, it had gotten her out of that bank before the trouble went down.

      The men hadn’t come in together, but they were definitely working as a team; Andrea had immediately seen that. It was obvious to her that they weren’t afraid to hurt, even to kill. Simmering violence was a vibe she was very attuned to.

      Two of the men fairly buzzed with it. Excited about taking money that wasn’t theirs and maybe taking a life, too. But it was the third man, who stood completely still and broadcast almost no outward emotions at all, that scared her the most.

      She’d waited a minute longer, studying them while pretending to fill in a deposit slip, in case she was wrong. The two hyped-up guys were making their way back toward the bank manager’s office. The other man,