Toronto, Canada, 2006. A few months after the worst year of the Iraq war. Gabriel Navarro splits his time between his job slinging ink at the Atlantis Ink tattoo parlor, and working on his master’s degree in fine art. Gabe is twenty-two, sure of his beliefs and his artistic integrity, and na?ve enough to think he’ll never have to compromise. And then one night Jake MacLean walks into the shop and changes everything. Jake Maclean is twenty-eight and a veteran American Army pilot. He's been staying with his ex-pat sister in Toronto while he tries to get his life in order. The problem is, he can't. After his disastrous final mission in Iraq, he's overcome with anger and survivor’s guilt, trapped in a losing battle to atone for a failure he’s sure can never be forgiven. Left without hope, he decides to have his memory of the mission tattooed on his back, with the condemning words: God Will Judge Me. He doesn't expect to fall for the tattoo artist. Gabe falls just as quickly and deeply for Jake, though Jake's reluctance to talk about what happened frustrates and worries him. Gabe knows Jake isn't doing well, but accepting Jake’s claims that he's "fine" is far easier than dealing with the frightening truth. But soon it’s horribly clear Jake can’t control his panic attacks or flashes of violence, and he's getting worse. If Gabe can’t help him face his demons, Jake is headed for a crash -- and there’s every chance he’ll take Gabriel down with him.

Black Hawk Tattoo

“Cool,” Hype said. She shifted again to curl one leg under her. “I’ve run away a couple of times, but only to, like, Ottawa and stuff. I don’t think I’d ever want to leave Canada.”


“That’s understandable,” Jake said. “I never thought I’d leave the US myself.” He’d never thought he’d leave the Army. There’d been lots of things he’d never thought about until they actually happened.


“I told you,” Jake said. “I wanted a change.” He made sure to keep his voice even and not snap at her, because she was just a kid and just curious and wasn’t trying to pry or catch him out. “My sister’s lived here for nearly nineteen years, and she was always telling me how great it is. I figured I’d check it out.” That was only kind of a lie, since Alice really did talk the country up like it was her job, and she’d never moved back to the US, even after her divorce. “Why’d you run away?”


Chapter 26