Horribly abused by his mother, Van eventually goes in search of his father. When he finds him, his life is radically changed. His father works for the FBI, and has contacts to a covert group, run by the Old Man, that goes after the worst of the worst criminals. Van is recruited to join both -- and does. Van handles every job he's sent on with cold efficiency, letting nothing stand in his way of gaining the information he seeks and stopping his foes. Eventually, he's offered a team of his own within the Old Man's organization. He accepts, with one caveat -- none of them can be female. Because of his mother, the only woman he has ever trusted is his handler, Makie. His attitude takes a hit when he meets Ginna, a cop, while on a job for the Old Man. When it's over, much to the shock of everyone involved, he requests that she be added to his team if she's willing -- which she is, as long as the organization can promise to keep her young son safe while she's on assignments. Ginna fits in well with the team, and though she is appalled at some of the tactics Van uses to gain information, she finds herself attracted to him. Can she break through the walls he's erected around his emotions? If so, then what? Only time will tell.

A Shattered Life

“What?” Vance said when the quiet became uncomfortable.


“Yeah you do, Van. You left something out about your father’s death and it’s eating you alive.”


Vance shook his head in denial. “He died, there was a funeral, and then I took some time off from work.”


Walt considered his words and what he’d said, or hadn’t said earlier about his father’s dying. “Were you at his bedside when he passed?” he asked bluntly.


“Fuck no! I didn’t even know he was dying, dead, until afterwards,” Vance spat out angrily. Then his face closed down as he gulped half his beer.


“You were off on an assignment I take it. They didn’t call you?”


“No. I was deep undercover, cut off from my real life.” He stared off across the yard. “That’s how it is. No contact. It’s not safe. I live and breathe the person I become. Any variance, anything out of character could mean the job could be compromised, I could be compromised.”


Chapter 45