Dead Reckoning

U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Nikki Bustillo has tracked her target to the bowels of a phantom ship--and she refuses to lose the scent now. But when her overseas contact is brutally murdered on the streets of Hong Kong, Nikki's manhunt is compromised. The mission came from the higher-ups at her alma mater, Athena Academy, and failure isn't an option. Her only hope: the help of a maverick, martial arts expert, police detective. Nikki and her new partner will follow the enemy's shadowy trail out of the ocean and to the ends of the earth--even after their invisible foe turns the skilled trackers into vulnerable prey.

For debutante Vaughn Monroe, joining the clandestine IR-5 Agency, a group trained to infiltrate the enemy by becoming one of them, was her true calling. Vaughn's pedigreed background came in especially handy when their latest mission concerned an old friend involved in a dangerous game of international weapons dealing. Back in the high-society world she'd tried to leave behind, Vaughn relied on high-tech training and her seductive "husband," M. T. Stone, to help accomplish her mission. But the price of proving she was more operative than heiress might be more than she ever expected to pay.

FBI agent Angie Davis sees past the crime scene into the twisted criminal mind. It's a skill she hones with the guidance of her mentor, Cain...one that helps Angie predict a killer's next victim before it's too late.

But this profiler-in-training's latest case is a headache from the start. For one, she must work with maverick NYPD detective Carson Severo. And then, another kill. And another. Only this serial killer's victims seem to follow a disturbing pattern--they are all somehow connected to Angie. And it's just a matter of days before she becomes the next target....

More hunter than botanist, Dr. Jessie Robards had dedicated her life to tracking down the world's rarest flowers. But finding the Death Orchid was different. The legendary medicinal flower could save her dying uncle--if she could keep the precious bloom out of her greedy competitors' hands. But she'd need more than her scientific mind and strong legs to survive the perils of the Amazon. This time the independent adventurer would need the courage to trust a man she barely knew on a journey into the heart of darkness....

A Middle Eastern capitol building has been captured by insurgents. The prime minister, his staff and a group of visiting college students have become disposable hostages. But what the rebels don't know is that someone is still loose in the building.... FBI legal attaché Selena Jones took the foreign post when her marriage hit the rocks. Now she's narrowly escaped becoming a hostage--but she's trapped. She has just hours to find out what the rebels are up to and outsmart their compelling leader. And her lone contact to the outside world is the one man she swore never to trust again....

Sophie Mazaratti moved far away to escape the mess her sleazy ex left behind. But he's found her bolt-hole--and so have his worst enemies, the mob. What's more, they think she's working with him--and so does the FBI. Now Sophie's surrounded by bodies, arrest threats and one damned attractive police detective. And though the fed-up schoolteacher's pretty sure the woman-needs-a-man-like-a-fish-needs-a-bicycle saying is true, she's also sure she needs somebody on her side. Because she's about to take on the mob and the FBI--and she's determined to be the last woman standing....

Meet Melissa Daniels. This leggy redhead is strong, smart and seductive. And with a black belt in karate, she's not afraid of anything.

Too bad she doesn't exist.

Melissa is the alter ego of master of disguise Kristie Hennessy, who prefers steak dinners to stakeouts. As a profiler for a secret government agency, Kristie researches the most heinous killers around. But when one case draws her into the action, she can't resist letting her more audacious other half emerge. As a mysterious man--whom she knows only by his sexy voice--feeds her clues, Kristie must decide between her quiet life and Melissa's risky adventures. She doesn't know who to trust, or who she even is anymore....

Highly trained assassin Dawn O'Shaugnessey was hard to kill--but the superhealing powers she'd been born with had become almost a curse. Dawn had learned the horrifying truth behind her origins from the women of Athena Academy, and she'd vowed to help them destroy the scientist who'd made her the perfect killer. But there was a catch. The very genes that allowed Dawn to take a bullet and heal within minutes were self-destructing, and only her creator could stop the damage. Now Dawn had to choose between life and payback....

10...9...8...

Hotshot NSA code breaker Kim Valenti had cracked a code revealing a terrorist plot to take over a major TV network...a takeover that Kim learned too late was only a diversion for a far more dangerous threat.

7...6...5...

She had just minutes to thwart the real plot--a bomb at a major airport. Kidnapping a member of the FBI bomb squad to help her was a start....

4...3...2...

Now it was up to Kim--and one angry FBI agent--to find the bomb, defuse it and live to fight another day. Except...was this explosive just the tip of the iceberg?

1...

WHAT STELLA WANTS

A successful P.I. business. A sexy man she can love and trust. Relatives who stay safely at home. And good friends she can count on.

WHAT STELLA'S GOT

An anemic trickle of clients. An infuriatingly secretive (but hot!) former special forces soldier who may or may not be around in the morning. A feisty elderly aunt whose love life is w...a...ay more on track than Stella's. And an old high-school rival who's just hired Stella, only to be blown up in what seems to be a terrorist attack.

WAIT'LL YOU SEE WHAT SHE DOES WITH IT!