After Midnight and Cries in the Night
Denver Heroes # 1 & 2
Denver Heroes # 1 & 2
By: Kathy Clark
Re-issued June 9, 2015
Loveswept
After Midnight: Denver Heroes # 1
Perfect
for fans of Nora Roberts and Karen Robards, Kathy Clark’s suspenseful,
seductive Denver Heroes series kicks off as a dedicated cop and a beautiful
actress get wrapped up in a world of danger and desire.
Aside
from the reporter riding along in the passenger seat of his cruiser, it’s a
typical Saturday night on the job for Sam Morgan of the Denver Police
Department. Then shots ring out, and a routine stop involving a pimp and a
hooker spirals into senseless violence. Now Sam is lying in a hospital bed,
haunted by fleeting memories of the stunning blonde who saved his life—and then
just disappeared.
Kate
McKinney was hired to play a prostitute on a reality-TV show, not stand around
as actual bullets start flying. Unable to shake the feeling that trouble is
stalking her, Kate turns to the only man she can trust: the wounded cop whose
blue eyes send chills through her body. He doesn’t believe she was just playing
a role, but the predator hiding in the shadows is all too real—and, as Sam and
Kate edge closer to the truth, so is the heat that ignites between them.
Cries in the Night: Denver Heroes # 2
Fans
of Nora Roberts and Karen Robards will love this pulse-pounding novel of
romantic suspense, as a red-hot firefighter reaches out to save a courageous
beauty from the terrors of the night.
As
a victim’s advocate for the Denver Police Department, Julie Lawrence is always
on call for survivors of abuse, fighting for the justice she never got for
herself. It’s a high-risk job that makes a lot of enemies—one of whom seems to
be now targeting Julie. But teaming up with firefighter and local hero Rusty
Wilson sparks a different kind of danger. As Julie surrenders to intoxicating
passion, she finds herself breaking her own rules, caring about Rusty in a way
she thought she’d sworn off forever.
When
a domestic incident escalates into a deadly hostage crisis, Rusty is willing to
risk everything to protect those who really need his help—like Julie, the
breath of fresh air who fills his days with purpose and his nights with
pleasure. He just hopes he’s not too late to stop a chillingly orchestrated act
of payback that puts the woman he loves at the mercy of a madman’s rage.
Reading Order
Excerpt 1
Kate leaned against
the closed door of her apartment, then whirled around and scrambled to lock all
three locks. Her fingers were trembling so violently, it took several seconds
to get the safety chain into its small round hole. Her first impulse was to
crawl into bed, pull the covers over her head, curl into a ball, and not move
for at least a week. If she was lucky, this would all be an awful nightmare,
and at any moment, she would wake up and everything would be just as it had
been several hours ago. Back to the worries about coming up with the rent,
getting a good long-term job, having enough extra money to get the brakes on
her car fixed and maybe even being able to afford a new pair of shoes.
But tonight Kate
wasn’t so lucky.
She glanced down at
her hands and realized they were splattered with dried brownish-red spots.
Blood. She pressed her lips together and struggled to swallow the rush of bile
that suddenly filled her throat. With increasing panic, she saw there were more
dark red splotches all over the front of her tube top and skirt and even on the
bare skin of her shoulders and chest.
Oh God, she had to get
them off. Frantically, she clawed at the fastener of the skirt and yanked it
off. She peeled off the tube top and dropped it on top of the skirt and added
her shoes to the pile.
Finally, she pulled off the long blond wig and tossed it
on a chair.
Wearing only black
bikini panties and a black strapless bra, she hugged herself, trying to stop
the shivering that had wracked her ever since the first shots were fired. Her
jaws ached from being clenched for so long. She needed a shower—a long, hot
shower to wash away the blood and the horror and the death.
Kate crossed the room
that served as a combination living/dining room with a kitchenette blocked off
in one corner by a folding screen. Small, run-down, yet barely affordable, her
apartment had, nevertheless, been her cozy
hideaway . . . until now. Even with all the blinds closed,
her drapes pulled, and the door locked, she still felt vulnerable and alone. At
any second there could be a knock on the door from the police. She wasn’t
ready. Not yet.
Kate knew she
shouldn’t have run away. It wasn’t even a conscious thought as much as an
instinctive reaction to flee. When she heard the sirens, she knew help was
near, and there was nothing she could do for any of the men lying on the
sidewalk. She melted into the growing ring of curious bystanders and watched
the emergency activity. As more and more people arrived, she had slid farther
into the background until she just stepped away and disappeared into the night.
Sooner or later she would have to talk to the police. Later seemed to be the
better plan.
She entered the
bathroom and turned on the shower. It would take at least five minutes for the
hot water to reach her second-floor pipes, so she finished undressing while it
ran. Her fingers fumbled as she took off her left earring, then reached for the
right one. Touching the empty lobe of her ear, she sighed. Damn! The sparkling
crystal hoops had been her favorite pair. She stepped out of her panties, then
unhooked her bra. As she tossed it on the bed, a hundred-dollar bill fluttered
to the floor.
She blinked and stared
at the crumpled bill for a few seconds without moving. Jameel had given it to
her earlier in the evening, and because she hadn’t brought a purse, she’d tucked
it into the cup of her bra. In all the excitement, she’d completely forgotten
about it. Stepping over it as if it were a poisonous snake, she entered the
shower and pulled the curtain closed behind her.
As expected, the water
was barely lukewarm, but it still felt good, pouring over her, washing away all
the physical reminders of the night. She scrubbed her face and body with a
soapy washcloth until her skin felt raw. Even after the water ran cold, she
lingered in the protective cell of the tiled shower until she started shivering
again. Reluctantly, she turned off the faucets and picked up a towel.
She made a halfhearted
attempt to blow-dry her hair, then wrapped a fluffy robe around her naked body.
Suddenly overwhelmed by a debilitating exhaustion, she succumbed to her earlier
instinct and crawled into bed. With all her lights blazing and her ruined
clothes littering the floor, she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.
As much as she hated to think about it, she knew nothing would change before
morning. Sooner or later, she’d have to deal with it
all . . . but for the few hours left until dawn, she would
try to find peace in the depths of sleep.
Author Info
Kathy
Clark is a New York Times bestselling author whose novels have sold more than
three million copies in eleven languages. Her plot lines have always championed
women’s empowerment, placing strong female characters in real-life situations.
Her stories will make you laugh and cry, and her characters will live in your
heart forever. She lives with her husband and co-author, Bob Wernly.
Author Links:
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