Rendezvous with Danger (Reunited Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

in a candy store, wanting everything but eventually settling on the Viking set.
    Vance ran his hand over his spiked blond hair, and then down the back of his neck. He dropped down into one of the kitchen chairs, his mind still on his wife. He understood everyone mourned differently, but he didn’t think he would ever be able to move on. She was his everything.
    As a CIA agent, he had missed much of their marriage, taking on ops clear across the world and sometimes being gone for months at a time. But when they were together, it was as if no one else existed. Their children loved to see him and their mother together since most of their friend’s parents were divorced. But as Jody’s illness worsened, the kids blamed him for her deterioration, claiming he needed to be home more. He couldn’t. It tore him up to see her so unlike herself, her life quickly slipping away. As long as she understood his need to stay away, that’s all that mattered. Besides, he had to take on side jobs in order to pay for the mountain of hospital bills. She had been more than his wife. She was his best friend and he didn’t want her worrying about their finances.
    He raised his beer bottle. “To you, baby. I miss you, but I know you’re in a better place.” He took a swig, removed his glasses, and wiped the moisture from his eyes. Every year he took two weeks off from work in October in memory of her birthday and their anniversary. That first year he had tried to get his children to come over on their mother’s birthday but his daughter Stephanie outright refused. Her accusing words and tone sent a surge of guilt clawing at his heart. Brent on the other hand, easy going like his mother, had made excuses. If it weren’t for Vance’s job and his volunteer work, he didn’t know what he would do with himself; especially now that he wasn’t in the field as much.
    The telephone rang. He took another swig of his beer and walked over to the far counter to grab the cordless phone.
    “Hello.”
    “Vance?”
    “Yes?” He turned towards the stove slowly, thinking he recognized the voice, but knowing it was impossible. “Who is this?”
    Silence filled the phone line.
    “Who is this?”
    “It’s Alandra, Alandra Pargas.”
    Vance froze. His beer bottle slipped from his fingers and slammed against the tiled floor, glass flying everywhere. It couldn’t be. This had to be some sick joke, but it was her voice. He’d recognized the sexy breathiness of that voice anywhere.
    His mind raced. His heart pounded. His stomach twisted into a knot, remembering how tore up everyone at the Agency had been when they heard she’d been killed. Too stunned to pick up the broken glass, beer pooling near his feet, he fell back into the chair.
    “I know this is a shock, but it’s really me and I can prove it. Remember the covert assignment we were on in Libya and we got lost and ended up staying the night in an abandoned building because it was too—”
    “Oh my God, it is you.” They had vowed never to tell that story for as long as they worked for the CIA, feeling like total idiots for getting lost. “How?” He ran his damp hands down his face trying to understand how she was still alive when they’d been told otherwise. “Harry said…you were dead.”
    Alandra sighed on the other end of the phone. “I know. It’s a long story, but it’s me and I’m alive.”
    “I…I…I don’t know what to say.”
    “Well, that’s good, because you can’t say anything. I’m not ready to reveal myself to the world. Not until I take care of some things.”
    “Okay,” he drew out the word, still finding the situation unbelievable. “Where are you? D.C.? Virginia?”
    “Neither, and right now I can’t tell you where I am – another long story. But I’m calling because I know you still live in Virginia and I need your help. I need you to get some information for me.”
    ****
    After five hours of rushing around the emergency room, Alandra felt like she