“I don’t remember,” she said again, and it was almost as if...as if the words were a vow.
The machines beeped louder around her. Noelle’s mother pulled Noelle into a tight hug.
And, over her mother’s shoulder, Noelle glanced up and met the eyes of the sheriff. There was concern in his gaze and suspicion.
I don’t remember.
There was only darkness in her mind, and Noelle didn’t know if that was good...or bad.
Chapter One
Fifteen years later...
The plane dipped, hitting another hard patch of turbulence, and Noelle Evers locked her fingers around the armrest on either side of her body. The private plane was currently flying over an area of pure-white land in Alaska, and Noelle was afraid they might be diving right into that snowy landscape at any moment.
“Relax,” a low, gravel-rough voice told her. “We’ll be landing in just a few more minutes.”
The voice—and the guy who went with that voice—pulled Noelle’s attention from the narrow window. She looked at the man seated directly across from her.
Thomas Anthony.
Tall, dark, deadly...and, currently, her partner on this assignment. Thomas “Dragon” Anthony was a man who seemed to always put her on edge.
“If you’re going to be working with the EOD,” Thomas murmured as he lifted one dark eyebrow, “rough flights will be the least of your worries.”
Noelle forced herself to take a long, deep breath. She didn’t want to show any weakness in front of Thomas. The man made her far too...nervous. Too aware.
Noelle was new to the EOD—the Elite Operations Division. She’d been recruited by EOD Director Bruce Mercer a few months back. Normally, the agents in that secretive group were all ex-military. They belonged to some of the most elite military units operating in the world. The agents were recruited to join the EOD because of their skills and because they were deadly when it came to their missions.
Noelle wasn’t ex-military. She didn’t specialize in killing or hunting prey. Instead, her specialty was getting inside a killer’s mind. Before Bruce Mercer had used his pull to get Noelle into the EOD, she’d been working as a profiler at the FBI.
But then one of the EOD agents had gone rogue...and Mercer had brought her in to profile the agents there.
To hunt a killer within the division.
“You don’t fit, you know,” Thomas added in that deep, dark voice of his. A voice that made her tense and think of things she really shouldn’t.
The plane bounced again. Noelle swallowed. “You mean because I lack the military training?”
“I mean because when we get into a life-or-death situation—and we will—you won’t be prepared to take the necessary action.”
Her eyes narrowed at those words. Way to insult your partner on the first case. “Look, I might not be an ex–Army Ranger—” as he was “—but I worked at the FBI for five years. I’ve been in plenty of dangerous situations, and I’ve handled myself just fine.”
Thomas’s lips quirked a bit. They were sensual lips, with a faintly cruel edge. Thomas was a handsome man, if you went for the deadly, dangerous type. As a general rule, Noelle definitely did not go for that type. She preferred safe guys, with a capital S.
And everything about Thomas spelled DANGER. From the top of his midnight-black hair down to his well-worn hiking boots, the guy just oozed a threat. Maybe it was because she’d read his file. She knew just what he was capable of doing—what he had done. Thomas didn’t need any weapon when he went after his targets. He could kill—and had—quite easily, with his hands. He’d earned the nickname of Dragon while at the EOD because he was a martial-arts expert—he attacked with brutal control, and his opponents never had a chance against him.
Cold. Hard. Dangerous.
Thomas had a firm, square jaw, a blade-sharp nose and sculpted cheekbones that gave him a strong, fierce appearance. His deep, golden eyes reminded her of a lion’s gaze. Maybe because every time she looked into those eyes, Noelle felt as if he were a predator and she was his prey.
We’re partners. Partners. Mercer had sent them on this trip to Alaska because they were supposed to be hunting a killer. Together.
“You’ve never killed anyone,” Thomas said as he tilted his head to study her. “Death is a way of life for EOD agents.”
“Yes, well, I’m sure this will shock you, but FBI agents see plenty of death, too.” Death was rather her specialty. “I know killers, and you can trust me to do my job.”
Her job... Her job was to question the suspect they were pursuing. To break through the very public façade the man presented and to determine if Alaskan Senator Lawrence Duncan was the man who’d recently plotted the destruction of the EOD.
Thomas’s eyes narrowed just a bit as he gazed at her.
And there it is again. He was looking at her with a touch of familiarity. As if he knew her.
Too well.
But Noelle hadn’t met Thomas Anthony until she started work at the EOD just a few months before. They were most certainly not intimately acquainted.
No matter how Thomas might glance at her.
“You’re doing it again,” Noelle blurted. Then she could have bitten her tongue when his face tensed. She was normally so much better at controlling her emotions and her responses to people, but Thomas just put her on edge.
“Doing what?” Thomas asked voice totally emotionless.
“Staring at me...as if—as if we’re—” She floundered because what Noelle really wanted to say was...As if we’re lovers. But they weren’t. No way would she have forgotten him.
It was just...the intensity in his eyes...the heat...
“I make you nervous,” he said.
Why lie? “Yes.”
“Because you know what I’ve done.” His gaze slid to the files on the seat beside her. “You read all of our files, right? When you were trying to decide which EOD agent was actually a psychotic killer in disguise.”
That had been her first assignment at the EOD. This outing to Alaska was her second.
“So, what’s the verdict, doc?” The doc was mocking, but Noelle was a doctor, a psychiatrist. She’d been trying for years to understand the demons that chased people.
Ever since she’d woken up in a small, southern hospital with her life shattered around her.
“Tell me...” Thomas continued with his gaze assessing. “Am I dangerous? Am I psychotic? Is that why you tense up every time I get near you?” He leaned forward. “Are you afraid I’ll hurt you?” Then, before she could respond, his jaw hardened even more. “Because that’s not the way things work at the EOD. You trust your partner, or you don’t trust anyone.”