By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Dale Mayer

Her kidnappers demanded Shane arrive. Finding out his best friend was held as a pawn just pissed him off. Finding out rescuing her was a test made him seriously angry. He hates being used. These men mean business though, as Shane finds a body count too high for comfort.

Shelly knew Shane would come for her. No way he wouldn’t. She was lucky to have Shane there for her, especially when learning a second woman had been kidnapped and held for over six months. The simple rescue of Shelly turns into something more to find this second woman.

But is there one killer boss out there or two? As the pair try to secure their own freedom, it gets even murkier, until finding a way through is paramount. Otherwise no one gets a happy ending.

When Shane gets the call for his assignment he is shocked to find out his best friend Shelly is involved. She always did find trouble though, but this is different, they want Shane. His partner for this is one of his Navy buddies Diesel. There were a couple of twists when they got her out, but the ‘fun’ was just the beginning. Once Shelly’s checked out they take a cab to her apartment to grab some stuff for her. There’s no way they are staying there until the kidnappers are all captured and this is done. An interesting turn of events when the cab and driver were switched and Shelly is almost taken again. She got away and Shane got the driver before he could do anything else. I loved the aftermath of this though, Shelly is quite outspoken and independent.

This is a favorite scene.

Shane glared at her from outside the cab. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”

“Improvising,” she said, with a shrug. Diesel laughed. She looked at him and said, “At least one of you has a sense of humor.”

“Well,” Diesel said, “if you were mine, I’d have turned you over my knee and gave you a spanking.”

She looked at him, shocked. “Damn good thing I’m not then,” she said in an ominous tone, “because anybody who thinks that’s a good idea won’t do well with me.”

“I was kidding,” Diesel said, “but you had to know Shane would be unhappy about what you just did.”

“Why?” she said. “At least we’re not all locked inside a damn taxi right now, being taken to God-only-knows where,” she said. “In case nobody noticed, I’m a little tired of being ordered around today.”

“Got it,” he said, with a smile, and she glared at him suspiciously. He just turned and motioned toward Shane, who stood there still glaring at her, his hands on his hips.

She hopped out of the cab and immediately put her hands on her own hips, imitating his posture perfectly. “Come on. You know I won’t be the one who sits there and follows orders,” she complained.

Rolling his eyes, Shane pinched the bridge of his nose. “You could at least try not to get yourself killed.”

“Well, obviously you guys wouldn’t be any help,” she said. “What was I supposed to do?”

He stared at her, shaking his head. “You never change, do you?”

“Am I supposed to?” she asked, and he heard a little bit of insecurity in her voice. He sighed, then opened his arms, and she ran into them. He closed them around her immediately and held her tight. “You always got into trouble at every turn.”

“I also get out of trouble, thank you very much,” she said.

“You’re also damned lucky sometimes.”

“Well, obviously I picked a time when I knew his hands would be busy,” she said. “You should be nice to me, since I did get us out of that ugly situation.”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, “I’m really happy about it. Now, do you think you can stay out of trouble long enough to let us check this guy over and make sure he doesn’t pull something else?”

“Not to worry,” Diesel said. “I just patted him down. No ID on him. Lots of cash in his back pocket, but, other than that, there’s nothing.”

“Anything in the cab?”

“No registration papers and the license plate doesn’t belong on it either.”

“Figures.”

In the meantime, the cops finally arrived, as the traffic had slowly been going around them, but they were definitely a hazard. When they tried to explain what had happened, they just looked at him in shock. “What?”

Then she said, “We were the ones in that office-building-hostage thing that just happened,” she said, the words all tumbling out.

Shane pulled her back into his arms, held her close, and said, “Just stay calm.” Then he explained everything to the officer, who just shook his head.

“Jesus,” he said, “can you guys just get to the hotel and stay out of trouble?”

“Maybe,” she said, lifting her head away from Shane’s chest. “Will you provide any security to keep us out of trouble? We took a cab. That’s all we did. We took a cab to my place to pick up some clothes, and then we were supposed to go back to the hotel. That’s it,” she said. “So how the hell is that our fault?”

Shane squeezed her shoulders and said, “Sorry, guys. She’s a little overwrought.”

The officer looked at her like she was a time bomb. She just rolled her eyes. Shane glared at her and said, “Calm down, would you please?”

She sighed, then slumped against him and nodded. “Okay, this is your show,” she said. “But you’ll have to get me something to eat soon.” She yawned and snuggled in close. He sighed and said, “Any chance you guys could give us a lift to the hotel? We stopped at her place to pick up a change of clothing, and the cab switched while we were inside. We said we’d be available to answer more questions, but we got held up.” He then provided the name of the SWAT leader from the telecom building task force.

Nodding, the officer said, “Come on. Get in the back of my cruiser here.” Shane led her to the police car, and the three of them piled into the back. She never said another word, until they were outside the hotel.

Looking up at the third-rate hotel, she smiled. “This is all you can afford, huh? I guess they don’t pay you that well for those missions.”

He just sighed, shaking his head. “We were trying to avoid calling any attention to ourselves. We’re not trying to impress anyone or to make a statement with our lodging choices anyway.”

She looked at him sideways. “Yeah, so how’s that working out for you?” At that, Diesel laughed and laughed. She glared at him. “What’s so funny now?”

“You two,” he said. “You’re really great together.”

“We’re not exactly together-together,” she said.

“He knows that,” Shane said. “He’s probably figuring out why we aren’t.”
Dale Mayer. Shane (Kindle Locations 523-565). Valley Publishing Ltd..

This is just the beginning as they realize the situation with Shelly was just a test. The man in charge wants Shane to get his daughter back, she’s been held captive for a long time. To add to this they’ve taken Shane’s sister and her family to ensure his cooperation.

What ensues is a battle of wits between Shane and Shelly with Diesel being amused by every exchange. Of course the severity of the situation is not one to make light of. Now they need to rescue both Shane’s family and the guy’s daughter.

A convoluted and twisted path to the end of all of this, including Shane maybe understanding that both he and Shelly want their relationship to go further.

Once again Dale has grabbed my attention from the first page and doesn’t let me go until I turn the final page.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.