By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Jen Talty

Two lives, one conspiracy:
unraveling the truth could cost them everything.

After a mission gone wrong, Arthur Knight and his team find themselves in a new, secretive world. Recruited by an old friend into the elite Aegis Network, they are promised not only the benefits of military service but also access to crucial information that could help Arthur unravel a lingering mystery from his past.

Maren Cordelia’s life takes a dramatic turn when she’s involved in a car accident while on her way home to assist her mother with a business deal. Saved by a stranger, she’s eager to express her gratitude, but the rescuer is reluctant to have any involvement with her or her apology. However, a string of suspicious incidents, including a fire in the marina, forced Arthur and his team to investigate matters more closely.

Together, Arthur and Maren embark on a treacherous journey where trust is a rare commodity, and the truth could be more perilous than the lies they’re unraveling.

When Arthur Knight left the Air Force six of his team members left with him. Now they all work together as firefighters and also with the Aegis Network.

As this book opens we learn Arthur and Rex have just returned from an assignment for the Aegis Network and they have three days off before returning to duty at the station.

Rex notices the owner of the marina, Mrs. Cordelia with a gentleman, they looked cozy, and Arthur was happy for her, she deserves some happiness. Both Rex and Arthur have boats at her Marina, she’s taken a shine to Arthur, talking up her daughter Marin as well as bringing him fresh baked cookies and letting him borrow her dog when he goes fishing. She did spot them and came over to tell Arthur her daughter was coming to town and to be sure to stop by for cookies before they’re gone.

We meet Marin as she converses with her mother while she’s stuck in traffic. Although she hasn’t told her mother, she’d broken up with her cheating boyfriend and also quit her job. She’s coming here to look into the partnership her mother is considering for the Marina and hopefully make some decisions on the direction she wants her life to take now. She’s also very aware her mother wants to introduce her to Arthur, but she’s really not interested.

Before heading to the Marina, Marin stops to see her old friend Shea O’Leary at her family’s Bait and Tackle shop. It’s also where you could get the best homemade ice cream around. While she’s there, two customers come in, the first, Shea says comes in every day and if he’s ever in a decent mood she’s going to ask him out. The second one took her breath away, he was that gorgeous. Marin couldn’t hang out so she said good-bye to Shea to continue to the Marina.

She was a bit ahead of Arthur as he left O’Leary’s and even though he accelerated a bit he knew he’d catch the light that was currently green. Then the accident happened.

This is a favorite scene.

He sighed, tossing the ice into the cooler. He’d deal with the beer when he got to the marina. Punching the gas harder than necessary, he pulled out onto the street, telling himself he wasn’t trying to catch up to the woman in the little car. Why would he do that? What was he going to do? Follow her?

He laughed.

Besides, the light ahead had turned green, and he would not make it through with how far away she was, not even if he had put the pedal to the metal. He tossed his hand over the passenger seat headrest when the sound of tires squealing caught his attention.

Crash!

“Fuck,” he muttered, gunning his vehicle, gripping the steering wheel with both hands.

The compact car spun out of control as a four-door sedan smashed into the driver’s side. The only thing that stopped the car had been a tree at the corner of the intersection, and the second it hit the wood, the engine ignited.

“Siri, call 9-1-1,” he said calmly, though his heart thumped like a jackhammer in his chest. He needed to get the girl out of the car before it exploded.

The sedan raced off down the street. About a half mile before the accident, another truck made a quick U-turn. A light on the dash flashed.

Arthur gave the emergency operator his fire station information along with the location of the accident just as he slammed his vehicle into park.

Mr. Oblivious-to-Flirting quickly stopped, holding out what appeared to be a police badge.

“I’m a fireman,” Arthur yelled, grabbing the fire extinguisher from the back of his truck.

“Local policeman. I called it in, and the local fire trucks are five minutes out. Ten tops. If you’ve got this, I’m going after that asshole.”

“Go.” Arthur nodded as he approached the car. Thus far, the fire was contained to the hood, but the car would go up like an IED if it got near the gas line.

He engaged the extinguisher, giving the front of the car a good dousing before racing to the driver’s side, which had been mangled and pushed in a good foot.

He cringed, seeing the woman’s body slumped over, the seat belt catching her body.

“Ma’am,” he called through the broken glass. He reached in, carefully touching the side of her neck in search of a pulse. His fingers immediately found a strong one.

Thank God.

But there was no way he was getting her out of the car through this door. He leaned in. “Ma’am,” he repeated as he assessed the situation. Blood dripped down her legs, but the bigger problem was the smell of gas. It pierced through his nostrils. He could taste it in the back of his throat. He glanced to the car’s rear and saw the liquid pooling on the pavement.

He doused the front of the car and the leak, then jogged around to the passenger side, yanking the door open.

Time wasn’t on his side.

Story of his fucking life.

The metal screeched and only opened a few inches. He gritted his teeth and yanked again; the door kicked open this time. He leaned in, feeling her legs, making sure that nothing sharp had jabbed into her, which would prevent him from pulling her from the vehicle.

Next, he felt his way up her body and arms, checking for broken bones or any other injuries he could detect from the outside.

A spark on the car’s hood flashed, shooting a small flame in the air.

“Ma’am? Can you hear me?”

A faint moan, but that was it.

Another crackle of flames.

He lifted his head, straining to hear sirens, but got nothing.

“I’ve got to get you out of this car,” he said as he undid the seat belt, holding her body upright. He needed to do this with as little movement to her current body position as possible, just in case her injuries were more serious than they appeared.

But that all changed when a trickle of flame moved across the driver’s side of the car.

He turned her body, resting her back on his chest, and carefully but quickly pulled her petite body up and over the center console, watching her legs, praying he wasn’t inflicting any more damage.

The smoke turned a thick gray-black.

Time was running out.

Leaning over her, he put one arm under her knees and the other circled her back as he lifted her from the seat, stepping backward, cradling her against his chest.

She moaned as he moved away from the car and went across the street to a grassy patch, where he laid her down gently.

Boom!

He covered her body with his as the car exploded, sending debris and tires flying across the road. The few people gathered across the street gasped and screamed but were out of harm’s way.

Sirens echoed off in the distance.

Arthur checked the young woman for any external injuries he could treat. He found a few gashes on her legs that he cleaned. One was deep enough that it would need stitches. Her beautiful face was swollen and bruised from the impact of the airbag.

She groaned, her head rolling to the side.

“Ma’am,” he said, cupping her face, worrying about a neck injury. “Can you hear me?”

“What?” Her eyelids fluttered open. “What happened?” She tilted her head and groaned.

“Don’t move. You were in a car accident.”

“Oh…” she whispered.

An ambulance pulled up behind the first fire truck. Two paramedics jumped out.

“Hey, Arthur,” a man he recognized from another station said. “We’ll take it from here.”

Arthur stepped to the side, giving the paramedics room to work, when he heard a woman screaming and running down the road.

“Maren!”

It was the owner of O’Leary’s. He jogged toward her, stopping her before she crossed the street.

“You need to give them room,” he said, holding on to Shea’s arms. “She’s conscious, but I don’t know the extent of her injuries.”

“I have to get ahold of her mother.” The woman wrapped her arms around her middle. “I need to be with Maren.”

“I can call her mother if you’d like to ride with her to the hospital.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Sure. Just tell me who to contact.”

“Gretchen Cordelia.”

He blinked. “That’s Maren Cordelia?” His stomach knotted. He’d spent many hours helping Mrs. Cordelia with minor projects around the marina, listening to stories about her daughter and how she wished she’d come home. That the life she chased in New York was not the right life for her. He could understand her wanting her daughter to take over the family business as much as his father had wanted him to be an insurance salesman. Still, after he lost his high school sweetheart and her entire family to a house fire, his fate had been sealed.

She nodded. “What happened?”

“She was T-boned.” He left out that it was also a hit-and-run. “Come on.” He took her by the elbow and guided her across the street as the first responders lifted Maren onto a gurney. “Hey, guys. This is Shea. She’s a friend of Maren’s. She’d like to ride with her to the hospital. I’m going to call her mom so she can meet her there.”

“Thanks, Arthur,” the paramedic said. “Local police are a couple of minutes out. They’re going to want to chat with you.”

“I’ll wait around.” Arthur locked gazes with Maren. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Thank you,” Maren whispered. “Shea?”

“I’m right here.” Shea took Maren’s hand. “I got you.”

Arthur watched as the paramedics lifted Maren into the back of the ambulance. He swallowed, remembering all those he couldn’t save, thankful he might have saved her.
Jen Talty. Arthurs Honor – Jen Talty (Kindle Locations 307-370). Kindle Edition.

Between Marin’s accident and the reason Marin returned to the Marina to begin with the suspense ramps up. Arthur finds himself falling for her and even though Marin tries to resist she finds herself falling as well.

I love the interactions between these two, and the dog Shasta is a fun-loving pup who seems to adore Arthur and fishing.

There is plenty of suspense and intrigue as this story unfolds. I was truly surprised at some of the conclusions.

I have to go back and read the first two books now that I’m in the middle of this series.

5 Contented Purrs for Jen!

Jen Talty

Welcome to my World! I’m a USA Today Bestseller of Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, and Paranormal Romance.

I first started writing while carting my kids to one hockey rink after the other, averaging 170 games per year between 3 kids in 2 countries and 5 states. My first book, IN TWO WEEKS was originally published in 2007. In 2010 I helped form a publishing company (Cool Gus Publishing) with NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer where I ran the technical side of the business through 2016.

I’m currently enjoying the next phase of my life…the empty NESTER! My husband and I spend our winters in Jupiter, Florida and our summers in Rochester, NY. We have three amazing children who have all gone off to carve out their places in the world, while I continue to craft stories that I hope will make you readers feel good and put a smile on your face.