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

“That shouldn’t be too hard; I’m not quite up to par at the moment.” Vance touched the sling. “So, from the fact you’re here, I gather someone found you before you died.”


“No, I’m a ghost,” she sneered. “Yes, some vagrant. At least he was willing to listen to reason and get me out of there before the man you jacked called the cops and they showed up. I’ve been looking for you ever since.”


“Now we leave, and I take you some place very secluded, and we play how loud will you beg before I decide to kill you. Get up.”


Vance nodded and stood. The last thing he wanted was a shootout in the middle of the crowded zoo, so he obediently let her take him out to the parking lot. Her car was at the far edge, close to an exit. She opened the driver’s side door, ordering him to get in and slide across to the passenger seat. “Try anything and I shoot you here and now, not to kill but to definitely to stop you,” she told him.


Chapter 101