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

“Stay where you are,” she called back, a gleeful smile on her face. “I want you to watch while I do this.”


Con continued walking toward her. “Why? If I’m here or up there with you the results will still be the same. You’ll have murdered twenty men for no reason other than to try to make me feel responsible.” He stopped when he was a few feet from the stage. “But I won’t. This is none of my doing.”


“It is!” she said angrily. “You made me what I am today.”


“No, Jacalyn, what you are now you were when I first met you, an agent provocateur and a killer. My only regret is that I learned about it too late to stop you before you continued on your reign of terror.”


“What the hell is he doing,” Robin asked as he watched the drama unfold.


“Keeping her attention focused solely on him,” Urbain replied under his breath. “The cavalry is on the way, but they need time to reach her.”


“And Van,” Ginna said when she realized he was no longer beside her.


Chapter 71