Hard To Forget. Annette Broadrick

army as a major. Currently residing in Santiago, Texas.

      His black eyes stared out of the photo without expression. His hair was much shorter than she remembered, but the stubborn jaw, the dent in the chin, the slight scowl that drew his black eyebrows to a V were very much the same. There was no mistaking him.

      His shoulders appeared wider and more heavily muscled than she remembered, which wasn’t surprising. She knew she had changed considerably in the past eleven years. Her changes had been more than physical.

      Someone asked a question; then others added their queries. Their words washed over her without making any sense. She tried to focus on the discussion, but all she could do was stare at the photograph, aware of her heart pounding heavily in her chest.

      She hadn’t thought of Joe Sanchez in years. She hadn’t seen him since they’d graduated from high school. It had been her devout hope at that time that she would never ever see him again.

      Joe Sanchez was a horrible reminder of the most humiliating time in her life. She’d been so shy around boys while she was growing up, not at all certain she could trust them. She’d seen how her father’s behavior—his drinking and the accompanying lies he’d told with charming sincerity—had so often upset her mother. She’d grown up not trusting anything her father said.

      Joe had seemed very different from her father. In the months she’d gotten to know him, she’d learned to trust him, to believe that not every male was like her father. Joe had betrayed her in so many ways the night of their senior prom that she had determined never to allow another man the opportunity to get close enough to hurt her again.

      Instead, she had focused on her career. She knew that this assignment was the biggest test she’d been given since she joined the bureau. She was returning to her hometown and would have to pretend it was because she’d lost her job, which would certainly put a dent in her ego.

      In addition, she was being assigned to get close to Joseph Sanchez, who was suspected of drug smuggling, to find out all his secrets and betray him.

      How ironic was that?

      Finally Wilder said, “Okay, that should take care of everything I wanted to cover during this meeting.” He glanced at her and said, “Elena, I need to speak with you for a few minutes.”

      After the last agent left the room, Wilder closed the door and turned to her. “Sorry to spring this one on you like that.” He sat down in the chair that Chris had vacated and faced her. “I would have discussed it with you last night when I called, but I couldn’t take a chance that someone might get wind of my decision to use you in the field and try to get around it. I know this is a dangerous assignment, but I also believe from everything I’ve heard about you that you can handle it. I hope you agree.”

      Elena pushed her chair away from the table so that she was facing him. She nodded to him and said, “Yes, sir. I do. I appreciate your faith in my abilities.”

      “I want to stress that no one outside our group will know you’re working with us. No other agency will have your name. We’re doing everything we can to protect you.”

      “I appreciate that.”

      “We noted that one of the suspects graduated from Santiago High School with you. Is that correct?”

      “Yes, sir.”

      “How well did you know him?”

      She thought of several responses to that, but chose to be circumspect. “It was a relatively small school. I knew everyone in the class.”

      He nodded. “Then you don’t think you’ll have any trouble making contact with him?”

      Trouble? That wasn’t the word that came to mind. “I don’t think so.”

      Wilder stood and Elena followed his lead. “How soon can you leave?” he asked.

      She rubbed her forehead, where a steady pulsating throb was already working itself into a full-fledged headache. “Probably tomorrow. Possibly the day after. I’ll need to contact my mother and prepare her for my moving back home.” She glanced at Wilder. “Do you really think this will take months?”

      “At the very least.”

      She sighed, kneading her temples.

      “Is this going to present personal problems for you?”

      Her mind flashed to Joseph Sanchez, ex-military.

      “No, sir,” she lied without a qualm. She would deal with the situation because she was a professional.

      Wilder held out his hand and she shook it. “Good luck,” he said gravely.

      “Thank you, sir.”

      They left the conference room together.

      She needed to go pack. She needed to contact her mother. And yes, she needed all the good luck she could get.

      In the coming months she would use all her skills to investigate the man who had caused her so much pain. If what was suspected about him was true, she would be a part of the team that brought him down.

      Several sayings flew through her mind as she retraced her steps down the hallway and returned to her own department. Two in particular kept circling.

      Revenge is sweet.

      Paybacks are hell.

      Well, she and ex-army major Joe Sanchez were about to find out if those sayings were true.