An Excerpt

I don't even have a cover yet, but I thought I'd post a peek at LOCKED AND LOADED, my August release and the third in my Mystery Men miniseries. This is Adam's story. Adam is the computer nerd with the expert shot. Maddie is a woman with trust issues and a reason to be wary.

"You could have killed me by accident," Maddie said.

"I've got good aim." Adam glanced around. "I think we're clear here ."

Anger flooded through her and exploded, spewing with enough strength to break her. "You are supposed to be a computer guy."

"Sometimes I am."

His shrug just made her more furious. "What are you the rest of the time?"

"An agent with the Recovery Project. I work for Rod Lehman."

Just like that her anger evaporated. Melted right out of her. "Rod?"

"There are three things you need to know right now. Ready?" Adam didn't wait for a reply. "Rod's missing. You're in trouble. We have to go."

She thought about strangling him with her good arm. "You killed two men—"

"Three."

She shifted to her right and glanced around him. The third body lay just feet away from the spot where Adam had curled up around her on the ground. She stared at him again. "Were you shot?"

He looked offended by the question. "Of course not."

Massaging her injured shoulder made it throb even harder, so she stopped. "Right. How silly of me."

"And it's Wright."

She looked him over for signs of blood, wondering how a guy could take out three obviously trained killers and not suffer anything more than a wrinkled shirt. "Do you have a head injury or something?"

"The name is Adam Wright, not Wallace."

That little tidbit ticked her off. "And I'm just supposed to believe you?"

"Yes."

Her fury was ridiculous. She knew that. She lived under an assumed name with a life she never wanted and certainly didn't earn. She had no right to judge him. But now she understood she couldn't trust him and that ticked her off. He'd taken out a trio of guys with guns, but she still didn't know who was on what side.

And she could not depend on him to be honest. The only thing that saved him from a knee to the groin was the way he threw out Rod's name.

"Is anything about you real?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."